Close up to a Swan!

Another beautiful day in Dorset with warm sunshine and a pleasant breeze. We all headed out to visit Corfe Castle and then separated ..... some to visit the deserted village of Tyneham and the others on the steam train to Swanage.  We re-grouped back at our base' and have been out for a delicious meal together.

Corfe Castle is on a commanding hill position and, despite its age, is in relatively good condition.  It was here that King Edward of Wessex was murdered in AD 978.  This is a much more dramatic event that it sounds and just shows the turbulent history of the time!

Tyneham village was comanndeered 'by the British Ministry of Defence during WW2 and used as a training ground for soldiers, guns and tanks.  It is still used for this purpose and is closed to the public on these occasions for obvious reasons.  The residents at the time were asked to leave and abandon their properties and possessions - I do not know what, if any, compensation was given to them.  It was intially intended that they would return but this did not happen.  The air of calm and tranquility belies what must have been emotional times.  On the wall of each abandoned cottage is information and photographs about the last residents - it is heartbreaking to read.

I have chosen a swan's feather as my blip for today which I collected from the Abbotsbury swannery a couple of days ago.  Hobbs has set a challenge for wide angle Wednesday of 'close up and personal' and I thought that you can;t get more close to a swan than one of its feathers.  I liked the idea of a white feather on a white background and incorporated the strong sunlight for contrasting shadow This has been a really interesting challenge and I am now using my wide angle much more than I used to do - so thank you to Hobbs for pushing me out of my comfort zone and trying other possibilities.

My dilemma now is...do I make the best use of  the sigma 10-20 that I bought for my Nikon cropped sensor or do I 'bite the bullet' and get the right one for my full frame D750?  Advice welcome please...

Last sunny day of the holiday tomorrow as we pack up and head for home on Friday...but I am off to Spain next Tuesday so it's not all bad!