Shakespeare country

Before heading back from Rugby, with better weather forecast for the bank holiday Monday, we decided on a detour to Stratford upon Avon, about 20 miles south west from where we'd stayed.

After promising ourselves visits to Stratford twice whilst staying with Lynne and John in Bedworth, and again hoping to visit on the way down this weekend before being thwarted by the traffic and weather, this time there was no stopping us!

We didn't have a full day but at least we had a few hours to look around and see what the tourists come to see. On the way in we found signs to a handy park and ride which took us right into the centre. Nearby was a pleasant parkland area where the Stratford canal meets the River Avon - judging by the number of people there a popular spot.

Being Bank Holiday Monday, the Stratford side of the river was home to an open air market, attracting plenty of interest with stalls selling souvenirs, crafts and tasty nibbles. A couple of local photographers also had stalls and were doing a decent trade selling their work, which was of a high standard and not just the usual local scenic views.

The market had set up close to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre on the banks of the river, which brought back memories for mum of a school trip here in the early 1960s. People come from all over the world to see the productions here, or buy a momento of their visit in the well stocked gift shop, where any reference to Shakespeare had been used as a marketing ploy from the expected books and postcards to badges and stationery (example: the pencils on sale were embossed with "2B or not 2B...")

The Stratford canal ends here at the river and a busy canal basin, having started its route on the outskirts of Birmingham and a connection there to the Worcester and Birmingham canal. Across the river from the canal locks we found a nice if rather expensive cafe for lunch and a cup of tea with good views across the park and over the river back towards the theatre.

Stratford makes the most of Shakespeare: dotted around the town are numerous sites attracting the tourists with a connection in some way to the famous playwright. On a short visit the most obvious place to find was his supposed birthplace, close to the centre of town on Henley Street, though in his day no doubt much less urbanised - at least I imagine there wouldn't have been Shakespeare's cafe or Shakespeare's giftshop established back then.

Even on a damp overcast day the town was thronging with tourists, and it was difficult to get any kind of shot of the older buildings on the street, including the house where Shakespeare was reputedly born and where he grew up. We smiled especially at the group of Japanese visitors who were making good use of their expensive cameras shooting anything that looked old, usually with a group of them stood immediately in front.

With a long drive back after a busy weekend we didn't want to hang around too long, and our decision was vindicated when we joined a lengthy tailback typical of a bank holiday on the M6.

Joanne and George (and blogging is back!)

It's been a hectic summer and a combination of severe computer problems (which eventually meant a complete restore), work, holidays (x2), several busy weekends and perhaps a little lack of motivation too has meant no blogs for the last couple of months.

So, I've plenty of catching up to do, so let's start with recent happenings, and this last weekend this meant little William's christening. I've known William's mum Joanne all my life, and as we rarely get to see each other these days it was great to be able to spend some time with Joanne and husband Gary the evening before the christening itself. Their other son George hadn't gone to bed, and I got the chance to snap the two of them before it was bedtime.

I'll gradually back-fill some blog postings over the next few days, so please bear with me as I start filling in the blanks!

William's Christening

This weekend we were in Rugby for Joanne and Gary's son William's christening, and with it being a bank holiday too we'd decided to make the most of it and so had booked a couple of nights in a Premier Inn.

With a little luck we were hoping for some fine weather so we could do some exploring of the East Midlands as well as catching up with some of our closest friends.

There was around 90 people packed into Sacred Heart church at Bilton, on the outskirts of Rugby for the ceremony, and afterwards it was only a short drive round to one of the many rugby clubs in the town for a celebration.

William and brother George both looked dapper in their posh waistcoats, and they're both photogenic too as these snaps of George and mum Joanne, and William with his gran Sandra show.

During the evening we had chance to catch up with friends, and as usual were kept thoroughly entertained by several younger members of the family, all of whom are very talented singers and dancers and well used to putting on a show!  A great evening and a great weekend.

Picking a subject that's good enough to eat

I've been continuing to look for subjects on a yellow theme and a project from a recent camera

magazine gave me an idea to try.

The article was based on the colour red, and one picture in particular caught my eye - it showed several rows of green apples with one bright red apple on the rule of thirds providing a contrast and drawing the eye.

Not wanting particularly to splash out on dozens of apples to try the same effect, I'd been looking for something less expensive that could give a similar effect but using my chosen theme, yellow.  Browsing in the shop at work, a pack of M&Ms suddenly stared back at me and I had my idea!

Trouble was one pack wouldn't be enough to guarantee enough of the right colours... so three bags later and I was fully prepared!

Here's a couple of my efforts - I tried the same idea as in the magazine with one colour contrasting with the one yellow one, then an alternative with a mix of colours but again just the one yellow.

But the best thing about photographing M&Ms in this way is that once you've had enough, you can eat the subject!!

Martha's naming ceremony

Sunny sunflower

Continuing to look for subjects on a yellow theme, I've been waiting for a nice sunny evening to try a simple photograph of our patio-sized sunflowers.  I like sunflowers, their brilliant yellow petals are very cheerful, and the shot I had in mind would really set them off, lit with the evening sun against a brilliant blue sky behind.

The challenge was that ours were dwarf sunflowers, only about 18 inches tall, and nowhere near tall enough to get the blue sky I wanted behind.  The solution was to bring over the wheelie bin, place the flowers on top, then lie down on the front lawn to shoot them from below, avoiding the neighbours houses behind.

If the neighbours were watching then I imagine I got some funny looks, but the end result looks good and was worth any loss of credibility!

Evening light at Preston Marina

A double birthday at the Boar's Head

Full system restore

Johnson's Hillock