Bitholmes, Bagger and Bluebells

Photographing bluebells is an exercise in frustration in that it is hard to find new ways of recording them each year. This year's pictures bear an uncanny similarity to last year's and the year's before that.

Because bluebells flowered late this year, other plants (ferns and brambles in particular) seem to have had a head start, which means it has been difficult for me to find an uninterrupted  carpet of bluebells as I had envisaged.

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Bithholmes Woods has the best local display and when I first visited (about four years ago) the density of flowers was breathtaking. Needless to say it has not been equaled since and I have been disappointed by the prospect in each subsequent year, including this one.

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The best display of flowers was a constellation of small, white flowers by the roadside. The sun was up and they were glowing in appreciation.

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Bagger Woods is in Thurgoland and has a couple of patches of bluebells that are worth investigating. It looks great, as you drive past and see a blue blur, but up close its not so rewarding.

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Family pressures, around the care of an elderly relative, have inevitably let to an upsurge in camera buying. The above images were taken with a Sony Alpha 550 that I bought locally, because it has a manual focus live view check. However I have also bought two (not one but two) Minolta Dimage V cameras. These were Minolta's first affordable ($400?) digital cameras from 1997. It has a detachable, zoom/macro lens, that can be used remotely via a cable, and to my limited knowledge, is unique because of this.

These reviews outlines the cons and pros

http://www.photographyreview.com/cat/cameras/digital-cameras/3-megapixel/konica-minolta/dimage-v/prd_82659_3098crx.aspx

I think it is a design classic - simple, elegant, unassuming but full of surprises, many of them unpleasant. unfortunately

I am awaiting the appropriate cable (from Tracy in Poulton le Fylde) and with cogent advice (from Rick of Sowerby Bridge), I am reasonably confident that the next blog will hark back to circa 1997. A fateful year; when B'liar came to power!!!!!

I was so disappointed by the above bluebell images that after a few days I felt a more local, direct and controllable approach was needed so I went out in to the garden.

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A direct scan finally gave an image which satisfied, apart from the storm of dust particles as I forgot to wipe the glass platten first. I have not bothered to clone out the dust as it would probably take a year or two.

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