More action from the old abandoned barn near Canterbury, seen earlier in this blog.

Eyes again - here the eye of a Butterfly.

Nature produces some stunning eyes - here, the eyes of a Dragonfly.

Me. Just me.

Oh my, snout fisheye action, or fisheye snout.

My Great Uncle's dog, Molly.

Bless.

My car is old. Very old.

I wish we still had these dotted around the place, tho they were a magnet for urine.

Words fail me with this one.

Fisheye Bee action from Teston, Kent, UK.

If you fancy a nice walk, park at Teston and walk either way along the river. This was leads to Barming. The other way leads to Wateringbury.

I still like a nice sign. there wasn't a great deal to see in Faversham, although we were only there a short time and it was a Sunday, so maybe I will give it another go sometime.

This is a Peacock Butterfly (Inachis io) seen at Tyland Barn.

A three shot... three shots are good.

More insect love making, this time at Tyland Barn.

Shot this delightful creature at the Museum of Kent Life. Their website is a bit minging but the place itself is quite nice. I do like a nice bit of fisheye goat.

Congratulations to Michelle and Tony. Full set of photos here.

A wood carving at Tyland Barn, Sandling, Kent. A nice little place - well worth a visit... in Summer.

More Azure Damselfly action, but I don't think I will ever tire of these things. Shot at Tyland Barn, Sandling, Maidstone, Kent on a very humid day :-)

Now, blink and you will miss this. At the foot of those trees, apparently, is the Stone Chapel, the ruined Church of Our Lady of Elwarton, which is of Roman and Saxon origins. It lies in a copse 100 yards north of the A2 about 1/2 mile west of Ospringe. If only we found the path to get closer. Ok, we did find the path, but only as we drove off and it was too hot to stop again and go for another walk.

OK, this photo isn't really about Pigeon Street - the cult 80s cartoon show, but I stumbled across the mp3 for the theme tune in my other half's iTunes collection and this photo was the most relevant :-) This lead me on to a google search for the show and there is some useful information (and some merchandise) at www.pigeonstreet.com. However, for more merchandise, head over to Lollipop Animation and fulfill your Pigeon Street desires.

That is some shallow depth of field.

There are several similar-looking species of pondskaters, of which this is the commonest and most likely to be found in a garden pond. Pondskaters have very long legs and water-repellent feet which they use to skim across the surface tension 'film' of the water.

A pile of old logs at an abandoned storage depot near Canterbury, Kent, UK.

I am really getting to know my flowers now - this is Cosmos bipinnatus 'Purity' and this plant is attractive to bees, butterflies and/or birds. Also, my love of the three shot has been neglected on this blog. Note to self: more three shots are needed.

This is part of the fence that surrounds Saltwood Church. I am pretty sure it is to keep the sheep, cows and horses out, rather than the worshippers in.

A frond is a large leaf with many divisions to it, and the term is typically used for the leaves of palms, ferns or cycads. I like a nice frond.

Azure Damselflies getting it on. Insects don't seem to mind any sort of voyeuristic action. Shot at Teston, Kent, UK.

The Hill Myna (Gracula religiosa) (commonly known in the pet trade as the Myna Bird) is a member of the starling family, resident in hill regions of South Asia.

An array of switches in an old abandoned barn near Canterbury.

The beautiful Gazania comes in a variety of colours including a combination of colour (bi-colour) such as this one -the Daybreak Red Stripe. The Gazania, which is also known as the Treasure Flower is endemic to South Africa, but does well anywhere with direct sunlight. I am rather pleased I got this as two days later it had shriveled up and died.

Some peeling paint on an old container near Canterbury, Kent, UK.

I do struggle to know what to write sometimes. This is a dead Hoverfly. If nothing else, it confirms my interest in all things Hoverfly.

A while ago i said I had a strange fascination with padlocks. This fascination has been furthered by the acquisition of two combination locks :-)

Some old tyres, left abandoned, waiting to be set alight no doubt by some arsonists. Yes Americans, it is 'tyres', not 'tires'.

One of the reasons I bought a fast f/1.4 lens was to do shots like this. Pleasing.

Eye to eye with an Azure Damselfly at Teston, Kent, UK. This was one roasting day sat by the river, but sitting by the river has certain rewards... it is bug heaven :-)

Outside Canterbury there is an old abandoned storage place and this is the inside of one of the containers left there. The signs on the walls seem to be working as this was one of the tidiest abandoned containers I have ever seen, tho I have not seen that many to be fair.

This has to be one of my favourite flowers as they are so photogenic. My parents were house-sitting recently and the garden was full of things like this - a photographer's dream. Shame it was so windy.

The common wasp, Vespula vulgaris, is a wasp found in much of the Northern Hemisphere, and introduced to Australia and New Zealand. Taking photos of insects sure has cured any fear I may have once had of them. I say 'may' have had because I am well hard and would never have really been scared of a wasp. Yea right.

Still one of my faves... really nice to see it flying whilst carrying a chicken leg :-)

The beach wasn't all that popular on the day we were in Great Yarmouth.

These are probably on the endangered species list now :-)

Clouded leopards are hunters of small mammals and birds in forests of parts of Asia. Short legs and long tails indicate a life lived in trees. It was quite amazing to be able to get this close.

Um, some odd graffiti.

Oh to be a botanist - I might know what there are called without Google. Osteospermum apparently.

It has been a while since I ventured to this part of Mote Park, Maidstone, Kent, but I just got hold of a Nodal Ninja NN3 MkII and knew I had to go back here. As with most buildings like this, it has now been boarded up as it was used by junkies. The previous planet shot was done with a standard tripod head, but I can see the merits of a proper panoramic head already. The Nodal Ninja is a nice piece of kit - fairly simple to set up and use and makes the whole process a lot simpler. More experimentation will be coming up soon. For those that are interested, this was a sequence of 24 images stitched using Autopano.

This is Whinney who has the dubious honour of working with me. He was looking quite pleased with himself as he had just ordered the Nikkor 50mm AF-D f/1.8. Every Nikon SLR shooter should own it... or the f/1.4 :-)

Faversham is a quaint place and a little strange. It was like a ghost town on a Sunday, but still quite pleasant. Anyway, inside this box was a selection of doorbells... I kid you not.

I suspect that this might, just might, be my favourite photo of a Hoverfly. It is also, possibly, the worst title I have ever come up with it. You gotta take the good and the bad tho.

On the way to Faversham we followed the SatNav towards Ospringe to see some ruins of something or other. Unable to find a path to the ruins of whatever it was, I felt obliged to take a shot of the field on the other side of the road. So here it is.

On the face of it this looks like some sort of fight. At the very least it looks like some sort of minor argument and it may well have been, but shortly afterwards these two were licking each other. Make of that what you will.

The sand dunes at Caister were quite pleasant, if a little hard to access.

Hard to know what to write about this one. This is the grave of my first Granddad to pass away - there is no significance of posting this at this time, other than the fact that I found an old letter written to him whilst he was in Stalag VIII B POW camp. A copy of the letter is here. Rest In Peace old boy... I miss you.

Ice Cream kiosk, Great Yarmouth. Closed.

Totally unrelated to this post is the fact that it is my mate's birthday... so Happy Birthday!!!!

Personally I am not a fan of the Gypsy Tart, but my other half is. Wikipedia has the following to say: A gypsy tart is a type of pie made with evaporated milk, muscovado sugar (though some varieties include light brown sugar), and pie crust. It originates from East Kent, Isle of Sheppey in England. The tart is extremely sweet and is, for many people, associated with school dinners. Although most will know the version of gypsy tart made with evaporated milk, it can also be made with condensed milk in place of evaporated milk. This makes a firmer and even sweeter tart, with a darker colour.

This is an example of the nice food at The George Inn at Trottiscliffe.

Free lunches are good and this one was thanks to my other half's Mum - to celebrate her retirement :-) Damn I love my 50mm(s). I can recommend the The George Inn at Trottiscliffe, near West Malling - nice food (especially the Chicken and Ham pie).

I have been meaning to try one of these for ages now and the light was quite nice last night so I gave it a go. This is stitched using 30 images to form a 360 degree panoramic, then the trusty polar co-ordinates filter does the rest. Kinda bland subject matter for the first attempt but you gotta get the theory right first I reckon. Saltwood Church nestles behind those huge trees.

After numerous dead ends and blocked paths, we eventually found the beach at Caister, Norfolk.

Cockatoo + Macro = Fun Self Portrait

My other half doesn't like this because it looks like blood. I like it because it looks like blood.

I just got hold of a new lens - the Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AF-D - and this is pretty much the first pic I took with it today. I already had the f/1.8 version but have given that to my other half so when we shoot weddings we both have some fast glass. This is a Fuschia because my mum had mentioned that I hadn't taken any pics of them before and she has a few in her garden. I think I am going to love this lens (probably as much as I love the f/1.8) and just to prove how eager i was to get it, I include the DHL tracking info that I watched pretty much solidly for 4 days. It was quite bland, but worth the wait.



July 03, 2008 18:39 // Hong Kong - Hong Kong // Shipment picked up

July 04, 2008 04:19 // Hong Kong - Hong Kong // Departed from DHL facility in Hong Kong - Hong Kong

July 04, 2008 04:52 // Hong Kong - Hub - Hong Kong // Arrived at DHL facility in Hong Kong - Hub - Hong Kong

July 04, 2008 10:29 // Hong Kong - Hub - Hong Kong // Departed from DHL facility in Hong Kong - Hub - Hong Kong

July 05, 2008 08:01 // London-Heathrow - UK // Processed for clearance at London-Heathrow - UK

July 05, 2008 09:21 // London-Heathrow - UK // Clearance processing complete at London-Heathrow - UK

July 05, 2008 09:37 // London-Heathrow - UK // Arrived at DHL facility in London-Heathrow - UK

July 05, 2008 11:52 // London-Heathrow - UK // Departed from DHL facility in London-Heathrow - UK

July 05, 2008 13:38 // Maidstone - UK // Arrived at DHL Facility

July 07, 2008 08:27 // Maidstone - UK // With delivery courier

July 07, 2008 10:46 // Maidstone - UK // Shipment delivered

I often think that Fire Exits should be more glamorous. Some people say that i think weird stuff.

Whilst Otter teeth are fairly impressive, I would prefer an Otter bite to a bite from this chap. I think this is an American Alligator. I am prepared to be corrected on this identification tho.

I knew Otters had some impressive teeth, but I hadn't seen right inside an Otter mouth before :-)

The English seaside town... encourages heart attacks.

The Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus), also known simply as the Peregrine, and historically as the "Duck Hawk" in North America, is a cosmopolitan bird of prey in the family Falconidae. I gotta say, these little beauties are fast. Well fast.

I really must do more urban stuff.

Whilst at an Owl Sanctuary, I couldn't resist the rest of the wildlife on offer. They are disappearing remember.

I have no idea why these scales are on the pier at Great Yarmouth. They have two sets in fact. I guess it must be to weigh yourself after all the crap food they offer, like chips and donuts.

Sometimes when you buy a rancid sandwich the only sane thing to do is throw it to the birds. Seagulls are generally less picky about such things.

Great Yarmouth is one of those seaside towns that hasn't changed for a long time. It seems to be based upon rock shops, crap souvenir shops and amusement arcades. Surely that can't last forever?

The Red Panda, Firefox or Lesser Panda, Ailurus fulgens ("shining cat"), is a mostly herbivorous mammal, specialized as a bamboo feeder. It is slightly larger than a domestic cat (40 - 60 cm long, 3 - 6 kg weight). They are also super cute.

Just so that I feel I am doing my bit for the anti-Internet Explorer campaign, download Mozilla Firefox from the following link...

Went to Norfolk a couple of weeks ago using the points from Walker's Brit Trips... however they forgot to deduct the points so I still have a shedload to use. I have been fascinated with panoramic photos for a while, but have never shot one. The plan is to shoot 'regular' ones like this but also to try some 360 degree interactive panoramas, when I get hold of a panoramic tripod head. However, this was shot handheld from the top of a sand dune and stitched using Autopano. It is comprised of 10 shots, all portrait. There is a little distortion going on, but, overall, not a bad test.

The trouble with posting shots mainly at 900px wide inevitably means this panoramic looks a bit small, so, to see it larger, click HERE.

I had it drummed into me at an early age that Titleist make the best golf balls. I have got back into golf - to get fitter and because i signed up for the work Golf Day at West Malling Golf Club, Kent. As I haven't actually played golf for two years I am on a fairly intensive golf/fitness thing. Despite the fact this is a shot of a Titleist, I have some Nike Mojo balls to use (and lose).

I really have no idea what to say about this, other than these flies probably didn't enjoy drowning.

I like flowers. I haven't always liked them, but then I that is true of many things. I didn't like Minder the first time I saw it... now i think it rocks.

I have only ever taken two photos of snails... mainly because they freak me out a little bit and secondly, I have always found them quite hard to shoot. I quite like this one tho so it makes this blog accordingly. I may even take some more as my garden appears to be producing them by the ton.

I really ought to go back to Camber, as its closer than Norfolk, where I have just been.

Well this is quite an old pic but I have been going through my collection for images I might try and sell as stock and thought it was quite pleasant. Taken somewhere between the US and here. Nearer here for sure.

Not to everyone's taste I expect. I am not sure it is even to my taste, but I felt compelled to post it just because I feel it necessary to have some seagull on here every now and then.

Howletts, Kent, UK. It looked quite interesting behind this gate, more so than the ape enclosure next to it.

There surely is nothing more tempting than a wheelbarrow full of rain water!

Yawn. More Hoverfly. Yawn.

Will I ever grow tired of signs? I very much doubt it.

My favourite red wine drinking, Ladybird hoovering, Teacher.

Slightly out of season this one, but that's one of the perils of running a 1-a-day photoblog... when you have a pic you like it isn't always possible to post it when you like. Anyway, enough of that, this is a Spanish Bluebell taken in my Mum's garden.

This is probably the best bit of Howletts to be honest. You can actually walk in and amongst the Lemurs and get really close. This Lemur proceeded to urinate shortly after this shot, much to the amusement if the annoyingly loud and screechy children watching.

I have been on a diet for a few weeks now and am feeling the benefits (I think). The trade off for eating so much fruit is the inevitable issue of excess wind production.

Well, the adventures with the fish eye continue and I remain convinced that it is actually hard to take a non fun fish eye shot. Incidentally this was taken at Hole Park, Rolvenden, Kent.

Well, this is officially the 500th image to make this blog, which isn't bad going I suppose. May the celebrations commence.

The Smoohie Bar in Chequers (The Mall), Maidstone, does some rather pleasing flavours. The aim is try and re-create these at home, which may be easier said than done.

Ok, more Samphire action. Sorry. On the bright side, I don't turn my photos into pointless HDR images (thinking it looks good) and making them look like cartoons... and it is a fisheye pic.

My laziness has once again made me post this without looking up what it actually is. They seem rather common tho :-)

I am not sure how useful this sign is, but I suppose it serves a purpose. I wasn't convinced of its accuracy anyway as it was quite difficult getting to the sign in the first place... but then it was hot and I was feeling quite tired.