From time to time I will take random photographs that don’t really fit with the rest of the post I’m writing. Whenever that happens I will squirrel it away for later, and then share it in a collection I like to call Random Gems. When there’s enough to call it a post I put them out. I’ve done it six times before, and since it’s been a year since the last one it seems like it is time once again for another assortment of images from my various travels. A bit like last time, this collection includes some shots from over a decade ago I found whilst diving into my archive, and shots from less than two months ago. Given that, there is once again quite an assortment of equipment in use for this post.
Although these days it seems like many of the random shots I get are whilst I’m lineside at a railway somewhere, before we get to those we’re going to start with some much older content. When I was going through some old photographs just after compiling Random Gems #6 I found a shot I’d originally rejected from a trip to Woburn Safari Park over a decade previously. I have no idea why it didn’t make the cut at the time because in hindsight I think it’s lovely. Part of the reason I rarely delete any shots unless there’s something technically wrong with them, because tastes change.
This next one is from a wander around Crane Park many years ago. Not many shots resulted from that walk, but I did like this shot, thanks to the deepness of the green and how it contrasted the dark background.
Another one from a bit deeper in the archive, this shot from a 2017 trip to the south of France. Although I’ve only released one set from that trip so far, I’d already identified that one of the shots was taken on a random walk and did not fit with anything else. This is a canal or flood channel in Saint-Raphaël.
From this point on, the rest of these images are from the last few years, as they’re all taken with my R6 Mk II. Somewhat unhelpfully, they are organised in order of filename rather than capture date. Random Gems indeed.
Firstly, we have the moon, spotted while I was shooting a flying display at Huxley’s Bird of Prey Centre earlier this year. The edit does make it look like it was photographed later than it was – this was very much a daytime moon.
This next shot is from just a week later. As I waited at the Spa Valley Railway for one of the last trains of the day, I saw a path leading up to an old country building. As a couple of people walked up the path towards us I took a quick shot.
Continuing the shots taken whilst otherwise distracted by trains, this next shot is of some of the spring wildflowers at Freshfield Bank on the Bluebell Railway, taken during their Spring Gala back in March.
Next we have trains of a completely different sort. Towards the end of 2024 I took a scouting trip to Shoreham, ahead of a couple of mainline steam rail tours that would be coming through a week or two later. I was thinking of getting a shot of one of the locomotives as it crossed the railway bridge across the River Adur. Whilst there I took a test shot of a far less interesting piece of modern traction crossing the bridge.
Ultimately because the weather wasn’t good on the day, and because of the high-sided nature of the bridge, I elected not to use this spot.
During the Swanage Railway Spring Gala I was able to grab this photo of Corfe Castle, from an angle I’ve not often photographed it.
Almost two months ago, we took a rare family trip to the Bluebell Railway. It wasn’t the trains that tempted us out, rather the presence of a petting zoo at one of the stations. There, a few weeks before I met another of the same type, I got a few shots of this lovely little southern white faced owl.
As I was riding the trains with my family this day – and it’s rare I get the chance to do that – I didn’t get many train photos. I did get a couple of slightly abstract shots of some of the carriages at platform, though.
I couldn’t decide which of these two shots I prefer – the top one with the light on the top of the curve, or the bottom one with a bit more detail, including a hint of colour – so you can have both.
This next shot came at the end of a trip to Brighton Aquarium last year. After we’d left the building, I caught sight of a phonebox, heavily graffitied, with the remnants of a bike locked to it – definitely worth a snap.
It’s back to the train-adjacent shots for a little while. I’m quite fond of this next one, taken as I headed past Horsted Keynes station on the Bluebell Railway during their 65th Anniversary gala last summer. A locomotive had not long departed, and I got a shot of the rays of sunlight illuminating some residual exhaust while passing through a nearby tree.
These next shots are from the same weekend, and a freshly harvested field that sits next to the line.
One of my more unusual lens purchases of late has been my TTArtisan 50mm prime, the main selling point of which is its f/0.95 aperture, although I’m also in love with its overall analogue feel. I’ve shared the odd photo taken with that lens here and there, but some of the first tests shots I took with it were of one of our cats, Freddie. This was quite a good test, given one of the shots was of a moving target.
We’re briefly back to the railway again. Although the field at Freshfield Bank is public, it is owned by a farmer and often used for livestock. It’s not uncommon that I’ve set up a tripod in that field between a few cowpats. At the edge of the field there is often some farming equipment parked, and on one occasion I caught sight of these old tractors, flanked by a cow and a sheep.
A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to be able to take a wander through a mostly abandoned building. It remains one of my favourite posts. It was intended to be an ongoing project as we covered the redevelopment of the building. For various reasons outside of our control that project fell through (although the building is still being redeveloped). We did get as far as a second visit to the building, but it only resulted in a handful of shots as we were being a bit more practical with our visit this time. With not enough decent shots for their own post, it seemed like this was the best place for them.
I also can’t say the shots I got were that drastically different from the first trip, even if I am still pleased with them.
We end this collection in much the same way as it started: with a photograph of the Moon. One of the reoccurring problems whenever I shoot the Moon is I end up with a few variations on what is basically the same image, which never warrants a post of its own. So they end up sitting waiting for a post like this to be displayed, regardless of how pretty it may be. That is, I suppose, a side effect of my current policy of one big post a fortnight: in the old days (whenever we consider them to be) I would post whenever I had something to post, regardless of length. But I digress.
I’m actually very pleased with this shot. The craters at the terminator are nice and clear, and it’s a near-stereotypical crescent moon. I also got the colours to something I was happy with in the edit. This has still been generously cropped from the original 500mm shot – I think previously needed a telescope with the equivalent of 1000mm in order to fill the cropped sensor of my old 60D.
And that is the end of this random assortment of photographs. Hopefully you found them worth waiting for their time to shine.
Although I quite like the idea of making this post an annual May tradition (we can call it spring cleaning) it remains to be seen how many shots will build up between now this time next year. We’ll see – there are plenty of trips to the railway still to go this year, and there’s always the potential for other random shots throughout the year, or me finding something else in the archive worth sharing.
As ever, the gallery is below, for quick skimming without reading all my waffle.
Creative Splurges 