Natural History and Countryside Photographs. UPDATED 20th MARCH 2022.

 Hello all.

 

UPDATED 20th MARCH 2022.

Well, here I am again. I'll carry on until something else happens! I've had even more problems. This has to be the end of a trying time for me. I hope. For those who have seen the original post on the 10th of February, scroll down to the blue text and read from there. The rest of the readers, start here.

Life got in my way again as regards posting more regularly. SIGH. Oh, well, here I am with my latest post. This one is all natural history and nice countryside photos.

If I don't think an image needs a comment from me, I won't add one.

I'm starting with my best photos of lepidoptera last year. A couple of them rank as my best discoveries in several years.

The first one is a Mother of Pearl Moth and my all time best moth photo. I've photographed several of them over the last few years. I never understood why they are called "Mother of Pearl", as they have all been white, or off white moths. That is until I took the one below, then I understood it's name, I was amazed! It seems that the light needs to be at a particular angle to the moth,  before it's beautiful iridescence becomes visible. It's wingspan is  26 to 40 mm.

Mother of Pearl moth

Next, my second best moth photo last year, a beautiful Frosted Orange. Along with a few others, it was one my Holy Grail moths. I woke one morning to find this one sleeping on our front door. It's said that everything comes to those who waits.

Frosted Orange moth

The moth below is an annual visitor to our house, I love this one. It's a reasonably large moth, with a  wingspan of 45 to 50 mm. It was in the perfect position for photographing.

Angle Shades.

Below is a detail of the Angle Shades head, showing the tufts of scales.

Angle Shades, detail

My last moth in this post is a Brimstone Moth, I had several of them come to the door last year, far more than normal. (Many moths come to light and flowers). This one is another regular visitor. A newly hatched one is a beautiful, bright yellow. Like many moths, their colour fades as they get older.

Brimstone Moth

Now for my last lepidoptera in this post. It's a very striking Peacock Butterfly. The large spot on each wing is to make predators think it's a great deal larger than it is. If disturbed, the peacock butterfly can rub its wings together to create a hissing sound. This combined with its large eye-spots, will help to deter predators. After waking from hibernation, this butterfly often lays 500 eggs at a time.

Peacock Butterfly

I have two more wildlife photos to show, before I move to another topic. The first is a Marmalade Hoverfly. It's called that because of the orange lines on its body, which resemble shredded marmalade. In Britain there are over 270 species and over 6,000 hoverfly species across the world. They are known as farmers friends, as the are important pollinators of plants and crops. Also, some of their larvae have a huge appetite for aphids, which damage millions of pounds worth of crops each year. Thay have no sting and are harmless to humans. Their yellow and black stripes make them look like wasps and are for protection against predators. I love to watch them hover in the air over flowers. 

Marmalade Hoverfly on Bramble flower

The last wildlife creature is the Heron. They are an impressive sight, being 90 to 98 cm in height with a wingspan of 175 to 195 cm. I've tried to get a photo of one for years but they take to the air, if you get anywhere near them. I was very pleased with this shot.

Heron.

I'm going to have to stop for now, I don't usually do this, but I'm posting what I've typed up so far. Tomorrow or the day after, I shall finish the rest of this post.

OK, here are the rest of the images for this post.

First, two skyscapes. Clouds are such incredible things to photograph. They constantly vary in size, shape, colour and amount of clouds visible at an time. They are good indicators of weather to come too.

Sunset over a Winter Field

Sunny Day on the Moors

Three tree images.

Sunlit Woods, Hollins Lane Nature Reserve

The Weir at Hollins Lane

I came across this on a walk. As soon as I saw it, I thought " This is a tree clock" The title was born. Some things present themselves to me on sight, others need a little thought.

Tree Clock

The next image is the only photo which relates to the sea. It was taken on the beech at Heacham, Norfolk, at sunset.

Tide on the Beach

Below are two images from a series I'm working on, of  the Calder and Hebble canal. This is a wonderful area for photography and walking. Depending upon the weather, time of year and time of day, it changes dramatically. It's a haven for flora and fauna. If you're lucky, you may see a Kingfisher fly from the trees, down to the water and catch a fish. There are narrow boats gliding past from time to time, too.

Bracken by the Canal Side

Leaves and Grass Floating Past

The last nine images, are some of my current favourite plant and flower photos. Nature really is amazing.

Greater Willowherb in Autumn

Crane's Bill Seedpods

Hogweed Seedpods

Pixy Cup Lichens with Raindrops

The title of the following photo, is an in-joke. There are several species of ornamental grasses called "Feather Grass". This it not one of them!  Actually, this is the second photo I've takes of a feather caught in a low-growing plant. Maybe I could hunt for more and make a collection of them. They'd make a nice little book. The other photo can be found in my blog post dated, Monday 11th May 2020 and titled, "An Offering".

Feather Grass

Most people look at things but don't see them. "Oh look, a pretty flower". Then they walk on. The closer you get to objects, the more you see in them, try it!

Close-up of a Zinnia Flower

Tagetas Macro photograph

The last two photos in this post are of Teasel seed heads. I took them less than three minutes apart. They are incredibly photogenic. I think I mentioned teasels before in an earlier post. They're very common in West Yorkshire. The seed heads used to be used in the textile industry. Below is a VERY short item about them.

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/lifestyle/teasel-power-1847165

Teasels against the Sun

Teasels against the Sky

 

Abstract Art, Abstract Expressionism, Modern Art, Photomontage, Photography.

Hello and welcome to everyone around the world. At last, the new post. Between continuing health issues and major work being done inside our house, I have  been kept away from blogging for a while. This post is a mixture of my latest work. As always, if  I think a piece needs any comments, I will add them immediately above that piece of art. So, in no special order, on with the show.

I'm starting with one I was particularly pleased with. As some of the regular readers will know, I have done a fair bit of Fine Art printing. I'm hoping to start again, once the work on the house is finished. The artwork below is in a fine art print style and came out far better than my expectations.

Still Life #7

Next, two more which I like a lot, both in a fine art print style.

Growth

Caves

Recently, we had some heavy snowfalls here in the village, followed by freezing conditions. The image below is a photograph of ice which had somehow created a bubble like surface. The ice was about 1 inch thick, (25.4cm).

 Ice Bubbles

The next image continues with the idea of something being frozen, then painted.

In Ice

I think it's time for something suggesting warm weather. I think the title says all I want to say about it.

Summer of  '67 #2

The next five pieces are part of  a series. They were created using a technique I was inventing, (making up) as I worked on the images. It was very experimental, I had no clear idea what the results would be like. It was quite exciting for me and gave me a pleasant surprise. 

Daleside

The following work, (The Last Mill Chimney) is a lament for the loss of England's great textile industry.

The Last Mill Chimney

Vases

Standing Figures

Three Harbour Views

The one below is a photomontage. It's part of a series entitled, "Lost Mills". It is another lament for our textile industry. Textiles are a huge part of Yorkshire's heritage, and were the main factor in it's wealth for a long time. For those visitors to this blog from overseas, I will explain that the area of Yorkshire I live is very hilly, being in the Pennine Mountain chain. It is a wonderful water catchment area, with plenty of streams and rivers, and is suitable for sheep. The water is "soft" i.e. it runs through Millstone Grit, (sandstone) and not Limestone. The calcium and magnesium carbonates in Limestone, result in "hard" water. Soft water is perfect for washing the oils and lanolin from the wool of sheep. (Soap lathers far better in soft water). Naturally, a textile industry formed here.  That was a very potted history of our textile industry, missing a lot out, such as the Industrial Revolution and the Luddites. Sorry Yorkshire! I'm (slowly) adding images to the "Lost Mill" series. 

Lost Mill #4

Quite a few of the next images fall loosely under the heading of  Abstract Expressionism, but by no means all of them. Two or three are abstract photomontage works. The rest are, well, take a look and decide for yourselves.

Devolving

Rays of Glory

Druid's Temple

Countryside Study

Island Splash

Seabed

Sunken Atlantis

Lambda

1950s Cocktail Bar

Lime

Green Rain

Robot 7XB

Robot 7XB was the last image in this post. I hope you liked what you have seen, or at least liked some of it. I've not decided what the subject of the next post will be yet. I do know that it is unlikely I shall be able to do another post within the next six weeks or so. I have to wait until the work being carried out at home is finished and I have access to my studio again. Plus we shall be taking a holiday on The Isle of Arran, in Scotland soon. We were there two years ago and I fell in love with it. I came home with a lot of photos, many of which are in this blog. Look at the post on Seaweeds for a start. I hope to be getting a lot more photos of parts of Arran that we didn't see last time.  I love malt whisky, so we shall be visiting the Arran Whisky distillery for certain. I'm getting excited already.

Please don't forget to leave a comment, thank you.

In the meantime, be nice to each other.

Gordon.

Art From Seaweeds

Hi everyone

A few weeks ago, we were on holiday in the beautiful isle of Arran, in Scotland. It was the first time we had visited it, but it will not be the last. One of the amazing things we discovered was that the whole island is Fairtrade, incredible, but very commendable. Arran is on the Gulf Stream, so it's a little warmer than you would expect. As a result palm trees are growing all over the place.

Arran makes a lot of their own goods on the island, beer, malt whiskey, Arran Dunlop cheese, there is a smokehouse producing excellent quality smoked meat and fish and it has a restaurant with a very high reputation, Arran Scotch Tablet is made there, it's only sold on the ferry from the mainland to the island and one or two selected shops on Arran. Scotch tablet is a kind of sweet fudge which has a crunchy texture, for those of you who do not know about it. It is my secret vice, it's a good job it is not sold where I live, I'd be diabetic!  There is a company called Arran Aromatics there too. They make cosmetic creams, shampoos, hand washing liquids etc. One of the nice things about Arran is that the shops all sell each others products, even the ferry uses the Arran Aromatics liquid soap on it ships, and sells Arran produce, as do the cafes and restaurants. I almost forgot to say that most, if not all the products made on Arran have won awards for quality and taste. Even better, everyone we met was warm, friendly and helpful, what a wonderful place.

Anyway, to carry on. Before I went, Colin, from FEET, the ecology organisation I am connected with asked me to photograph as much of the flora and fauna of the place as I could. I was then to blog it on the FEET members site, I took about 600 photos. It took me about 2 weeks to sort them out and I've posted my first blog, it was about the seaweeds I found there.

I looked at the images and decided it would be nice to try and make art from them. this post shows the results. I don't think they need any words to go with them, except the titles, so I shall just add art below.

Harvest 

 Abstract Beach

Eel Grass 

Herring Shoal

Waving

Kelpie Flow

Sea Salad

Sea Lace

Shoreline Garden

Sea Snake

Seafruit

Underwater #2 

Venetian Plus

Wave Rider

Tapestry

Illustration #1 

Moonlit Sea 

Moulded Seaweed

Sea Glass

Sea Lights

And that is it, all twenty images, inspired by the sea and it's organisms. I have my favourites as you would expect, the last image being one of them. I hope some of you have yours.

Until the next time,

Be kind to one another.

Gordon.