The 5th Kingdom - Intro

Read anything about Fungi and some surprising facts are revealed. Not until 1969 were they classified as being a separate kingdom distinct from plants and animals. Another thought provoking statistic, is that in a broad leaved wood, 10% of the biomass is fungi, which is a considerable mass and not one that is readily apparent. Fungi only become readily apparent when they produce their fruiting bodies to disperse spores and Autumn is the prime time for that event in my local woodlands.

Blusher (Amanita rubescens)

The various Agarics, Amanitas, Bolettes, Brittle Gills, Ink Caps and a host of other fungi emerge from the leaf litter and dead wood.

Upright Coral (Ramaria stricta)

The Forest of Dean provides a range of habitats, from veteran trees to old grasslands, for an impressively diverse number of fungi species. Mycologists of the Dean Fungus Group run Fungal Forays all year round and the number of species recorded so far by the group, runs into the thousands and are listed on a 104 page pdf.

Newly emergent Grey Spotted Amanita (Amanita excelsa)

This year I resolved to make a concentrated effort to learn more about Fungi and make a photographic record of my endeavours. I'll post more in due course.

The Shaden Tuft oak

Within the Churchill Inclosure in the Forest of Dean, there stands a large pollarded oak, it has been named the Shaden Tuft oak and unusually for a woodland tree, has been assigned a fairly precise planting date of 1599 and has been used as an example for dating of veteran and ancient trees in a Forestry Commission report. In an historical context, at the time of the oaks planting, Queen Elizabeth I was the reigning monarch and William Shakespeare was putting quill to ink and writing some of the finest works in the English language. The tree has also withstood some remarkable weather - great storms, droughts and the cold of the 'little ice age'.

Shaden Tuft oak

If the pollarding of the Shaden Tuft oak wasn't the result of storm breakage, then it hints at the possible woodland management regime at the time and the pollarding has probably ensured its continued presence, overlooked by Royal Navy shipwrights and then successive generations of timber merchants. Whilst not being particularly notable for its age - it is entering the oak equivalence of middle age - and all being well, should witness the events of the 26th C unfold.

I have wandered past this tree, I guess on average a couple of times a year for well over a decade and its presence gives continuity to the woodland and a tangible link to the past. There's something about old trees that provides a wood with a certain je ne sais quoi and I am no doubt that the woodland would be a poorer place in the absence of the older trees.

Finally an upgrade path from the 1Ds3

Canon released the 1Ds3 in the UK at the end of 2007, I read the user reviews and realised how useful Live View was in assisting manual focus. The frustrations of trying to manually focus with a 5D made it a no brainer, I bought a 1Ds3 and haven't looked back.

When Canon announced the 1DX as the unification of the 1D series, I was less than impressed. The specs suggested this wasn't a camera optimised for Landscape photography. There was no upgrade path within the EOS system, even for my limited needs. Still, one key attribute of Landscape photography is patience and endurance.

Nikon, released the FF D800 and D800E DSLR's, after the initial hype, all went strangely quiet. Except for the discussion of the Live View implementation and image colours.

Leica, announced an M240 digital RF, with an R lens adapter, live view and an external EVF. Sadly, Leica's idea of Live view implementation didn't match mine and the tripod haptics were interesting. A pre order deposit placed, was cancelled after a hands on demo revealed the flawed nature of the camera for Landscape photography with a tripod. 

Sony, announced and then released a FF mirrorless interchangeable lens camera. I suspected the camera with a mount compatible with it's E mount lenses was primarily aimed at its Nex user base. The short registration distance of the camera, meant that with a 3rd party smart adapter FF Canon EF lenses could be used, in fact pretty much any FF lens, ever made, could be used via an adapter. The pre release hype was incredible, febrile even. However, as with so many Sony photography products, with the camera actually in the hands of photographers, the hype died down. It was soon apparent that there were some issues with the design and build quality viz. the materials of construction, the insubstantial mount design caused a mounted lens to wobble and leak light, there were ZERO weather sealing gaskets, excessive shutter vibration, battery life was poor, an issue with the sensor cover glass thickness, EVF, complaints of lossy RAW files, image posterisation, the list went on and on and on. Even the 3rd party EF to FE 'smart' adapter had some issues too, with reflections and tolerances. You can't believe all you read online, so I made a trip to check out the Sony camera. Even with low expectations, it still underwhelmed massively.

Canon, had released FF 5D3 and 6D DSLR's and the specs were biased to High ISO, FPS, Auto Focus, Video etc so these weren't an upgrade path either. 

Nikon, then released a D810 and soon after used D800's could be picked up for a very reasonable outlay. I could switch, if the ageing 1Ds3 expired, the Canon lenses hold their value well, and for a reasonable outlay join the Nikon system. Buying a used 1Ds3 seemed more practical and realistic.

Then, on the 6th of February, Canon Europe announced to those gathered in London the EOS 5DS R 50MP DSLR.

The online forums filled with speculation and no little negativity. The underwhelming High ISO,  Low FPS and frankly lame Video implementation, meant some sports, events, street, wedding and wildlife photographers were not impressed. Happily, Canon had not addressed this market segment, oh no. At long last there was an upgrade path from the 1Ds3.

A quick check on the image pixels for 3:1, 5:2 and 2:1 aspect ratio crops from a 50MP FF Sensor, hmmm interesting.  I've found stitching multiple images of landscapes in storm/squall lighting and especially around dusk and twilight when colour temperatures can change rapidly, to be an exercise in abject frustration and gave it up a long time ago. A FF 50MP opens the door for single shot panoramic images. There are other and more important factors to just MP's though.

The weather sealing was stated for "extreme weather". A more robust body chasis for tripod mounting than previous 5D series. Crippled video features - oh yes, a camera optimised for Low ISO stills - deep joy, colour filter array optimised for colour ALA 1Ds3 - the clincher. Improved rear display resolution screen and live view over the 1Ds3. Optical view finder ...

There were some minor gripes - 5D body and smaller battery, no OVF shutter blind and some other things that I can't recollect.

It was all too much, the silence from Sports and Wildlife photographers and whining from Wedding and Events photographers was all the confirmation I needed. So, I pre ordered with Clifton Cameras and have now settled down to wait for buyers remorse to kick in.

An Orange Blorenge

A later than planned start and driving down the A40 it was noted that the weather/air clarity was less than inspiring. So, Plan A - calf muscle testing ascent up Mynydd Troed was switched to Plan B - a leisurely wander around the Blorenge instead, the Foxhunter carpark is handily placed for minimal exertion.

It had been 6+ years since the last visit and things had changed out on the moorland. At some point in the intervening years an extensive (managed?) hill fire had burnt away the leggy heather and young heather plants were rejuvenating the moor.  The heavily eroded main path from carpark to summit had been resurfaced and there seemed to be a complete absence of litter, hopefully a positive sign that people are respecting the environment.  Two pairs and a trio, equalled a total of 7 Red Grouse sighted, apparently the Blorenge is the furthest location south in the UK for Red Grouse and another positive, always good to see the native wildlife.

The periglacial block fields on the northern slopes also have the potential for a composition with the Black Mountains as a back drop and fortuitously the sheet cloud started to break up in time for sunset.

I can think of numerous times when far more onerous trips have met with scant reward, but autumnal low angled sunlight, under low cloud is not bad at all.