View allAll Photos Tagged APpicoftheweek
A patch of sunlight catching the foot of a snow-topped Horsehill Tor in Edale. The sun also highlighting the path at bottom centre leading to Jacob's Ladder.
Ford Prefect, seen in Matlock Bath. #Viltrox 75mm f1.2 and XT5 Kodak Gold film sim … the title, check out the tags IYKYK
Humble? Well, a little shrivelled maybe... Still welcoming small visitors.
Gravel Hill Wood, Langdon Hills, Essex, England
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Single shot, camera supported. WB set to 5000K, a little fill light from a pocket torch.
Because...what's in a name?
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Mean and moody. And that's not just the sky. We used every bit of our 200mm and walked on...
Fobbing Marsh, Essex, England
(CC Week 27: Storytelling)
March 2024
I am recording the progress of a little cherry tree we planted in our garden in the late summer of 2021. So far it has survived snow, frost, high winds, a heatwave and the not infrequent attentions of a certain dog. This past few months its also had exceptionally wet ground to contend with. It is thriving however and it will be interesting to watch it grow over the coming seasons. So this year some blossom has come early. The weather just needs to catch up.
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Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens. SOOC exposure, 10:8 crop.
And with this I really must bid farewell to the bluebells for 2025. There's so much else to do...!
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Hall Wood, Langdon Hills, Essex
Two storms on the bounce and yet our cherry tree hangs on to this one single leaf. Now that's what I call defiance!
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/longstrattonian] and I visit the RC Cathedral. I have borrowed a fisheye lens which I am enjoying experimenting with. Especially, I like NOT correcting the distortion. It gives images a 'different look' and I find it fascinating. The RC Cathedral near to me hs been an ideal place to try this out...a beautiful building and the light is often extraordinary...
Part of my 'Duffus Castle through the seasons' project.
The castle is situated on the Laich of Moray, a fertile plain that was once the swampy foreshore of Spynie Loch. This was originally a more defensive position than it appears today, long after the loch was drained.
The motte is a huge man-made mound, with steep sides and a wide ditch separating it from the bailey. The whole site is enclosed by a water-filled ditch, which is more a mark of its boundary than it is a serious defensive measure.
Duffus Castle was built by a Flemish man named Freskin, who came to Scotland in the first half of the 1100s. After an uprising by the ‘men of Moray’ against David I in 1130, the king sent Freskin north as a representative of royal authority.
He was given the estate of Duffus, and here he built an earthwork-and-timber castle. Freskin’s son William adopted the title of ‘de Moravia’ – of Moray. By 1200, the family had become the most influential noble family in northern Scotland, giving rise to the earls of Sutherland and Clan Murray.
In about 1270, the castle passed to Sir Reginald Cheyne the Elder, Lord of Inverugie. He probably built the square stone keep on top of the motte, and the curtain wall encircling the bailey. In 1305, the invading King Edward I of England gave him a grant of 200 oaks from the royal forests of Darnaway and Longmorn, which were probably used for the castle’s floors and roofs.
Everything has a purpose. Everything has a beauty.
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One of the many pumping station outflows on Canvey Island, Essex. "Keeping the residents' feet dry since 1953".
More than one hopefully. Every so often the Gods of Photography tap me on the shoulder and say "Oi mate, get a load of this!"
And so here I (almost) conclude 2024 much like it started.
Canvey Island, Christmas Eve 2024
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(Exposure SooC from iPhone 11)
The 2nd of two lots of 5mins of light & I wasn't ready with a composition saw me frantically looking for some foreground that would work.
#appicoftheweek
...of rapeseed. From a field in Essex, UK
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Bio fuels anyone? Or the ubiquitous vegetable oil.
(CC Week 18: bokeh)
Yellow wallflowers burst into flower a couple of weeks ago despite continuing rain and winds. Now they will fade away until their time comes again.
SOOC shot, no crop.
Come on. Through here, where the Primula are waiting.
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Langdon Hills, Essex UK
(CC March Rainbow Challenge - Green)
The solstice came and went in a dull grey haze. Today Freddie leads the way towards 2025 with low sunshine and lens flares.
The castle is situated on the Laich of Moray, a fertile plain that was once the swampy foreshore of Spynie Loch. This was originally a more defensive position than it appears today, long after the loch was drained.
The motte is a huge man-made mound, with steep sides and a wide ditch separating it from the bailey. The whole site is enclosed by a water-filled ditch, which is more a mark of its boundary than it is a serious defensive measure.
Duffus Castle was built by a Flemish man named Freskin, who came to Scotland in the first half of the 1100s. After an uprising by the ‘men of Moray’ against David I in 1130, the king sent Freskin north as a representative of royal authority.
He was given the estate of Duffus, and here he built an earthwork-and-timber castle. Freskin’s son William adopted the title of ‘de Moravia’ – of Moray. By 1200, the family had become the most influential noble family in northern Scotland, giving rise to the earls of Sutherland and Clan Murray.
In about 1270, the castle passed to Sir Reginald Cheyne the Elder, Lord of Inverugie. He probably built the square stone keep on top of the motte, and the curtain wall encircling the bailey. In 1305, the invading King Edward I of England gave him a grant of 200 oaks from the royal forests of Darnaway and Longmorn, which were probably used for the castle’s floors and roofs.
By 1350, the castle had passed to a younger son of the Earl of Sutherland through marriage. It may have been then that the keep was abandoned, possibly because it was beginning to slip down the mound, and a new residence established at the north of the bailey.
Viscount Dundee, leader of the first Jacobite Rising, dined in the castle as a guest of James, Lord Duffus in 1689, prior to his victory against King William II’s government forces at Killiecrankie. Soon after, Lord Duffus moved to the nearby Duffus House. The castle quickly fell into decay.
Caught this evening, in some shadow and whilst breezy. Hence:
EXIF plus EL-100 Speedlite at ETTL to camera right via off camera cable. And a little refinement in Affinity Photo.
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Our garden, July 2025
CC July Rainbow - Red
Marvelous that these little guys are still about given the awful British weather that August has dished up. They continue to wait in the asters for suitable prey. Green crab spider - Diaea dorsata
Enys Gardens Enys is situated a few miles to the East of Penryn in Cornwall. The beautiful gardens are a genuine joy and the bluebells during spring are an eye to behold. The building have been left to rack and ruin but are slowy awakening from their slumber. The Bluebell festival in May is a joy and I was lucky enough to look around last Tuesday in the pouring rain.