In Northamptonshire No-One Can Hear You Scream...

Well that's probably a slight exaggeration, but still.  Saturday was a long day... a very long day.  I was hanging around Northamptonshire waiting to collect David from some event with planes and cars, and due to him not informing me of the time he wanted to be picked up (i.e. 5pm) until 2pm, I was in a very bad mood.  It was our eighteenth wedding anniversary on Friday - by Saturday pm I'd written a few more vows I'd have liked to add to the originals, none of them good.

So - things I learned from this:

a) Men do not exist in the same time zone as normal people.

b) If a man arranges a time for you to meet, or for you to collect him from somewhere, get it in writing. Him signing it in blood is optional but not a bad idea.

c) Flys seem strangely attracted to my car and swarms of them settled on it when I stopped anywhere.  Does this mean my car is possessed by demonic forces?  It's a Peugeot so this is entirely possible. 

d) It's amazing how many random objects and places you can find to take photos of, especially when it gets to the point that you're trying to distract yourself from thinking that YOU REALLY NEED TO GO TO THE TOILET SOON!

e) There aren't many public toilets in Northamptonshire.

A Bit of Magic... :O)

Decided to do a little bit of magic yesterday and make my friend Helen levitate :O)

Me with my magic kit...

(ok I admit it, the magic kit

actually consisted of a Canon 7D, tripod,

chair, Lightroom, Elements, 

and friend willing to look silly in public).

She hovers beautifully doesn't she?
We got quite a few questions from passers-by

when we were doing this :O)

(That's my newest brolly by the way).

Some of them even wanted to join in...

Out and About - again...

We made the most of the sunshine today and headed for Stratford upon Avon, as we walked along the River Avon an obliging swan swam over to have his photo taken.  I thought he was going to have a go at my wide-angle lens but he just growled at it!

I've downloaded the free trial version of LightRoom 4 and am enjoying playing with it at the moment - I never thought I'd desert my old version of LR, but I'm loving being able to do curve adjustments for different colour channels, plus LR4 has an amazing ability to rescue blown highlights (not that I ever GET blown highlights of course :O)), so I think I may be swayed.  Have a great weekend everyone.

Settings: 1/320, f7.1, ISO100, 10mm

Settings: 1/100, f7.1, ISO100, 10mm

Out and About...

Happy St David's Day everyone, or Happy 1st March if you're not Welsh or haven't got an inkling who or what St David was!

A cold, grey day today but there were some clouds posing nicely in the background when I took a pic of a tree... oh and we found a witch's hat on sale for 33p so immediately bought it and took its photo :O)

Photo Art Friday... and Grow Your Blog Party!

Because I've been up to my ears, nose and eyes in having stuff done to the house, plus sick cats, sick husband plus taking photos, I almost forgot the Grow Your Blog Party! I'm rubbish...  Anyway, it's being hosted by the wonderful Vicki over at her beautiful blog 2 Bags Full...
A little about me, well I'm Barbara, I live in the UK, I have an MA in literature and am slave to three cats who constantly thwart any efforts I make to keep them out of this page.  I'm seriously addicted to photography and books; and here you'll find evidence of both (although the photography has tended to take over just a tad.  You can tell how this blog has changed direction from its title!).  I've just started dabbling into giving tips and hints about photography hence the rest of this post.  I have got to know such great people through blogging - I just love it.  So if this is your first visit here, please take a look around, then put your feet up and grab a cat... (three very friendly ones available, although Charlie can be a tad unpredictable). The only rules are no mention of liquorice, aniseed or Marmite, all of which are the foods of Satan.  Tea aficionados especially welcome... :O)
And now for the pics...
The theme for this week over at Photo Art Friday was Entrances/Exits, so I've decided to use the entrance to Cropston Reservoir for my link-up.
I took the shots at Cropston the same day I was at Bradgate Park (see previous post) and it was a beautifully cold and icy day, but I thought how gorgeous it would look if there was only a brilliant sunset in the offing.  I was unwilling to hang around for a few hours to find out if it was going to happen, so decided to create one in Lightroom and Elements.  I'd seen the technique used for portraits but thought it might work just as well for landscapes. 
First I did basic adjustments in Lightroom, then exported to Elements where I: 1.  Added a Lens Flare filter set to 105mm Prime lens type.  This was a stand-in for the sun so I just dragged it around until I was happy with its position. 2.  I added a Gradient layer set to Linear choosing a nice warm orange colour.  I changed the blend mode to Colour.  I then used a layer mask to brush away some of the colour on the foreground detail. 3.  Then I saved the changes and went back to Lightroom to use Curves to boost the contrast and add a vignette.
This is the before and after...

The Great Escape...

Yesterday was just one of those days that were made for escaping from it all. Mist, ice, snow still lying on the ground and two days holiday booked from work.  Off to Bradgate Park with 7D then...

I include this last shot only to point out that I WANT THAT HOUSE!

Also linking to Photo Story Friday

The Weekend in Black and White... and Out and About at Chatsworth

For The Weekend in Black and White...

Horse sculpture at Chatsworth.

Yesterday I went to Chatsworth again (no this isn't going to turn into a rip-off of Rebecca).  For those of you not aware of what or where it is, it's a beautiful stately home in the equally beautiful Peak District of Derbyshire, and has been home to the Dukes of Devonshire since 1549.  There was a Christmas market on near the house so it was packed with visitors, but the gardens were empty enough to content me and my camera.  As for the gardens, well you know how Elizabeth Bennett fell in love with Mr Darcy after seeing the grounds at Pemberley?  Visit Chatsworth and you'll understand why.

Chatsworth with the Emperor Fountain in full flow...

The Cascade backed by autumn colour...

View from the top of The Cascade to the house and beyond...

The bridge you drive over to get into Chatsworth...

The Emperor Fountain again...

The Grotto...

ABC Wednesday - R is for...

Rivers...

Boats and gulls on the River Avon...

River Avon with Holy Trinity Church in the background...

Gull landing on the river in Bradgate Park...

Another gull, this one

is soaking up the autumn sunshine...

A river runs through it...

Bradgate Park today.

Also linking to