Cycling: a break in the rain

[speedbird591]

This summer, it's a matter of 'if it stops raining, get the bike out quick!' So this afternoon I had a few hours up on Great Ridge Wood. Part of the wood is still unspoilt, ancient, broadleaf woodland and is a remaining part of Cranborne Chase, a huge hunting forest that covered swathes of Dorset and Wiltshire.

I took the camera and please forgive me if you've had enough pastoral scenes lately. If the weather stays poor there may not be many more opportunities!

The OS map shows that the main roman road from Bath to Salisbury (Aquae Sulis to Sorviodunum) ran through this spot,
although nowadays most Romans choose the A36


A meadow of wildflowers showing that the poppies are in flower


A field of oilseed rape, for Garry. Wheat in the foreground.


A quintessentially English scene. I don't know what that means, but everybody uses that adjective for an English scene


Oh, and here's another video with some leaves rustling and some birds singing (Select HD and high volume for best results).

http://youtu.be/9GpMAhGoIcg

Ian

[TSR2]

love no2 and 3. There's something really soothing about poppies in the summer

[Garry Russell]

The yellow is shocking

I used to see the countryside getting yellower and yellower then suddenly, I'd go a couple of days later and it was all gone. Spectacular to say the least

[speedbird591]

I actually agree with you, Ben Wild poppies are my favourite flowers by far!

Those two pictures are taken from the same place. Facing North for the poppy shot and South for the yellow rapeseed. They're very typical Wiltshire landscapes.

Ian

[TSR2]

Its the couple of poppies in the right hand side of the rapeseed shot, just two little random blots of red that really make that a cracker for me.

[speedbird591]

Its the couple of poppies in the right hand side of the rapeseed shot, just two little random blots of red that really make that a cracker for me.

Well spotted! They stood out much better in real life but were in the wrong place. I needed them in the right foreground but I think the farmer's been a bit too liberal with the weedkiller

The reason that the yellow is so bright is that the sun was shining on the scene as I framed the picture but a cloud came over from behind me darkening the wheat field. So I waited until the edge of the shadow reached the far edge of the wheat, leaving the rape sunlit and so increasing the contrast.

It would have looked a lot better with a DSLR but I'm not going to hump one of those about in my backpack. I use a Canon G12 which is a reasonable compromise between features and size.

Thank you for your comments btw.

Ian

[DaveB]

Lovely Ian

That landscape looks a lot like where I used to live. It might BE where I used to live. Keep these shots coming and you may, eventually, inspire me to get out on the bike (manual version) a lot more

ATB
DaveB