Belchford

Belchford is a small village in Lincolnshire. It has a lovely community spirit, where most residents know each other & many of them attend the various events in the village, such as Coffee Mornings, visits to the village pub (The Blue Bell Inn), and Church Groups. Many of the villagers are retired, therefore, spend much of the good weather tending their well kept gardens. As part of my job as a local Bus Driver, I visit Belchford quite regularly, so, on a day off, I spent the day walking around the village with my camera.

The Blue Bell Inn

The Blue Bell Inn and Restuarant

The village pub is usually the hub of every community, The Blue Bell Inn is more of a Community Hub than many others, and has an exquisite restuarant, which caters for pub lunches, as well as an evening menu. Not only is it used by village residents & locals to the area, it also has thousands of other Tourists which love cycling, walking and Rambling around the Lincolnshire Wolds. As can be seen by the Info below, this was before I upgraded to my OM-D camera, showing that the 16MP Pen lite is more than capable.

Olympus PEN E-PL5 ~ f9 ~ 1/400 sec ~ ISO 200 ~ 40mm

Bees Love Cornflowers

While walking around the village, I was admiring the spectacular gardens in all their glory. I managed to spot a lone bee, collecting nectar from a Cornflower. Usually, these type of shots incorporate the use of a tripod, but I didn't have time to set it up, so just took the shot. The in-built Image Stabliser took care of any movement in my unsteady hands, ensuring everything was in-focus and not blurry. The Image Stabiliser (IS) in the Olympus cameras are particularly good, and can produce a hand-held shot which couldn't be captured otherwise.

Olympus PEN E-PL5 ~ f5.6 ~ 1/200 sec ~ ISO 200 ~ 40mm

Bee on a Cornflower

Hedge Carnation

Hedge Carnation

Beauty just pops out from the most unusual places. As I walked past a seemingly plain hadge, I noticed there were Carnations growing through the foliage. The mixed colours of the Hawthorn & Privet was broken by the vivid pink. This was another 'spur of the moment' picture, made all the easier by the amazing Auto Focus & Auto Exposure metering of the Olympus cameras.

Olympus PEN E-PL5 ~ f7.1 ~ 1/100 sec ~ ISO 200 ~ 40mm

Californian Poppy

There is such a diverse display of flowers in the many garden around Belchford, sometimes it's difficult to pick which photographs to add to a site like this. However, this one stood out for me bacause of the detail of the stemen, the petals, but more so, the flies on the petals. I love the way the flower stands out against the green `Bokeh` (the blurred background). I am calling this a 'Californian Poppy' because it looks similar to some I have grown in my own garden - I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

Olympus PEN E-PL5 ~ f5.3 ~ 1/250 sec ~ ISO 200 ~ 123mm

Californian Poppy

Belchford Church

Belchford Church

Just like the Blue Bell Pub, this is another central meeting point for villagers. It is the location of worship, solemn thought and many coffee mornings, according to the sign which is posted outside on nearly every occassion I drive through. Many of the village residents are retired, therefore, due to their generation, are keen church-goers. Although I have never driven through the village on a Sunday, I can imagine that several make their way to the church for the weekly service.

Olympus PEN E-PL5 ~ f6.3 ~ 1/200 sec ~ ISO 200 ~ 40mm