Tag: arbouretum

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Westonbirt Arboretum in the Autumn

Now that autumn has arrived in the UK, it’s a great time to spend some time outdoors seeing how nature responds to the change of season.  An arboretum is a great place to see nature and, of course, take photos too!

So I recently went to Westonbirt Arboretum with fellow photo blogger Sheila Morris (you can see some of Sheila’s photo’s on her blog) to spend a few hours getting photos of the amazing colours and wildlife.  Westonbirt is a very large place, and even with all the crowds we saw at the cafe, once out in the woods there was plenty of peace and quiet to focus on getting the best photos.

For most photos I used the Olympus 60mm macro lens, which allowed me to get in really close for detail in some of the photos below.  It’s probably the first time I’ve used the 1:1 mode on this lens, which meant that I physically had to move towards the subject to get it in focus.  But when you get it right, the results are outstanding.

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A visit to The National Memorial Arboretum

2014 marks one hundred years since the start of The Great War (World War One), and so a couple of weeks ago was a good time to visit The National Memorial Arboretum. I’d visited a couple of years previously, and nearly froze in the process, this time it was much warmer in the spring-like weather.

The National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire is the UK’s centre for remembrance. It’s 150 acres of maturing woodland that contains memorials to armed forces and civil services.

Although war and personal sacrifice are such sombre subjects, and the memorials are so thought provoking, the Arboretum manages to offer a unique environment that welcomes everyone of all ages. When I was there I saw a mixture of war veterans, young adults, and families wandering around either paying their respects or learning about the history of what they were seeing.

I’d recommend everyone to visit just once, just to see, just to think.