My trip to Norfolk Lavender
On
Thursday morning, I was given instructions on the basics of how to use a
professional camera, and we headed out to Fakenham to ‘Saracens Automotive Services”,
where myself and Jon took some photos. The weather was not great, with
occasional drizzle, but as we set off to Norfolk Lavender the weather seemed to
be getting slowly better.When
we arrived, my first task was to take some pictures of the rare breed animal centre.
We were even given permission to enter the animal pens, which I thought was
great as we were able to get up really close to some of the animals, although
some of the goats seemed quite dangerous!
They were also interesting, as I
found out that they were Pygmy goats from Africa
Here is one of my pictures I had taken of the goats with their
kid:
In
the picture you can see the goats in their field with their shed in the
background. This picture has a setting with dark, fresh, green grass, which
gives this picture colour. I like the way the two goats on the left were
looking towards the camera, and the kid was looking towards them. I suppose it
would have been better if the kid was looking at the camera as well!
As
I walked around a little more, I came across the rare breed chickens, which I
thought were amazing, as they are so different looking from other chickens.
Some of them came very close so I got to take a point-of-view (POV) shot,
capturing all of their features.
This
picture I really like, as it is a close-up and is very colourful, and the focus
is on the chicken whilst the background is blurred.
One
of my other favourite pictures of the chickens has to be this one:
This
is a medium shot I took of the chickens, which seems to focus on the four at
the front, and slightly blurs the one at the back. These chickens have an interesting
colour scheme, with the blacks, reds, creams and oranges. I was lucky to catch
this shot as the middle chicken on the log kept moving about, so I only had a
few seconds to take the photo before it moved again.
My
last favourite image from the chicken pictures I took has to be this one:
I
found these chickens really interesting because of the way their feathers where
flared out at the bottom of their legs, and also the way the feathers stuck out
at the top of their head. The colours of the chickens are not that bright; just
white and red, but compared to the dull background colours, they stood out. I
like the way the chicken on the right is standing on the wood and looking away,
making him taller than the rest of the chickens.
However,
the first pictures we took were of the Guinea Pigs, where we were allowed to actually
go into the Guinea Pig village that Norfolk Lavender have made for them. There
were lots of different colours of Guinea Pigs running around.
This
is a picture I managed to capture of one of the Guinea Pigs:I got to get down really close to them which
were quite difficult some times as they kept running off.
We
then moved on from the animal centre to the exquisite gardens; full of bright
colours and a range of amazing flowers, to the wonderful paths leading you to
different views, and going over a bridge that looked down on a clear, shallow
river. There were many pictures I could have taken of the gardens, but I really
had to focus on what stood out the most to me. The first picture I took in the
gardens was of a pink flower, with clear raindrops sprinkled over it. The flower
had some nice yellows in the middle and underneath the petals, which I thought
was quite remarkable. This is the picture I managed to take; after taking several
of the same flower, I think this one was the best:
We
then walked down to the lavender area of Norfolk Lavender, where we could see many
rich shades of purples and all different colours and shapes. There was so much
lavender. We got to see some parts of where it was growing, but did not go on
to the fields full of it as there was enough here. I managed to take this
picture which I am pleased with:
This
picture shows a great deal of colour and focus. The front of the picture shows
an up-close view of the astonishing lavender, then loses focus at the back,
where you can see yellow-green plants and some more lavender, all of which add some
extra colour.
Another
picture I took of the lavender:
I
focused the camera on this POV shot, and I managed to capture a brightly
coloured bee on one of the lavender flowers. This added some further colour to
the beautiful flowers.
The
day was really superb and interesting as my chance to use a ‘proper’ camera I
think taught me and helped me a lot. It was hard getting used to the camera at
first, but after a bit I found it easier to use, changing the settings of the
focus and zoom. I can happily say I am pleased with most of the photos I took,
and had a really great day and would recommend people to visit here.
By
Sophie Jones - JFM Work Experience Student July 2012