My return

I have been doing photographic projects and the first has just been added to my website:
www.mainprize.net

This depicts an abstract view of the mountains and valleys in Switzerland. We stayed in Lauterbrunnen, having driven there from Geneva. Interestingly the Swiss transport network is so good and reliable that we did not use the car at all until we returned to the airport.

The photos were processed in Lightroom and Photoshop. If you want specifics just let me know.

19 May - Cayton Bay

A gorgeous Cayton Bay sunrise just before high tide.

Cayton Bay ruins

Taken in RAW and processed in Lightroom, then converted with Silver Efex Pro to B&W.

17 May - Muston moths

2 new species for the year with one male of each:
buff ermine
white ermine
Also 5 hebrew character, 1 common quaker and 3 powdered quaker.

16 May - Yorkshire coast impressionism

Since my last photographic post I have concentrated on impressionistic images. These demonstrate the play of and interaction of light and often reduce the form of the subjects to abstract. Here are a few:

Bridlington south bay 1

Filey Dams 1

Filey Dams 2

Greylag geese

Mere water lilies 1

16 May - Muston moths

Pretty poor. Twice in the last week I have run the moth trap and only got 6 species:

Powdered quaker (Orthosia gracilis)
Common quaker (Orthosia cerasi)
Hebrew character (Orthosia gothica)
Shuttle-shaped dart (Agrotis puta)
Flame shoulder (Ochropleura plecta)
Early grey (Xylocampa areola)

The highest number of any of the species was 5.

Flame shoulder 

Shuttle-shaped dart

Things will hopefully pick up when the nights warm up.

02 May - A variable week on the Yorkshire coast

A week of variable weather. It is hard to believe that a few days ago most were wandering around in short-sleeved T-shirts when now they cannot get enough layers on.

Here are a few shots from the week.

The herald

A bank of cloud approaches bringing with it another deluge to the North Yorkshire coast.

Into the bay

These rocks are rarely seen as they are located in an area of Scarborough that few seem to go, in fact I have never seen anyone else there unless the tide is right out.

Filey bank 2

This bank of lesser celandines and daffodils looked beautiful and heralded the arrival of spring.

Beach sun

Filey Bay - exposed for the sun reflecting on the wet sand then brightened with fill-light and dodging in Lightroom and Photoshop.

Raincliffe anemones

I used a 24 mm tilt and shift lens to shorten the depth of field and emphasise the flowers in the foreground.

Beacon and beach

Filey at night with Flamborough lighthouse in the distance.

Double desecration

Taken in Cayton Bay this is part of my Obsenity of Filth project - how man leaves a mark that defaces the beauty of nature.

Photographer of May - Simon Roberts

Simon Roberts travels in a camper van and thoroughly covers his project. My favourite is his 'We English' project. This is my most visited site last month as I gain inspiration from several of his images. Currently he is covering the UK general election.

25 April - Muston moths

I ran the moth trap last night and trapped 57 individuals:


38 Hebrew characters (Orthosia gothica), 5 Clouded drabs (Orthosia incerta)

7 Common quakers (Orthosia cerasi)

4 Early greys (Xylocampa areola)

2 Powdered quaker (Orthosia gracilis)

and a single March moth (Alsophila aescularia).

18 April - Spring is here in Filey

Fantastic displays of mainly yellow flowers are everywhere. Tourists have arrived in droves. It must be spring.

Filey daffs

 

Searching a receding tide

18 April - Week to this date in Scarborough

An early morning spent at North Bay in Scarborough, avoiding the rubbish on the beach. It is such a pity that people arrive at our gorgeous coast and cast their filth for others to clean up. Some have abused the council for inadequate cleaning but the miscreants that do not clean up after themselves must surely take the blame.
Anyway there was a flock of ruddy turnstones (Arenaria interpres) starting their moult into breeding plumage collecting by the lifeboat ramps. This shot was for 30 seconds to capture their movement.

Turnstones

Watching the ashy sunrise

This week there were supposed to be stunning sunrises and sunsets due to the ash cloud over the country from the Icelandic volcano. Unfortunately these have not really materialised on the Yorkshire coast due to too much cloud or too little! Above was one of the best as there was just a little cloud.