Gardening, Spiders and a Bank Holiday with a Piece of History

The recent glut of Bank Holidays saw people all over the country doing what Britons do best on Bank Holidays, chiefly invading B&Q and attempting to do DIY and gardening. Our household was no different, with Yol deciding that it was time to tackle the garden. Joy of joys.

But even the most mundane of activities (unless you're Alan Titchmarsh and love this stuff) can present a photographer with some opportunities, and these opportunities can sometimes give a little spark of inspiration which leads on to something a little bigger...I'll get to that later!

Gardening isn't a passion of mine by any standard, but Yol seems to enjoy it, so I do my part with a smile (a disguised grimace really) and my very fine hat. The weather was absolutely marvellous, so Lola and Lucy were playing outside whilst we attacked the undergrowth. Lola, being largely white, takes the heat a little better than Lucy, who prefers to find a little shade and chill out:



Sometimes though, she picks the most inopportune places to get some shade and take a nap!:



Clearing the undergrowth and trimming back the neighbour's overhanging bramble bushes disturbs a lot of the local creepy-crawly population, and they take refuge on the walls and the fences giving me a lovely chance to get the macro lens out!:




Whilst we were outdoing the garden, the sky was clear blue, and the vapour trails of the aircraft going over stood out against the heavens. Like all good (and not so good) photographers, I like to keep my cameras close by so that when inspiration strikes, and it struck!



I've always liked the sight of vapour trails across the skies, and with my interest in air shows at the back of my mind, an idea for a Bank Holiday trip turned into a wonderful chance to combine that interest with my photography. May Day Bank Holiday for me was spent at the Manchester Airport Runway Visitors Park:



We spent several hours watching the planes take off and land in the glorious sunshine, snapping away with my range of lenses to see what I could get.







We also went around the static displays, snapping away inside a parked-up Trident jet which gave me a chance to try some lower-light detail photography:




But the best opportunity came inside the main hangar - the home of G-BOAC, the Concorde. The Airport is home to this icon, this piece of aviation history, and for a small price you can take a tour of this beautiful aircraft, learn a little about its history, and take as many photos as you like. This was too good an opportunity to miss!





I would encourage all photographers, even those with only a passing interest in aircraft, to take advantage of the presence of Concorde, the presence of history, and get your lenses out at the Airport!



My Flickr albums can be seen here. Thanks for reading!