The butterfly house

Not sure of the species but enjoyed the courtship dance

Chester Zoo

A black headed gull. This one was taken while the Penguins were being fed and the gulls were attempting to steal the food.

Family trip to the Zoo

Orangutan

Comments appreciated on this one looks very sad but then a necessity?

Parklife

This photo was taken in the grounds of Canon Hall Country Park on the edge of Barnsley. Its a quick snap of an unknown family having a day out.

Nuthatch.

This photo was taken on Christmas morning in Cornwall a few years back. It was extremely foggy a real pea souper so I needed a bit of flash to help out with this one which helps with the catch light in the birds eye.

If anyone is interested in photographing birds the best place to start is a visit to your local RSPB reserve. My local reserve is the Old Moor site near Wath (Barnsley) and its fantastic.

Approaching storm taken on the Cornish coastline around The Strangles.

Phew! packed up and ran back to the car about 30 seconds after this one was taken.

Kite flying on Widemouth beach.

My question is do you need to see the kite to get / enjoy this photo?

The Eden Project

A shot of some flowers taken on a day trip to the Eden project. I like the composition but i cannot help thinking it would have been a much better shot if the flowers had been in their prime.

odds and ends

Here's a few more of my photos. No specific category today just a few of my snaps which hopefully you will enjoy. If you are reading this could you please leave the odd comment just to prove either way if anyone is actually visiting this blog!

regards,

Yorkshire-snapper.

Sandymouth Beach at high tide

This one was taken on an Eos 300D and although I cannot remember the exact shutter speed it was long around 30 seconds. I used a tripod. Notice the misty sea and blurred sky ?
At the time this photo was taken a school of mackerel were chasing small fish around the bay causing the fry to leap onto the beach to escape !!! I had some basic tackle in the boot of my car and while I took this photo my wife caught our tea.

This beach is a great place for fishing in fact its just a great place full stop. Its easily accessible with a National Trust car park. Joe Cornish has taken photo's here. I don't think he's managed any as good as mine though! ;)

Just kidding Joe..... I know you read this blog for the tips !!

Widemouth Bay - Cornwall

Luminous Landscape

As well as taking photos in or around my home town near Barnsley I enjoy snapping away further afield. Cornwall is a particular favourite for many reasons, one being the fantastic coastline which is second to none. Another reason it's where I met my wife.

I have also spent some time in other areas of the UK and the following posts are photos from some of the areas visited.

Most of these photos were taken on a Canon Eos 2od which I bought second hand a few years back.

Royd Moor Wind Turbines

Controversial one this, the area around Penistone has numerous windmills. Its getting more, including some twice the size of these on the hillside overlooking Langsett Reservoir. Personally I don't mind them (sorry Dad) but they do make a racket, anyone who's been to Windmills Nursey at Royd Moor will tell you that.

The Hurkling Stones (looking towards Sheffield)

This one is taken within the Peak District National Park.

View from Broadstones Reservoir

The English Landscape

Although I'm willing to have a crack at most types of photography I don't think you can beat finding a nice landscape to snap away at. The best thing is you can re-visit time and time again if you have the time and inclination. The downside is you may find your mind constantly wandering off with thoughts along the lines of "I wonder how that tree is being lit up at the moment"

Anyway here's a few of my local-ish shots.

I have a decent tip for today. This being use the internet, it is a wealth of photographic info. One site I visit frequently is photo.net it has lots of info and gallery upon gallery of great photos.

Tropicana dancers

I love this one in fact this going to be printed out using an online printing company such as photobox. Its then going up on my bedroom wall. A quick tip to accompany this one. If you ever visit the tropicana pay the extra for the front seats.

Cuban boy sat next to a cart

Taken out of a taxi window as we made our way through the streets of Havana. Interestingly Castro was conducting one if his day long speeches and Havana was heaving, impressive stuff to a lad from Barnsley !

Boats in the swamp

Club Tropicana (drinks are free)

Havana street

The Cuba photo's

Although I'm going to try and get the photos in some kind of order with the oldest first. It will not be rigidly adhered to due to my photo archiving being terrible - any tips on keeping them in order anyone ? It's getting better now I have iphoto but my older photos are here there and everywhere.

The next photos were taken on a holiday to Cuba lovely place, fantastic people terrible journey I don't do long flights.

The shots were taken on a 300D and I had a smart little gizmo called a flashtrax which was a portable hard drive you could copy your photos onto at the end of the day allowing you to clear the memory cards. It has long since broken but with 1- 4 gig cards going for less than the price of a round ! its not that big of a deal.

cheers !

The first Post - Double Headed L.M.S Black No5

I suppose my first post really ought to have my most recent photo. This one was taken yesterday when a steam engine trundled through the area where I live. It was the first steam engine on the line for years (apparently). A double headed Lms black No 5. No 45407 and a BR Standard No4. No 76079. Now I don't know jack about trains but I was very surprised about the hundreds / thousands ? of people who turned out. Photographers were jockeying for position at every vantage point ! anyway here's my effort.
This one has a slight water colour effect (not the filter in photo shop because its rubbish) but obtained following one of the thousand walk through's posted on the net. I don't use photo shop filters often but this one i like. ! I may post the original later keep your eyes peeled.

PS I would love some comments for the posts good, bad or indifferent are all great but the most welcome are tips ! thanks for reading.

25th March

test post ........