Due to the weather was not that enthusiastic for getting out walking and taking photos this weekend.  Was windy, cloudy with threats of showers, not good for photography.  Healthwise though needed the walks and was eager to take some photos.  I decided to go out scouting in my car.

Croome is not far from Pershore where I am currently living so with camera gear in the boot with the walking boots took a detour towards Croome.  The Croome carpark was packed out with afternoon visitors so drove on pass.

I passed through a small village in Worcestershire called Pirton.  Just out of Pirton I noticed what looked like the ruins of a castle and tower amongst some large Cedar trees.  I stopped nearby and there was a public footpath pointing in the direction towards the ruin castle.  Using Ordnance survey online maps on my mobile I studied the Pirton area.

Pirton looked interesting with the ruin marked as a Tower on the map and there was a large lake to explore called Pirton pool.  In the opposite direction was a footpath taking you all the way into Croome Park.  These Ordnance survey online maps are invaluable to regular walkers and photographers.

Pirton Castle Ruin

Getting closer to the castle and towers ruin there was something unauthentic about it, something fake.  What noble would build a castle on such a low hill?

You can walk right up close to Pirton Tower and it is now run by the national trust.  The national trust page on Pirton gives full details of how this purpose built ruin came into existence in 1801 as an outer eye catcher on top of Rabbit hill.  As walkers and lovers of the outside we owe alot to the National Trust to keep these areas open to the public.

Croome Church Bredon Hill

Some nice views of the Malverns behind Pirton tower and Bredon hill and Croome Church and Croome Park in the opposite direction.

Took alot of photos looking out towards Croome Church and Bredon hill using different focal lengths from 18mm to 200mm usually at F11 on aperture priority mode.  As I now understand when you are focusing on something far away you dont need such a high f stop as there is nothing close by to keep in focus.  Once you past a certain focal point everything from that point to infinity is kept within acceptable focus whatever f stop your lens will allow at its maximum focal length.

Even put on a 3 stop Neutral density filter to try and give some motion blur to the clouds to give some interest to the dull sky.  Not quite work out though as the clouds not moving fast enough else needed to use a big stopper of 10 stops which I currently dont have in my photo kit.  But learning about photography is all about experimenting.  The wind was strong enough to interfere with any long exposure photography which of course requires a tripod.

Pirton Pool

From the fake ruins of Pirton castle and tower I headed on down to Pirton pool.  Pirton pool is not really open to the public and there are signs private fishing only.  Even no people,no dogs beyond a certain point.

The sun was breaking through the clouds and directly behind me and creating interesting highlights on the swans, reeds and trees around Pirton pool.  I needed a polariser to cut down the reflections off the water, something I learn on the river through Upper Slaughter only the week before.

Fleeting moments

Problem is the sun shining through the clouds is fleeting, one minute it is there, 10 seconds later it is back behinds the clouds, this is the advantage of hand holding your camera.  Some photographers dont bother with tripods and filters ever, but they wont make good landscape photographers, probably street photography only.  Patience is usually the key and got a good picture of the swans on Pirton pool.  The swans slowly lost interest in me once they realised I was not going to feed them.  A good couple of hours spent around Pirton, took about 60 photos and got my exercise.