40s Reenactors at Bletchly

We visited Bletchley Park on a 40s themed weekend.  People were encouraged to come in costume and there were plenty who did.  Reenacters are always happy to pose, particularly if you approach them early in the day, before they have had dozens of requests from photographers.  It was however a very sunny day and the light was too harsh for decent portraits.

 

Bletchley Park

I recently joined some other CCC members for a visit to Bletchley Park.  During the 2nd World War this was the home for the codebreakers who de-cyphered the German Enigma and Lorenz codes.  The contribution this made to the Allied war effort was immense.  An oft repeated estimate is that it shortened the war by 2 years, and thus saved millions of lives.  Churchill, described the Bletchley team as 'the geese that laid the golden eggs and never cackled'.

According to Ann, who has been a couple of times in past years, the site has undergone a huge transformation.  The once decaying codebreaker huts have been fully restored and dressed to resemble how they would have been during the war.  Recorded voices, projections and interactive media all help to tell the story of the work done there.

The huts are kept very dark, blackout blinds keep sunlight from damaging the artefacts and only a few dim bulbs light the interiors.  Photography was tricky to say the least.  I decided to convert most of the hut images to monochrome and gave a few an old photo treatment in Nik Analog Efex.

The mansion house was much better lit, but lacked the atmosphere of the huts. I was also keen to get a shot of the recreation of Turing's 'Bombe', the electro-mechanical calculating engine that help speed up the code-breaking process.

Shuttleworth - not planes

I arrived at Shuttleworth before 10am, with the first planes not scheduled to fly until 2pm.  This gave plenty of time to look around the house (which frankly isn't't that interesting), the Swiss gardens (which are lovely) and the collection of vintage vehicles and non-flying planes.

 

 

Shuttleworth Heritage Day

I met some other CCC members at the recent 'Heritage Day' at the Shuttleworth  Collection.  It was the first time I had been to a flying day at Shuttleworth in a few years.  The weather was great with a clear sky.  The planes flying included two visiting Mk XI reconnaissance spitfires and the collection's own Mk V Spitfire.  The Mk V has returned to the skies this season after a 10 year refit.  Unusually, it sports clipped wing tips, which apparently improve roll rate.  I ended up shooting a lot of frames, and have spent the last couple of weeks slowly sorting through them.  Here is a selection.

 

 

  

 

 

  

Lackford Lakes

On Saturday, I visited Lackford Lakes in Suffolk, with my friend Vic, who was up from Devon for a few days.  We went with the intention of trying to photograph kingfishers.  Lackford has an artificial bank where they nest, and there was still young in at least one hole.  We watched a male bring in a fish, stopping first, on a well located post, to orientate it for delivery.  Sadly it was all too distant for usable photos.  We tried a couple of hides, eventually settling in one with 6 or so other photographers.  We waited an hour or so, passing the time by trying to shoot dragonflies in flight.  Eventually, we were rewarded by a couple of visits from a (the same?) male.

Insects At Wicken Fen

I spent one of the last of the very sunny days, before the weather changed, at Wicken Fen.  There were plenty of common darters on the wing, as well as a few butterflies and the odd damselfly.  I especially like the dramatic lighting on the damselfly in the first shot.