A moment of beauty…

Hello everyone.  It has been very cold here, winter has arrived.  The image I am sharing on another sad and unthinkable day for London and the UK,  is one I took a few weeks ago.  I saw this dragonfly at sunrise which was still in it’s cold slumber from the night before and was fascinated by the glass like beads of dew on the wings and the magnification in the drops on it’s eye.  Enjoy.

click in for a larger view

4. Rain on the roof….

My fourth and final fungi post of my mini series.  This last image for me sums up autumn – not perfect but rain and warm soils…I hope you have enjoyed the series 🙂 Click on the image for the best view.

rain toadstool 1ab

 

1. The Protector…

It’s late autumn here, we have had rain and so the fungi are out 🙂 🙂 Today I went again to the pine plantation to see what was there and ended up taking lots of pairs of toadstools images.  This is the first of a mini series of posts – I hope you enjoy!

umbrella toadstools
As always, click in for a larger image.

 

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas….

Even after 13 years of Christmas in the southern hemisphere, I still miss the cold and dark of a British Christmas.  Today we went to Musk, near Daylesford for what has become our annual tradition to buy our Christmas tree from the same Christmas tree farm.  In total opposite to the UK, the day was sunny, with blue skies and I was in a t-shirt…just the thing for an image in near infrared 🙂

xmas tree 1a
Taken on converted Nikon D90 in near IR. Click for better view

 

Delicate Strength….

A very big hello to everyone!!!  It’s been a long time since I last posted, in fact, nearly 6 months!  I hope everyone is well 🙂  A lot has happened since I was last here, as it would be for everyone.  I look forward to catching up with all your posts 🙂  WordPress has had a lot of changes!!  This image was taken yesterday early morning, it’s hot here and the cool of the morning was welcome.  Glad to be back 🙂

grass head
Click for more detail

Pressing Pinot…

Hello again everyone!  It is good to be doing a post again 🙂  This image was taken about two weeks ago as one of the last of the finished 2015 Pinot Noir ferments was being pressed off the skins at work.  I used a longer exposure to capture the ‘trails’ of juice as it splashed into the press tray using the available light from an open door.  The fermented wine is now safely in French oak barrels where it will mature for another two years 🙂

pinot pressing a
Click in for a larger view

 

Rain on the plain…

Yesterday it was windy with heavy shower bands going through and I felt the urge to go to my ‘soothing ground’, about an hour north of where we live.  Pyalong again…it is much, much drier, but I had seen on the radar that there big, fast moving rain storms going through.  I captured this with the wind howling, in absolute spring sunshine watching the rain approach…now soothed 🙂 🙂

pyalong rain
As always, click for a larger view. Processed in b&w using a red filter.

 

Monochrome Madness – Week 33

It is hard to believe that this is the 33rd week of Monochrome Madness, hosted and curated by the ever hard working Leanne Cole and initiated by Leanne and Laura Macky.  It seems to grow every week with wonderful monochrome images from all around the globe.  This is my submission for this week – a side view of part of the 100 metre long Wisteria Avenue at Alowyn Gardens.

alowyn wisteria1 IR
Captured in near infrared on a modified Nikon D90

 

End of a row…

…and nearly the end of pruning!  I apologise again for not having been on WordPress and liking or commenting on posts.  This is a snapshot of my working day at the moment – we will finish the major pruning this Thursday 🙂 🙂  Some interesting facts that went through my head the other day…approx 22,500 vines to prune but a double canopy so equivalent of 45,000 and each vine has four arms (cordons) held down by a total of 90,000 cable ties which takes around 3 months labour as all done by hand!!

Also my entry for MMC week 28 hosted and curated by Leanne Cole.

98 pruning end b&w
As always, click in for a larger view.