Visual Counterpoint

I took my touring caravan to a forest site that I knew well for a rest from fighting the noise.

I have previously photographed here in winter and wanted to picture it in early summer. I found out that photography in a forest in full leaf is very difficult, as I have yet to be able to take good pictures in poor light. I cannot physically carry a tripod with me so camera shake is a big problem with the exposure times that are often required.

The week before I went to my first photographic meeting of the local club and listened to a talk given on photographing wildlife. I have no desire to get seriously involved in this but when I saw that a rabbit regularly breakfasted on the grass around my caravan I decided to follow the advice given and wait for it to come to my camera and me. It provided a welcome diversion from the disappointing results I had obtained so far in the forest.

I realised that I had to take the photograph through the caravan window, as the rabbit ran at the first sight of any human.

It rained heavily through the night and I wondered whether I would have any luck on the morning that now dawned very dull. I chose the ‘kitchen’ window, as this gave the best view of the area where the rabbit usually stopped to eat and waited patiently. The rabbit arrived punctually.

I obtained quite a few photographs of the rabbit before he suddenly sat up and wiped his nose with his front paws, as if to remove the drops of water that had come from the wet grass. I was extremely lucky to get one shot before he scampered away.

The grass was cut later that day and I did not get another chance to photograph the rabbit, as he obviously had moved on to a new pasture.

I climbed the heights above the forest in the day and as the sun was setting and the photographs I obtained can be seen in the Summer Room together with others taken in the forest and from the edge of the mere where seagulls are busy nesting on tree stumps that protrude the surface of the water. I used the abilities of the Tamron 18-270mm lens to the maximum to obtain the picture posted of these garrulous birds.

I have also added one photograph to the Macro Room showing the birth of a Dandelion ‘clock’ that I took when I was finding it impossible to photograph the pictures that I saw all around me.