Stancheon reflection

Walking along Wye Street, past the seventeenth century pub, the "Man of Ross", I noticed our reflections in the steel posts holding up ropes that delimited the area of outdoor seating. So, never liking to miss a good reflection, I took a snap of our reflections. When I came to add it to my collection of photographs I realised I didn't know the name for such a post. Research came up with "stanchion", a word that means any kind of fixed vertical post that holds something up. Perhaps there is a better word, but if there is it has eluded me all these years.

Self-portrait in old mirror

Georgian country houses often feature rooms with large and/or plentiful mirrors. Sometimes these mirrors have holders for candles. The reason for this is to magnify the candle light which was the only source of indoor light at that time. A visit to a country house also reveals that many of these mirrors (and those from the Victorian period) have deteriorated and no longer reflect as well as they did. The photograph above shows me at Berrington Hall, Herefordshire, photographing a bronze figure in one of these old mirrors.

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

The greylag

The greylag goose (Anser anser) is the species from which most farmyard geese species have been bred. Alongside the Canada goose it is the most familiar wild (semi-wild?) goose, often being found on town and city park ponds as well as on more remote stretches of water. The British population of this goose is augmented by a winter influx of many tens of thousands more. The "lag" part of the bird's name is of great antiquity and means "goose". Hence that word is technically superfluous when referring to the bird.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon P900

Sunset and mist by the River Wye

At first glance, this photograph of the sun going down behind the River Wye at Ross on Wye looks like an entirely natural scene comprising the sun, sky, mist, water, a tree and bushes. But, look closely and you'll see a boulder that is part of the bank reinforcement round an outfall. You'll also notice that the tree is pollarded to keep it anchored to the bank where it can help prevent the river channel from widening. That too is the purpose of the willows along the river banks - they are regularly cut to keep a full root system and branches to slow the flow. Then there is the vapour trail, like a knife slash in a canvas, aiding the composition but adding, remorselessly to climate change.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

Hereford Cathedral reflected

The exterior of the east end of Hereford Cathedral shows clear evidence of the reconstruction in c.1845 when the architect, Lewis Nockalls Cottingham (1787-1847), took account of the original Early English work in his extensive remodelling. Further renewal was undertaken in c.2000. We made a visit to the cathedral on a day following heavy rain and I was pleased to come across a puddle reflecting this part of the building. It gave some interest to the featureless tarmac area that is used by cars associated with the cathedral. The reflection in the water reminded me of a torn segment of a black and white photograph of the building.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Self-portrait with iPhone

When I first began photoblogging with my PhotoReflect site, all the way back in December 2005, one of my first photographs involved a self-portrait with my face distorted in the curved top of a cafetiere. In the ensuing years I regularly offered self-portraits that revealed relatively little. It's something I haven't really continued in PhotoEclectica, this shot being the only such example. So, by way of correction, here is what I hope is the first of many inventive "self-portraits". It was taken in a local coffee shop.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

Reflected reeds

I've said elsewhere in this blog that I have a particular liking for reflections in glass and water. I also enjoy the plants that grow in and around water and regularly fit them into compositions. On our recent visit to Steam Mills Lake I saw many remnant reeds/grasses from last year standing above the surface at the water's edge. As we walked round the lake I looked for an example that was producing a good reflection. This is the one I settled on.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

The branch in the pond

In time every tree branch that falls into water loses all its leaves and bark. Where the branch is below the water it goes dark with the water-logging. The part of the branch that remains above the water tends to become weatherd and bleached. This branch has followed that path. The reflection that produces a line of symmetry at the water level appealed to me. However, on the pond bank and through my viewfinder I only appreciated it in three dimensions. When I got it up on my computer screen the form in two dimensions jumped out at - it's a fish swimming left to right. You can even see its mouth!

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

I Am Archive

I Am Archive is an installation designed by an architectural practice in one of the rooms at Croome Court, a Georgian mansion in Worcestershire owned by the National Trust. The designers say that "the tower visually links the ground floor exhibitions with the top floor offices and archive storage, and celebrates the direct relationship between events at Croome and it's (sic) historic archive." The visitor sees a structure that incorporates numerous box files and hears "abstracted recorded voices taken from Croome’s archive (which) gives the sculpture a voice and encourages a more intimate connection with the visitor". My photograph shows part of the "immersive infinity effect" which many people don't notice because they don't look directly above their head.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Watery reflections, ducks and swans

I think we all, photographer or not, like to see reflections in water. Non-photographers seem to prefer the most perfect reflections, but photographers have just as strong a liking for the less mirror-like effects. This is partly because the camera can freeze the moving water and allow us to see what we can't with the naked eye, something that was most forcefully brought home to me when I reviewed a photograph of a swan on the River Witham in the middle of Lincoln. It appeared to be swimming through paint! To the naked eye the reflection was just a background swirl of colour. I recently posted a photograph of a duck "smearing" a reflection and here is another one of a pair of ducks on the canal in Worcester doing just the same but to more spectacular effect.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

Disturbed reflection, Tewkesbury

Tewkesbury's Borough Flour Mills, also known as Healings Flour Mill and Warehouses, stands derelict by the River Avon. The buildings date from 1865 but an earlier mill in the seventeenth century stood at this location, and it is certainly possible that the two mills recorded in Tewkesbury's entry in the Domesday Book (1086) may have been situated here. So, perhaps other people have stood where I stood the other day and enjoyed watching the reflected image of the mill being disturbed by the passage of a drake mallard.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Greylag Geese

The greylag goose, a species found across Europe and Asia, is probably the second most common wild goose seen in Britain after the introduced Canada goose. Like the Canadian species the greylag is very tolerant of people and can be found in urban parks as well as in open countryside. It is thought that the greylag was one of the first wild species to be domesticated by man, over 3,000 years ago, and today's domestic geese often interbreed with it. At lease one pair successfully hatched young on Cannop Ponds in the Forest of Dean this year where this very obliging group was photographed.

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Hereford Cathedral from Victoria Bridge

Hereford Cathedral, like a number of smaller British cathedrals, is surrounded by a compact green and close that is bordered by buildings. It also, again like many smaller cathedrals, lacks prominent west towers. Consequently it is difficult to photograph in its entirety, or with most of its mass on display. Photographs taken from nearby tend to suffer from distortion whilst those taken from afar show only the main tower and the upper parts of the nave and chancel. This photograph was taken from the mid-distance as we stood on the ornate Victoria Bridge, a suspension footbridge over the River Wye. The intrusion of buildings and trees obscure all but the cathedral's tower, and the prevalence of evergreens in neighbouring gardens means that even winter doesn't reveal significantly more of the building.

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

The cold light of (almost) winter

 

A necessary visit to Tewkesbury found us, in the early evening, on the bridge over the canalized River Avon looking towards the dark, derelict bulk of the Borough Flour Mill. The cold colours of the sky and its reflection caught my eye, and as I studied the composition in my viewfinder I noticed the pleasing contrast of the leafless branches. In the bright light and colours of daytime in spring and summer this view has only a little to commend it. But in these almost monochrome conditions of late November the silhouettes of the same view are much more appealing.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

Abbey Mill sluice control room, Tewkesbury

In the 1990s the two old sluices at this location on the Mill Avon at Tewkesbury were replaced by a single "fish belly sluice". When in the "up" position this forms a weir: when "down", during a flood, water can flow freely. The control room for the new sluice was mounted on legs above the footpath that crosses the Mill Avon at this point. My photograph was taken during moderate flooding in mid-January 2020.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Woorgreens Lake, Forest of Dean

Woorgreens Lake and Marsh is a 22 acre (9 hectare) nature reserve in the Forest of Dean that is managed by the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust and the Forestry Commission with the assistance of a population of 10 Exmoor ponies and 6 English longhorn cattle. It was formerly the site of open cast coal mining that ceased in 1981. On the day of our visit the only water birds in evidence were some mallards, moorhens and about half a dozen goosanders. However, the sky was graced by an interesting formation of clouds that were reflected on the almost still surface of the lake.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Flood-reflected bandstand

I've taken a few photographs of the bandstand at Ross on Wye. The most recent shows two members of the outdoor audience appreciating a concert by a Gloucestershire brass band on a hot, sunny day. Its quite the contrast to the above shot of the bandstand reflected in floodwater. The two tunnels in the left background allow flood water to flow under the road above and spread the water  rather than concentrating it.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Britannia Warehouse, Gloucester

Gloucester's Victoria Dock was opened in 1849 to provide more quayside space for shipping. Three large warehouses were built on the west side of the dock for the merchant, William Partridge. They were Victoria Warehouse of 1849, Albert Warehouse of 1851 and Britannia Warehouse of 1861. All can be seen today, converted for flats and businesses. Britannia Warehouse, pictured above, was gutted by fire in 1987 and after much debate was demolished then completely rebuilt using many of the original bricks.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Reflected flats

I've long thought that photography helps you to see better. Not just in the way that you notice more, or how the mundane becomes more interesting, but also in the way that it can cause you to revise your perception. An example of the latter is exemplified by the photograph above. In taking this shot of new warehouse-style flats at Gloucester Quays I thought I was photographing a pair of mirrored buildings and their reflection. In fact, the buildings aren't perfectly mirrored - there are minor but significant details that prevent them being alike. And once you find one such difference you look for more. And then wonder why the architect did it that way.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Watery railings

The fractured reflections that seemingly still water can produce has been a frequent subject of my photography.The shot above shows the white painted railings of the road bridge over the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal near Slimbridge. A clear blue sky and the shadow under the bridge added colours that enhanced the broken regularity of the metalwork.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100