Panda power

No trip to Chengdu would be complete without a trip to the city's panda breeding centre, though having been four times on different trips now, I think I'm running out of people willing to go with me.  Nevertheless, here, for your viewing pleasure, are my latest batch of giant and red panda photos from the centre.  My favourite ones from here will also be added to the main panda page. Enjoy!

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A walk around Chatsworth Park

We had some Chinese friends come to stay with us for a few days recently, so as well as showing them the delights of Lincoln (which I think surprised them, as it surely does many first time visitors who have never heard of us) we decided to take a drive out to the Peak District.  The rain stopped us going on the hike we had originally planned, but it did allow us to go for a nice wander around Chatsworth Park, the little estate village of Edensor and the always charming town of Bakewell.  Actually, with regard to Edensor, if anyone can tell me the proper 'local' way to pronounce it, I'd be much obliged.  I always feel I've walked into a fantasy novel when saying it...

As always, here are a few pastoral photos I took along the way, including an alarming amount of smoke coming from the woods behind Chatsworth House, and a chicken, who I've decided to call Alan.

A nice surprise was the church at Edensor, which certainly has an impressive setting.  What I didn't realise until going inside was that it was modified by George Gilbert Scott in the 1860s, and possesses a rather fine memorial to the sons of Bess of Hardwick, Henry and William Cavendish, who died in 1616 and 1626 respectively.  It includes a very nice example of a cadaver tomb, though its a strange and rather morbid concept to have to explain to someone from a completely different cultural background.

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For the love of Instagram

Like many people with an interest in photography and an iPhone, I have a bit of a love affair with Instagram.  The combination of easy photo editing and easy socialising is a great combination - especially when you're walking around with such a good camera in your pocket 24/7.  Of course, Instagram has had a tendency recently to become overrun with 'celebrities' getting thousands of likes for very average photos and soft porn but it is still possible to avoid such nonsense and find a great number of very normal people across the world taking and sharing some very cool and innovative photos.

The issue of editing photos is an interesting one, as I've never been one to overly doctor my images.  However, the fun thing about Instagram is that pretty much EVERY image is edited to some degree and everyone knows it, so its a chance to have a bit of fun and create some photo based art without feeling like you're conning anyone.

So, as its not too easy to see Instagram images on the web, I thought I'd post a selection of my favourite Instagram images here, in no particular order.

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