Gavin Johnson's photos

A countryside view from Nut Hill in Gloucestershire; a small hill managed by the Woodland Trust. It lies close to the commuter village of Upton St Leonards and is only three miles from the centre of Gloucester. Along with mixed native broadleaf trees, varieties of nut tree including hazel and walnut have also been planted, reinforcing the wood's name.

HWW - a wall and cottage that have seen better days. This was taken in the Peak District, near Buxton in Derbeyshire. Living here must have been pretty tough, even when the cottage had a roof.

A magnificent artwork by Jaume Plensa at the Bastion Saint-Jaume in Antibes, caught with an incredibly blue skyin the background. jaumeplensa.com/exhibitions-and-projects/exhibitions/nomade

Located in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire on the border between England and Wales, the Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail is a free woodland exhibition. One of the large artworks is this creation of suspended plastic bottles, each with a small amount of colour at its base. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_of_Dean_Sculpture_Trail

Located in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire on the border between England and Wales, the Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail is a free woodland exhibition. One of the large artworks is this creation of suspended plastic bottles, each with a small amount of colour at its base. [View from underneath in PiP] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_of_Dean_Sculpture_Trail

I'm amazed by the water repellent nature of these leaves, causing rainwater to roll around as droplets on the surface.

In late 2022 I had a couple of business trips to Amman in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, where my hosts put me up in the newly opened Ritz-Carlton Hotel. It was one of the fanciest hotels I've ever stayed in, and every evening for an hour or so, the music in the lobby was provided by this extremely talented harpist!

HWW - this is one from (just) last century, back in the days of 35mm film. We were looking around Singapore during a multi-day stopover, and chanced on this building, who's owner must have been a fan of Piet Mondrian.

It's a shot I've taken before, but with the squirrels coming so close, I tried again. This is a heavy crop, of course, but the reflection is good, and my wife and I are clearly visible.

Another cute one (I think) from our wildlife outing... a squirrel looking on as we were feeding the ducks. He came up for some (unsalted) peanuts after posing like this. An extreme closeup in the PiP.

HBM - a photo from the overcast day out at the Purton Hulks ship graveyard on the river Severn (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purton_Hulks). Paul Barnett, a local historian, has documented a lot of research about the hulks, and has campaigned to provide them some form of protection from complete destruction. As a result, the vessel in the background - the Kennet barge Harriet" has been scheduled as an ancient monument, and included in the UK National Register of Historic Vessels". This is why it has a fence around it.

Another bit of cuteness from the Cheltenham visit. The squirrels are used to humans and the occasional snack they share, but this one spotted a dog in the distance and froze, before scampering up the tree trunk to safety.

Another shot from Gloucester University's Cheltenham campus. The resident heron was disturbed and flew by on its way to a new perch.

I couldn't resist adding a couple more of yesterday's cuteness overload...

I couldn't resist adding a couple more of yesterday's cuteness overload...

I set a new personal record yesterday. It was a sunny afternoon, so we went to the grounds of Gloucester University in Cheltenham where there is plenty of wildlife that is reasonably habituated to humans. I set the camera up in fast burst mode with precapture, to make sure I didn't miss any action. After a couple of hours, I came home with 5800 images! It'll take hours to go through and delete most of them, but as you can see, some of the wildlife was extremely photogenic! Update - I added another couple in PiPs.

Standing erect, out of the mud, a line of oak planks still held together with metal plates and rivets. Another image that felt deserving of a high contrast black and white view

All that remains above ground of this vessel. In the background, at low tide, is the sunken remains of another barge that didn't make it to the bank and remains mid-channel.