Gavin Johnson's photos

On the only gloomy day in April, we visited the largest ship graveyard in mainland Britain. Over several years in the last century, around 86 vessels were deliberately grounded to reinforce the bank of the river Severn at Purton. Most of the wooden boats have decayed away through natural weathering, though many were partly dismantled shortly after grounding by local people for use as construction materials and firewood. The best preserved are the vessels made of ferroconcrete. Some other views and detail shots in the PiPs. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purton_Hulks

Rusting away, it shows extreme wear around the shackle holding the ring to the hull of this concrete ship.

HWW - I spotted this in Savannah, Georgia on a trip some years ago, but I've now forgotten the context. I think it was a wooden door with a panel missing, making it look like it was framing the wall, rather than a deliberate art piece.

HBM - A lovely harbourside view in Oslo, where we spotted a couple of the city's police force enjoying a break and a snack on their bicycle patrol.

I'm not in Gunter's league when it comes to macro photography, but I took a few closeups of the flowers of my garden clematis which turned out reasonably well.

I'm not in Gunter's league when it comes to macro photography, but I took a few closeups of the flowers of my garden clematis which turned out reasonably well.

I'm not in Gunter's league when it comes to macro photography, but I took a few closeups of the flowers of my garden clematis which turned out reasonably well (extreme closeups in PiPs)

We've had some sunny days this week, so I spent a while in my back garden trying to improve my technique at photographing birds in flight. I'm finding capturing small birds in sharp focus really tricky, but thanks to the camera's high speed burst mode, I've managed to get a few crisp ones, and I've made a collage of four of them here (male and female House Sparrows and a Great Tit).

HFF! The fence isn't exactly the star of the photo, but it's an excuse to post this image of a street performer in Oslo creating an bubble display to amaze and delight a group of children.

This is a diptych composite of two images. When walking around the magnificent old town in Tallinn, I noticed that the windows of a property neatly reflected the statues in from of the building opposite. I didn't think to try and get my shooting angle exactly the same for both pictures, so they don't join together exactly, but I thought it makes for an interesting effect.

HWW! I thought the colours of the wall and plant were quite striking in this shot taken some years ago on our trip to Costa Rica.

I went out looking for wildlife yesterday but came home mostly disappointed as I didn't see much. I got some shots of what I thought was a rare water vole swimming across the canal, but it was actually a rat :-( I managed to snatch this shot of a Starling flying off with its insect catch.

HBM! I'm just in time... here's a bench from our afternoon walk, looking onto a lock along the Stroutwater Navigation canal. At the moment, the canal terminates a little further down, but work is underway to reconnect it to the main canal, River Severn, and the rest of the UK's canal system.

I enjoy feeding the garden birds and thi is one of my regulars. We have a few feral pigeons that visit, but this one has noticed that I'm more generous with handouts than my wife. If I'm out in the garden, he'll fly down expectantly, and if I don't immediately reach for the peanuts he'll make a point of flapping around at head height to make sure I've noticed him. Here he is in his natural habitat... filling his crop with free food!

Walking off a nice lunch at Gloucester Docks, we passed the maintenance area, where there are usually a few boats being repaired. Yesterday, the dry docks were empty, awaiting new customers.

A shot from a trip to Costa Rica quite a while ago. At an eco-lodge in the cloud forest, the owners planted a flower garden to attract the local hummingbirds. It was a marvellous place to visit, but I really want to go back with my current generation of camera equipment and get some better photographs of these beauties!

HFF - An enterprising neighbour has set up a micro baking business, and attached a small shed to her fence where she sells sweet and savoury treats via an honesty box (and a video camera inside to spot anyone less than honest). The business is doing really well, but having cakes on demand a minute or so from my front door is proving troublesome for our waistlines. Friday is a baking day, but it'll be restocked tomorrow...

Another image I found reprocessing files in my archive. This is a close shot of a galsswing butterfly. It's not in its natural habitat, though, it's in a glasshouse in the botanic gardens in Copenhagen; taken on a trip a few years back. I've always felt that butterflies are some of nature's prettiest creations, but these, with their transparent wings, are particularly special.