France 2019

We'd been to the same gite in SW France for the last 4 holidays, but this time we booked late and it wasn't available. The one we went for this time was a bit more expensive, but absolutely lovely - and huge for the two of us, given that it can accommodate 16 people!The gite was booked via Halcyon Leisure - we've booked with them since 2000. We really didn't do very much at all - I took a couple of trips out to take photos in Fumel and at Chateau Bonaguil, but that was about it apart from going out to buy food and wine. The first set of photos are from the gite, with a couple from one of the trips out. The second set are images of the sky.Disappointingly we didn't have many good sunsets at all - just in the last half of the second week. Mind you, the main reason for the lack of them was because there...
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Aust 2019

As ever, I kept going back to Aust just outside Bristol - my favourite bleak location. The first visit was in February - the forecast looked promising and when I got up early (for a Sunday), it looked even better as it was a bit misty. When I got there, I saw a lovely bit of mist with the pylon and the old Severn Bridge in bright sunlight above it. However as I walked the last bit, it got foggier and foggier - to the point that I couldn't actually see much at all. These shots were taken on a variety of film cameras - I was testing some of my dad;s old Pentaxes before selling them. So we have an MX, and ME Super and a Z1 - some shot on Ilford FP4, some on Kodak Tri-X 400, all developed by me. The second visit was on a June morning, when conditions were very different - lovely bright sunshine. Most of these were...
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Day Trips 2018

Rather than spread this out into a long series of blog posts, I've condensed the various day trips into a single entry. Abbey House GardensOf course there's a visit to Abbey House Gardens, isn't there always? May this time, and the gardens looked good. And yes, it was a clothes optional visit - I've only been once when it hasn't been! Bowdown Woods/ThatchamIn early July I met a former colleague (now good friend) for a catch up and we had a wander round the woods and surrounding area - the edge of the former airbase at Greenham Common, the Kennet and Avon Canal. Rather nice, if a bit warm!Not many photos as that wasn't the real purpose of the day - but the B&W ones were taken on my Fuji X-T20 and an IR filter, so these are genuine IR images not a fake IR effect. Caen Hill LocksThe flight of locks on the Kennet and Avon Canal at Caen Hill are well...
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