A sunny evening in Saltaire

Now that we live somewhere you can walk around in the evenings without feeling you need to constantly look apprehensively over your shoulder, we've been starting to do after-work strolls.

The light the other evening was stunning.

Sports field between the Aire and the Leeds-Liverpool canal.

Part of the Salts Mill complex.

Shipley College.

And then it was off, back to the house. What a lovely evening for a wander.

Poppleton Nursery, for Garden Rail

A return to Poppleton, the Community Railway Plant Nursery on the outskirts of York.

We were there to get some plants for the under-construction garden railway...

...and some research pics for (yes, yet again) another article.

It was actually quite tricky to get decent pictures, just because the place was so busy.

It was quite tricky to find new angles on Poppleton too, just because we've been there so many times.

Another successful visit; lots of reference shots, and a boot-full of plants.

 

A little ray of sunshine; yellow train, in Saltaire.

The other afternoon, we went for a stroll out in Saltaire; partly for the exercise, partly to go see the Network Rail Test Train (yellow HST) come racing through.

United Reform Church peeking above the trees.

A nice stroll, and then the HST put in an appearance. Shame I was shooting into the light, trying to get the mill in shot...

...better though, over the other side of the bridge.

 

A sunny Spring lunchtime on the Worth Valley

I (Ben) have an article under way for British Railway Modelling, for which I'd shot a load of prototype pics earlier in the year. With the weather having improved significantly since they were shot, we decided to make the most of the Spring sunshine and head out for some more pictures. 

First stop, Ingrow, and a visit to the always-excellent shop the at Vintage Carriages museum.

Then it was off up to Oxenhope for a quick (and very tasty) bacon sarnie at the buffet coach.

An atmospheric view of "Vulcan", which was on pilot duties due to the fire risk. In fact the two above views make the place look quiet, but they were lucky shots; the trains were heaving!

Amongst the many items photographed for the article was the playground... had to wait for all the kids to sprint over to watch the locomotives running round.

With that, it was off home to crack-on with more work...

 

Flower Abstracts for a Sunny Spring

Amy has been gradually adding to her Flower Abstracts series, digital manipulations of photographs she's taken around the garden.

Since moving house, she's been working hard to bring the blank-canvas of the new garden, well yard (yarden?) up to snuff, and with the sunny weather this last couple of weeks, it was perfect to get some more material.

The above is the only odd-one-out, being in the wonderfully-kept displays at Oxenhope Station, which we visited for a magazine shoot last week.

 

Long Exposures in the Glaslyn Pass

On the way back to the car from the trip out to photograph "Russel" on the WHR, I (Ben) took the opportunity to try a few long-exposure pics in the gorge.

It wasn't brilliant conditions for it, as I really could have used a tripod, but had rushed out the house for the shots of "Russel".

Still, turned out OK, though I think a return visit later this year might be in order. 

 

"Russel" in the rain, in the Glaslyn Pass

Something of an unplanned last railway shoot; we were out on a mass-family gathering near Caernarfon, near the Welsh Highland Railway. Whilst we were there, a toot of a whistle heralded the arrival of "Russel" on a special. 

"Russel" is about to be withdrawn for maintenance, and to mark the occasion, it's been running some excursions on the WHR. But the fire risks the previous weekend scotched the run, so this was its last scheduled go.

Well, having apparently caused the end of the hot, dry spell by daring to come on holiday, thus making it possible for this train to run, it seemed rude not to get some pictures.

A quick drive into Caernarfon, and a lucky parking space, enabled a few shots as the loco ran-round.

More ridiculous was the attempt to get some pics, in the rain, in the Glaslyn Pass a couple of hours later. But it seemed worth the bother, given the fact this loco won't do this again for quite some time to come. A bit of a (slightly sketchy) scramble up the rocks to the trackside later, and a decent spot for a pic. And what's more, nobody else mad enough to try it, so nobody else to stumble into shot.