Out and About - Waterperry Gardens

We didn't let a beautiful afternoon go to waste today. Instead we drove out to Waterperry Gardens and strolled around taking some photos. The Asters and the Dahlias were especially colorful and beautiful.

Facing the Sun

Under the Bridge and up the Path

In Shadow

In Colour

Bench with a View

Red

Return to Jurassic Coast

I at least finished one of the longer hikes I wanted to do after first seeing it a couple years ago. It was a beautiful day for hiking the Southwest Coastal Path from Lulworth Cove to Weymouth. My knees and a blister prevented a second hike a couple days later near Tintagel. And now the blister from hell is still in the process of healing....a full week later. Here are just a few of the photos from the hike.

Southwest Coast Path Top of the First Hill, with Many to Go

Southwest Coast Path Boulders Broken Off the Chalk Cliffs

Southwest Coast Path Looking Back at Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove

Southwest Coast Path Another Chunk of Chalk Ready to Fall

Southwest Coast Path Paths at the Edge of the World

Two More

Here are a couple photos taken over the past week or so when walking along the canal and rivers near Oxford.

Driver-less Punts - Magdalen Bridge, Oxford England Waiting for Google to take over

Reflection In the Oxford Canal - Oxford, England The narrow side of the barn

A Couple

Here are a couple photos from walking along the Oxford Canal near Somerton. I walked there a short bit after work one afternoon last week. I did not see another person.

Somerton Cottage, Bridge 194 - Oxford Canal, Somerton, England

Reed Bunting - Oxford Canal, Somerton, England

Birds

And yet ANOTHER beautiful morning and day. This morning I walked up the canal a way with my longest lens combination (70-200 + 2X) on in hopes a some good bird photos. I didn't get many great ones but I have since learned two things. One, European Goldfinches aren't all bright yellow like American ones. Two, apparently the large bird I saw soaring (actually saw two different ones) is a Red Kite and not very common. Which is why the not so great photos made the cut today :) I wouldn't have really noticed the red kites, except at one point I realized it was higher than a plane flying nearby and it must be a pretty big bird.

European Goldfinch - Oxford Canal, Oxford, England

Wild Roses - Oxford Canal, Oxford, England

Red Kite - Oxford Canal, Oxford, England

Red Kite - Oxford Canal, Oxford, England

A Beautiful Morning

Another beautiful morning and day. Here are a few photos from my walk.

Ducklings Cruise the Cherwell - Oxford, England

Grey Heron Grabs Breakfast - Oxford Canal, England

Flowers - University Park, Oxford, England

Along The Canal This Afternoon

It hasn't been the nicest spring in memory and I haven't been walking the canal as much and the third strike is that I haven't even come close to keeping up with the photography. Today I got home at a reasonable time and it was sunny and in the 70's, first time all three of those happened at once in a long long time. So I took a walk along the canal to check out a path I was considering for a much longer walk this weekend (won't happen, far too overgrown,...stinging nettles at that). Anyway, I did take a few photos.

This Year It's Triplets - Oxford Canal, England

Bridge 238 - Oxford Canal, England

Pond Clean-up Near Duke's Cut - Oxford Canal, England

Portraits

...of giraffes at Safari West Wildlife Preserve in California.

Inquisitive Face

Serious Face

Silly Face

Glamour Headshot

We Went to San Francisco...

...last October. I've never really even looked at the photos. Here are a few.

Dragon On a Wall - Chinatown

Blue Front Cafe - Haight-Ashbury

The Golden Gate Bridge - Vista Point

The Golden Gate at Dawn - Vista Point

Memorial Day

I just saw a photo that reminded me of my visit to Boston 2 years ago over Memorial Day. The marathon bombing was still fresh on the city's mind at the time.

As an indication of how far I am behind on doing much with my photos, I just realized that nothing from that trip made it to the blog. Well below is photo and HERE is a link to a slideshow I'd put together of the trip shortly afterwards, but never got around to annotating.

Memorial Day Flags - Boston Common

Been busy, busy busy...but I've taken lots of photos, here are a few

Sitting On a Flower Pot

Rapeseed Blooming Along a Country Road

Robin Looking Over My Shoulder

Flower Beds - Hampton Court

Playing With Light

A couple of plays in light I saw on my walk

Color On Ice - Oxford Canal

Bridge, A Vortex in Shadows - Oxford Canal

Today Along the Canal

Elesa encouraged me to go a little further afield and work toward walking the entire canal in sections. So today she dropped me off at Lower Heyford and I made my way back to Thrupp. It was a very nice sunny day, but the path was a bit muddy and very slippery at times. Between mud and photos, the roughly 8 mile walk took me a good hour longer than I had expected.

Lower Heyford - Oxford Canal, England

Bridge #209 at Dashwoods Lock - Oxford Canal

Tow Path Bridge over the River Cherwell & Baker's Lock - Oxford Canal

Pin Hole

Picked up a couple of "body caps" that fit Canon EOS bodies for just a couple bucks last week. I've drilled a small hole in the center of one and started experimenting with it as a pinhole camera. I'm thinking my hole might be slightly too big, but I still have a lot of messing around to do :) Here are some photos I took with it on my walk today

St Sepulchre’s Cemetery - Oxford, England

St Sepulchre’s Cemetery - Oxford, England

St Sepulchre’s Cemetery - Oxford, England

St Sepulchre’s Cemetery - Oxford, England

Moss on Wall - Oxford, England

In Black and White

A couple of shots from my roaming around the canal and Port Meadow the other day. The contrast led me to think of black and white.

Duck Takes a Splash - Trap Grounds Pond, Oxford Canal, England

Tree Bark - Port Meadow, Oxford, England

Cooper's Hawk

Having a fresh breakfast in our backyard

Cooper's Hawk - Milford, Ohio