February 2018

February 28th 1600 GMT

It was well below zero outside, so I checked the Sun in hydrogen alpha light from inside the house. The Sun was very quiet but I took some shots, just in case I could capture anything unusual.

 

 

February 26th 0840 GMT

I checked the Sun in my PST and saw a single flare that I had seen on the professional observatory images. The big question was whether I could capture it on camera. Using my DSLR for afocal photography was quite new to me. I tried using a longer focal length eyepiece of 32mm.

 

Yes, it just shows up a little lower than the centre of the disc and some smaller ones and faint filaments.

February 25th 1810 GMT

I wasn’t happy with my Moon photo in daylight, so decided to have another go. I used 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/500 second exposure. I then found Venus low in the west and took some widefield shots at a variety of exposure times at ISO 6400.

 

 

February 25th 1420 GMT

I bin scanned the Moon with my DSLR.

 

 

February 25th 1405 GMT

The Sun was quiet in hydrogen alpha light. I attempted to photograph it using my DSLR afocally.

 

 

February 24th 2320 GMT

I snapped the Moon with my DSLR.

 

 

February 24th 1800 GMT

The Sun had set a few minutes before and the Moon was riding high in the south and I bin scanned it at 8 days past full. The southern craters were gaining prominence, with Clavius straddling the terminator.

 
I also bin scanned for Venus low in the west but did not see it.

February 23rd 1700 GMT

The Moon was half full, so I took another set of shots with my DSLR.

 

 

Feb 22nd 1815 GMT

I took a few snaps of the Moon with my DSLR. I processed the best shot.

 

 

February 12th 1020 GMT

I bin scanned the Sun through moving thin cloud and saw that the sunspots from the day before had rotated. The Big Bear images showed some smaller sunspots in the same region that I did not pick up in my bins.

 

 

February 11th 0910 GMT

I bin scanned the Sun in a clear sky and saw two sunspots.

February 9th 0820 GMT

I tried to photograph the Sun from indoors, still not being 100% fit. It was too low and shining through trees but I thought it would make an interesting shot anyway.

 

A few minutes later, it had cleared the trees, so I carried out the planned shot. It didn't work, probably as it was indoors, so I did a drawing from visual observations.

 

February 9th 0750 GMT

The Moon was a waning crescent and I took some shots with my DSLR at 300mm focal length, ISO 100 and 1/1000 second exposure.

 

 

February 6th 1305 GMT

I bin scanned the Sun in a clear sky and saw a single, large sunspot.

February 4th 1040 GMT

I finally had some clear sky, so checked out the Sun from indoors with my PST, as I was still ill. I could see some granulation and tried to photograph afocally using my DSLR at 70mm and auto-exposure, with a lens hood. Initial indication were that I’d captured some parts of the solar disc. One shot caught part of the disc quite well but I could not extract any detail from the others. At least, there was something in the concept.

 

 

February 1st 0640 GMT

The Moon was low and bright in the west. I still had a cold, so I photographed it from the house with my DSLR.

 

Unfortunately, focussing a DSLR at 300mm on the Moon is a bit hit and miss and this time it was a miss.

Non-Astronomy Photos 2018

December 19th

Finally, the gecko came out of hiding!

November 24th

I went with my family to the big Christmas lights switch-on in Chippenham, our local town. I took some snaps of the town with its decorations.

November 10th

I passed through Holt, near Trowbridge, Wiltshire and took some photos of St. Katharine's Church. As it was shut, I could only photograph the outside.

November 3rd

I took a couple of photos in Uphill, Somerset: the Pill Box (fort) and St Nicholas's Church:

September 16th

I have taken loads of photos of John Coles Park, near our home but I liked the colours of one of the trees, so could not resist another one.

September 12th

I caught a moth on camera at an undisclosed location.

September 10th

I caught a butterfly on camera but it was totally unexpected and unplanned!

September 9th

I caught a spider with my DSLR. Amazing that they look extraterrestrial in close-up.

I took a rose shot, too.

September 3rd

I photographed some roses in our garden.

August 24th

I caught a bird of unknown species on camera.

August 21st

I caught a moth on camera.

August 19th

My wife and I did some local "touristing" around Bourton-on-the-Water and Upper and Lower Slaughter.

Now for the Slaughters and the River Eye.

I caught some trout on camera, rather than rod and line.

... and some ducks with trout in the background.

Then it was off to the River Coln in Bibury.

August 12th

I produced a video of my Mere photos with "Too late for Goodbye" by Julian Lennon: 

https://youtu.be/JXbG5doLBf0

August 11th

On the way back, I saw a nice church at Kingston Deverill, St Mary the Virgin.

August 11th

I wandered around Mere, near Warminster, while between appointments. Firstly, Archangel Michael's Church.

I snapped the clock tower from two angles.

Sometimes buildings other than churches are architecturally interesting, too.

For example, the library:

Pubs:

Back to churches with the United Reformed Church:

August 7th

I caught a wild rabbit on camera in a field.

August 7th

I snapped some roses in our garden.

August 3rd

I caught a nice snap of a rose in our garden.

... and a spider in the house.

July 29th

The River Thames was dry at Kemble. The original source at Thames Head is usually dry anyway but the two streams that normally flow at Kemble were bone dry.

The first "official" tributary of the Thames is Swill Brook that rises near Crudwell near Malmesbury. However, Swill Brook and the Thames are about the same length before they meet and Swill Brook is supposed to carry more water, so some say that the Thames is a tributary of Swill Brook! There was a small amount of water at Crudwell but it was not flowing,

July 21st Evening

I caught some roses in the dark.

July 21st

I caught a moth and a fucshia on film.

I photographed a rose in our garden.

July 20th

I had been promising myself a photo of St Paul's Church in Chippenham for ages and I finally got round to it.

July 20th

I caught a gull in a car park.

July 6th

After an astronomical photo shoot, I snapped some flowers in our garden.

Chilean Potato Plant:

Clematis:

Rose:

July 5th

I popped into Pittville Park in Cheltenham, pretty much by accident. Although it was closed, the spa pump room looked a great piece of architecture.

June 29^th

While out and about with work, I was between appointments and saw a sign to Barbury Castle. As luck would have it, there were only remains of the earthworks of a hill fort but I saw some interesting wild flowers and caught two butterflies on camera.

June 28th

I thought that this moth was a leaf, at first. Clever camouflage!

June 27th

I visited St Augustine's Church in Downend, Bristol.

June 3rd

I snapped some roses in our garden.

June 2nd

I passed through Cricklade downstream of where the River Churn joins the Thames and is starts to look like a more substantial river.

May 29th

I passed Southwick on the way home and could not resist a shot at St Thomas Church.

May 27th

I snapped a rose in our garden.

May 25th

I visited Marhull and snapped the church.

May 21st

We took our dogs for a walk by the Kennet and Avon Canal in Devizes.

May 20th

I saw a nice church in Maperton, Somerset.

May 15th

After a sun shoot, I snapped some flowers.

May 14th

I saw some wallflowers, appropriately enough, by a wall!

May 4th

I passed through Castle Cary. Even the post office had a nice, traditional look.

Apparently, there are only three other round houses in the country.

Museum:

A few street shots:

There was an old-fashioned telephone box.

There was a sculpture but no fish in the pond.

As you know, I rather like old churches.

May 1st

I was driving through Queen Camel and snapped a nice church.

April 25th

More plants from our garden.

April 20th

I "snapped" some plants in the garden.

April 19th

I had a look at Sharpness Docks on the River Severn  in Gloucestershire

between appointments.

While I was there, I caught some birds on film.

April 18th

I stopped for a look at Trinity Church, Nailsea.

April 16th

I passed by Littledean Church in Gloucestershire.

April 14th

I snapped a tulip in our garden.

... and a blackbird in our neighbour's.

April 12th

I just happened to find some nice daffodils growing wild.

April 11th

I snapped the same tulip as six days ago and some bluebells.

April 5th

After a solar photo shoot, I took some snaps of a tulip and acer in our garden.

April 4th

I passed by a couple of churches, one at Corsley and the other in Beanacre.

April 3rd

I stopped for a coffee and found it was at Wellow Trekking Centre. The horses and ponies were friendly and posed well for photos.

March 29th

I saw a blackbird taking a dip in our bird bath. Although I did not manage to catch the event, I took some photos while the bird was drying off.

March 27th

I passed by the Church of St George in Cam, Gloucestershire and took a few snaps.

March 26th

I passed Henbury Church on the way to see a client. Not only was the church beautiful but the flowers were special as well.

March 26th

I took some snaps in the garden.

March 19th

I snapped our dogs, Ollie (Cavachon) and Andy (Cavestie) in the snow.

March 16th

There were some nice daffodils about.

March 15th

I visited Alfred's Tower in Stourton.

I caught a spider on a wall.

I headed into Glastonbury and saw St John the Baptist Church.

The head of this sculpture reminded me of the Moai of Easter Island.

This other sculpture was in the town centre.

The abbey is in ruins.

I cannot resist a few flowers.

I drove to Glastonbury Tor.

I found a nice Catholic Church: Mary Magdalene.

A lovely white cat came to see me.

March 14th

While out and about, I saw a strange unidentified plant that we also have growing in our garden.

Farleigh Castle was closed but I still took some sneaky shots.

March 10th

I was out and about and passed Seven Springs near Cheltenham. It really does have seven individual springs and is the source of the River Churn, which joins the River Thames at Cricklade. Many consider that the Churn is the true source of the Thames, as its source is further from the confluence than the source of the Thames at Kemble. In truth, many rivers and streams join together to form the Thames.

To start with, I saw some snowdrops.

Springs One and Two.

Spring Three





All springs



Spring Seven

Springs Three and Four

Spring Six

Spring Five:

Pond where the water from the springs collects before flowing out into the river.

March 9th

I took a couple of snaps in our garden.

February 24th

I passed by Ashwick Church.

I snapped some flowers there, too.

I then passed St Bartholemew's Church in Rode.

February 23rd

I snapped these snowdrops while walking our dogs.

February 20th

I snapped a daffodil in our garden.

February 15th

I dove through Tonypandy (Wales) and took some shots.

February 2nd

I found some old photos on my camera, so processed them. The first was some flowers in Victoria Park, Bath,

The acers in our garden were bare but this old photo showed a full set of leaves, also from Victoria Park.

February 1st

I was between things in Radstock, so took a few photos.

I cannot remember the name of this flower and (shame on me!) we have them in our garden. It's nice to see flowers in winter.

Well at least I can recognise pansies!

I rather like the Methodist Holy Trinity Church.

Radstock Wheel:

More flowers, this time the daffodiloid, dwarf narcissi.

MORE TO COME...

January 26th

Yet another church - St John the Baptist Chipping Sodbury.

Here's the clock tower from the same town.

January 20th

I found a rather nice church in Swindon Old Town, named Christ Church and St Mary's.

January 19th

I took some snaps of the River Thames near its source in Kemble. Many days it shows as a puddle and I've even seen it dry at this point. After heavy rain, it was flowing quite nicely and there was even some water in the original source, although there was nowhere to photograph it from the road.

January 18th

I took some hill photos near Treorchy but not all photos came out.

January 10th

I caught a cat on a roof but it was cold felt, rather than hot tin.

January 7th

I took some pigeon shots from my back door. However, they were slightly out of focus.