Pitstone Hill Chilterns - Winter Silhouettes and Landscapes

An enjoyable walk in the cold with a cloudless sky at the weekend over Pitstone Hill near Ivinghoe Beacon in the Chilterns.

 

Silhouette of a friend with their dog....

 

...and with luckily placed aeroplane vapour trails.

 

Silhouette of a walker with some miles to go with dusk coming.

 

Misty view lit by the watery sun as it goes down.

 

Later after the sun had dropped below the horizon.

London - Old BBC TV Centre at dusk

This beautiful sky caught my eye last week. Not the best quality photo from my pocket camera.

 

NW Scotland - Evening Sunrays

Back to June 2016 again, and a couple of photos of the sun breaking through a gap in the clouds over the sea

 

Chanory Point Moray Firth - Bottle Nosed Dolphins

A wet day in the west of Scotland in June 2016 meant a drive to Chanory Point

on the Black Isle for drier weather and a possible sighting of the Bottle Nosed Dolphins that live in the Moray Firth (the most northerly dolphins in the UK).

 

Timing our arrival an hour after low tide, apparently a good time to see the dolphins, we immediately saw a dolphin breaching out of the water from the car. Grabbing the camera and trying to set it up as a dolphin passed close to the shore. I managed to get this shot.

 

The dolphins moved away, with what I took to be a youngster breaking out of the water...

 ....with an adult in close attendance.

 

Over an hour a number of dolphins passed the point, but not in a playful mood, I only being able to take photos of fins and tails.

 

Many of the passes were in the middle of the firth with Fort George in the background.

Tring Reservoirs Marsworth - Swans in Flight

A recent trip to Tring reservoirs one very bright morning.

 

My luck was in as these two Mute Swans swung into view.

 

One swung round appearing to head pretty much at me standing on the bank of the reservoir.

 

Looking directly at me....

 

....it flew past.



 

Earlier three swans bathed in bright sunlight flew against the dark background of an ivy covered tree, causing a distinct contrast (not the easiest to photograph without either burning out the swans or over-darkening the tree) 

Scotland - Landscape Light Contrasts

On a grey June day the sun broke through at Newton of Ferintosh, north of Inverness at the edge of the Black Isle.  Stopping the car in a side road, I took these landscapes towards the NW and the hills and valleys surrounding Garve in the far distance.

 

A view more to the West



Lively Sheep

Photos of a small flock of sheep in November 2016 that were in quite a playful mood.

NW scotland Gruinard Bay - Red Deer on the Beach

I was surprised to find these Red Deer strolling on the beach at Gruinard Bay during my visit in June 2016.

 

Wing Countryside - Just after Sunrise

Photographs taken just before Christmas of the countryside between Wing and Mentmore Buckinghamshire just after the sun had risen.

A flock of Lapwings (proper collective term "deceit" or "desert" of Lapwings).