JamesT

They are quite similar. In the male (as far as I can see) the main difference is the dark mark ringed below, which is absent in the common blue: Also there is less blue in the females.

Oxfordshire and West Berkshire are not exactly known for rock formations. But there are a few old quarry sites such as Dry Sandford pit, now a nature reserve. The first is on Ilford Ortho, and the others FP4+. Playing about to get a highish contrast result.

Thanks Dennis & Clicker. True, I wanted to catch some of the pairs over the water, but there was no way I could frame & focus (also the Sun went behind the clouds and the females more or less vanished).

In the grass by my pond.

Thanks Geoff, unfortunately that has the same problems as you have with Didcot. It's on the opposite side of both Birmingham & Manchester from me.

A few more from my visit to the railway centre about a month back (just got the colour scans). Focussing on some of the small engines. #5, Shannon: The oldest engine at Didcot (1857), spent most of her career on the Wantage tramway that ran from Wantage Road GWR station (near the current Williams F1 site) to the centre of Wantage: Unfortunately a major firebox weakness means she can't be restored to traffic. #1338: Another 19th century survivor, currently on static display awaiting overhaul. And a few more of 1340 Trojan. Pulling out of Oxford Road A liquid lunch Waiting at the end of the line:

They are well-camouflaged and most of the time they stay very still. There have always been frogs in the garden, even before I dug the pond last summer but I only saw them when they jumped out of the way of the lawn mower. I'd been looking into the pond and scooping of some of the excess duckweed for a few minutes before I saw him.

I was just checking to see how the tadpoles were growing, when I saw this fellow on the edge of the pond at the top of one of the exit cloths. Usually the adults jump into the water as soon as I approach. I didn't see the insect on his eye until I was processing the image.

Wonderful. The pigeons look totally disinterested in either the boy or you.

Good to see some of the little workaday engines getting their day in the sun. That's quite likely true of most preserved steam engines, only the pre-WWI survivors and a few industrial engines that continued to work until very late could have been in service longer than preservation. Years of actual running is of course a different matter as the overhaul cycle tends to be long in preservation.

Thanks Geoff, looks like I'll have to wait for Sir Nigel Gresley to be overhauled.

It's 10 year boiler ticket is about to expire, so it will need a full overhaul to be steamed again. I don't know if that's planned for 60009, but even if it is it's likely to take about 10 years. Are there any other A4's in steam? I've never seen one (messed up the dates when 60009 visited Didcot).

A bit more of the activity around my little pond, some from the trap and some with a camera. Pigeon passing by: A hedgehog foraging The tadpoles, a little bigger now, and (I think) damselfly nymphs: A ramshorn snail:

I think I prefer the first one. In this one the sea feels a bit cramped, whereas the first has the long sweep out towards the headland.

Thanks Ryewolf & Kobione, it was a good opportunity to get a shot of the church without having to hunt for a gap in the trees.

St. Lawrence Church from across the canal: Ash Pool on the River Dun

Well seen and captured. You can see why the wildwood was a scary place in the past.

For the clock it was estimated at 5 mins, I assume from the blur of the minute hand, though the reproduction on that one is not so clear.

This set of Fox Talbot's images may be of interest: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2021/apr/23/henry-fox-talbot-auction-sale-in-pictures

And an interesting sequence here: https://www.dpreview.com/news/8105733216/video-incredible-footage-of-a-drone-flying-over-an-erupting-volcano-in-iceland (Don't think you would want to try that one on Etna).

Unfortunately, we are only just emerging from solar minimum, so there's unlikely to be any big auroral displays (try again in 5 years time), but you'll have plenty of darkness in November and there will probably be something, so a fast wide lens would be a good idea. I don't know if the Tokina is fast enough to avoid motion (even though I work in space weather I've never seen an aurora).

There are some pretty good images on https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-56238018.

Vulgar

I guess mainly for @Ryewolf and @stevedevil , I thought it would be useful to post a few notes on processing labs. I generally now do my own processing for Black and White, so I've not had much recent experience with external B/W processing, that said, all of these do offer B/W as well as colour (both C41 and E6). A.G. Photolab: based in Birmingham, and closely linked to A.G. Photographic who supply film, chemicals etc. Offer a comprehensive range of developing, scanning and printing services. Generally reasonably quick, and one of the few mid-range labs to print optically (albeit via a digital printer). The only drawbacks are that they are not really set up for odd formats like 6x12 or half frame (though they do do 127, 110 and APS). Silverpan Labs: based in Bristol. A small-scale operation, with more control than most but less pricey than some professional labs. I've only sent one film there as I then started DIY colour processing[*]. Turnrounds tend to be quite slow, at the moment they are estimating 4-5 weeks. For me, at any rate, a plus is the option of 16-bit scans which allows a lot more flexibility in post processing. Seem to be more able to deal with odd formats. Harman Labs: The processing labs of Ilford (based in Cheshire). Mainly B/W though they do do colour as well now. I've not used them recently, my main concern was the relatively low resolution of the scans. The only lab listed here that offer sheet film processing. [*] Not worth the effort! Very edgy compared with B/W and the results I got were less than stellar, so I plan to go back to labs for colour.

I tend to stick to the B/W standards: Yellow, Orange, Red & Green, C/P and an IR720 if I've got IR film (usually only for medium & large formats).