The Memphis Belle

After stalking the landscape of western England I was ready for a change. I took the day and drove to Duxford Aerodrome. The Imperial War Museum - Duxford is England's equivalent of the US Airforce Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB or the National Air & Space Museum in Wash. DC. Duxford has major displays of both UK and US military aircraft. There is a big emphasis on WWII, especially with the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain being recognized this summer.

The big surprise and special treat was seeing a B17 Flying Fortress. This plane is the only operational B17 based in Europe, and it operates out of Duxford. While I was there the crew fired up the engines and took her out for a flight. They were gone for about two hours and returned later in the afternoon.

The plane carries different nose art on the two sides of the plane. One side is painted as the Memphis Belle. This plane was used in the shooting of the movie of the same name.

This image is of the plane on takeoff from Duxford. I hope you enjoy it !

From Herefordshire Beacon

On Friday afternoon I drove east to the ridgeline known as the Malvern Hills. The southern anchor of the ridge is a point known as the Herefordshire Beacon. The hill tops out at a little over 1100 feet, and is probably 500 or more feet above the valley flour. The hilltop is crowned with a large Iron Age earthwork fortress. The area is included in a area of preservation called an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. And it is easy to see why.

I arrived in time for the sunset hour. These two images are a sampling of the interesting light that was available on this evening.

The Golden Light

Sunset on Distant Hills

The first image is taken looking northwest,  the second a few degrees south of west.  Both take advantage of a three-stop ND grad filter to bring up the exposure of the foreground

The Town Criers

One of the images of I have of England is the love of history and for pomp and ceremony that the English people have. Just this week there was the opening of a new Parliment, with the Queen's Speech. It was a full dose with the royal jewels, the Household Calvary in full regalia and the like.

Last weekend I heard on the radio that there was going to be a meeting of Town Criers to be held at Bromyard in Herefordshire. I thought "here's an opportunity for some clasic English regalia" and I wasn't disappointed.

The Town Crier is mainly a ceremonial position today. In the 18th century the town crier made legal and public announcements in the town square. They carry a bell, which is rung to gather attention before the announcements are made.

These gentlemen (and one lady) were competing to see who could do the best job that day. As you can tell it was bright and sunny. Enjoy these images!

Hay on Wye - Colors and Angles

For the first part of my visit I had been roaming the Herefordshire countryside. One of the local business people I'm working with during the day suggested that I visit Hay on Wye out on the Hereford - Wales borders.

My previous post had to do with the flowers in the fields. This post is for the wonderful angles, colors and light that I discovered in the town itself. The old town sets on a hilltop crowned with the ruins of a Norman castle and a Jacobean manor house. The streets are narrow and don't run in straight lines.

These three images are just a few from the set that I took during my day there. I hope you enjoy!

Whitewashed Alley

The Orange Wall

Heol y Dwr

Wildflowers in the Lane

I made a nice visit to the town of Hay on Wye, a small town on the River Wye at the Herefordshire - Wales border.

I followed one of the local circular walks, which included a footpath along a small brook. The wildflowers were a bright and attractive feature of my hike. I hope that you enjoy them as well.

The Hereford Rivers

It has been a busy first week here in England. Work has gone well, both here and back in the states. After traveling on Monday I worked a 4-10 week (plus a couple). I also managed to get out and scout a little. Today I got out to several locations. I took over 600 frames just today.

I'm sharing two images. Hereford is rolling hills with green fields and pastures in between. It is well drained with a number of rivers

The River Lugg

The River Wye

The photo of the River Lugg was taken near Mordiford on Thursday evening. It is processed as a one-frame HDR using Photomatix Pro and CS4. The photo of the River Wye is at Ross on Wye this evening. It is processed through CS4. Much more to come!!

We're Here !

And the photo opportunities look great! We had to wait at the gate on Sunday night to see if the ash cloud would move enought to allow us to land in Manchester. After a two-hour delay we were told we were good to go! Landed here about mid-day on Monday.

Drove down to Hereford. I'm staying at a hotel out in the country. It is great being able to see the countryside. I don't know which is worse: driving on the left-hand side of the road, or doing it in a car with a manual transmission!

I am very comfortable with a manual transmission. My pickup has a manual. But since the steering wheel is on the "wrong" side of the car the shifter is under my left hand, not my right. I've missed a shift a time or two while waving my right hand around in the air looking for the knob. In town I've been driving with my left on the shifter as a reminder. That seems to help.

Work has been good. There were several topics that have been open from before I went on vacation. We've gotten good information by being here on site, and are making great progress on them. Next week we are changing the work schedule to be better able to support the teams back in Pennsylvania and Minnesota. That means I don't come into the office until late morning. It may give me the opportunity for some early morning sunrise photo shoots before I head into the office.

Last night I took a drive out through the country to check out some hiking sites for this weekend. I found a little village with an old church that should provide some great sundown shooting if today's partially sunny weather holds. The weather forecast for the weekend is great. Partially cloudy and temps upto 24C (80'ish !)

We're working hard and enjoying experiencing the new culture. More reports to come!

Leaving for England

No sooner that we get home, I'm gearing up for a three-week trip to Jolly Old England. Work is taking me to Herefordshire to work with one of the business units of my current client. We are in the midst of the user acceptance test for the summer go-live, and I will be also working on some local implementation issues for them.

I will have two weekends, including a three-day, so much of the camera gear is going. Herefordshire appears to be a very photogenic region. Just need to pray for sunshine!

Hopefully my connectivity will not be limited, but if you don't hear from me Keep On Shooting !!