Poppies in Shepshed

Basil and I went out at 5 am to visit Thornton Reservoir. I was too late for dawn, which was a shame as there was a sky full of 'little sheep' clouds glowing with pink when I got up.

And of course, by the time we got there, the mist on the water had all but disappeared. Light was flat. The cormorants stretching their wings to dry flew off as I approached, added to which, I didn't have my long lens. I can't say that the trip was a satisfying photographic experience. 

Lots of new ducklings and goslings.

But I did bump into Bill Allsopp, who had come to camera club a while back to talk about infra red photography. He has a converted Fuji xe-1 with an 18-135 mm lens, which is the combination I'm inclined to try. Going against his usual judgement since he doesn't like showing his work before post-processing, he showed me some of this morning's photos on the back of his camera.  They were wonderful.

Back home, I fell asleep for over two hours, then treated myself to full English breakfast, ie two rashers of bacon, two mushrooms, four tomatoes and a fried egg which broke in the pan. Never mind.

There was a photo of poppies on the Shepshed page on Facebook. They looked splendid. The author said he'd taken  the photo up on Tickow Lane. So after Basil and I had joined Sue and Kal at the Blue Cross fund raiser in Markfield, we returned via Tickow Lane to scout out the location. Today's photo shows the view. It's staggering and I hope to return tomorrow or Wednesday, depending on the weather, and on whether I can find an access point.

I think the reason the poppies look so amazing is that they're growing on arable land that hasn't been farmed for two years because housing developers are going to move in. This sight is likely to be a once in a lifetime opportunity.