We wanted to get an image of one of the then recently introduced Gold-specification Enviro 200MMC single deck vehicles that Stagecoach had bought for its 48 Atherstone/Leicester-Nuneaton-Coventry service.

We had covered the media and stakeholder launch a few weeks earlier but the weather was overcast and did little to emphasise the ‘gold’ colour scheme carried by the new buses. Bus stations are restrictive so we headed out to do some sots ion a semi-rural location, which was a success. 

When we returned into Nuneaton we noticed the planting in grassed area next to one of the bus loading stands. And it was the stand that was used by the 48 service. We spent some time assessing focal lengths and also positioning. We opted for a location that allowed the ornamental grasses to fill the left hand corner of the image. It was then a case of getting the best focal length and we opted for the maximum wide-angle capability of the lens.

Editing of the image was minimal, but we have removed the unsightly stand number from the end of the shelter.

The result was satisfactory but lacked in composition on the right hand side. Stepping back a few paces allowed the trunk of a tree to be used to frame the right hand edge. This, in our opinion, worked and the result saw the image used as a centre double-page spread in a Trade magazine.
 
Technical Information
Nikon D5500
Sutter Speed 1/500
Aperture f7.1
ISO 200
Nikon lens giving 12-24mm zoom set at 12mm
Shutter Priority

This was the view from the bedroom window at the farm B&B in the village of Saron, located a few miles to the south of Caernarfon. Although some distance from the farmhouse across the fields and a roadway, the room afforded a spectacular view across Foryd Bay.
 
The views of the Bay changed by the hour as the sun moved position and in my opinion was at its most spectacular at Sunset, although it did need the tide to be in to create the greatest effect. That said, even the remnants of the sun’s rays across the saturated mud layer produced sparkling results.
 
It was challenging not to bleach out the image, and to control the camera’s metering system so that it did not compensate for the light levels. We took many shots over several nights and this was one that we were most pleased with. The golden light illuminates the sky, distant landscape and the bay whilst the bushes in the foreground and the near landscape give a silhouette effect.
 
Technical Information
Nikon D5500
Sutter Speed 1/1200
Aperture f9
ISO 200 asa
Nikon 18-300mm zoom lens set at 300mm
Shutter Priority

The summer of 2019 produced a bumper crop of strawberries but this one was days in front of the main crop in ripening.
 
We liked the vivid succulent red of the ripened fruit against the tonal greens of the leaves and unripe fruit. The light picked out the ripeness of the main subject matter whilst the 300mm zoon setting with the f5.6 aperture allowed the focal point to be the ripe fruit with much of the rest of the image thrown out of focus.
 
The tubs in which the strawberries were growing were located just outside the back door, meaning you don't have to venture far  to capture an interesting image.
 
Technical Information
Nikon Z7
Sutter Speed 1/500
Aperture f5.6
ISO 1000asa
Nikkor 20-300mm zoom lens set at 300mm
Shutter Priority

Stagecoach East regularly used its two Bristol FLFs (JAH552D and JAH553D) in service during the early years of the new Millennium. Prior to a bus rally in Peterborough the following day, open top JAH552D was used on Oundle-Peterborough services on Saturday 21st June 2003. It had been parked inside Oundle outstation the previous night in the company of three Volvo Olympians and was allocated to one of the outstation car lines.

Having joined the bus in Oundle at the start of the day for the first run into Peterborough the bus then worked the 1035 service 42 to Rockingham Hills via Oundle.
Conductor for the day was Steve Loveridge from the schedules office in Northampton and the driver was the company’s Commercial Director Philip Norwell, who lived in Oundle.

I didn’t have a great deal of knowledge of the route, but as we entered the village of Elton, Philip suggested getting off, walking through an alley where I would then be able to get a photo of the bus ‘at work’ rather than a static shot.

It was a rush and as I headed out of the alley the bus was coming into view. I quickly crossed the road and took the shot. Only afterwards did I see the cottage with its rose bushes climbing against the wall. If only I had been there a few seconds earlier I may have looked at incorporating more of the cottage into the picture.

That said the more I looked at the captured image the more I thought of it as a ‘chocolate box’ or ‘biscuit tin’ image.

It’s good to be self-critical of an image, but its also good to recognise that lessons can be learned for the future.

Technical Information
Nikon D100
Sutter Speed 1/500
Aperture f4.5
Zoom Lens setting 105mm
Shutter Priority