Sunflowers.
Month: August 2026
Forest fire.
Since yesterday there was a large fire on heathland in the New Forest where we walked last week. Major Roads closed through the forest.100 hectares burning.
Hover over water.
Hovertravel is the world’s longest-running commercial hovercraft service and is the only scheduled passenger hovercraft service in Europe. The service runs across the Solent between Southsea, Portsmouth and Ryde, on the Isle of Wight.
I have never traveled on a Hovercraft until today. Hovertravel has been running a few trips from Lee on the Solent, so I booked a 10-minute trip across the Solent.
Current craft operated are Griffon Hoverwork 12000TD
The Hovercraft began its life in 1955 when inventor Sir Christopher Cockerell tested out his idea for a floating/flying craft by putting a cat food tin inside a coffee tin. To test his ‘hover’ theory, the inventor then blew a jet of air through the gap between the two tins to create a cushion of air, and the Hovercraft was born.
No one passes!
New Forest.
Egrets.
Little Egrets on the Hamble River near Warsash.
Photo Editing 2026?
Has it gone too far? In the “old days,” you could tweak your pictures in the darkroom. Then came digital, and I used Photoshop to edit my pictures – crop and adjust exposure, etc.
Today, on a long walk in the New Forest, we spooked a Fallow Deer doe with her fawn. They hopped out of the dense Bracken stop and had a good look at us before heading back into the undergrowth.
I took a series of pictures, but the deer were obscured in the foreground by the undergrowth.
Now with A1-supported photo editing, you can go further. I ran one of my pictures through a trial editing package.
I asked it to sharpen, de-noise, and remove the foliage from one of my pictures. This is the result, but I have to ask: is this acceptable, or is it a step too far in wildlife photography?
Continued Reflections from my World. 