Otherside of The Sturgeon Moon


Last night I spotted the moon low on the horizon and noticed how large and red it was. I missed the full moon of August a few days ago, and according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, it is sometimes known as the Sturgeon Moon, the name likely given by both colonists and Algonquian-speaking people in northeastern North America, as sturgeon are native to both Europe and the Americas.


Sturgeon Moon Waxing Gibbous

The Sky Stallion


I have a thing about clouds and how their formations pull on the imagination. I see a mighty horse rearing up and trying to pull itself free from the clouds, being born of the elements.


Sky Stallion cloud formation

© Peter Hillman ♦ 3rd August 2016 ♦ Bournemoth, Dorset ♦ Nikon D3200


Waxing Gibbous Moon


It’s a wonder to think that when I look upon the glowing, ethereal face of the moon in awe, people from the past and ancient times looked upon that same glowing, ethereal face with the same feeling; and the present and the past are then the same moment.


Waxing Gibbous Moon

© Peter Hillman ♦ 4th April 2020 ♦ From rear garden, Staffordshire ♦ Nikon D7200


An Opening In The Clouds


I have a thing for shafts of sunlight as they break through cloud. It can happen and change so quickly the moment is over all too soon. And as the old saying goes, considering the goings-on around the world at present, ‘every cloud has a silver lining’.


Llandudno, Wales

Copyright: Peter Hillman
Camera used: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ38
Date taken: 21st April 2011
Place: West Shore Beach, Llandudno, Wales


Early Morning Mist Rising


These were taken back in the autumn of 2017. I enjoyed the mysterious mood of the early morning mist as it steadily rose from the landscape with a bluish tinge.


Autumn Mist Rising


Autumn Mist Rising


Copyright: Peter Hillman
Camera used: Nikon D7200
Date taken: 28th September 2017
Place: Staffordshire


 

Painted Skies


I took this a few years ago one early summer morning. There is no post-processing here. Nature is the artist, painting the clouds and the dawn light.


dawn


Copyright: Peter Hillman
Camera used: Nikon D7200
Date taken: 8th July 2017
Place: From rear garden, Staffordshire


 

Rainbow’s End


These two photographs show the same stunning autumn rainbow which appeared as a part of a ‘double rainbow’ … there was a fainter one above this one. Unfortunately I had my macro lens on at the time, and I know how quickly rainbows can fade. So I grabbed my camera and took what I could. I wish I could have got the whole arching rainbow in all its magnificence … and even the one one above it, but at least I have these.


Rainbow


Rainbow


Copyright: Peter Hillman
Camera used: Nikon D7200
Date taken: 17th October 2019
Place: Rear garden, Staffordshire


 

Rain Again

Pencilled Cranes-bill Geranium versicolor

Click and click again on the image to get that little bit closer …


Hardy geranium. June 2019, rear garden, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.

Mysterious Sea Mist

Sea Mist From Luccombe Bay

This mysterious sea mist drifted in from Luccombe Bay. As soon as it appeared it disappeared. Memories of John Carpenter’s ‘The Fog’ came to mind. It had quite an eerie quality to it.


Click once to expand view, click again to get that little bit closer


Isle of Wight, England, August 2018 © Pete Hillman.

Gateway To The Sun

Storm Clouds

I love dramatic skies, especially as storms are looming or lumbering past. I love the way you can see the silver linings on clouds and the peeking sun and reflecting light amidst these huge and dark, floating behemoths.

Click once to expand view, click again to get that little bit closer


June 2018, rear garden, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.

Flash

Rose

Today I had my late birthday present come. My first speedligh flash unit, the Nikon SB-700. The weather has been rather dismal, and I thought I had been transported to autumn it has been so damp and cold here. However, between showers I manged to get a few shots in to play with my new toy. I guess I have some learning to do to get the best out of it. But it come with a nice case, some filters, a diffuser and a bounce card. I just need to get the experience to go with it.

Rose

Raindrops

Raindrops


Rear garden, Staffordshire, England in the rain, again. June 2017.

Silk And Ice

Winter Landscape

Please click on images for full definition.

Photograph taken December 2016, local woods, Staffordshire. © Pete Hillman 2016. Camera used Nikon D7200, with Nikon 18-55mm lens.

Misty Dreams

Misty Dreams

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Photograph taken December 2016, local woods, Staffordshire. © Pete Hillman 2016. Camera used Nikon D7200, with Nikon 18-55mm lens.

A Beautiful Chiller

Frozen Rose

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The past couple of nights we have had some pretty heavy frosts here, and the rose blooms that were tempted to come out in the milder weather and which had begun to decay in the damp atmosphere now look like they have just come out the refrigerator. Frozen popsicles they may be, but they are also frozen little wonders.

Frozen Rose

Frozen Rose

Frozen Rose

Photographs taken December 2016, rear garden, Staffordshire. © Pete Hillman 2016. Camera used Nikon D7200, with Sigma 105mm macro lens.

Frosty Morning

Frosty Morning

Please click on image for full definition.

Photograph taken December 2016, local woods, Staffordshire. © Pete Hillman 2016. Camera used Nikon D7200, with Nikon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens.

Holly (Ilex aquifolium)

Wishing you all Love, Peace and Joy this Season and the coming New Year.

Photograph taken December 2010, front garden, Staffordshire. © Pete Hillman 2010. Camera used Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ38.

Supermoon #2

Supermoon

Higher in the sky now, and appearing a tad smaller than when it was rising, and more like its usual colour. So what really is a ‘supermoon’? This moon is not only the biggest and brightest supermoon of the year, but it is the closest supermoon since 26th January 1948, almost 69 years ago. I hope you got or get to see it. If not you will have to wait 18 years to see the next one on 25th November 2034.

Photograph taken November 2016, Staffordshire. © Pete Hillman 2016. Camera used Nikon D7200, with Nikon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens.

Supermoon

Supermoon

I was lucky to catch site of this ‘Supermoon’ as the clouds parted. I caught it as it was just rising low on the horizon, and as the sun was slipping down on the opposite side of the planet, hence this odd colour. Not as sharp as I would have liked it, but the clouds were coming again.

Photograph taken November 2016, Staffordshire. © Pete Hillman 2016. Camera used Nikon D7200, with Nikon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens.

It Never Stops Rainin’

Pedunculate Oak (Quercus robur) leavesI always look forward to the weekends so I can try to get out and take a few photographs, especially as the evenings here are drawing in so quickly now. But again another Saturday is dark and damp, the rain drizzling down, not a break in site. But I managed to dodge a few raindrops earlier, and how beautiful the rain can be, splashing and deepening the colours, making everying fresh and vibrant.

Photograph of Pedunculate Oak (Quercus robur) leaves taken October 2016, rear garden, Staffordshire. © Pete Hillman 2016. Camera used Nikon D7200, with Sigma 105mm macro lens. ISO 500. 1/30 sec. f/7.1.

July Rain

We actually needed some rain for the garden, and this morning, between showers, I popped out into the garden with camera in hand to take a few shots of the magic the rain had left in its wake.

These tiny raindrops filled with light were taken on the long slender leaves of my Montbretia (Crocosmia) plants, which had suffered to varied degrees during the exceptional hot weather of late.

Raindrops Keep Falling

I love to see the water droplets on vegetation after the rain has fallen. Everything appears fresh and reinvigorated, so much more alive. The reflections of light in the tiny spheres can be quite magical.

Photographs taken June and December 2015, rear garden, Staffordshire.