World Image Issue 42 March 2017

IR Landscapes 

Kingfisher 

The Cathedral of St Etienne 

Chalons-en-Champage 

People of Uganda 

Snowy Owls 

Grey-cheeked Mangabey, 

British Insects, Spiders 

Def Leppard at the NEC, 

Faces of India 

The fliers 

Flowers in My Lens 

Sabah Reef 

Website = photosociety.net Page 1 email = magazine@photosociety.net

Gordon Longmead - England - CEO 

Peter Hogel - Uganda - Deputy CEO 

Scott Hurd - Namibia 

Tom Coetzee - South Africa 

Paul Welch—Australia 

National and Regional Management 

Steve Cook - USA 

Robert Murray - Scotland 

Tina Andreasson - Sweden and Mexico 

Jack Glisson - Kentucky USA 

Contents: 

3 Photo Spot Tony Sparkes 

4 The River Great Ouse, Cambridgeshire - Norfolk Border 

6 Wildlife Borneo - Sabah Reef by Gary Bridger 

8 A Study in Greyscale - People Pictures by Alan Griffiths 

9 A Study in Nature - Little Owl, (Athene noctua) - Scott Latham 

10 The Magazine HQ has moved or The Things We Do For Photography 

12 People of Uganda by Peter Hogel 

16 Langford Lowfields RSPB site by Geoff Bowers 

17 Laon Cathedral by Geoff Bowers 

18 Photo Spot by Nam Prasad Satsangi 

20 Europe at Wolverhampton 15/4/14 Pictures by Alan Griffiths 

22 Flowers in my Lens by Gordon Longmead 

26 Photo Spot by Geoff Bowers 

28 The Things We Do For Photography Pt 2 

31 Photo Spot by Georgene Bergstrom and Nam Prasad Satsangi 

32 Mushrooms and Toadstools by Gordon Longmead 

36 Wildlife of America - No Names, No Quackdrill by Larry Hitchins 

37 Feathered Uganda Pictures by Gordon Longmead 

Cover picture - Clifton Suspension Bridge by Matthew Brooks 


I often find the simplest and uncomplicated of compositions are pleasing to the eye and have good 

impact. 

Here an example of that. On quite a cool mornings game drive in Bundala National Park - Sri 

Lanka, this Spotted Dove (Stigmatopelia chinensis) gave a good clean composition and an 

intimation on how chilly it felt by puffing itself up a little... 

Tony Sparkes 


The River Great Ouse, Camb 

Travelling back and forth along the A10 between my home and Downham Market in Norfolk, the route takes 

me alongside of the River Great Ouse. This is part of one of the longest canal systems in England which drains 

into the Wash at Kings Lynn in Norfolk. Most of the time when travelling to Downham, I am on a tight time 

limit, the lighting is wrong, or the lay-by is full. But today was different, today it was foggy, I still did not stop 

on the way out, but I took the opportunity to stop on the return journey. I wonder how many times people see 

the picture while going to a meeting when they can not stop, but forget that they can stop and enjoy the 

moment on the return home. On the way out the fog was thick with visibility down to a few hundred yards, by 

the time I returned the fog had lifted so I stopped to see what the view was like in the light mist. Well this was 

it. The sun was trying to break through so the lighting was changing from minute to minute, even on this day I 

was racing to get home before dark, half an hour later and the fog here had visibility down to a few hundred 

yards once again. 

The first image I usually try to get with landscapes is a series from which I can create the panorama. This is 

always a handheld series of images taken in rapid succession to keep the lighting stable. The sun is fickle and 

often will appear half way through the series just to spoil the final image. 


- Norfolk Border 

Before anyone asks, landscapes are not my favourite subject, those I take tend to be record shots so I take very 

little time over them. Sometimes they actually work, if you take enough of them one might even be a stunning 

image, but just not today. Today is for the record, I will return at different times and under different conditions 

and will take the same sequence just for comparison. 

But in the picture above the boat caught my attention. The first in the sequence was taken from the same place 

as the panorama. The grey patch is a bed someone uses when the sun shines for relaxation, no good for a 

picture, so in the second image I walked along until I achieved some separation between it and the boat. The 

intention was to crop in later and remove the offending item, but when I tried it, it seriously unbalanced the 

picture. I was not deterred from the task, I had the result in mind and so I ’removed’ the offender in post 

processing, last image, I still refrained from cropping the image as I wanted the grasses in the foreground and 

to keep the building and power lines intact. Did it work? It did for me as it gave me the image I had in mind 

when I took the original picture, and that is what counts. 

Gordon Longmead 


Wildlife Borneo - Another Day in Paradise 14 

Sabah Reef by Gary Bridger 

The underwater world of Sabah Reef is threatened by development and irresponsible tourism. Here is just a 

glimpse of the fragile beauty that may soon disappear. 



A Study in Greyscale - People 

Pictures by Alan Griffiths 


A Study in Nature - Little Owl, (Athene noctua) 

Pictures by Scott Latham 

The little owl (Athene noctua) inhabits much of the 

temperate and warmer parts of Europe, Asia east to 

Korea, and north Africa. It was introduced into 

Britain at the end of the nineteenth century 

This owl is a member of the typical or true owl 

family, Strigidae, which contains most species of 

owl, the other grouping being the barn owls, 

Tytonidae. 

It is a small, cryptically coloured, mainly nocturnal 

species and is found in a range of habitats including 

farmland, woodland fringes, steppes and semideserts. 

It feeds on insects, earthworms, other 

invertebrates and small vertebrates. 

Males hold territories which they defend against 

intruders. This owl is a cavity nester and a clutch of 

about four eggs is laid in spring. 

The female does the incubation and the male brings 

food to the nest, first for the female and later for the 

newly hatched young. As the chicks grow, both 

parents hunt and bring them food, and the chicks 

leave the nest at about seven weeks of age. 

Little Owl with Prey (Athene noctua) 


The Magazine HQ has moved. 

Or 

The Things We Do For Photography 

Part One - Introduction 

Over the last few magazines I have mentioned to our readers that I was in the process of moving house from 

my original base in Welwyn to a quieter location in Norfolk. 

That move has finally taken place, well almost, Wendy and I have moved in with June Smith (my mother 

and a non internet member of the Society), while we make our dream home and the new HQ habitable. 

Having already moved one lorry load of boxes by car, it still took another two loads in a 7.5 ton truck to get 

our accumulated furniture here. Just to set the scene and to give you an idea of the enormity of the task 

ahead of us. The cottage sits in 1/3rd of an acre of land, all of which will be landscaped into a disabled 

friendly wildlife and flower garden. 

We knew there were a few problems that needed sorting out before we exchanged, but it was only after 

buying that we discovered everything that was needed to be done. One of those turned out to be in our 

definite favour when we had the site officially measured. It turned out that a large area of land our 

neighbour believed he had purchased was actually ours, so the garden has been extended before we even 

started working on it. It will ultimately suit both ourselves and the neighbour as he wants to straighten the 

boundary and we want the longer garden, problems sorted. 

Having exchanged we went to the ‘cottage’ and started to discover new bits, like there is no water plumbed 

in, the existing being rendered unfit, no electricity in most of the property, half had been condemned and the 

cables cut through, the remainder was done by a fool with little or no concept of safe wiring, (never would I 

believe that a ring main could be installed using a 6amp breaker and 1.5mm wire). The boiler we knew did 

not work and would need replacing, so we had no heating. The whole system was on microbore tubing so 

we have decided to rip it all out, only then did we discover that all the pipes and electric cables had been 

cemented directly into the walls. As the cottage was built in 1875 I guessed that there was no damp proof 

membrane in the floor, this was confirmed when I ripped out some floorboards that had been laid in 1911 

(the carpenter had actually signed them). 

The snug did not appear to be a problem, the fancy fireplace was made from plasterboard and hid a larger 

fire opening so it was removed. That revealed woodworm, so the floor followed. Illuminating the inside 

revealed the extent of the damp. The ground under the floor is nothing more than fenland peat, and the holes 

within the surface of that were very deep and so had to be dealt with … Gordon style. 


Although the fireplace is a Victorian original, it has suffered damage from attempts to ‘improve’ the house 

by a very bad DIYer, so it needs work but we have plans. We want to retain some of the character while 

creating an outstandingly well decorated room. Will we succeed ? Well by the time I write part three it 

should be done apart from the wall paper and carpets. An attempt to install a DPC into the wall had been 

made, you can see the row of new bricks on the left in this picture. They stand on top of the DPC. But, as 

the walls are solid, (no cavity), it was a daft attempt. The rising damp simply went up the outside and 

crossed to the inner walls. This was made worse by the installation of two steps to the front door that 

allowed the water to penetrate above the DPC, and an insubstantial guttering. This item is currently being 

replaced during the refurb of the adjacent property, at the same time the chimney stacks are being renovated. 

So the tasks were mounting up. The whole of the ‘snug’ floor will be removed and the inside of the walls 

painted with damp proofing paint, this will be covered inside with roofing felt, battened and insulated before 

fixing the plasterboard. The floor will be brought up to level using 20 tons of oversite onto which we will 

add a full DPC, 75mm insulation blocks, a 100mm of reinforced concrete screed, 20mm battens with further 

insulation to support timber floor panels, topped with underlay and carpet. Unfortunately an injury means 

this remaining load will have to wait until I am allowed to walk again. There are another 4 rooms and three 

sheds to do in the same manner which will involve the delivery of another 60 tons … lovely. 

The aforementioned steps will be removed and a covered reception area will be erected. The main roof 

guttering is also being replaced and that combination should stop the damp getting in. Just to make sure we 

are installing a multifuel burner in the snug room although we are retaining the existing fireplace in its 

original Victorian form, but with a complimentary modernish cladding and fire surround to the damaged 

sections of the stack. The room will be completed with subdued lighting to enhance the atmosphere. We 

intend take the same process to all the other downstairs rooms before replacing the stairs and upstairs floors. 

We also intend to change the upstairs layout as we go to suit our needs. 

Once the snug is complete, but before the decorating and carpets are installed, all the furniture will be 

moved into the new room, and the two ‘non-standard’ rooms and the mobile home will be removed and 

burnt, a new door will be installed to the side (and the front door will be replaced). This will provide better 

access to the rear garden and will eventually become a car port. 

Once the rebuild of the cottage is complete, the utility room and conservatory will be replaced with a single 

conservatory although there is an ongoing discussion about extending the existing kitchen. The roof space 

will be insulated and boarded out with the possible addition of solar panels to power the house/garden 

lighting which will be installed. 

While one garden building has already been repaired to a habitable state, (the bird box was falling from the 

tree), the other existing garden buildings are to be demolished and replaced with larger and more substantial 

ones to provide social space, along with my new greenhouse and tool shed. The whole area is to be 

monitored by cameras, partly for security, but mainly to monitor the wildlife, of which there is an 

abundance. 

Once we get this completed, (most of it at least), Photo Society members will be invited to visit to indulge 

in the photography of said wildlife, and the wildlife and landscapes of the many canals and rivers that adorn 

the Fens round about. The nearest being just 100 meters away. For those who want to indulge in more 

comfort than we may have to offer, there is a small hotel a short distance away. 

This is just an outline of what we are tackling. The February report can be see later in the magazine and 

from next month I will be reporting each months progress, I may even get chance to bring you some of the 

local wildlife. 

Gordon 






Continuing the story, there are birds at Langford Lowfields, 

over 190 species of them, but there is also a wide variety of 

other species of which nature is so fond of establishing, with 

or without human help. 

The flower and fungi seeds that lay dormant in the soil, 

sometimes for decades, find themselves near the surface 

once again after the earth has been disturbed. More seeds are 

brought in by the birds and the winds, and suddenly the 

ground springs to life in a carpet of colour. 

The water attracts the birds and dragonfly, and the flowers 

attract more insects, until the area becomes a riot of sound 

and colour. 


Laon Cathedral dates from the 12th century and is an early example 

of the Gothic style. The former cathedral was burned during an 

insurrection in 1112. The reconstruction began in about 1160 and 

was finished as far as the east side of the transept by 1174. the 

rebuilding continued between 1180 and 1205. The final stage being 

started in 1215. 


Bulbul by Nam Prasad Satsangi 

Common yellow Grass was shot at Nunmanglam Reserve forest. Picture by Nam Prasad Satsangi 


Music all the way by Nam Prasad Satsangi 

Leopard at Nadutu Tanzania by Nam Prasad Satsangi 


Europe appearing at Wolverhampton 15/4/14 

Pictures by Alan Griffiths 

Europe is a Swedish rock band formed in Upplands Väsby, Stockholm in 1979 under the name Force by 

guitarist John Norum, vocalist Joey Tempest, bass guitarist Peter Olsson, and drummer Tony Reno. Since 

its formation, Europe has released ten studio albums, three live albums, three compilations and nineteen 

videos. The current members of the band include : 


Joey Tempest - lead vocals, occasional guitars, keyboards and piano 

John Norum - guitars, backing vocals 

John Levén - bass, backing vocals 

Mic Michaeli - keyboards, piano, keytar, backing vocals, occasional guitars 

Ian Haugland - drums, percussion, snare drum, backing vocals 






I unusually tried some mono in London by Geoff Bowers 


sunset from a lay by on the A17 near Cranwell Geoff Bowers 


The Things We Do For Photography Pt 2 

Part Two - Month One, February 2017 

For those who read the other article you will know what this is about. You may not understand how it relates 

to photography, it does, but in a peripheral context. The obvious connection is that as the person leading the 

charge with the Society and Magazine, I have moved to a new county. 

In that regard, the HQ of the aforementioned Society and Magazine has 

also moved to the new venue. The not so obvious is to show that articles 

can be created on any subject by anyone. Not everyone will be interested 

in the subject matter but that is true of any article even those aimed 

directly at photographers. 

My / our new base sits in 1/3rd of an acre of land in the Norfolk Fens and 

is perfectly placed to indulge in the stunning landscapes and wildlife of 

the canals and coast of this area. It also caters for the steam railway 

enthusiasts with the Sheringham and Bressingham railway centers only a 

short distance away, and others further along the coast for visitors to 

enjoy. 

The wildlife in the area of the garden includes Kestrels, Barn Owls, gold 

finches, woodpeckers, many of the tit families including long tailed, blue 

and great. There is much more for me to find, and I will try to get the 

cameras operating between jobs to bring you some images. 

So having purchased our new base, the task of renovation was started. This involved gutting out the snug 

and removing all the floors and floor joists, many of which showed signs of woodworm infestation. We had 

not intended to do this as the floor from above looked ok, but the removal of the fire place revealed more 

than we expected. 

It all began with a survey of said fireplace to install a multifuel 

fire which showed that the small opening we could see hid the 

larger, original, Victorian fireplace behind. It was the removal 

of the newer, red painted, wood and plaster from the stack that 

revealed the first evidence of the woodworm. As that was the 

new addition it did not take much imagination to picture the 

state of the floor boards and joists. 

So the next step was to lift a few boards and look below. What 

a surprise, most of the floorboards were not damaged, as were 

many of the joists. These will be treated and reused … 

somewhere. Others were indeed infested and will be burnt. 

As you can see from the picture, they have all been removed and the fireplace exposed. The base has also 

gone and will be rebuilt to accommodate the hearth and fire. 

The radiators and electrics have also been removed, most should have been condemned when they were 

installed and the heating does not work anyway. My intention is to install all new wiring as we renovate each 

room and the central heating will be done last of all. 


Removing the floor also revealed the ground below. There was no DPC and the ground was the dirt of the 

fens. The hole shown was one of many that went down to over a meter in depth. These were formed by 

underground water undermining the top and causing it to open the fissures. These have been re-compacted 

and covered with compacted oversite. 

As are a number of other trees that are diseased and dying. 

The only one that is safe is the silver birch which is protected 

by law. 

I briefly mentioned a slight accident which has had major 

consequences for me. One of the trees that was removed was 

covered in very long and equally sharp spines. 

These were all removed during felling, an easy matter of 

running your hand down the branch and they snapped off. 

Now this does not look like much, but 2 tons have been 

put into the foundation before I took this picture, and 

there is 18 tons remaining in the heap 10 tons of which 

will go into the floor. 

Of course the cottage is not the only part of this project, 

we also have the garden which we are working on when 

it is warm and the sun shines. As it is February that is not 

often so we must make the most of it when it does. 

The garden is bounded to the north and east by Leylandi 

conifers, the most antisocial tree ever introduced into the 

English landscape, so they are slowly being removed. 

Planning to leave for the day I removed the steel toe caped shoes and put on normal ones, then I decided to 

move a few more logs to the growing heap. With an armful of said logs I found one branch of the offending 

tree in my way and so, without thinking, kicked it to one side with my foot. 

I could have sworn that I had removed all the spines, but apparently not, one remained and my foot had 

found it. The spine penetrated the side of my shoe and passed deep into the big digit on the other side. 

I managed to pull it out from the shoe and most of the stub came with it so I figured all was well, we get 

splinters all the time and this was no different was it. Actually yes it was, within the hour my toe was 

swelling and turning a funny red colour. 


By the following evening the foot had followed suit. A&E beckoned and they dressed it and gave me 

antibiotics. 

Ten days later the foot was still infected, but an ultrasound had been arranged so a return to the hospital was 

organised. The ultrasound took 15 minutes and showed debris in the wound, so I was sent directly back to 

A&E where, after 5 hours and a doctor trying to dig out the offender with scalpel and forceps, I was told an 

operation was needed to get to it. 

The operation was scheduled for two days later, arrival at the ward by 8am, surgery finally happened at 6pm 

and I was allowed to go home. Not allowed to walk on the foot for 3 days and no working on it for two 

weeks (yeh right). 

Now you may wonder why I have gone into so much detail on this, any one who has put a spine through the 

joint of their big toe will know just how painful it can be, but hey, I got the spike out. The culprit that has 

stopped me working at the cottage was a piece of wood 6mm in length that had broken in the toe and the 

sharp point was now facing the wrong way like the barb on a fish hook, and loaded with so much bacteria 

that antibiotics could not cope with it. Hopefully with the rubbish now removed my own bodies defences 

can now do the rest and let me get on with the job in hand. 

One other event was not quite as daft, but showed up the dangers of buying land with out getting a formal 

survey done against the land registry records. Our new neighbour did just that, taking the word of a former 

owner as to the position of the boundaries. 

On my part I am so glad I had the survey done on Lyndel as it showed that the boundary of our land actually 

took in much of his lands access drive, and an area of land the full width of our garden to a depth of 4 

meters to the rear which encompassed a double garage that had been erected there. Negotiations resulted in 

the access drive being widened and the equivalent square meters being added to the length of our property 

so everyone is happy (well almost). 

So building work on the cottage has almost come to a halt for this month, I will be pottering around doing 

odd jobs from a chair and a bit of work in the garden. Most of it will be directing my staff (Wendy) in her 

allotted tasks. 

We have planted the first apple tree in the new orchard, and started sorting the plants to tidy up the existing 

patio so that task will continue for the rest of February by which time I should be in action again. Meantime 

I will get the cameras out and indulge some wildlife photography and finishing this magazine. 

On a brighter note the main chimney has now been rebuilt and the other one has been removed. This work 

has been done by the owners of the adjoining cottage as they thought we may want to do both at the same 

time to reduce costs especially as he needed our permission to do the work. He is also having the guttering 

replaced and is arranging for ours to be completed at the same time. 

Gordon 


Street photography - Skateboarder by Georgene Bergstrom 

Shot in the garden of my daughter Resham Bhatia at Adarsh Palm Meadows Banglore - Nam Prasad Satsangi 






A Study in Nature 

Wildlife of America - No Names, No Quackdrill by Larry Hitchins 


Feathered Uganda 

Pictures by Gordon Longmead 

Palm Nut Vulture 

Shoebill 

African Grey Hornbill 

Abyssinian Ground Hornbill (Bucorvus abyssinicus) 

Abyssinian Ground Hornbill (Bucorvus abyssinicus) 

Senegal Coucal 

White Browed Coucal 


Kuyimba means 'to sing' in the 

Zambian Chinyanja language and 

this site is a celebration of the sights 

and sounds of southern Africa. Join 

us to experience it for yourself. 

Derek & Sarah Solomon 

www.kuyimba.com 


We hope you like the magazine, the size and content of future issues depends on you. 

Submissions for the next issue are being accepted

World Image Issue 42 March 2017

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