Tuesday 26 May 2009

Edford Wood part two

I love water, specially fast flowing streams like this one. I was hoping to see the Dipper here as they favour these fast flowing parts particularly. I did get the occasional glimpse as it sped off down the stream ahead of me. So, leaving the Dipper alone to go off and get its breakfast, I turned my attention to this rather nice rock in the river (I'm calling it a river here for the alliteration!) (-:That's a nice mossy rock there sticking up against the swirling stream I thought! Take a photo.
I wanted to try and get a softer effect though so I slowed the shutter speed down. It's nice when something does actually turn out as you want it to! I found this plant growing by the side of the stream. It's called Monk's Hood (Aconitum napellus) and is extremely poisonous. My Mum has some growing in her garden.You can see where the common name comes from. It's a beautiful if somewhat dangerous flower.Something more beneficial is the Yellow Pimpernel (Lysimachia nemorum) which favours damp woodland clearings. Jacobean herbalists believed that it had the power to alleviate pain. I nearly overlooked this small and unassuming flower as I walked along the wooded paths. I'm glad I didn't.There were many Hawthorne trees flowering in the wood. This is one of the great flowering spectacles of spring as these small trees are abundant around the country lanes all around Britain. In the autumn they will be covered in small red berries. For now I love their pure white flowers. More to come....

11 comments:

Chris said...

Hi Jenny,
Yes it is nice to play with the speed shutter when taking pictures of a river stream. I've tried several time and enjoyed it too. I love the third shot you manage to get, the effect is very soft as you said. Nicely done on the flowers shots too!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful Springtime post, Jenny. I'm glad you got the water shot you envisioned.

Dog Trot Farm said...

Jenny another lovely stroll, thank you.

Kelly said...

...I thoroughly enjoyed this post. Your narration and photos made me feel like I was there. (I love rivers, and I love rocks...especially when they are mossy). You've inspired me to play with the shutter speed with water. I've not really learned that yet.

NatureStop said...

Really enjoyed your refreshing post and also learned that we can play with the shutter speed to capture the stream.Thanks a ton:)

Jenny said...

Hi Chris and Steve, thanks, I think very often that I don't take the time to think properly about what I want to take photograph wise. I'm inspired by blokes like you two, but don't have enough knowledge to 'experiment' with confidence. Maybe I should just experiment and see what happens anyway! (-:

Hi Julie, I'm glad you liked it.

Hi Kelly, I have some basic knowledge of some thing a camera can do, but not enough to satisfy me.......something to keep striving for. I don't know if you watch Steve B above, but his blog is amazingly inspiring for taking great nature photos. I'll look forward to your experiments in the future....(-:

Hi Naturestop, sorry I don't know your names. It was fun to see what happened with the different shutter speeds. I hope you have a crack at it too.

Eve said...

Sometimes I miss a good post right off Jenny!! I love the rather regal rock you photographed!
Oh that monk's hood...I dug that straight out of my garden when Daisy Lu came home with us. The Yellow Pimpernel is sweet by my favorite is the Hawthorne! So pretty!

Mary said...

Glad to know what Monk's Hood looks like...I remember reading a mystery by that name. Cool the way you did the two different rock shots. I like the soft one...different!

Jenny said...

Hi there Evie, Hawthorne has got to be one of my fav trees. Our hedgerows just would not be the same without it. I like it best when the flowers are just at their tight bud stage (I missed getting a photograph of that this year) and then the sun on the deep red berries in autumn is just great.

Quiet Paths said...

There is so much going on here; so many varied focal points. Great shot on the stream! The Hawthorne flowers are so delicate. Many of these I have heard of in books but have never seen. Thank you so much.

Anonymous said...

The Monk's Hood, yet another one I haven't seen, I must be walking around with my eyes closed. {:).
The slow shutter shot worked out very well Jen.