Saturday the 21st of June 2025, The "Threshold" of the longest day. Capturing the arts of Summer Solstice.

It was last year that me and another fellow landscape photographer - Craig Yates, ended up visiting Alport Height for Summer Solstice and a little bit of Summer Solstice Sunset Photography. This year though with the drone things were slightly different, no trip to Alport Height, but instead I was hoping that there was going to be a bit of a display in the sky of a painting as carried out by nature, and surely enough what happened, colour did appear in the sky, and well I just had to send the drone up to capture the art that had appeared, for somehow Summer Solstice does have a way of creating art, along with the artist of nature, and yet The Threshold of the longest day was coming to an end, for after the nights drawing out, after the 21st of June they start drawing in again, that is until of course Winter Solstice. But what a spectacular sight on Summer Solstice, and below is what I had managed to capture. 

"The Solstice Gold."

"The art of cloud and gold. From Suburbia to Countryside on Solstice Evening."

"A Pastel Sky on Summer Solstice." - (Panoramic, 6 Shots stitched together.)

Thursday the 19th of June 2025, To sunset or not to sunset? And in the end.............

"Ah, there is nothing finer than the arts of nature in the evening, for nature has a habit of making use of that thing called the sky, and using it as a canvas for a painting."

There is just "something else about a sunset." And so far June 2025 has been a bit meh, when it comes to sunsets, but it was just yesterday on Thursday the 17th of June 2025 that I was looking at the skies, for in the distance towards the west, I noticed a welcome change and that of course was a bit of cloud cover in the skies, but there was no real colour within them, and I had to continue sporadically to observe them - they thankfully did change colour but I was in two minds and the thought that was going through my head was,

"To sunset or not to sunset?"

And then something happened, I decided to get the drone up and take a chance, to risk what could be seen from above, and from above well I noticed that there was just a work of art, a delightful sky full of colour and arts, the art being created by nature and in the end, well this is what I had managed to capture. 

"Painted is the Panorama, A work of Summer Art."

"A Summer Sunset Canvas."

"Art and Beauty, Colours over Suburbia, a Painted Sky."

Saturday the 14th of June 2025. A low battery level and just moments to spare. But what did I manage to capture? For a work of art in the evening sky.

The last time I managed to "capture anything with the drone" was on Monday the 3rd of June 2025, at the perhaps rather unique Codnor Park Reservoir, featuring of course some interesting photos of the historical Model Village of Ironville down below. But since the 3rd of June, well I have not had the chance to fly the drone, one of those things and even Sunsets have been a bit of a let down just lately, but it was on Saturday the 14th of June, that a slight change happened, I was looking at the clouds and due west, a clear(ish) sky, yet due East over in the direction of Nottingham, I could see a rather grey and moody sky, along with that I could also see a delightful Rainbow, and well I knew that I had to capture it, for the drone only had two bars of battery life within it, and I had literally moments to spare, but from above, what I captured was a work of art in the evening sky.

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"A Panorama of Colour, the arts of the Rainbow."

"Art in the sky from 400ft."

"From Urban to Countryside and maybe Gold?"

"The arc of Colour, Beauty of Nature over Suburbia."

"A Pot of Gold perhaps in The Erewash Valley?"

"Beauty of The Rainbow, the view towards The Erewash."

Monday the 3rd of June 2025, Floating over The "Model Village" and History, taking an unusual look of Ironville and Codnor Park Reservoir.

 One place that I have always enjoyed a visit to is Codnor Park Reservoir, located of course a short distance away from Ironville. Yet upon first appearances Ironville is one of those places that people will pass through without realising the actual history of it - and yet clues in the architecture can be seen, for it is classed as,

"A Model Village, and Ironville itself was built in around 1830 by The Butterley Company, to house its workers."

And of course the clues in the architecture do point to that, the main road and the way it is laid out as you drive through Ironville, well you notice that it feels a little different from a lot of other places nearby. But after a delightful walk around the equally important Codnor Park Reservoir, that also at one point was linked to The Cromford Canal, I decided to do something slightly different, and that of course was to send the drone up into the air, to see Ironville and Codnor Park Reservoir from a completely different and unique perspective, behind the drone facing west, the light was incredibly harsh and horrible, yet below are the views over Ironville, and some of Codnor Park Reservoir that can be seen, for down below what I came across was a location that just seemed that little bit more magical in a strange way, history forgotten by many can still be seen, and I suppose that is what makes Ironville and Codnor Park Reservoir that little bit more unique. 

"The old canal, and History below."

"The end of The Reservoir, the Model Village, a Unique View."

"The Damn, The Reservoir, The Model Village." - (Black and White.)

"The Car Park, The Abstract Art." - (Black and White.)

"The Model Village, Ironville, Down Below."

"Urban to Countryside."

Sunday the 1st of June 2025, And it was a "metaphorical tip off" that meant I sent the drone up to capture in a fleeting glimpse something beautiful.

"Remind me again what a Sunset is?"

 For Sunsets are one of my favourite things to capture, and the last time that I had managed to capture a decent sunset was on the 25th of May 2025. After that though a lack of any decent colours in the sky during the evening - and that was until I had a message from another photographer friend of mine, Craig Yates, that said something along the following lines, 

"There is something akin to a glorious looking sunset beginning to take place!" 

And that was of course music to my ears, for on the ground I had captured some photos of a sky that had an almost "Wes Anderson" like colour scheme to it, with the clouds, but I knew that I had to get the drone out, and in moments I had prepped the drone to take off, and to see what could be seen from above, and what I came across was a beautiful and glorious painted sky, the artist of course was nature, and the colours were just something else to behold.

"Towards the Golden end of the Day."

"Under a painting of clouds."

"Purple Looms the sky."

"As the rain, the purple sky a glow."

"The painting of a glorious Sunset a glow."

Sunday the 25th of May 2025, One minute the sky was gentle and calm, the next moment the artist "Known simply as Nature" had created a work of art in the sky.

 There is nothing more than I like than watching the colour of the sky changing, and it was on Sunday the 25th of May 2025, that I was looking outside, the clouds were looking beautiful and in one direction a glorious blue sky, some glorious looking clouds and along with that, I could also see a change in the sky beginning to take place, me I just had a thought of what would happen if I send the drone up, and surely enough I did do, looking over The Erewash Valley towards The Bennerley Viaduct in the distance I could see a glorious calming sky, and yet looking due North West, towards Langley Mill and Heanor in the distance, the artwork of nature taking place and creating something truly spectacular to see, an incoming downpour had painted the sunset that was happening, and below are the photos that I had managed to capture.

"Approaching is the Artwork of Nature."

"A Delightful Sky, Clouds of Beauty and Delight."

"Painted Gold."

Friday the 2nd of May 2025, Encountering shades of Blue and a landscape of Beauty in Sligo.

There are times when you hear about a place and see a place in photographs and think, wow! For what is it like in reality, and one of those places of course is Sligo, a county in Ireland and a county that is located between County Mayo and County Donegal, for it is another county that is also located on The Wild Atlantic Way, and it was on Friday the 2nd of May 2025, that I was fortunate enough to visit County Sligo, the first part of the trip of course was visiting the small town/city of Sligo, with its unique architecture and laid back peaceful atmosphere and some charming independent shops selling a plethora of Irish Designed and local crafts, before heading to the following two places, the first one being Strandhill and the second one being Rosses Point, two places that are just a short distance away from the middle of Sligo itself, and that could be akin to "a kind of Irish equivalent to Bondi Beach and the other Beaches of Sydney." For they are locations in which subtle differences make for some incredibly interesting opportunities to capture some truly glorious landscapes, vistas and views of a landscape shaped by WB Yeats and of course nature, which provides an interesting kind of artwork, and from a slightly higher perspective with the drone I was able to capture these photos, on a day of sheer blue sky, a delightful warm temperature and views overlooking a truly spectacular coast.  

"A Sense of Sligo Light." - (Panoramic, Black and White.)

"A Sense of Sligo Light." - (Panoramic, Colour.)

"Strandhill Blue."

"From Rosses Point, towards Strandhill." - (Black and White.)

"Looking towards big Benbullben."