Oakdale Visit

The other day I went to Oakdale, not far from where I live. 

The central area is like a roundabout around a small memorial garden area. 

Luckily I'd taken my camera along 'just in case'. Here's the photos that I took...

This is the Miner's Memorial. 

This is the view down the valley, from the park.

It was a bitterly cold day, and the wind chill made it even colder! It was hard holding the camera still enough to take the photos.

These were a couple of sky shots...

I don't feel 100% happy with the sky photos, as I struggled to take them with the weather conditions. I'll keep trying, and maybe next time they'll be better.

More photos available on my Flickr. And keep up to date on Wonderful Waffler Sees Facebook

Thanks for reading.

Snow Shower

The other week, we had a fleeting snow shower. It only lasted an hour or two and then it was gone. 

Here's some photos I managed to capture in that time.

This first one, I was trying actually photograph the falling snow. At first it seemed a really easy thing to do. Well there was so much of it falling, how could I not get it right? Wrong! Trying to get the camera to actually focus on such small flakes was a big challenge, and this was the best I could get on this occasion.

This next photo reminds me of Narnia, from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, where they entered by the lamppost. :)

Next to the road where I live is an old manor. It's a pub & restaurant now, and our house is in what used to be it's grounds. 

I hope to get some close up shots of the manor later this year.

Our back garden is surrounded on two sides by a big unattractive concrete wall. We decided to grow ivy on it to mask it a little. Ivy would be great we thought, it grows everywhere. Everywhere it would seem, apart from where you actually want it to grow!

All of the houses in our Cul-de-Sac have these garden walls. They look so pretty when it snows.

The trees by the manor. 

When it next snows heavily, I plan to take a lot more different shots. 

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I Spied A Squirrel!

So yesterday morning, I was sitting at my computer minding my own business, when out of the corner of my eye something got my attention. 

I looked out of the window and at the corner of the road by the path, I could see something very small moving. It was a squirrel!

We see them now and then, but not that often. 

I grabbed my camera, in case it decided to head in my direction. Next thing I know, it's coming down the steps and onto the pavement of my road! Woohoo!

I didn't have time to set up my tripod, and had to make do with taking shots through the window pane. 

Here's the little creature in action...

With his colouring, he's quite camouflaged amongst the leaves, moss and pavement. 

Check out my FLICKR where you'll find my other photos. 

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Raindrops On Branches

I'm noticing that this time of year is great for photography (as I'm sure I'll find the other seasons are too, in their different ways).

What I love is the openness of the branches on the trees and plants, which in summer can be hidden from sight. 

The other evening it had rained. When it had stopped, I noticed from my window that the raindrops had settled and remained on the branches of a bush in my garden. 

I went out with my camera and took many shots, some seemed like they were ok. But when I got back in and had a proper look on my computer, they weren't. My illness makes me shaky, so I found it very hard to hold the camera still enough to get the close up shots and be in total focus. (This was prior to getting a tripod.) 

So the blurry photos were discarded.

One shot however, which was actually by accident was this one...

I like the movement in it, reminds me of sparklers. 

Another day when I wasn't so shaky, I went out again and managed to get these shots...

Since I took these photos, I now have a tripod, so when it rains next, I'm hoping to get out and take some more. 

I'm still finding it challenging, learning how to use my camera with all the different settings, to get the best photos I can. One frustration is that the auto focus can't be turned off, but for now I'll just have to live with that. 

Thanks for reading.

Playing With A Sunset

I love sunsets! Over the years I have seen some amazing ones, and hope to see some more very soon!

This was the sunset here a few days ago.

I love the colour of the sky/clouds and the contrast of the almost black trees and buildings. 

I played with the photo and this is what I got...

It still amazes me how one photo can look so different. 

Happy Moon

The other night, I was just closing my curtains, when something caught my eye.

It was a nice clear night, and it was as if the moon was smiling at me saying, hey take a photo of me!

So I grabbed my camera and tripod.

These were the first real photos I had taken at night, so I played with the exposure. And here's what I got...

It was interesting to see how the different exposures showed the dark part of the moon differently, and the glow around too. 

Clearly the moon was happy that night. What a big cheesy grin! :)

Frustrated Traveller

Today I had to go to the doctors which is about a 20 minute drive from home.

In the surrounding areas where I live are some amazing sights. Even on such a simple journey to the doctors, so many different things catch my eye. 

But!

It's not possible to stop on most of the roads along the journey, which is soooo frustrating. 

Because of this, I hadn't taken my camera with me today, and it's just typical that an opportunity should arise to take a photo then. 

There were traffic lights for some temporary roadworks along the main road. To my left was a derelict building. I think it's listed, so cannot be demolished. But sadly it hasn't been maintained either, which is a real shame.

I might not have had my camera, but I did have my mobile phone, so took a photo with that instead.

On the way back, we were stopped at lights again, this time trees to see.

There's something about these trees, how very straight and upright they are. It won't be that long and they'll all look totally different with all their leaves. 

I think I'll have to make a list of things I want to take photos of out and about and see if there's somewhere nearby that I can stop safely. 

The sad thing is, that a lot of people take all the things around them for granted. Take for granted the different colours through the seasons or how the trees and surrounding areas look different without the leaves.

We really do live in an amazing world. And there's plenty to see even on our very own doorstep, if we only we open our eyes.

Trundle Time With Hubby & Dog

Due to my health issues I can't go for a walk in the normal sense of the word. So today hubby, dog and I went for a trundle. (Me in wheelchair). 

There's a tree-lined path leading off my road. So we decided to take a short trundle down there.

It was quite a challenging photo shoot as the weather / light was a bit dull. It gave me the opportunity to play with my exposure settings to brighten the pics. 

I only saw the rose hips because of my height in the wheelchair. If I had been walking I would have easily missed them. 

It must have rained just before we went out, because there were still raindrops on the plants.

Alongside the path is a grassy area or park. I took a couple of shots of the steps leading up to it. I like these pictures because it makes you wonder where they lead.

Graffiti has always been a much debated subject when it comes to art. 

There was ivy everywhere! Up the trees, on walls and buildings too.

Jac our dog loved being out! He's never happier than when he's wandering in the grass and trees etc.

I love playing with the settings on photos. Changing the highlights gave this path shot a very different look...

For more pictures take a look at my Flickr