Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton has completed the quest of
"Northern Light" !
15th Apr 2023
Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton views : Creatures!
Photo 1/25
Mother and Child Northern sheep need to be hardy - especially if they live in Tideswell, 1100 feet up. On the Buxton plateau, farmers long ago built stone walled shelters where their sheep could huddle in snow storms. Nobody can guarantee when snow will or won't fall, even in June.
@ Mother and Child Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton begins her photographic tour of Northern Light: Creatures.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Hoppy Easter.
Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton shook paws with Hoppy Easter the Stormy Sky Bunny. They both received one silver mole!
Natural Framing Ostensibly this picture is some cows in a field. But the tree trunk, branches and stone wall frame three sides. 'Natural framing' makes simple pictures look grand.
@ Natural Framing
Yellow Daisy Egg My pets are in awe of these beautiful eggs—they would love to try to paint their own one year. Easter and spring are times of joy as the earth awakens, plants are pushing forth from the soil, and the days are becoming warmer. Many baby animals are born in the spring, and life is burgeoning. May these eggs bring you joy and be a reminder of the earth renewing itself.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Tassie.
Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton shook paws with Tassie the Arctic Feisty Fox. They both received one silver mole!
Peter Rabbit's Friends and Relations At Hill Top, Beatrix Potter's former home, only a wire fence stands between visitors and rabbits at play. They completely ignore humans, because they know they are safe. There is no better place to watch the descendants of Peter Rabbit at play.
@ Peter Rabbit's Friends and Relations David ran away from home on his tricycle aged three, because his mother had snapped at him. He went straight to his grandmother's shop a mile away and announced his mother did not love him anymore. His grandmother made him a nice cup of tea and rang his mother. Everything was settled without fuss or further consequences inside an hour.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Choose a name.
Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton shook paws with Choose a name the Tabby Cat. They both received one silver mole!
Heilan Coo I don't know when or why these cattle were introduced to Derbyshire, but it certainly has highlands! I think it can not have been before 1990. They wander around the hillsides without hindrance. I cannot imagine they are being milked; farmers would have to travel miles just to round them up for milking. But because of their thick shaggy coats they do not need a layer of fat to keep them warm in winter, and thus their beef is very lean.
@ Heilan Coo David started programming on a mainframe in 1974. He has spent his adult life trying his best to avoid computers and trying to be a people person, but somehow he always finds there is a need to do more programming, no matter what he does.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Olivia Anna.
Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton shook paws with Olivia Anna the Strawberry Milky Moo Cow. They both received one silver mole!
Thinking Backwards In summer, honey bees and other flying insects are on and off a flower as fast as they can. If you want a great shot on an exotic flower, you cannot chase the insect; focus is critical and you will never get the shot right in time.
Instead, wait by the flower you want an insect to land on; get the focus right, stand as still as you can, and wait for the right insect to come to you. The best place to go is a garden centre or public park, where the right kind of flowers are all around. This bee landed on a flower in Sheffield Botanical Gardens.
@ Thinking Backwards David has never been drunk. He's seen it done; that's what put him off.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Dave.
Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton shook paws with Dave the Playful Penguin. They both received one silver mole!
Pollen All Over I love to do extreme macro work. For this you need a specialist macro lens, or extension rings, or both. I usually use both. A ring flash ensures enough light and thus enough depth of focus. If I can count the grains of pollen, I have got the shot right. Macro work is 90% equipment and the technique to use it properly.
@ Pollen All Over David's father drove steam trains and his grandmother ran the village toy shop. As a small boy, David thought nothing could be better.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Peridot.
Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton shook paws with Peridot the Green Rapid Dragonfly. They both received one silver mole!
Roaming Wild I found these horses near Elton, which is close to the middle of nowhere, but not quite the bullseye. All around are tumbled dry stone walls and derelict agricultural buildings.
The only things you can make money out of as a farmer up high are wild flowers. Government subsidies are assigned by bureaucrats with no idea about farming, and the way of life up in the hills depends entirely on what they decide.
When horses can wander onto the road, they are wild. Whether they once had a home, I have no idea; but nobody has the money to mend the walls unless the government decides they make the countryside more picturesque.
@ Roaming Wild David once cycled 120 miles in a day (a lot of it over 1000 feet up) and was barely able to stand when he got home. He thought he had only ridden about 80 miles and must be ill! Next day he worked out how far he had ridden and everything became clear.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Tirill.
Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton shook paws with Tirill the Duckling. They both received one silver mole!
Tropical Butterfly The Tropical Butterfly House at (of all places!) Doncaster gives you the chance to see and photograph exotic insects which could never survive in the British climate. The climate inside the butterfly house is so much warmer and wetter than the world outside, it took twenty minutes for condensation to quit forming on my camera lenses (and spectacles!) But the wait is well worth it.
@ Tropical Butterfly David's uncle Walter used to ride a motorcycle out to Matlock thirty miles away and take pictures of the Derbyshire countryside. David took this as inspiration and rode to the same places on a bicycle, commonly clocking up sixty to ninety miles in a day.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Chickee.
Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton shook paws with Chickee the Chick. They both received one silver mole!
Middleton of Nowhere I said Elton was not the bullseye. Middleton, Derbyshire, is well named. It is the middle, the very centre of nowhere. The only inhabitants I saw in the village were this cat and a few chickens. I would love to retire there.
@ Middleton of Nowhere David started programming on a mainframe in 1974. He has spent his adult life trying his best to avoid computers and trying to be a people person, but somehow he always finds there is a need to do more programming, no matter what he does.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Tassie.
Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton shook paws with Tassie the Arctic Feisty Fox. They both received one silver mole!
Snowdonia Pony Grazing on the undulating lowlands of Anglesey in front of the mountains of Snowdonia, this Welsh pony was probably the first animal of any kind which gave me the impression it wanted to be photographed. It posed more like a human than a horse. Once I had taken a photo it got on with grazing. I prefer the natural shot to the posed one!
@ Snowdonia Pony David hates London and most other English cities. The only city he has ever been happy in is Sheffield, where he was at university.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Mystery.
Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton shook paws with Mystery the Ragdoll Kitten. They both received one silver mole!
Vivid Dragonfly I have often seen dragonflies in pastel shades. This just doesn't happen in the Lathkill Valley. Maybe they have all the minerals it takes to be so colourful here? I don't know. But for once the sun was out by the little pool at Monyash, and I caught this one lazing on a rock.
@ Vivid Dragonfly David was brought up on plain British fare (which he still loves) and was very nervous about foreign food. He only bought his first pizza because he worked out he could get money off for late delivery by ordering just before rush hour. The pizza tasted great and he's been eating them ever since.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot bielzibub.
Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton shook paws with bielzibub the Bashful Badger. They both received one silver mole!
The Compleat River In later editions of "The Compleat Angler" (first published in 1653), Izaak Walton's young friend Charles Cotton described the "Lathkin" as "the purest and most transparent stream that I ever yet saw … and breeds, it is said, the reddest and the best trouts in England."
However the river often disappears into mines delved beneath it when there is little rain. Then the trout are stunned by electric shocks and transported downstream by dedicated conservationists. If that happens anywhere else in the world but here, I will be amazed.
@ The Compleat River David was brought up on plain British fare (which he still loves) and was very nervous about foreign food. He only bought his first pizza because he worked out he could get money off for late delivery by ordering just before rush hour. The pizza tasted great and he's been eating them ever since.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Ookami.
Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton shook paws with Ookami the Black Wolf. They both received one silver mole!
It's an Upside-down World Ladybirds, or lady bugs as they are known in the USA, are the gardener's friend, because they eat aphids. They can eat as many as fifty a day! My father taught me never to kill one. If you can't find one on top of a leaf during summer, try looking underneath it.
@ It's an Upside-down World David still thinks prog rock is great. He shares this belief with Jeremy Clarkson and probably no-one else alive.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Chickee.
Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton shook paws with Chickee the Chick. They both received one silver mole!
Ravenous Caterpillar If it's ragwort for dinner, then this must be the caterpillar of the cinnabar moth. Anyone can get a picture of a caterpillar. But why not try to see the world from its point of view?
I like to show them with a sense of purpose, going somewhere or doing something, not just being looked at from far above. Their lives are filled with purpose. Eat!
@ Ravenous Caterpillar For David, colour TV began with the Mexico world cup (1970), but he was allowed to stay up late to watch England win the previous one in 1966.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Alexander.
Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton shook paws with Alexander the Black Feisty Fox. They both received one silver mole!
Cat's Eye Taking a picture of a cat's eye is easy with macro gear. But it is almost impossible to do so from the front without getting a reflection. Ring flashes can be dialled down to very low intensities - this ginger tom was not the least bit bothered when I shot this picture with a ring flash.
@ Cat's Eye Oh look ... you won a little pet!
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Lacy.
Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton shook paws with Lacy the Angel Wing Butterfly. They both received one silver mole!
Carsington Fly I went out for the day to Carsington Water, a manmade reservoir that takes water from the rivers in winter and gives it back in summer. There are plenty of things to do there, but as usual the sky went iron grey as soon as I got near to it. So following my own advice, I looked for insects. Just look at the colours in those wings in an enlarged version of this picture! When you meet the very small on its own terms, there is so much to see.
@ Carsington Fly David never has writer's block. Instead, he has nowhere near enough time to write all the stories he has created plots for.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot LoyaLloyd.
Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton shook paws with LoyaLloyd the Black Great Dane. They both received one silver mole!
Water Dog There are so many breeds of dog, I cannot keep track! I think this one is an English Setter. It was playing in and around the River Bradford with its owner.
@ Water Dog David hated secondary school (11 to 16) intensely and was so badly bullied he never finished his time there. He went to a 'college of further education' and rebuilt his education from scratch in a place where students were treated like human beings.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Heidi.
Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton shook paws with Heidi the Black Great Dane. They both received one silver mole!
Doncaster Meerkat The Doncaster Butterfly House is home to far more than butterflies. For meerkats, community is everything. This one appears to be making political judgments about who it should suck up to and whose beetles it can get away with stealing. They are very expressive creatures, and a lot of fun to watch.
@ Doncaster Meerkat David's favourite book of the Bible is Hosea.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Bluey~*.
Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton shook paws with Bluey~* the Blue Beautiful Unicorn. They both received one silver mole!
Border Collie I have a deep affection for this breed. They want a lot of exercise, but are very entertaining. My father owned one; it would be tied up on a rope so it could go inside the barn or lie outside. When there was rain, it invariably stayed outside because it could.
This one was playing in the River Bradford, and I got the camera set to a fast shutter speed ready for the inevitable shake!
@ Border Collie David used to do his own colour photo printing in the 1980s using equipment he built himself, but he got sick of the smell of the chemicals, the time it took and the cost. He only took up photography again in 2007.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Roxas.
Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton shook paws with Roxas the Green Beautiful Unicorn. They both received one silver mole!
Bull in the Sun What a magnificent coat this bull has. The rare sun has picked out so many subtle shades.
My aunt kept cattle. My cousin showed me how to bring an entire herd in for milking with little effort. You need to know which is the 'boss cow', get her attention, and she knows what comes next. She starts moving and the rest of the herd follow her.
@ Bull in the Sun David's father drove steam trains and his grandmother ran the village toy shop. As a small boy, David thought nothing could be better.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Charlotte.
Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton shook paws with Charlotte the Red Feisty Fox. They both received one silver mole!
Bradgate Stag One of the first brick built mansions in England, Bradgate Park was once the home of the De Grey family. They are best known for Lady Jane Grey, the nine day Queen, unwilling centre of a plot to prevent Queen Mary from taking the throne.
Bradgate Park is now preserved forever as a gift to the city of Leicester. It is a deer park where you can encounter red deer and fallow deer. The fallow deer are a gentle lot which like the woods. The red deer have a very strong sense of territory. If one of them gets up and looks at you, you go round it. After taking a picture, perhaps.
How big are they? I once walked out of the toilet block and nearly walked clean underneath one.
@ Bradgate Stag David comes from a very long-lived family. Every man born in his patrilineal line since 1800 has lived to at least 84 years of age. His grandfather was born in 1864 and died taking the cows to market on foot. Has anyone in PnF got a grandfather born earlier? David says no-one ever does things in a rush in his family!
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Faεяydaε.
Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton shook paws with Faεяydaε the Stardust Unicorn. They both received one silver mole!
Fish Flash The River Wye at Bakewell runs fast and furious under the bridge. As a result it is very hard to see the large fish which swim beneath. But for the duration of a flash, a ten thousandth of a second, the water is almost perfectly still. Then the camera can see right through it, and all is revealed. You will need a powerful flash to get a result like this; not the midget mounted on your camera by the makers.
@ Fish Flash For David, colour TV began with the Mexico world cup (1970), but he was allowed to stay up late to watch England win the previous one in 1966.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Felidae.
Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton shook paws with Felidae the Leopard. They both received one silver mole!
Might is Right I have followed wild red deer round swamps and into them. After trying long enough, you realise it would be better to go to a deer park and watch them where they do not run away.
Once you do, you will be doing the running. This stag and many others could look down at me with their neck raised. When they get to their feet and hold their ground, you go where they want you to, not vice versa. But when they are solely concerned with one another, you can take all the shots you want.
@ Might is Right At university, David was captain of his hall of residence table football team. He actually did weight training to develop powerful wrists.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Cuddles.
Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton shook paws with Cuddles the Tabby Cat. They both received one silver mole!
Winner Takes All Even more interested in the stags than the cameraman, the rest of the herd watches inter-stag conflicts attentively. Who wins, rules. Who rules, breeds.
@ Winner Takes All David was taught to solder aged 31 by an 11 year-old boy.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot ****.
Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton shook paws with **** the Arctic Feisty Fox. They both received one silver mole!
**** gave you 1 "'Northern Light' Travel Token" size 7
Pole Dancer Times were hard. I struggled over whether to buy a second hand macro lens on the internet. When it arrived, I thanked the Lord for it. That night, this strange beauty flew in through my barely open window. She then settled down for an hour, just twiddling with her feelers.
Those little balls are a sixth of an inch apart. I have never seen anything like her before or since.
@ Pole Dancer Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton has now completed her viewing of Northern Light: Creatures. As she prepares to go home, she receives a wonderful gift!
Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton has enjoyed her photographic tour of Northern Light: Creatures, but it is time to go home now! Please select another pet as visitor, so it can also enjoy a photographic tour of "Northern Light!"
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Silk.
Miss Pinky Petula Pinkerton shook paws with Silk the Arctic Feisty Fox. They both received one silver mole!