Ian Myatt Images

Another Nice Morning At Coombes Valley.

2011-04-16T16:59:00.003+01:00

We rose to another fine Saturday morning, and although the grass needs cutting (you could call them lawns if you wanted to, but they really don't look good enough, even when they're cut!) and the hedge could do with a trim, we headed out to Coombes Valley RSPB Reserve again.

Spring Morning At Coombes Valley

2011-04-11T11:00:00.002+01:00

I Spent Saturday morning at the Coombes Valley RSPB Reserve. Nothing really unusual to see, but still a very pleasent place to be on such a nice day. I once applied to be a volunteer at this reserve, as it's only about 9 miles from home. Unfortunately, they wanted me to carry out duties that were too much like the Monday-Friday, 9-5 job, so I gave it a miss.

Waxwings

2011-04-08T15:32:00.003+01:00

There seems to have been a large intake of Waxwings in the UK, this winter. Despite this, I have not managed to see any until very recently.

I'll be honest, I've not really been trying to see them, as in the past, Waxwings and I have just sort of bumped into each other.

I got a text message from my wife last Friday, while she was at home and I was at work, to say that there were 34 Waxwings in next-door-but-one's garden, in a tree.

By the time I had finished work, they had gone, but returned just after tea-time. They were also there until mid-afternoon the follwing day but after that - gone. Presumably back home!

Flikr mess it all up and some new stuff.

2010-11-21T15:38:00.005Z

It seems that Flickr will no longer allow me to directly link to my image files stored with them. As I understand it, from what I have read, I would need to to purchase a 'Pro' account with them to allow me to link to MY images as I once did. I am not prepared to do this at the moment.

If you are interested in seeing my photographs, I will post 'alerts' on here if I post anything new to Flickr.

So, I have posted some pictures from a recent (well, October) walk around Knypersley Pool, which is just a 5 minute drive from our house.

First 2010 Low Fly Trip

2010-06-26T12:01:00.002+01:00

Managed (at last) to get a couple of days out in Wales to do some aircraft photography. Here are a few, there are more on my Flickr site.

Evening Shots

2010-05-22T21:47:00.002+01:00

I spotted the Moon was at a nice phase, so had another go at photographing it. I tried both hand-held and on a tripod, but I can't remember which this one is!!

Whilst sticking my head through the skylight, I notice a local Blackbird singing from next door's TV aerial, so also had a go at shooting him in silhouette.

Stone, sheep, sleet and snow.

2010-05-10T21:32:00.005+01:00

The trip to Dolgellau didn't provide the weather or aircraft pictures that I'd hoped it would. The first 2 days were fine. Unfortunately, these were Saturday and Sunday when the RAF put their feet up for a well earned rest. However, a walk on the Sunday morning revealed something slightly more peaceful than a Tornado GR-4 going through the Cad pass.

Lunar

2010-04-27T23:04:00.002+01:00

Hi. Been a while. Not done any low-fly photography this year, but that's not for the lack of trying. Trust me to book a week in Dolgellau when winter decided to return, with snow and low cloud/fog to make conditions impossible for the aircraft and me!!

Anyway, here's a picture of the rather nice moon we had here last night. 300mm+1.4x converter taken through our loft skylight.

A Moment Of Pride

2010-03-01T21:04:00.002Z

No pictures to post with this entry, but just a quick post and a link.

A musician friend of mine operates web hosting and authors web pages. He contacted me, asking if he could use some of my aircraft images on one of his sites. Of course, I said 'yes', and the results can be seen here at the HGL Dynamics web site.

My images were used in the rotating banner at the top of the page, so you'll need to hang about a bit to see them all.

A few from Knypersley

2010-02-14T17:16:00.002Z

I had a look at the weather forecast for today, last night, and it was "Cloudy". When I awoke this morning it was glorious, so I took the short drive to Greenway Bank Country Park for a walk and to take some photographs.

2010-01-29T20:02:00.004Z

It's winter, so it's been dark and cold, and I'd run out of holiday, so I didn't do any Low-fly photography after June. So when somebody on the low-fly forum started a "HDR Images" thread, I decided to look some pictures out to try an breath a bit of new life into them. Here's what I've got so far, and they're MUCH better if you click on them to make 'em bigger.

Rudyard Walk

2010-01-17T15:25:00.002Z

This year, I managed to avoid going into work between Christmas and New Year, something that hasn't happened for the last 6 years, but always happened in the previous 18 years of my working life. The break was very welcome, and we took the opportunity to get out and about.

Here are a couple of shots from a walk we took around Rudyard lake.

Abersoch Holiday

2009-09-29T19:49:00.005+01:00

Spent a very pleasant week on the Lleyn Peninsula at Abersoch, last week. I didn't take too many pictures, as I was busy trying to do very little, but here are a few snaps taken of, from, and around the house that we stayed in.

As you can see it was in a lovely location, perched on the headland between Abersoch's two beaches. The weather was mostly dry with some sunny periods, which isn't bad for late September.

I've stiched together a fairly crude panorama image, just to try and get some idea of the view from the house, and there's also a picture of the first entrant to the "One man, 2 dogs and a surfboard" competition.

Busy Day On Corris and Cad West

2009-08-16T16:10:00.008+01:00

Back on the 2nd June, I decided that a visit to the Mach Loop was in order, as the weather forecast was very good. I also decided to try a different location known as Corris Corner. This is not in Corris, but where the aircraft turn the corner and head for Corris. The only problem with this locations is that just after lunchtime, the sun come around in front of you, so you have to make a decision. Shoot into the sun, or move. So just after lunch, we moved.

This day was probably the busiest day that I have had in the loop. Also the best weather, and the most tiring, as swapping locations means 2 climbs, the second one in very hot sun, and as planes were going over, so Garry and I had to keep stopping, steadying ourselves, shooting the F3, then carrying on up the hill. Well worth it, though.

Aircraft From Cad East.

2009-07-04T15:43:00.002+01:00

Just back from a holiday in Wales, where I got the opportunity to do a day's aircraft photography. It was also an opportunity to experience one of Wales' finest thunderstorms, which eventually washed me off the hill!

Barmouth '08

2009-06-17T22:02:00.002+01:00

Last year, we rented a converted farm building on the coast just north of Barmouth. We've been to Barmouth before, and enjoyed it. Even though the weather during this particular week was spectacularly crap for a good 5/7 of the time, when the sun did come out it was beautiful. We were often entertained by the farm's animals, and the view.

Canada Goose

2009-06-11T19:28:00.002+01:00

Just one image for this post. I went for a walk, locally, one Sunday morning, and decided to wander off the footpath for a bit of a reccy for potential photographic locations. Whilst between the a stream (which is the river Trent) and a local pool, I spotted a Kingfisher, so I decided that I would return that afternoon with my camera. Unfortunately, there was no sign of the Kingfisher, but a couple of Canada geese flew in and I managed to catch this one just right.

Cad West 23rd June 2008

2009-06-10T22:10:00.004+01:00

A notable date. Not only was it my 40th birthday, but it was my second low-level outing and my first opportunity to capture some F15 Eagle shots, complete with vapour. Also along for the ride was a Tornado GR4, which went a bit high. I've also thrown in a landscape shot looking down the pass towards the Tal-y-Llyn lake and Corris corner. I enjoy the planes, I enjoy the photography, and the fact that I'm surrounded by this kind of scenery ticks the final box.

First Low-fly Attempts

2009-06-09T22:02:00.007+01:00

After being informed and enthused about the subject of low-fly photography by my friend and colleague Martin, I decided to have a crack at it, and Martin was good enough to lend me a suitable lens for the trip. It was last (2008) March. It was cold, and the climb up the "Bwlch" whilst carrying my gear (including a large flask of tea) was hard work, but after the arrival of a few aircraft, any discomfort was forgotten, and I was well and truly hooked. These were my first efforts, and I was very pleased with them at the time.

Garden Birds

2009-06-09T19:25:00.008+01:00

Okay, let's kick things off with some bird images. One afternoon I noticed that part of our small garden was rather nicely lit, so I decided to set up in our small garden shed and use it as a makeshift hide. Nothing fancy, I just sat in it with the door open. It wasn't long before some visitors started to arrive for a feed.