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A couple of shots from Brighton, UK.

Happy Cows

I managed to add a couple of locations to my Romanesque project, whilst on holiday in Val Venosta.

San Procolo, on the outskirts of Naturno, (Merano BZ) was a place I really wanted to see. It is now part of a small museum, and you have to pay to enter.

This Church is said to contain some of the oldest frescoes in the Germanic world. They are certainly rather charming. We see a saint on swing, the cartoonish herd of cows with a dog, and a procession of wide eyed women, proceeding to the altar. The artist certainly had a sense of fun. At a higher level we see some later Gothic works.

I had a quick look around the modern museum, which was a nice bonus.

I could not use a tripod here, so these are all and held. But modern camera's are incredibly good at high ISO.

After Naturno, we drifted up the Val Senales. After a good lunch we wandered around the remains of a Monastery in Certosa.

Around the garden

Not done much this week, so just a few things that caught my eye around the garden.

This nice maple is in my neighbours garden, but I think we get a better view of it than they do. 'Sango Kaku' I believe.

Annual Ammi majus. I sowed this a bit late in the spring, but it has finally made good and is looking lovely.

These verbascums are self-seeded around the garden and look like pale green felt.

Verbena bonariensis - a favourite.

I noticed these lovely tendrils growing on a gatepost just along the road. I expect they will be 'tidied' soon.

The glittery light reflecting off the sea is nicely captured here.

The cows do indeed look happy, and friendly. So how old are these frescos? And what is going on with the guy squatting under the canopy?

Garden frolic

That current in the water is amazing. Excellent contrast - background vs foreground.

That is truly outstanding capture of the flora.

That frame within the frame wins me over.

Nobody quite knows, but 1000, seems probable. The cows would not be out of place in a modern children's book or cartoon. The graphic style really struck me.

Around here, when plants self-seed they are called "volunteers," a term that delights my wife. Lovely set, by the way.

More From Birkacre

I haven't managed to get out with a camera this week (and it's not looking good for this weekend by the look of the weather), so here's a further handful of images from Sunday's trip to Birkacre that didn't make the cut last week. All images taken with the Z8 + 24-70 f/2.8S mounted on a tripod. IIRC they're all taken with a CPL. As you might gather from my notes below, I'm not entirely happy with any of these, but although I don't feel they quite work, they all contain some qualities that I really like in spite of their issues, so I figured they were still worth sharing.

Green Tunnel

I took this quite early in the walk. It's looking down the path of the Yarrow as it leaves the Birkacre site. I think the light spilling in at the far end is what attracted me to this scene, however I think I messed up when composing it, originally shooting this in a portrait aspect (2:3) which included more of the river at the bottom and the trees at the top, so when I came to look at it last weekend, I originally discarded it. Anyway, after experimenting with a number of different crops I arrived at this full width 5:4 crop from the upper part of the frame which I think is more satisfying.

Riverside

This was a disappointing image. I really liked the diffuse light breaking through the mist from the left to add a bit of extra form to the trees, which I think gives it some really nice tones and details as well as a sense of depth in the trees, so I had high hopes for it. However the composition is weak, partly because of restrictions on where I could position myself, but also, as this was taken from the side of the lodge where there are lots of dog walkers, joggers and fishermen knocking around, I didn't feel comfortable faffing around for too long to perfect the composition and gave up well before finding something I was really happy with. As a result, this is another instance where I've tried to fix the original composition with a substantial crop, removing a large section on the left, a branch across the top of the frame that I was originally using as a framing device and a bit of dead space off the bottom. I think it's an improvement, but I'm still not totally happy with it, particularly with regards to the diagonal fence at the bottom of the frame, which feels poorly considered. I guess if it looked to be leading somewhere it could benefit the image, but as it stands, it's just clutter.

Little Details

With this one it was the little details at the bottom of the image that attracted me to the scene. Again, I think the composition is weak here, but I like the tones and colours.

Banks Of The Yarrow

Finally, I think this one from Drybones Woods has potential from a compositional point of view, but it needs better light. It was taken at the far end of the walk just before I turned back and by that point, most of the mist had either burned off, or perhaps never formed under the tree canopy this far up the river. Whatever the reason, it was just dull light. But there are some tree arrangements in this scene that I quite like, so it may be one to revisit at a different time of day. Perhaps it would work better in the evening with more backlight.

That's pretty cool. I saw the face way before I saw the figures that form it.

The second shot reminds me of the Thames Barrier. The sea looks cold.

Nice to see a GM5 in action. I don't think I've used mine for a couple of years now, but I might have to get it out for a play once this storm has moved on.

Those sea defences look like they mean business.

A lovely pattern in this shot. Nice one.

There's a thoroughly playful style to these frescos.