Rain, rain,rain

In the past week we've had more snow which kept our road closed, its nearly 3 weeks now and the peace and quiet is wonderful. Being able to walk along the road without the fear of cars whizzing by is such a joy. However, this morning its raining hard and the snow is melting, there is still some fog too - back to normal I guess.

I'm hoping to receive a parcel this morning, a new wide angle lens
Sigma 15-30mm f3.5-4.5. This lens has been around for a long time so mine is a 2nd hand model. It has mixed reviews over the years, people seem to love it or hate it. There is a consistent complaint though that it suffers badly from flare but bearing that in mind I'm hoping to have some fun with it. I read somewhere that it was originally aimed at the journalistic market so this didn't necessarily arise, anyway I checked out the reviews on Fredmiranda.com and am happy with my choice at the price paid. I'm hoping that flare wont be an issue when I'm photographing clouds, which is one of the reasons for wanting this lens. Watch this space.......

Brrrrr! Britain is ffffffreezing!

Record low temperatures have been recorded around the country overnight minus 18C in Oxfordshire. Nothing like so low here, minus 6C, but that's bad enough with a wind behind it!

The sun has shone all day but temperatures remained below freezing despite that. It's been really quiet again today, even less vehicles on the move than yesterday.

Snow at Last

Finally, overnight snow has come to the Mendips! Yesterday there was an eerie silence up here and the road outside was closed to traffic because of ice - there was no sign of snow then but during the night there has been a heavy fall. The whole country is apparently now covered in snow and the newspapers are loving it - their reporters seem to be dumped at motorway service stations tp report how awful everything is - blocked roads, chaos and even employment rights, legal liability if you fail to clear snow and ice, endless gloom.

As soon as it gets light I'll be heading out on foot with my camera for some fun before any snow clearance happens, or rather in case it does!

It wasn't great for photography this morning, visibility poor and driving fine snow mad it difficult to get the camera out and evening standing was tricky because the ground is so slippy.

The afternoon brought the inevitable 4x4 time wasters, they have to try and drive through a drift, and then move on looking for another one. Dursdon Drove seems to be a popular spot but it's completely impassable at the far end. Maybe its a male thing about being top dog, do they post on their forums who has conquered which snow drift?
I wish they would go and help people who are stranded and leave us in peace and quiet.

What Will 2010 Bring ?

I thought a group photo of the dogs would make a fitting start to the year but they weren't inclined to pose nicely this morning, so this will have to do!
Well the day started off very chilly, -3°C with a light breeze and clear blue skies. There was no-one around while I walked the dogs at the pools for an hour or so and they enjoyed taking in the smells all fresh on the frosty grass.

This afternoon we went down to Creech St Michael to try and help someone who had lost a dog on Tuesday. Molly is a young collie girl from Wiccaweys, about the same age as Rosie. Poor man, I really feel for him as he has much sadness in his life at the moment. Despite being in his 70's he will be spending the night in a tent in a field in the hope of Molly returning to him, attracted by the smell of cooking etc.

Plans for 2010 include more trips to North Wales with the Steve Lewis workshop series, hopefully to yield some different images from the Mendips which have dominated my photography for too long now.

A concerted effort to improve my overall fitness begins tomorrow, my goal being to climb Snowdon and Helvellyn, a challenge for someone unaccustomed to climbing hills!

My photography website has been a bit neglected since last spring and I'm determined to keep it current for 2010.

My new project healthylifestylesuccess.com which is ultimately more of business than 'just' a website built using SBI!The site is targeted specifically at midlife women who would like to improve their health and lifestyle, and to make a success of this - pretty obvious really?



I've learned so much since starting this project, about keyword, page titles, page building, and although I'm using the BlockBuilder system my knowledge of html has improved dramatically. Its hard work, requires a regular commitment and is certainly not a 'get rich quick' scheme - my target is 2 years to generate some regular income so let's see what happens.

Weather Wizardry - The Rain has Stopped

Yesterday morning's weather forecast announced that the Gulf Stream that has been settled across the UK would finally shift north overnight, and the rain that has been relentless for 50 days would finally stop. Well, it was hard to believe yesterday as the gloom shrouded us again all day, but this morning there is not a cloud in the sky!

It has been so miserable up here at Priddy, even the delivery drivers who come to the house say its worse here than anywhere else. The forecast is now for a dry and cold spell for quite a while, Yipeeeeee!

A Blog from the Fog Day

Its a typical Mendip day today - thick fog, windy, rain, a real stay inside day for many people. The wind has been particularly strong recently bringing down the leaves before they have changed colour. I'm heading for a quick visit to Snowdonia later in the week revisting the location of our last workshop with Steve Lewis which was beautiful but very green a month ago.

Earlier this week I was horrified to discover that my transfer of images from iPhoto to Lightroom was not complete when searching for a specific pic of Rosies noses. Life was much easier when I catalogued contact sheets and negatives, no risk if deletion or inadvertently hiding something deep into folders long since forgotten. I find myself hankering for the ease of sifting through a pack of prints and adding favourites to a beautifully bound album, so much more satisfying than struggling with software - hmmmm just having a dinosaur moment:-)

Autumn Photography starts now.........

It seemed that no sooner had last day of August passed than the weather decided it would take a leap into Autumn. Blustery winds with a cool edge to them, Bracken turning golden, Hawthorn and Rowan berries glowing brightly and hanging heavy on their branches, and of course it's spiders web time !

I love autumn almost as much as springtime so its sure to be a busy time with my camera.
My backlog of photos continues to grow and the more there are the harder it is to catch up but I'll be doing my best to write and post once a week throughout the next few months. Another couple of trips to North Wales are pending, mainly to look again at some subjects that weren't as successful as I hoped - partly due to the light and partly technique.