A glimpse of hot summer days and baking sunshine. Everyone has a memory of these grasses – they’re the ones you can pluck and throw as darts. They stick in hair and clothing. We’ve all done it. In a corner of west London they catch the wind and look gloriously green. Some simply lie on the tarmac, spent and useless. A simple part of nature which appears lush and complex when subjected to the camera lens.
I’m a lucky Londoner, enjoying a commute to work that is a mere 15-minute walk. It takes me through an area of the White City estate, a housing area that has seen better days. I have the space for observation on my walk, and noticed a waste area has been landscaped and planted out.
At the moment it’s bursting with a patch of yellow Kniphofia – striking flowers also known as Red Hot Pokers. I had to stop off and capture this sight using my 60mm macro lens – a natural flash of inner city colour.
This is a London backyard to savour. The gardens of Eltham Palace are a sublime fit for a house combining medieval and Art Deco majesty. You can explore formal lawns, water features and meadow-lined paths. And in early summer, the herb beds and borders are bristling with delicious blooms. It’s a haven for macro photography and the capture of the vibrant colours of nature. Come and take a stroll…
The meadows are bursting with life. The grass is shooting up and is studded with buttercups, clover and clouds of cow parsley. They’re less prevalent in urban west London, so I found mine in the grounds of Eltham Palace, tucked away in the city’s south-east corner.
This involved a lot of lying in the grass and lengthening the exposure as much as possible to catch the grasses as a breath of wind-swept them into motion. I also tried some deliberate off focus to emulate the mood of a burgeoning summer.
This was far away from the hustle and bustle of London life. I travelled to Northumberland in the far north of England, a place blessed with beautiful coastline and the Farne Islands, which are the domain of bird life and seals. From the seaside village of Seahouses, you can take boat trips out into the North Sea, looking back at the commanding citadel of Bamburgh Castle and getting close to the islets crowded with wildlife.
The sun stubbornly refused to show itself that day, meaning light pastel skies and rolling clouds. Photography from a boat riding a choppy ocean caused some problems – and admittedly a little biliousness. Back on dry land, the sands at Bamburgh were dotted with walkers enjoying the open spaces of a magnificent corner of the country.
