More Of Those Swans

Another brief write up about the local Mute Swans.

I wish I had a quid for every swan photo I've taken this year. If I did then I doubt I'd be sittin' here prattling on about these long-necked hissy buggers, that's for sure. But there were no quids folks, so here I am eh, toggling between writing this blog and watching the Italy vs Paraguay match on TV.

Another opportunity to throw a few more nature shots your way, folks. There's even a shot of some Canada Geese in flight. Not arf bad for a bog standard lens at some distance away. Rainton Meadows on Pond Two, the location.

One Saturday night me and the little fella popped round the meadows and got our eyes well and truly opened when we noticed kids swimming in Pond Two, just yards away from the Mute Swan family. A couple of lads, must have been no older than 16 or 17, with some bikini clad girls!

Oh aye, what's gannin' on 'ere then? Not exactly Ibiza but there ya go. Takes all sorts I suppose. Anyway, we were off round the reserve to see what other surprises were in store. Not much to be honest, but who cares, it was a lovely night - there was no breeze and the waters were still.

Anyway, a few more photo's from Rainton Meadows.

Cheers, Ash

Swan Activity - Rainton Meadows

An update on the Mute Swan's at Rainton Meadows nature reserve in Houghton-Le-Spring.

There were two nesting pairs this year - one on Pond One at Rainton Meadows and the other across the way at Joe's Pond. There were eighteen eggs in total but only sixteen of them hatched, as the cygnets could be seen at close quarters on the water. However, the nine cygnets from Pond One were later reduced to eight, with a bit of mystery surrounding the missing chick. Maybe a fox or some other predator was responsible, who knows.

Mind you, if it wasn't for the bag of bread I was carrying I probably wouldn't have got near both families to take my photo's. Aye, as I've said before - coaxing the birds with grub is a sure way to get them eating out of yer hand. Not literally though, as the parents are very aggressive and wouldn't think twice about giving you a dig!

The sun was setting at around 9.00pm when I took the sunset shots (shown here). A few minutes after the sun went down parts of the the sky turned red, giving the shot a bit of badly needed colour. By this time the bread was gone and so were my hopes of squeezing the last few shots from my opportunity. The swans were off.
That's all for now, Ash

Store section now open!

Hello again pop pickers!

First of all I'd like to explain why there has been a distinct lack of site updates and blog entries over the last few weeks. No, I haven't been travelling round India, sampling the hottest curries as I went. Mind you, the thought has crossed my mind on many an occasion, he he.

I recently invested in a large format Epson printer and I've been doing quite a lot of research into canvas printing. After aquiring all the necessary 'Tools' (canvas, stretcher bars, varnish, electric staple gun, etc) I quickly got to work and produced a few A2 canvases that exceeded all my expectations in the quality department. I was surprised at how quickly it took the printer to complete a job on A2 media as well, a little over five minutes! I'm running with genuine Epson K3 ink tanks that weigh in at 110ml each, so they should stretch a fair bit and they're anti-fade for something like 2,000 years, he he.

Once printed and varnished, I stretch each canvas over precision cut stretcher bars and staple it into place. The staples are then covered with special finshing tape. That's about it. The finished product is the dog's danglers, aye.

I'm looking forward to printing my first panoramic canvas job. Again it will be 17 in height and something outrageous like 7 feet in length!

Now that the background stuff is out the way I can now concentrate on updating my galleries and blog. I've got a stack full of new images to move from ye olde hard drive.

Liverpool and Chester this weekend folks. Might have a few nice photo's to share during next week, weather permitting of course. Until then, hang in there.

Ash

Church On The Hill, Washington Village

There is only one holy hill in Washington village and that is the one upon which the Holy Trinity Church stands. Also known as the 'Church On The Hill', it is situated right next to the Old Hall in Washington Village.

It was purely by chance that I got this shot as I had intended to visit the gardens of the Old Hall but it was closed on Wednesday's. A bit strange I thought, but never mind. It was a lovely day too, and at this point I thought I'd have to do a runner and return another day. I walked the short distance back to the car - yes, I'm a bit of a lazy bugger after putting in a night shift! Right next to the car were the steps to the church and I couldn't help but notice the floral display right in front of me. Time to 'Tap in' and see what I could get. I took a few low angle shots with the 'Live View' activated as I didn't fancy lying on the floor and composing through the viewfinder.

Quite pleased with the results. Infact, I think I'll send one in to Pip at Tyne Tees - she likes a flower or two.

That is all.

Ash

Sunderland Echo (x2)

Two more of my photo's were published in the Sunderland Echo newspaper earlier this week. I must have sent them in a while back because I've been busy with other things lately and I haven't sent in any recent images. Still, it was a nice surprise to see my photo of Washington Old Hall followed by the 'Swans At Sunset' a couple of nights later. Infact, the Swans were captured last summer and I'm quite sure the shot has already been published but those folk at the Echo must have thought it deserved another crack.

I've got stacks more shots to send in to the Echo, so now I've caught up with my website work I'll be submitting a batch in the next few days.

Cheers, Ash

Wildlife Photography

Following my recent blog entry 'The Nesting Season', I'm back with an update in the shape of more wildlife photography.

Recent wanderings in my locality brought me a few photo opportunities in the company of Mute Swans. I'd left the compulsory loaf of bread at home by mistake so I wasn't too hopeful of any close-up shots, especially as I didn't have my 'Lure'. Never mind, you've gotta be optimistic.

I'd stumbled across 4 Mute Swan nests when I was out with my son Christopher, and as usual, the hen was sitting. Naturally the birds become quite aggressive if you push your luck and get too close to the nest site. Over the years I've had quite a lot of experience photographing Mute Swans at the nest site so I know my limits - wouldn't fancy being pecked in the face off one o' them buggers!

It's been around three weeks now since the nest discoveries so it shouldn't be too long now before each clutch of eggs hatch. That's when the fun will begin. Obviously, as experience tells me, the best shots of cygnets are most definately during those first few days, when they look very photogenic at such a small size. I have a few photo's of day old chicks on my website but I'm hoping to get plenty more in the next week or so. Hopefully all eggs will hatch successfully and the nest robbers will be kept at bay, well, for at least another year!

As hatching draws nearer here are a few more shots that I took last weekend. They were all taken at ONE of the nest sites but I hope to visit the other three this coming weekend, so there might be more news in the pipeline by Sunday night. Looks like I'll be parting with some pennies to buy a loaf of the owld Warburton's Toastie, eh. A small price to pay if I'm gonna get some good close-up's. Anyway, hope you like the latest shots. I'm liking the reflection one quite a lot. See ya later...

Ash

Too Much Telly?

Aye, Mr Corr has been monpolizing the Tyne Tees TV weather slot lately. Well, that's according to someone who sent me the two images shown here (you know who you are!) he he.

I've been forwarding my recent photo's to Pip Thomson via email and she's included twelve of my shots up to now in 2010. The other weather girl, Alex Watson, stand's in for Pip now and again, especially on weekends.

I have changed the text in the second image. Aye, it was a bit naughty.

Click on an image to enlarge. I wonder if I get any more sent through???

Ash