Sometimes when the fishing goes through a quiet spell, it’s good to look around at the wildlife on the lake. There’s been a heron on the peg opposite to us for the past few weeks now. I think it’s watching for some tips on how to do it. I’ve not seen it pay for a peg yet though and will report it if it doesn’t. There’s also been a lot of activity by the gulls, feeding on duckling chicks. I saw one in action today – not very nice but the mother and father duck were nowhere to be seen and I think the chick must have been lost.

I was pleased with the static shot of the heron though. Taken with Fuji XT-2 and 100-400 lens with 1.4 teleconverter.

Not a physical tornado but Tornado – A1 class locomotive. I went with my photo buddy Pete Stockton for a day west of Hawes when we saw that Tornado was running. The day started with us looking at some lone trees on limestone pavement stuff at Southerscales and then having a bit of a trek up the hill to get a better vantage point of Tornado. We were standing around for a while and it was fairly cold so a good job we were layered up. It was also a good job that I’d had a decent breakfast, having stayed at the lovely Old Dairy Farm just outside Hawes. It’s run by Paul and Pam and an absolute treasure. Wonderful food and company and my room was very comfy too.

So Tornado came and went and then we decided to have a look at an old ruined cottage that we’d seen earlier. A well earned pint in Aysgarth and we called it a day.

I’ve been working as a volunteer for Hull City of Culture and took on a number of shifts at the Brynmor Jones library at Hull University, where the “Paul Smith to J.K. Rowling” exhibition is showing until June 11th. These works have all been commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery as part of the first prize of the BP Portrait Award. This award is now in its 27th year and is aimed at encouraging artists to develop portraiture within their work. We are extremely lucky in Hull to have so many of these commissions in one place at one time. There is a wide variety of styles and materials used and the exhibition is well worth a visit. Free entry and there’s a great cafe on site with good coffee. I should point out that the Brynmor Jones library also has an excellent collection of it’s own which is also available for visitors to see.

Here are the images on show – you get the idea but really need to see them first hand to appreciate them. Thanks to Neil Evans of the National Portrait Gallery for sending me copies of the images for use.

I figured that the best time to catch the Lego daffodil site in Hull, in a relatively people free manner, would be early morning and as it was Easter Monday today – I thought – even better. Even so, at 8.20am this morning, people were starting to congregate and I had to be quite quick. One couple looking at the flowers told me they’d just got off the ferry from Rotterdam and that although they’d set off around Europe from Dover, some 17 days ago, they always planned to come back through Hull to see what the City of Culture had to offer. They’d disappeared by the time I got back up from the ground. I’d been laying down (in sausage dog mode as my friend Duncan Wood would say) using my Fuji 56mm f1.2 lens to take some wide open shots to see what kind of bokeh it offered me. What a cracking lens.

We decided to take a wander around the Ferens Art Gallery as it has recently re-opened. Splendid job they’ve done too. I thought the standard of exhibits in the 2017 Open Exhibition was particularly good. I hadn’t put anything in this year but I’ll make an effort next year again. The sculpture in the entrance hall was very striking and I expected it to start moving at any time. Whilst my assistant was shopping, I took the opportunity to take a few images of the Blade again, using a couple of buildings as reference points. It’s strange to think how many folk were in the square just a few weeks ago for the projection extravaganza – it felt quite empty.

I can’t wait for the new Fuji macro lens to come out. I have a 16mm extension but it’s not as good as a real macro lens I don’t think. Anyway, I asked my buddy Tony Beasty if I could do a few close ups of some of his excellent guitars and we had a good session together yesterday. I particularly liked the first two he brought out, and spent most of the time on those. The headstocks on both of them were attractive in their own ways, the Rickenbacker because of the machine head configuration and the Fender because of the tell-tale decal which helps to pinpoint its age. Also, note the darker wood indicating sustained amount of use on particular chord shapes. The wear on the Tele scratchplate also indicates the amount of use it’s had.

Anyway – I’ll look forward to the next time – thanks Tony, here are a few pics :-