To start the year off I drove to Thrupp on Sunday 2nd January and went for a walk along the towpath. I had aimed to walk across the fields to the church at Hampton Gay. However, after all the rain we had had water levels were high and the path from the canal bank to the church was flooded.
However, I walked along the path as far as Enslow Wharf before turning around to retrace my steps to the car. Here are some photos from my walk.
These days camera lenses tend to be “computers”. I have a Tamron 150-600mm lens and in order for it to be compatible with my Nikon Z6 the firmware needed to be upgraded. Fixation near Vauxhall is the Tamron agent so after collecting the lens I tried it out taking some images of the river from near to Vauxhall Bridge.
In order to get the best out of it the shutter speed should be close to the focal length of the lens in order to minimise “camera shake”. The majority of these images were taken at 1/1000 second at a rating of 640ISO. I’m glad to say the lens passed its test with flying colours.
Above are some of the photos I took on my visit to London last week.
I realise that I have been remiss and have not posted anything for a couple of months. We are now into March so hopefully spring is around the corner. We have had a relatively mild winter with very little snow compared with other parts of the country. Let’s hope that is all we are going to get.
Here are a couple of photos from the modest snowfall we have had.
In late October I paid a visit to Oxford, my first since last year. Despite it being half term the city was not really that busy. Tourist numbers were much less than usual and I was able to photograph landmarks without waiting for people to move out of shot. Here is a selection of images from my outing.
The booklet has now been published and is available from me at a cost of £4 plus P&P of £1.50. It has 48 pages with OS maps inside showing the routes. The cover is shown below.
Work on the revised walks booklet is progressing and we hope to get it printed in August. Colour maps will be a feature. Here is a map showing all eight routes. All of them start at St Peter’s Church.
Recently I have been testing the walking routes that will be in the revised Walks around Hooky booklet the local history group are producing. Here are a selection of images from my travels.
I have updated my photography website – www.davidmcgill.co.uk Please feel free to take a look.
In addition my gallery of new images has also been updated with a selection of photos taken this year.
I don’t normally write about films I have seen, but Home is an exception. It is about Sarah Outen’s efforts in circumnavigating the world. Worldwide travel is commonplace these days but some travellers make it difficult for themselves. Sarah’s journey comprised, kayaking, cycling and rowing and was not for the faint hearted.
The film records the emotional highs and lows. It was not an entirely solo journey as Sarah was joined for parts of the trip by others most notably Gao who travelled part of the way across China with her.
Rowing was an entirely different matter, this was a solo effort and involved many months at sea crossing both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
I watched the film in Oxford in early March. The screening was followed by a Q&A with Sarah. The majority of the questions were from female members of the audience and centred more on the emotional and hardship side of the journey. On her return Sarah did indeed suffer from PTSD which she has now got to grips with. As a male and a photographer any question I may have asked would no doubt been of a practical nature. How many memory cards did she use and what capacity? How long did it take to recharge her batteries using solar power? Did she do any editing whilst travelling?
Would I have attempted any of what she did? Definitely not, even if I was her age!
All in all an entertaining film. Did she achieve her goal? Well to find out you will have to see it when the cinemas reopen post Covid-19. However, if you cannot wait it is available to stream from Vimeo – https://vimeo.com/ondemand/sarahoutenhome
The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery is the Army’s saluting battery and can be seen on numerous occasions during the year in the Royal Parks in London. The first salute of year was on 6th February – Accession Day, the day Queen Elizabeth II acceded to the throne following the death of her father on that day in 1952. Princess Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip were staying at Treetops in Kenya when the sad news was received.
The King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery fired a 41 gun salute at noon in Green Park. 21 shots mark the royal occasion plus a further 20 shots as it takes place in a Royal Park making 41 in all. At 1pm the Honourable Artillery Company fires a 62 gun salute at the Tower of London. This is made up of 21 shots for the royal occasion, a further 20 shots as the Tower is a Royal Palace and a further 21 shots will be fired for the City of London.
It is a spectacular sight as the horses canter or gallop depending on whether it is Hyde Park or Green Park to the area where the guns will be fired. Some of their 13 pounder guns saw action during the Great War.
