1 year, 137 days since the start of the 1st lock down in March 2020
I have been closely watching the weather and today was forecast to be the first day of sun and light cloud with NO rain! At first it was rather overcast but as I finished my breakfast the low mist and cloud started to burn off and blue sky appeared.
I got to Richmond before 10am and drive straight to the Poppy Factory only to discover that the building is almost exactly North/South facing and so the photos I took last week in the afternoon remain the best for me to use. Then onto the Friars Set car park which had very few cars so I could park on my own and paid but Ringo which I am gradually getting quite enthusiastic about.
I managed to add another 5 or so shots in the bag, telephone boxes much better lit, Richmond Palace gate, retook the Tide Tables cafe with no shadow and at long last I managed to get the milestone on Richmond bridge. Yet another blue plaque was badly obscured with vegetation which is a shame as it was Virginia Wolf so a well known person. During my shoot I popped to Waitrose for chocolates for Fridays dinner and especially for Colin not 1, not 2 but 3 morello cherry pies.
I then drove to Lorraine’s house - the photo club President to collect cups for presentation this Friday. She has a stunning house on Richmond Hill - a 4-storey town house which is beautiful. Then back on the photo trail (totally forgetting a another blue plaque only 2 doors alway) to Richmond Park. I didn’t want to photograph Pembroke Lodge as I have quite a few buildings already but I know that the gates to the Isabella Plantation have lovely wrought iron work. They do and the lighting was perfect - the sign about the closed toilets immediately underneath not so but with cleaver angles and judicious cropping I got a shot that works.
I felt pretty pleased with progress and treated myself to a bacon roll from the cafe in the car park which was delicious.
Back home I had to catch up with a lot of emails and also called our Treasurer to discuss arrangements for Friday. In the evening an ‘exceptional’ committee meeting was called to discuss our return to St Lukes in person on the 2nd of September. The general consensus is that we should go for it but there is a lot more work to undertake - especially by me before we do so and to develop guidance to send to members. I was quite tired by the end of the day!
