Sunday, 26 June 2016

Darcy's First Photoshoot

Those who know me well, will have picked up on the fact that a couple of months ago I went to the local animal shelter and adopted a small 2 year old tabby called Darcy. She was found on an industrial estate in Sheffield with a litter of kittens she couldn't cope with (in the end they were removed from her and raised by the animal shelter). She also has a broken tail and very little faith in humanity.
After many ups and downs in the last 2 months I've finally gained her trust enough for her to let me take some proper photos, and not just opportunistic ones on my phone. 









Tuesday, 21 June 2016

Welcome to the Asylum

Why visit the Reichstag when you can visit a disused sanitarium?
Baumkronenpad Beelitz-Heilstätten
















Saturday, 30 January 2016

Choo Choo!

So back in the late summer, my parents and I took a trip on a steam train  (one of my dad's real passions in life) from Birmingham to Stratford. Whilst the home of Shakespeare is suitably antiquated if rather drowning in tourists, the main attraction was the train itself. Ok so health and safety means you can't lean out of the window any more, and during the trip itself we were rather busy eating the meals provided (breakfast on the way there, tea on the way back). Still the novelty and romance of steam powered travel is there, even if the seats are rather uncomfortable by modern standards.
Sadly over the course of the extended wait to be downloaded onto my laptop I do appear to have lost some of the photos I took on the day, but its a bit late to cry about it now!







Whilst on the subject of classic British travel methods, I recently went on a short walk with some of my water polo friends. Primarily as a form of exercise to justify finding a pleasant tea room and a suitably large slice of cake! 
Despite training weekly in a village not far from Burton, we'd never really explored the area, so the local marina was chosen as the starting point for our adventures. (We checked it had a tea room first, of course!)
Canal boats may not be my idea of a comfy home, although many will strongly disagree with me, but they do have a unique charm that spirits you to a calmer, simpler time.






Friday, 29 January 2016

Long Time No Speak

Well I have to admit over the last 6 months or so photography has taken a backseat as my life has moved into other areas. (new house etc.) Whilst I have no intention of giving up the photography, it does mean that photos I took back in August, September time have only just made it off my camera and onto my laptop. I also still have about 700 photos from my trip to Japan I still haven't been through properly!

That said to get me back into the swing of things I thought I'd post an image I particularly liked from my recent download that doesn't really fall into a particular time/place or set of photos.


Saturday, 1 August 2015

Bern without the Bears.

Rather helpfully, thanks to my PhD, I currently have friends in some very pretty places.
This year for our annual Cloister House mini reunion we headed back to Switzerland as my friend Eleanor currently lives in Bern.
The parliamentary capital of Switzerland and one of the gateways to the Alps, the old city is looped by the river Aare, a beautiful if a bit chilly river! Whilst on a good day you can see the mountains in the background, they only decided to appear as we were pretty much on our train home. Despite this and in between copious amounts of food (mostly of the meat, cheese and chocolate variety, but that's not something to complain about), we explored what is an exceptionally pretty old town, swam in the river and became engrossed with a playground toy that involved running balls through a series of metal channels.

Bern by Moonlight, It's just missing the faint waft of illegal aroma! 




Bern by sunlight.









The odd little curiosity.







Inside the clock tower


Time for a rest! (Sorry Sara you must have been busy taking your own photos!



And finally the evil turtle/terrapin!