France 2022, there and back again

These are from the journey down to the gite and back - we always drive, and have started to spend a few days on the way. We could drive all the way to the gite in one go but there are other bits of France we want to visit and it breaks things up a bit - it's 400 miles from Caen/Ouistream to Bordeaux but it's autoroute the whole way and actually quite an easy drive. As an aside, we bought a "Bip n Go" device, which enables you to use "Telepeage" on the autoroutes, meaning we didn't need to use cards to pay the tolls - roll up to the Telepeage lane and the device will beep and the gates open. So easy, it made the journey a lot less stressful for SWMBO, who always had to manage the tolls given the tickets etc are always on the left. It cost something like €20 to buy and activate, and something...
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France 2022, at the gite

After missing two summer holidays in France, for obvious reasons, it was wonderful to go back in 2022. Given we had 2 years without a holiday, we chose to go back to somewhere we've been before - the same place as 2019, just north of Fumel. A large gite for two people, but quiet and comfortable. The Gite Gite sky, fisheye lens This set are general shots from around the gite - and of course it includes some photos of what we ate. Flowers etc Rose detail One of the main features of the gite is the sheer amount of flowers, mainly roses, around the place.There's also some of the other plants, and some butterflies. Skies Sunset clouds As usual, I spent quite a bit of time photographing the sky - we had some good skies for looking at the Milky Way, but we also had a couple of ISS passes.Some of these aren't as sharp as I would expect - the Fuji X-T4 is the first camera I've...
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Bristol, Summer 2022

These three sets were taken in the summer of 2022 Portbury These were taken at a place I simply didn't know existed - it's the site of the WWII air defences for Royal Portbury Docks, where the remains of the gun emplacements and barracks are slowly falling apart. I was there twice during the summer as the archery club arranged air rifle shooting days there, one of them on about the hottest weekend of the year. The black and white images were taken with a strong infra-red filter on the digital camera, and there are a couple on the Ondu panoramic pinhole camera. Severn Beach Another place I keep going back to. Several here with the infra-red filter and plenty of use of the fisheye lens as well. King's Weston House I've only been to King's Weston House a few time - one of them for a speed awareness course, which was actually the only time I've been inside! Apparently you can rent the rooms, which might be...
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Bristol 2022, part 1

Yes, 2022. I realised that I blogged absolutely nothing last year, so I'm going to make up for that. It was a strange year - I was made redundant in April, although the process started the previous November and my departure was confirmed in February, and I started a new job in late September - and I didn't really do that much photography. And it has to be said that what I did do wasn't anything special, to be honest a lot of it was probably therapeutic as the redundancy process wasn't enormously pleasant. Blaise I spent a fair bit of time in the first part of the year walking around Blaise Estate in Bristol, close to home - I needed to get out and get some form of exercise. Most of these were taken in January and February, with a few in spring/early summer - it's probably quite easy to tell which as the winter ones are quite bleak, cold, dark and muddy....
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Autumn 2021 part 2 – Lydney, Beachley and Bristol Harbourside

These three sets come from some time off in September - we didn't go away, so I ambled out for some day trips. First up is Lydney Harbour - I'd noticed a sign for it when driving back from Westbury Court, so I looked into it and decided to visit. It's an interesting place, a bit bleak - but I quite like that. I was slightly surprised to find a bit of a marina there, which contains some interestingly dilapidated yachts. Definitely my sort of thing!The last two shots are of a derelict industrial site - I couldn't resist poking the camera through the fence. These are a mix of digital, Hasselblad film and Ondu panoramic pinholes. No colour negative this time - I more or less know what I'm doing with black and white film. The second set are from Beachley, which is at the Welsh end of the original Severn Bridge, and where the ferry from Aust used to dock. I've photographed...
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