Berkeley Castle and Gardens

Hi Folks,

While some of you were exploring Sherwood Forest last weekend I spent the Sunday afternoon visiting Berkeley Castle.

I chose to take only my K20D with DA*16-50 and DA*60-250 (EXIF is intact so you can tell which lens was used in each picture).

I think this combination of lenses makes a good walkaround pair.

You are not allowed to take pictures inside the castle so all pictures are of the outside and gardens.

Part of the Norman Keep - oldest part of the castle



The Norman castle was extend to include fortified Tudor living accommodation


On the slopes below the castle are terraced gardens and even a lake. This almost dead tulip is my favourite shoot of the afternoon.



It's well worth a visit with the cost at just under £8.00 and if you gift aid then you can revisit within one year using the same ticket! But check which days they are open as it follows a rather strange pattern.

More pictures from my visit may be seen at my Berkeley Castle Photo Gallery

Nice shots, looks like a lovely place.

The second one is the best of the three, with a bit more PP with the first one so that it would look like the second one you might end up with a better photo IMHO.

With the third one, I don't really know...
The red colour looks quite hard in the photo, maybe lowering the clarity might help... it's a difficult one to say something about it, it just doesn't feel right in a way but can't lay my finger on it.

Thanks Sefan,

I shall have to practice doing my RAW conversions to make a 'set' of pictures all look the same...

I think the third shot would have been improved with a larger F stop to throw more of the green background leaves out of focus. I think the contrast between the 'up' and 'down' petals is what attracted me to this flower. A few years back I would have just passed it by as a 'worthless half dead flower' but digital encourages me to find the picture.