Header Challenge 16th February 2011 � `Tracks`

The theme for this weeks challenge has been kindly set by Tom -  fishing guy and is `Tracks`.

Now many of you would think, knowing that I worked on the railway for a number of years, that railway tracks would be my chosen photo subject in relation to this theme, but, no! you�d be wrong.

I�ve decided to stay well clear of the railway tracks on this occasion, and so, camera in hand I went out to see what other tracks I could find.

Well one of the first tracks I came across was from my car tyres. Here they are leaving tracks in the mud�

As you can see, Its been a bit on the wet side recently and as we live on a country lane tyre tracks in the mud are a common occurrence.

The roads near where we live are themselves just tracks really�

Welcome to the Lincolnshire countryside!

Coming back into the house, and the warmth, after the cold damp trip around the country lanes, I decided to put on some music and realised that here was even more tracks; the tracks on a music CD�

Here you go I've taken some close-up macro shots of the cd tracks for you.

The CD I chose even has `Tracks` in it�s title�

For my header though this week I have gone for one of the many farm tracks around my house, one our girls frequently use to walk our dog.

I wonder what track my fellow headbangers have travelled down for their headers this week?

Its great to see the number visiting my blog growing each week. Why don�t you say hello and introduce yourselves. Tell me what you like and why you dropped by. Maybe there is something  new you would like to see on my blog?  Or something I�ve done in the past revisited.  Whatever the reason for the visit remember to say hi and come back soon.

Thanks for dropping by.

Header Challenge 8th December 2010 � Snow.

 

This weeks challenge is that winter favourite Snow.

Now for a change we have had some snow already in South Lincolnshire. Nowhere near as much as many other parts of the UK but even the little we have had seems to have caused chaos. Schools have been closed though much to my daughters disgust not theirs. Even my university the Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln closed its campus for about a week due to the snow.

It may cause problems for many but it certainly is beautiful to look at.

though I don�t think our chickens agreed.

So what should I use as this weeks header?

I thought a first to go with footprints in the snow�

but couldn't get it to fit the full width of the header bar and I wanted something a little better.

How about�

our dog Corky in the snow but again wrong shape for the header bar.

I even looked at a photo I took of the snow as it melted from our garden table forming some very strange shapes�

but it was in the wrong format for the header bar so I chose a photograph taken from an upstairs window looking out across the fields of South Lincolnshire whilst the snow continued to fall.

Hope you like it and are enjoying the picture opportunities snow whilst it lasts.

Don�t forget to leave your comments on my blog and then check out the other snow pictures of the headbangers, just follow the links in the right hand menu bar.

Eggs Surprise!

We keep a few chickens in our back garden here in Lincolnshire as many of you know. Having fresh eggs daily from your own chickens is really nice and they always seem to taste better when they are your own chickens.

Well we got a bit of a surprise this lunchtime when we collected in our chickens egg from their nest boxes. They were all cracked! Nothing really unusable about that as eggs get cracked all the time. The surprise was why they had cracked.

They had all frozen solid within their shells�

So instead of hard boiled eggs we had hard frozen eggs!

It was so unusual as in all the years we have had chickens we have not seen it before. So I just had to get the camera out and take some pictures.

Poor chickens, time for extra straw and a nice warm mash!

Header Challenge 10th November 2010 � Persimmon.

 

Now this weeks challenge, chosen by Lanny is just one word, �persimmon�. Now in Lanny�s neck of the woods persimmon trees and fruit might be easy to come by, but, over here in beautiful Lincolnshire, England its almost unheard of.

I understand that persimmon is a burnt orange type of colour much like our sunsets.

Or the colour of beautiful flowers�

They may be the right colour, but, as we are in Lincolnshire and don�t have access to persimmon trees they still aren't the fruit.

In Boston home to St Botoloph�s church, known locally as the stump, persimmon is seen on many signposts�

Not advertising fruit trees but rather, a house building company, Persimmon Homes.

They are building a new riverfront complex in Boston Lincolnshire so that is what I have chosen to use as my header.

I hope you like my take on the theme Persimmon, especially you Lanny, let me know what you think and don't forget to visit my other headbanger friends to see their take on this weeks challenge. Just follow their links at the top of my right hand column.

Headbanger Challenge 3rd November 2010 � Fall has Arrived.

 

This weeks headbangers challenge has been set by Tom- fishing Guy and is `Fall has Arrived`. Now over here we don�t call it the fall but stick to Autumn. So I hope you don�t mind Tom but I�ll sub head this weeks header with �Autumnal�.

Now autumn colours I love, all the golden yellows vibrant gold's and bronzes of the leaves. The bright red of the berries in the hedgerows, they all make for an outstanding photo opportunity.

So to try and get that great shot I headed over to a little lake in my neighbouring village to take some photos for the header challenge.

 

Now the lake isn�t very big but there is still an abundance of trees surrounding it.

Unfortunately as you can see from this photo I arrived a little late for some of them as they had already lost a lot of their leaves.

So it called for a bit more creativity.

Holding the camera just above the ground gave me this more exciting photo.

I used the berries and tree trunk in this shot to frame the fishing jetty and Lily pads.

It must be nice to live in this bungalow and have the beauty of the lake at the bottom of your garden.

I hope you like the little Autumn jaunt down to the lake. Do you think the different camera angles have worked? Let me know what you think in the comments section.

If this is your first visit why not stay a while have a look around then pop over to see the other entrants in this weeks header challenge. Just follow the links at the top of my right hand column.

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Header Challenge 27th October 2010 � Sound Creations

 

Hi this weeks header challenge is Sound Creations selected by Gailsman.

The creation of sound is something close to my heart. I like to think I create music whilst others may just call it noise. I do play the percussion after all.

My header photos though have been taken from our summer flower festival held every year in Spalding Lincolnshire.

There are always numerous marching bands of different genres dotted throughout the parade showing of their musical talents and helping the parade go with a swing.

Why not check out my other headbanger entrants just follow the links to their blogs at the top of my right hand menu bar.

Sorry fore the late posting this week but our internet went down again and I didn�t think I was going to be able to post at all so better late than never I hope you agree?

 

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Header Challenge 20th October 2010 � Sepia.

This weeks header challenge has been chosen by imac. His choice this week is �Sepia�.

Sepia is the name given to the photographic development process used to enhance its archival properties and to give the photograph a warmer hue. The process got its name from the adding of a pigment to the chemical development of the photograph, derived from the Sepia officinalis cuttlefish found in the English channel.

With modern digital developments and printing processes the sepia pigment is no longer required to assist the photographs protection against the elements. Now sepia toning is mainly seen in either very old photographs or new photos digitally enhanced to look old.

Most photo editing software can now change a colour image into a sepia toned image giving the illusion that the photograph is old or just to add a warming effect to enhance the image.

The effect can be subtle as in the above photograph. just to add warmth to an image.

It can also be used to give an illusion of age to a photograph�

 

helped in this picture by the addition of period costume.

Pictures of historical societies can also be enhanced by the technique�

as in this group riding their period bicycles through Spalding in Lincolnshire.

 

Changing the tone to sepia has helped to give the illusion of age to the scene, even though it was actually taken this year.

The technique can be used to Add warmth to an image instilling not necessarily age to the picture but atmosphere.

Sepia has a wide range of applications now other than its original meaning.

Let me apologise for the scarcity of my posts over the last 2 weeks but this has been due to a telephone line fault resulting in the loss of internet access other than via my mobile phone. Hopefully the fault will soon be fixed, we have internet now, but, it is very slow as the fault has only partly been resolved.

Tell me your thoughts on sepia, do you think it is still a viable option to enhance photographs?Let me know your thoughts via the comments section regarding anything about my blog, good or bad.

Why don�t you drop in on the other headbangers and see what they have devised as a header and post for Sepia. Just follow the links at the top of the right hand column.

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Header Challenge 6th October 2010 - Harvest

 

This weeks header challenge has been chosen by Lanny. Her choice for this week is Harvest.

Now locally in Lincolnshire a lot of the harvest has already been gathered in, but, luckily I had the foresight to take some photographs of the farmer gathering his in, in the field next to our house a few weeks ago. You never know when photos like that will come in handy, thanks Lanny.

 

This is what the field next to our house looked like before he started harvesting.

During the Harvest the harvester headed straight towards our house allowing for a great opportunity for a photo.

According to the local farmers if the bales are round then they are set to be used for animal feed. If they, like the ones next to us, are square (well square-ish) they are destined for use in a local power plant to be burned for eco-fuel.

Its great to see the fields harvested in, although the dust created does mean all the windows in the house need to be shut tight.

Why not drop in on the other headbangers and see what they have come up with as their banners this week. Just follow the links to them at the top of the right hand column.

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Lincolnshire Project 1st October 2010

Well today is Lincolnshire day so I thought it was a very apt day to update my Lincolnshire project. My Lincolnshire project is to take a photograph in the same spot of Southern Lincolnshire every two weeks for a year. The hope is to catch the changing seasons and weather in a digital and visual record of the scenery of Lincolnshire.

October 1st marks the fifth official 'Lincolnshire Day' and historically, the date commemorates the Pilgrimage of Grace, which began in 1536 - the widespread revolt against the rule of Henry VIII. For more information visit the official Lincolnshire Day website.

Today's photo across Lincolnshire is unfortunately shrouded in rain as it has been very wet all day here.

The hedgerow in the left of the frame has been recently trimmed opening up a bit more of the horizon to be viewed. The field of sugar beet is yet to be harvested and the tree in the dyke on the right of the frame has completely died.

Happy Lincolnshire Day everybody.

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Family Holiday, to Pas de Calais in Northern France

Our family�s summer holiday this year was to the Pas de Calais region in Northern France. We rented a little cottage which was part of a barn conversion in the Les Palmiers complex in the town of Arques.

Arques, France

We rented the cottage for a week via the �Cottages 4 you� website. We had booked cottage holidays with this company before so found the booking of this one fairly straight forward.  When we booked it, we received confirmation and were instructed that the tickets and arrival documentation would be sent out closer to the time of the holiday, which they were. Unfortunately there was a French tourist tax and deposit added on later, this was requested to be payable on arrival at the cottage.

So we packed the car with all the important things such as camera, spare lenses, tripod, filters oh and a few clothes, not forgetting passports and tickets as well and set out on our trip from South Lincolnshire, England to Arques, France.

The journey down from Lincolnshire to Dover went well if a little cramped for the rear passengers in the car, (why do teenage girls need to take so much luggage?)

We even had time to take a few pictures of the white cliffs of Dover before we got on the P&O ferry to go between Dover and Calais.

On arriving in France we drove about an hour inland to the town of Arques were we had booked to stay. My daughters thought it fun to keep reminding me �right� drive on the �right� although I only nearly forgot at one junction and there were no other cars close by.

When we arrived at Les Palmiers in Arques, the owner of the cottages met us as we drove in to the complex and gave us a guided tour around the cottage.

Each cottage had its own private garden where you could sit out for a meal or drinks or just for a bit of sun.

In one end of the converted barn was an indoor heated swimming pool, one of the reasons we chose this property.

You could lie in the pool and look up at the lovely beamed ceiling�

or just sit and relax in the comfy chairs whilst the children played in the pool.

The whole barn conversion was very nice. All the rooms were clean and well furnished, our bedroom even had a king sized four poster bed, luxury. The complex was gated and therefore felt secluded and quite peaceful.

The region of France in which we stayed is renowned for its canals and waterways, its fine coasts, great historical heritage sites and museums and of course its abundance of gastronomic delights too.

As we had arrived late afternoon at the cottage we decided to save the exploring of the Pas de Calais region of France until the following day. Instead we had a relaxing evening, some went swimming while others read or played games. The day travelling across had went very well and the cottage was lovely, it all bode well for this being a great holiday.

Come back tomorrow and see how our first full day of the holiday in France unfolds.

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Lincolnshire Project 10th September 2010.

 

The Lincolnshire project continues with this weeks photo taken across the landscape of South Lincolnshire.

As I am trying to take the photo using, as close as possible, the camera settings I used in the original shot, the grey sky this afternoon has given very little definition to the photo.

As I stated in my original post on June 11th, I decided I would take a photograph of the same scene every 2 weeks throughout the year. The hope was that we would be able to see the seasons unfold in south Lincolnshire via the medium of photography.

Looking back at the six photos taken before this one, there doesn�t immediately seem a big difference to the images.

The light and sky is certainly different across the images. The hedgerow has also filled out on the left of the frame, but, unfortunately due to the tree on the right of the frame dying, it remains the same throughout all the images, well that's nature for you I suppose.

Why don�t you follow the rest of the project throughout the year with me, either subscribe via the form at the top of the left column, or simply click the follow button further down on the left column. That way you can make sure you won�t miss a weeks posting of the project.

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Lincolnshire Project 20th August 2010

I started this project a couple of months ago, you can see my original post here ��Lincolnshire Project�. The concept is to take a photograph in the same spot in South Lincolnshire, England, every two weeks throughout the year. My hope is by doing this we will be able to see the subtle differences that the landscape takes on as the seasons change.

I have been a little bit thwarted by the tree that frames the right hand side of the image, as it has died, thus it is not producing the lovely change of leaves that I had hoped for.

To give you a wider idea of the area surrounding this frame I have stitched together a panoramic photograph of the fields just out of the range of the photo.

I hope you will continue following this project with me and if you have any suggestions for projects or topics to cover in further issues please feel free to let me know via the comment section.

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Botulf�s Stone founded by St Botolph- Headbanger Challenge 18-08-2010

St Botolph a renowned missionary and Saxon monk was influential in his day and was granted a tract of land on which to build a monastery.  Thus Icanho monastery and abbey were founded.

Botulf�s Stone now called Boston in Lincolnshire England was thought to have grown up around Icanho abbey which was founded by St Botolph in the 7th Century.

Building of St Botolph�s Church pictured in this weeks header was commenced in 1309 and completed apart from the tower in 1430. The tower was completed later in 1520.

St Botolph�s know locally as the Stump (no idea why) is one of the largest parish churches in the country.

The criteria for this weeks headbangers challenge is Streets in your town that share famous names, I hope the banner meets your criteria Gailsman. Botolph Street and Botolph�s town together is that famous enough?

For more exiting new banners why don�t you visit the other headbangers just follow the links at the top of the right column.

Dirt � The Brenda Photo challenge

The challenge this time around is to create a blog with the theme of dirt!

What an expiring topic you say! Well that's exactly what I thought until I remembered the archaeological dig we did as a family a few months ago. So I hope you will excuse me for not using purposely taken shots but the theme just works with these ones.

As a family we joined a close friend of ours, who is also a qualified archaeologist on a dig at his home in Lincolnshire England. As you can see there was plenty of dirt involved in the dig, and a lot of hard work too.

Bend those knees! Put your back into it! Looks like slave labour but she did volunteer to have a go with the pick.

What's that stop already have you found something? No? False alarm!

As we dug we were instructed by Ray to keep the trench a meter square so that correct recordings of finds could be catalogued according to area they were found in.  Ray our archaeologist kept us amateurs in line and supplied us with mountains of information on the techniques and art of archaeology and specifically the history of the area we were digging in.

We had hoped to find Roman remains as the area was thought to have been the site of an old Roman villa. Unfortunately this was not to be and very little was found on this particular dig. I suppose better luck next time. We still had a great day out and learnt a lot about the history of the area and the art of archaeology.

You never know one day we may uncover a find such as this one.

But then we don�t have much like Pompeii around here in Lincolnshire.

Why don�t you drop by to view some of the other entrants to see what they have been up to in the theme of dirt in The Brenda Photo Challenge at:

 The Brenda Photo Challenge - Dirt.