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This photograph, taken from the stunning vantage point of Cape Royal in Grand Canyon National Park, captures a moment of serene beauty during the early blue hour.
The sky takes on a deep blue tone, while the towering rock formation stands majestically, its intricate layers highlighted by the subtle glow of fading daylight. Wotans Throne is a striking and iconic rock formation in the Grand Canyon, located on the North Rim near Cape Royal. It's named after Wotan, the chief of gods in Norse mythology, adding a sense of majesty and mythic grandeur to its allure.
In this moment, the Grand Canyon reveals not just its physical grandeur, but also its profound sense of timelessness.
The scene evokes in me a quiet contemplation, a reminder of the enduring power and beauty of nature. I hope I manage to bring you close to this feeling
Extreme Winter continues: photos from different parts of my country that I think epitomize winter. This morning's offering is from New Year's Day 2008, when I was visiting friends in rural Quebec after my mom died a couple of weeks earlier. I flew to Montreal, rented a car, did what had to be done, then went to hang out with people I'd known for many years. Decades.
The night before I left, it snowed. Heavily. Irenée had to work in the morning. Their driveway is a hundred yards long, and he made it passable. Then another ton of snow fell overnight, and we had to use shovels in the morning to dig ourselves out. The backroad drive to the nearest highway was an adventure in my rented Toyota Yaris, but I managed to stay out of the ditches.
At the time I was living on the west coast, where sometimes ice freezes in puddles and some winters there is snow. This was reminiscent of my childhood in Quebec, and I didn't mind it at all. When you live in a place like this, you just deal with it.
For this photo, I somehow focused through the falling snow and popped a flash. I was using one of the worst lenses Nikon ever made, the long forgotten 18-135mm for DX bodies. It is so totally forgotten that Photoshop doesn't even have it listed, so I can't make automated lens corrections during processing. Nice focal range; mediocre performance and image quality. Eventually I lost it when it rolled into a tide pool: I retrieved it but the salt water ensured it would never work again. What a relief!
Photographed near Danville, in the Eastern Townships of Quebec (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2008 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Managed to drag myself out of bed for a sunrise great morning but by lunchtime I was playing scrabble in the community hall on Bryher with the rain pouring down. I hasten to add none of the family had taken waterproofs with them.
I managed to grab a quick hour or so in town with my brother today, which was nice as it has been ages since we have been out taking photos together- think it was the 100 strangers London meet up!
The light was beginning to go, so we were on our way to grab a coffee and then go to the car when I spotted Issy standing outside the main shopping centre in the middle of Leicester. She was selling poppies, and I had to check with my brother that he hadn't already photographed her, as he had stopped a girl selling poppies at the other end of town a little while earlier. My luck was in, and it was a different lady, so I approached her with the aim of asking for her portrait and buying a poppy.
Unfortunately for me, I had left my wallet in the car (good excuse to not get the coffee's in I guess!), but Issy was very understanding and agreed to have a few pictures taken for the project anyway.
Issy is a student from Leeds, but was down in Leicester at the moment.
I didn't feel that it was right to keep her from her job for too long, so I gave her a moo card and headed off, but it was a pleasure meeting her.
Issy really stood out from the crowd, with brilliant blue eyes, and a great style about her, and she came across as being very chilled out and friendly.
Thanks Issy for being part of my project, and I hope you like your pictures.
This picture is #75 in the second round of my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project at www.100strangers.com
Managed to get here as the sun was coming up over the hill. It was a frosty morning and you can see ground frost on the shaded part of the hill.
Just very minor tweaking from raw in Serif so its virtually sooc.
Explore : Highest position: 353 on Thursday, January 31, 2013
Explore 132.
I managed to scramble out of bed on my day off to go take some shots in the heavy fog. I found my way to the beach (where I always end up) and the sun was just beginning to break through the bank of fog. The whole beach had the mysterious and slightly eerie feel that you get in heavy mist and fog. The stones were just big enough to catch the foaming wave. A break from Dartmoor at least! Our local beach always provides. Thanks for faves and the like, much appreciated.
Exposure: 0.125 sec (1/8)
Aperture: f/18.0
Focal Length: 12 mm
ISO Speed: 100
This is the first time I have managed a shot of a Nuthatch its not spectacularly sharp but I think passable. Would have preferred a shot without the bird feeder but I could not manage one in the trees. It was a pretty gloomy day in Hebden one day I might manage to visit my friends when the sun shines
The nuthatch is a plump bird about the size of a great tit that resembles a small woodpecker. It is blue-grey above and whitish below, with chestnut on its sides and under its tail. It has a black stripe on its head, a long black pointed bill, and short legs. It breeds in central and southern England and in Wales, and is resident, with birds seldom travelling far from the woods where they hatch.
THANKS FOR YOUR VISIT AND FOR TAKING THE TIME TO WRITE A COMMENT IT’S MUCH APPRECIATED.
A corporate head shot of Jann Birss who is the Managing Director of Wirral based cleaning company The Daily Maid.
Hey all!
Back in June this year I went up to the Noosa National Park to shoot the sunset and I managed to get this long exposure image of the sky lighting up on fire about 30 mins after sunset.
I was up at Granite Bay and I was getting ready to pack up and leave because I thought the sunset was a fizzer when I saw a faint red glow start to appear on the horizon, So I took a few shots and noticed it getting more and more intense.
Quickly found this composition and shot some long exposure images of the fiery red sky and got this one. I just found this on my computer so re-edited it and this is the final image.
I hope you like it, Thanks for looking!
Website: mischiefmanagedsl.com
Managed to get out for the first time in a while last night. I took my wife to some of my old favourites, after seeing my favourite phonebox had been removed and my favourite church was lit up like Big Ben we strayed a few miles to another place I used to shoot back in the day. Trailed for 30 mintues before packing up and going home, lit by passing cars and trucks as well as a little foregound lighting from my iphone. I remember there was a security light that came on when you got too close so I chose to stand back and get a nice fisheye shot.
Enjoy
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"Jemima Puddle-Duck " .... a Beatrix Potter children's book character
One of the ducks living at an Animal Rescue Sanctuary.......
Despite their foraging in the muddy grass and puddle.... I at least managed a photograph... not so for the galloping goats which might have been more fun to view :-) ...
Margaret Green Animal Rescue and re-homing centre.
..... " care without compromise "
Managed to spot a tiny Common Blue flitting around the Clay Pit nature reserve a few days ago, luckily it balanced on top of a grass stem for a few seconds before going on another mazy flight. E-M5/60mm.
Strictly linear! Taken in the so-called Telekom City in Darmstadt, Germany. This was one of the few shots I managed on that day before I was hassled by the security apes hired by a big German phone company - they threatened to call the police if I continued to take photos, and I called their bluff by insisting that they did.
Please view in full size for the best effect.
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Managed a few hours out today with the camera, and the recent mild weather has brought out the adders. I thought this looked very large until two heads appeared. I was surprised how many we spotted. You can see how well they blend into their surroundings, very easy to walk past.
Managed to finish work early on Wednesday so managed to get out and enjoy the lovely sunshine. Of course, this being England the weathers gone back to being cold! Can't win!
Managed to squeeze in a quick half hour at the beach. This was about the best shot out of the 5 I managed. Lit from camera left for the front light on the groynes and from camera right for the sea defences in the background. All with the trusty Lenser T7.
Well, finally managed to get out this week, maybe not as spectacular as the sunsets of the two previous nights, but a sunset nonetheless.
Quite a few photographers out tonight, I was joined by fellow BCC members Mike and Gerald
Please take time to visit the set
Filters Used
Lee 0.9NDS Grad
Hi-Tech 0.9ND Reverse Grad
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I managed to get into a remnant of bamboo forest near Tokyo, just before I left for Australia. It was very poor for invertebrates, as expected, apart from mosquitoes. But after a while, I managed to find a few collembolans, happily, on the decaying bamboo. The pleasure of being amongst native, fully grown bamboo was immense. When I saw bamboo growing wild for the first time, it was incredible. I hadn't quite realised how similar it is to woodland, just done with bamboo instead. Just fantastic.
I managed to get up to Lancelin recently for a late afternoon/evening shoot. The conditions were looking good so I headed up there giving myself plenty of time to scout the dunes for a composition I was happy with. After roaming the dunes for 3 hours or so I had two compositions marked out that I felt were strong. It was then a matter of waiting for the sun to meet the horizon and for the lines in the dunes to take shape.
Lancelin, Western Australia
5 images stacked for Depth of Field
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Managed a brief session with the local lizards this morning whilst the sun was out. Seem to be quite a few around this year which is great to see.
Concrete and metal, trying in vain to stop the inevitable flooding of Norfolk's low lying countryside.
Walcott, Norfolk.
managed to catch a few trains at False Summit before the wind kicked up and ruined the reflecting pond
Man O' War bay, on the Jurassic coast Dorset.
If you follow David Noton on facebook you may have seen him post a shot from the same location taken during a course he was running. I was lucky enough to have been on that course which involved visiting fantastic locations like this.
This shot was taken pretty much the same time, albeit from a slightly different location.
I can only hope I manage to put all I learnt over the weekend into practice and keep going with my photography.
I did something a little different with this shot as an experiment. I used a 3 stop filter along with a 3 stop ND grad to smooth out the water just enough to see more of the sun reflecting on the water. Really pleased with the result and came away with a large print of this.
I managed to get an early morning view of the new nova in the constellation Sagittarius this morning, March 29, 2015. According to recent observations, this unusual nova has had an unusual magnitude shift, up and down and now back up again. Grab a blanket and head out to see this bright nova before it is gone!
Nova Sagittarii 2015 No. 2 was discovered by nova hunter John Seach of Chatsworth Island, NSW, Australia.
Sagittarius is low on the southern horizon from my viewing location, just above tree level, but I did manage to capture it this morning. The nova is the brightest object inside the yellow circle. I used a Canon 6D, Canon 100mm f/2.8L lens mounted on a tripod with no guiding. I placed some reference star magnitudes on the chart for you.
Salami managed to keep still on my palm for a record 5 seconds today, before scrambling right off my palm >_____< It was a great relief he landed on my bed >_____< Until recently, it was impossible to have him hold still at all! Silly boy!
Thankfully Sashimi has always been more obliging :3
Explore: 28 August 2007
Managed to get fully dressed without further distraction. Now I wish I could go dancing. For those of you wondering about the mask it’s just to save you from my distinctly unfemimine movember
I managed to catch the sun just peeping over the horizon. The trees and fields are still in shadow, but to the west you can see the towers of Toronto gleaming in the dawn's rays.
This High Dynamic Range 360° aerial panorama was stitched from 78 bracketed photographs with PTGUI Pro, tone-mapped with Photomatix, processed with Color Efex, and touched up in Affinity Photo and Aperture.
Original size: 25000 × 12500 (312.5 MP; 983.77 MB).
Location: Ontario, Canada
Kew Gardens is the world's largest collection of living plants. Founded in 1840 from the exotic garden at Kew Park in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, UK, its living collections include more than 30,000 different kinds of plants, while the herbarium, which is one of the largest in the world, has over seven million preserved plant specimens. The library contains more than 750,000 volumes, and the illustrations collection contains more than 175,000 prints and drawings of plants. It is one of London's top tourist attractions. In 2003, the gardens were put on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.
Kew Gardens, together with the botanic gardens at Wakehurst Place in Sussex, are managed by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (brand name Kew), an internationally important botanical research and education institution that employs 750 staff, and is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
The Kew site, which has been dated as formally starting in 1759, though can be traced back to the exotic garden at Kew Park, formed by Lord Capel John of Tewkesbury, consists of 121 hectares (300 acres) of gardens and botanical glasshouses, four Grade I listed buildings and 36 Grade II listed structures, all set in an internationally significant landscape.
Kew Gardens has its own police force, Kew Constabulary, which has been in operation since 1847.
History
Kew, the area in which Kew Gardens are situated, consists mainly of the gardens themselves and a small surrounding community. Royal residences in the area which would later influence the layout and construction of the gardens began in 1299 when Edward I moved his court to a manor house in neighbouring Richmond (then called Sheen). That manor house was later abandoned; however, Henry V built Sheen Palace in 1501, which, under the name Richmond Palace, became a permanent royal residence for Henry VII. Around the start of the 16th century courtiers attending Richmond Palace settled in Kew and built large houses. Early royal residences at Kew included Mary Tudor's house, which was in existence by 1522 when a driveway was built to connect it to the palace at Richmond. Around 1600, the land that would become the gardens was known as Kew Field, a large field strip farmed by one of the new private estates.
The exotic garden at Kew Park, formed by Lord Capel John of Tewkesbury, was enlarged and extended by Augusta, Dowager Princess of Wales, the widow of Frederick, Prince of Wales. The origins of Kew Gardens can be traced to the merging of the royal estates of Richmond and Kew in 1772. William Chambers built several garden structures, including the lofty Chinese pagoda built in 1761 which still remains. George III enriched the gardens, aided by William Aiton and Sir Joseph Banks. The old Kew Park (by then renamed the White House), was demolished in 1802. The "Dutch House" adjoining was purchased by George III in 1781 as a nursery for the royal children. It is a plain brick structure now known as Kew Palace.
Some early plants came from the walled garden established by William Coys at Stubbers in North Ockendon. The collections grew somewhat haphazardly until the appointment of the first collector, Francis Masson, in 1771. Capability Brown, who became England's most renowned landscape architect, applied for the position of master gardener at Kew, and was rejected.
In 1840 the gardens were adopted as a national botanical garden, in large part due to the efforts of the Royal Horticultural Society and its president William Cavendish. Under Kew's director, William Hooker, the gardens were increased to 30 hectares (75 acres) and the pleasure grounds, or arboretum, extended to 109 hectares (270 acres), and later to its present size of 121 hectares (300 acres). The first curator was John Smith.
The Palm House was built by architect Decimus Burton and iron-maker Richard Turner between 1844 and 1848, and was the first large-scale structural use of wrought iron. It is considered " the world's most important surviving Victorian glass and iron structure." The structure's panes of glass are all hand-blown. The Temperate House, which is twice as large as the Palm House, followed later in the 19th century. It is now the largest Victorian glasshouse in existence. Kew was the location of the successful effort in the 19th century to propagate rubber trees for cultivation outside South America.
In February 1913, the Tea House was burned down by suffragettes Olive Wharry and Lilian Lenton during a series of arson attacks in London.[19] Kew Gardens lost hundreds of trees in the Great Storm of 1987. From 1959 to 2007 Kew Gardens had the tallest flagpole in Britain. Made from a single Douglas-fir from Canada, it was given to mark both the centenary of the Canadian Province of British Columbia and the bicentenary of Kew Gardens. The flagpole was removed after damage by weather and woodpeckers.
In July 2003, the gardens were put on the list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.
Features
Treetop walkway
A new treetop walkway opened in 2008. This walkway is 18 metres (59 ft) high and 200 metres (660 ft) long and takes visitors into the tree canopy of a woodland glade. Visitors can ascend and descend by stairs or by a lift. The floor of the walkway is made from perforated metal and flexes as it is walked upon. The entire structure sways in the wind.
Sackler Crossing
The Sackler Crossing bridge, made of granite and bronze, opened in May 2006. Designed by Buro Happold and John Pawson, it crosses the lake and is named in honour of philanthropists Dr Mortimer and Theresa Sackler.
The minimalist-styled bridge is designed as a sweeping double curve of black granite. The sides of the bridge are formed of bronze posts that give the impression, from certain angles, of forming a solid wall whereas from others, and to those on the bridge, they are clearly individual entities that allow a view of the water beyond.
The bridge forms part of a path designed to encourage visitors to visit more of the gardens than had hitherto been popular and connects the two art galleries, via the Temperate and Evolution Houses and the woodland glade, to the Minka House and the Bamboo Garden.
The crossing won a special award from the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2008.
Vehicular tour
Kew Explorer is a service that takes a circular route around the gardens, provided by two 72-seater road trains that are fuelled by Calor Gas to minimise pollution. A commentary is provided by the driver and there are several stops.
Compost heap
Kew has one of the largest compost heaps in Europe, made from green and woody waste from the gardens and the manure from the stables of the Household Cavalry. The compost is mainly used in the gardens, but on occasion has been auctioned as part of a fundraising event for the gardens.
The compost heap is in an area of the gardens not accessible to the public, but a viewing platform, made of wood which had been illegally traded but seized by Customs officers in HMRC, has been erected to allow visitors to observe the heap as it goes through its cycle.
Guided walks
Free tours of the gardens are conducted daily by trained volunteers.
Plant houses
Alpine House
A narrow semicircular building of glass and steel latticework stands at the right, set amid an area of worked rock with a line of deciduous trees in the rear left, under a blue sky filled with large puffy white clouds. In front of it, curving slightly away to the left, is a wooden platform with benches on it and a thin metal guardrail in front of a low wet area with bright red flowers
In March 2006, the Davies Alpine House opened, the third version of an alpine house since 1887. Although only 16 metres (52 ft) long the apex of the roof arch extends to a height of 10 metres (33 ft) in order to allow the natural airflow of a building of this shape to aid in the all-important ventilation required for the type of plants to be housed.
The new house features a set of automatically operated blinds that prevent it overheating when the sun is too hot for the plants together with a system that blows a continuous stream of cool air over the plants. The main design aim of the house is to allow maximum light transmission. To this end the glass is of a special low iron type that allows 90 per cent of the ultraviolet light in sunlight to pass. It is attached by high tension steel cables so that no light is obstructed by traditional glazing bars.
To conserve energy the cooling air is not refrigerated but is cooled by being passed through a labyrinth of pipes buried under the house at a depth where the temperature remains suitable all year round. The house is designed so that the maximum temperature should not exceed 20 °C (68 °F).
Kew's collection of Alpine plants (defined as those that grow above the tree-line in their locale – ground level at the poles rising to over 2,000 metres (6,562 feet)), extends to over 7000. As the Alpine House can only house around 200 at a time the ones on show are regularly rotated.
The Nash Conservatory
Originally designed for Buckingham Palace, this was moved to Kew in 1836 by King William IV. With an abundance of natural light, the building is used various exhibitions, weddings, and private events. It is also now used to exhibit the winners of the photography competition.
Kew Orangery
The Orangery was designed by Sir William Chambers, and was completed in 1761. It measures 28 by 10 metres (92 by 33 ft). It was found to be too dark for its intended purpose of growing citrus plants and they were moved out in 1841. After many changes of use, it is currently used as a restaurant.
The Palm House and Parterre
The Palm House (1844–1848) was the result of cooperation between architect Decimus Burton and iron founder Richard Turner,[28] and continues upon the glass house design principles developed by John Claudius Loudon[29][30] and Joseph Paxton. A space frame of wrought iron arches, held together by horizontal tubular structures containing long prestressed cables,[30][31] supports glass panes which were originally[28] tinted green with copper oxide to reduce the significant heating effect. The 19m high central nave is surrounded by a walkway at 9m height, allowing visitors a closer look upon the palm tree crowns. In front of the Palm House on the east side are the Queen's Beasts, ten statues of animals bearing shields. They are Portland stone replicas of originals done by James Woodford and were placed here in 1958.[32]
Princess of Wales Conservatory
Kew's third major conservatory, the Princess of Wales Conservatory, designed by architect Gordon Wilson, was opened in 1987 by Diana, Princess of Wales in commemoration of her predecessor Augusta's associations with Kew. In 1989 the conservatory received the Europa Nostra award for conservation.[34] The conservatory houses ten computer-controlled micro-climatic zones, with the bulk of the greenhouse volume composed of Dry Tropics and Wet Tropics plants. Significant numbers of orchids, water lilies, cacti, lithops, carnivorous plants and bromeliads are housed in the various zones. The cactus collection also extends outside the conservatory where some hardier species can be found.
The conservatory has an area of 4499 square metres. As it is designed to minimise the amount of energy taken to run it, the cooler zones are grouped around the outside and the more tropical zones are in the central area where heat is conserved. The glass roof extends down to the ground, giving the conservatory a distinctive appearance and helping to maximise the use of the sun's energy.
During the construction of the conservatory a time capsule was buried. It contains the seeds of basic crops and endangered plant species and key publications on conservation.
Rhizotron
The Rhizotron
A rhizotron opened at the same time as the "treetop walkway", giving visitors the opportunity to investigate what happens beneath the ground where trees grow. The rhizotron is essentially a single gallery containing a set of large bronze abstract castings which contain LCD screens that carry repeating loops of information about the life of trees.
Temperate House
Inside the Temperate House
The Temperate House, currently closed for restoration, is a greenhouse that has twice the floor area of the Palm House and is the world's largest surviving Victorian glass structure. When in use it contained plants and trees from all the temperate regions of the world. It was commissioned in 1859 and designed by architect Decimus Burton and ironfounder Richard Turner. Covering 4880 square metres, it rises to a height of 19 metres. Intended to accommodate Kew's expanding collection of hardy and temperate plants, it took 40 years to construct, during which time costs soared. The building was restored during 2014 - 15 by Donald Insall Associates, based on their conservation management plan.
There is a viewing gallery in the central section from which visitors were able to look down on that part of the collection.
Waterlily House
The Waterlily House is the hottest and most humid of the houses at Kew and contains a large pond with varieties of water lily, surrounded by a display of economically important heat-loving plants. It closes during the winter months.
It was built to house the Victoria amazonica, the largest of the Nymphaeaceae family of water lilies. This plant was originally transported to Kew in phials of clean water and arrived in February 1849, after several prior attempts to transport seeds and roots had failed. Although various other members of the Nymphaeaceae family grew well, the house did not suit the Victoria, purportedly because of a poor ventilation system, and this specimen was moved to another, smaller, house.
The ironwork for this project was provided by Richard Turner and the initial construction was completed in 1852. The heat for the house was initially obtained by running a flue from the nearby Palm House but it was later equipped with its own boiler.
Ornamental buildings
The Pagoda
In the south-east corner of Kew Gardens stands the Great Pagoda (by Sir William Chambers), erected in 1762, from a design in imitation of the Chinese Ta. The lowest of the ten octagonal storeys is 15 m (49 ft) in diameter. From the base to the highest point is 50 m (164 ft).
Each storey finishes with a projecting roof, after the Chinese manner, originally covered with ceramic tiles and adorned with large dragons; a story is still propagated that they were made of gold and were reputedly sold by George IV to settle his debts. In fact the dragons were made of wood painted gold, and simply rotted away with the ravages of time. The walls of the building are composed of brick. The staircase, 253 steps, is in the centre of the building. The Pagoda was closed to the public for many years, but was reopened for the summer months of 2006 and is now open permanently. During the Second World War holes were cut in each floor to allow for drop-testing of model bombs.
The Japanese Gateway (Chokushi-Mon)
Built for the Japan-British Exhibition (1910) and moved to Kew in 1911, the Chokushi-Mon ("Imperial Envoy's Gateway") is a four-fifths scale replica of the karamon (gateway) of the Nishi Hongan-ji temple in Kyoto. It lies about 140 m west of the Pagoda and is surrounded by a reconstruction of a traditional Japanese garden.
The Minka House
Following the Japan 2001 festival, Kew acquired a Japanese wooden house called a minka. It was originally erected in around 1900 in a suburb of Okazaki. Japanese craftsmen reassembled the framework and British builders who had worked on the Globe Theatre added the mud wall panels.
Work on the house started on 7 May 2001 and, when the framework was completed on 21 May, a Japanese ceremony was held to mark what was considered an auspicious occasion. Work on the building of the house was completed in November 2001 but the internal artefacts were not all in place until 2006.
The Minka house is located within the bamboo collection in the west central part of the gardens.
Queen Charlotte's Cottage
Within the conservation area is a cottage that was given to Queen Charlotte as a wedding present on her marriage to George III. It has been restored by Historic Royal Palaces and is separately administered by them.
It is open to the public on weekends and bank holidays during the summer.
Kew Palace
Kew Palace is the smallest of the British royal palaces. It was built by Samuel Fortrey, a Dutch merchant in around 1631. It was later purchased by George III. The construction method is known as Flemish bond and involves laying the bricks with long and short sides alternating. This and the gabled front give the construction a Dutch appearance.
To the rear of the building is the "Queen's Garden" which includes a collection of plants believed to have medicinal qualities. Only plants that were extant in England by the 17th century are grown in the garden.
The building underwent significant restoration, with leading conservation architects Donald Insall Associates, before being reopened to the public in 2006.
It is administered separately from Kew Gardens, by Historic Royal Palaces.
In front of the palace is a sundial, which was given to Kew Gardens in 1959 to commemorate a royal visit. It was sculpted by Martin Holden and is based on an earlier sculpture by Thomas Tompion, a celebrated 17th century clockmaker.
Galleries and Museums
The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanic Art
The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanic Art opened in April 2008, and holds paintings from Kew's and Dr Shirley Sherwood's collections, many of which had never been displayed to the public before. It features paintings by artists such as Georg D. Ehret, the Bauer brothers, Pierre-Joseph Redouté and Walter Hood Fitch. The paintings and drawings are cycled on a six-monthly basis. The gallery is linked to the Marianne North Gallery (see above).
Near the Palm House is a building known as "Museum No. 1" (even though it is the only museum on the site), which was designed by Decimus Burton and opened in 1857. Housing Kew's economic botany collections including tools, ornaments, clothing, food and medicines, its aim was to illustrate human dependence on plants. The building was refurbished in 1998. The upper two floors are now an education centre and the ground floor houses the "Plants+People" exhibition which highlights the variety of plants and the ways that people use them.
Admission to the galleries and museum is free after paying admission to the gardens. The International Garden Photographer of the Year Exhibition is an annual event with an indoor display of entries during the summer months.
The Marianne North Gallery of Botanic Art
The Marianne North Gallery was built in the 1880s to house the paintings of Marianne North, an MP's daughter who travelled alone to North and South America, South Africa and many parts of Asia, at a time when women rarely did so, to paint plants. The gallery has 832 of her paintings. The paintings were left to Kew by the artist and a condition of the bequest is that the layout of the paintings in the gallery may not be altered.
The gallery had suffered considerable structural degradation since its creation and during a period from 2008 to 2009 major restoration and refurbishment took place, with works lead by with leading conservation architects Donald Insall Associates. During the time the gallery was closed the opportunity was also taken to restore the paintings to their original condition. The gallery reopened in October 2009.
The gallery originally opened in 1882 and is the only permanent exhibition in Great Britain dedicated to the work of one woman.
Plant collections
The plant collections include the Aquatic Garden, which is near the Jodrell laboratory. The Aquatic Garden, which celebrated its centenary in 2009, provides conditions for aquatic and marginal plants. The large central pool holds a selection of summer-flowering water lilies and the corner pools contain plants such as reed mace, bulrushes, phragmites and smaller floating aquatic species.
The Arboretum, which covers over half of the total area of the site, contains over 14,000 trees of many thousands of varieties. The Bonsai Collection is housed in a dedicated greenhouse near the Jodrell laboratory. The Cacti Collection is housed in and around the Princess of Wales Conservatory. The Carnivorous Plant collection is housed in the Princess of Wales Conservatory. The Grass Garden was created on its current site in the early 1980s to display ornamental and economic grasses; it was redesigned and replanted between 1994 and 1997. It is currently undergoing a further redesign and planting. Over 580 species of grasses are displayed.
The Herbaceous Grounds (Order Beds) were devised in the late 1860s by Sir Joseph Hooker, then director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, so that botany students could learn to recognise plants and experience at first hand the diversity of the plant kingdom. The collection is organised into family groups. Its name arose because plant families were known as natural orders in the 19th century. Over the main path is a rose pergola built in 1959 to mark the bicentennial of the Gardens. It supports climber and rambling roses selected for the length and profusion of flowering.
The Orchid Collection is housed in two climate zones within the Princess of Wales Conservatory. To maintain an interesting display the plants are changed regularly so that those on view are generally flowering. The Rock Garden, originally built of limestone in 1882, is now constructed of Sussex sandstone from West Hoathly, Sussex. The rock garden is divided into six geographic regions: Europe, Mediterranean and Africa, Australia and New Zealand, Asia, North America, and South America. There are currently 2,480 different "accessions" growing in the garden.
The Rose Garden, based upon original designs by William Nesfield, is behind the Palm House, and was replanted between 2009 and 2010 using the original design from 1848. It is intended as an ornamental display rather than a collection of a particularly large number of varieties. Other collections and specialist areas include the rhododendron dell, the azalea garden, the bamboo garden, the juniper collection, the berberis dell, the lilac garden, the magnolia collection, and the fern collection.
The Palm House and lake to Victoria Gate
The world's smallest water-lily, Nymphaea thermarum, was saved from extinction when it was grown from seed at Kew, in 2009.
Herbarium
The Kew herbarium is one of the largest in the world with approximately 7 million specimens used primarily for taxonomic study. The herbarium is rich in types for all regions of the world, especially the tropics.
Library and archives
The library and archives at Kew are one of the world's largest botanical collections, with over half a million items, including books, botanical illustrations, photographs, letters and manuscripts, periodicals, and maps. The Jodrell Library has been merged with the Economic Botany and Mycology Libraries and all are now housed in the Jodrell Laboratory.
Forensic horticulture
Kew provides advice and guidance to police forces around the world where plant material may provide important clues or evidence in cases. In one famous case the forensic science department at Kew were able to ascertain that the contents of the stomach of a headless corpse found in the river Thames contained a highly toxic African bean.
Economic Botany
The Sustainable Uses of Plants group (formerly the Centre for Economic Botany), focus on the uses of plants in the United Kingdom and the world's arid and semi-arid zones. The Centre is also responsible for curation of the Economic Botany Collection, which contains more than 90,000 botanical raw materials and ethnographic artefacts, some of which are on display in the Plants + People exhibit in Museum No. 1. The Centre is now located in the Jodrell Laboratory.
Jodrell Laboratory
The original Jodrell laboratory, named after Mr T. J. Phillips Jodrell who funded it, was established in 1877 and consisted of four research rooms and an office. Originally research was conducted into plant physiology but this was gradually superseded by botanical research. In 1934 an artists' studio and photographic darkroom were added, highlighting the importance of botanical illustration. In 1965, following increasing overcrowding, a new building was constructed and research expanded into seed collection for plant conservation. The biochemistry section also expanded to facilitate research into secondary compounds that could be derived from plants for medicinal purposes. In 1994 the centre was expanded again, tripling in size, and a decade later it was further expanded by the addition of the Wolfson Wing.
Kew Constabulary
Main article: Kew Constabulary
The gardens have their own police force, Kew Constabulary, which has been in operation since 1847. Formerly known as the Royal Botanic Gardens Constabulary, it is a small, specialised constabulary of two sergeants and 12 officers, who patrol the grounds in a green painted electric buggy. The Kew Constables are attested under section 3 of the Parks Regulation Act 1872, which gives them the same powers as the Metropolitan Police within the land belonging to the gardens.
Media
A number of films, documentaries and short videos have been made about Kew Gardens.
They include:
a short colour film World Garden by cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth in 1942
three series of A Year at Kew (2007), filmed for BBC television and released on DVD
Cruickshank on Kew: The Garden That Changed the World, a 2009 BBC documentary, presented by Dan Cruickshank, exploring the history of the relationship between Kew Gardens and the British Empire
David Attenborough's 2012 Kingdom of Plants 3D
a 2003 episode of the Channel 4 TV series Time Team, presented by Tony Robinson, that searched for the remains of George III's palace
a 2004 episode of the BBC Four series Art of the Garden which looked at the building of the Great Palm House in the 1840s.
"Kew on a Plate", a TV programme showing the kinds of produce grown at Kew Gardens and how they can be prepared in a kitchen.
In 1921 Virginia Woolf published her short story "Kew Gardens", which gives brief descriptions of four groups of people as they pass by a flowerbed.
Access and transport
Elizabeth Gate
Kew Gardens is accessible by a number of gates. Currently, there are four gates into Kew Gardens that are open to the public: the Elizabeth Gate, which is situated at the west end of Kew Green, and was originally called the Main Gate before being renamed in 2012 to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II; the Brentford Gate, which faces the River Thames; the Victoria Gate (named after Queen Victoria), situated in Kew Road, which is also the location of the Visitors' Centre; and the Lion Gate, also situated in Kew Road.
Other gates that are not open to the public include Unicorn Gate, Cumberland Gate and Jodrell Gate (all in Kew Road) and Isleworth Gate (facing the Thames).
Victoria Gate
Kew Gardens station, a London Underground and National Rail station opened in 1869 and served by both the District line and the London Overground services on the North London Line, is the nearest train station to the gardens – only 400 metres (1,300 ft) along Lichfield Road from the Victoria Gate entrance. Built by the London and South Western Railway, the Historic England listed building is one of the few remaining original 19th-century stations on the North London Line, and the only station on the London Underground with a pub on the platform (though the platform entrance is now closed off). Kew Bridge station, on the other side of the Thames, 800 metres from the Elizabeth Gate entrance via Kew Bridge, is served by South West Trains from Clapham Junction and Waterloo.
London Buses route 65, between Ealing Broadway and Kingston, stops near the Lion Gate and Victoria Gate entrances; route 391, between Fulham and Richmond, stops near Kew Gardens station; while routes 237 and 267 stop at Kew Bridge station.
London River Services operate from Westminster during the summer, stopping at Kew Pier, 500 metres (1,600 ft) from Elizabeth Gate. Cycle racks are located just inside the Victoria Gate, Elizabeth Gate and Brentford Gate entrances. There is a 300-space car park outside Brentford Gate, reached via Ferry Lane, as well as some free, though restricted, on-street parking on Kew Road.
I managed to grab a quick shot of this Starling before it flew off to feed its young. As it was a grab shot I accidentally underexposed it. The Nikon D750 has great potential to recover shadows so I was able to end up with a reasonable exposure but it was a pretty ordinary photo. Then I had a brainwave and decided to go the other way and increase the contrast to produce a silhouette which I think is a lot better. I really quite like this one as it's a wee bit bit different.
An image I took on Father's Day during a family walk up to Captain Cook's Monument, North Yorks. I'm still test driving my Reality So Subtle 6x12 so this iPhone pic will serve as a record until I develop the roll of film.
I love the mountain biker heading from the monument. If I recall correctly I managed to capture a couple map reading nearing the tree between the posts whilst the pinhole was making an exposure ;-)
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Ian Burton Photography
All images are copyright © Ian Burton 2016
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I managed to find a road back into the wooded area the other side of the bay that I used to frequent when we lived here years ago. I didn't get any deer photos, but this rickety split rail fence with the color behind it caught my eye.
Hope all my contacts have a wonderful weekend. Those of you at the pond are posting some wonderful photos (and making me very jealous...LOL). I am enjoying everyone's photos even though I don't have much time for commenting.