Timelapse for Amazing tent @ Wembley Stadium

This is the result of a recent commission at Wembley Stadium, for Amazing Tent. I was asked to create timelapses of their tents being constructed, and also still images of their tents, to promote the fact that their tents were being used at Wembley Stadium, and the event was NFL. The client wanted practical timelapses for many uses, and eye catching imagery for promotion.





Copyright of all video and imagery - Louis Rummer-Downing

30 Seconds... Part 1- Freezing Fog

Hi, this is part 1 in a new series about the natural
world, designed to keep you entertained for 30 seconds (or less!).


Freezing Fog

Most of the UK has recently been covered by what's called 'freezing fog'. The name kind of gives away what it is, but how does it work, and what mark does it leave?






Fog is simply a type of low lying cloud, water vapour that has condensed. But when the air is particularly cold and has cooled quickly, the water droplets can become 'super-cooled' ( below freezing point but not solid ) and freeze to any surface the come in contact with.








Rime

Wierd word; interesting stuff, this is what freezing fog leaves us with. When freezing fog comes in to contact with a surface, the water droplets which make up the fog turn to ice crystals, and because all this super cooled water needs to turn to ice is a solid surface, more ice crystals can form on the solid surface of the newly formed ice. This repeating pattern creates 'hard rime' (could be a So-Solid Crew song :-), which creates this beautiful coat over trees and other objects.












Wierdly, if there is wind only the windward side, i.e. the one facing the wind will have the rime on. This is what it looks like...

In this image the wind would be coming from the right hand side of the holly leaves.









Rime can also attach itself to fences...














And make everything look very cool...

If you would like any of the images, just email me on louisrummer@gmail.com ;-)

Some more photos, recently used in an article published by The Ecologist

Here is the link :-)

http://www.theecologist.org/how_to_make_a_difference/wildlife/649951/photo_gallery_breeding_bees_resistant_to_the_varroa_mite.html

some more photos

I hav just had an article published in the November issue of 'The Countryman' magazine.

bees feeding

Sorry for the massive lack of updates- i have bee ill plus working 6 days a week for a long time!!!

Anyway, i had to put this photograph up of the bees eating the ambrosia we out out for them- you can see how long their tongues are!

Second Week

As if by magic or some otherworldly force, the weather forecast for Cornwall changed from sun all week to rain all week over night. Considering the weather over the last three years, this is not actually very surprising. In fact, it has rained every week since the beginning of July, and this summer rain is becoming something of a habit down here.

So it's raining, what does that actually mean for a beekeepers and their bees? Rain, as for all parts of nature can be good and bad. For Bees, a shower in spring irrigates the land, and if followed by sun, means a good flowering season. Rain also means fresh water to drink. However, if it rains during the flowering season, for any long period of time, this can really damage a colonies chance for survival. For example- If you have rain during July, the month in which bees are collecting as much food stores as they can for winter, then the bees cannot fly. If they cannot collect this food, then the bees will go into winter with very little supplies, or have to rely on Ivy as their food source. Ivy honey sets rock solid, thus not being ideal food for the bees.

On the beekeepers side, if it rains during the flowering season and the bees don't fly, then they will eat their honey stores. Even a week of rain in August can cost a beekeeper thousands of pounds in value of honey, and also force the beekeeper to start feeding the bees earlier; another cost. Beekeeping is a precarious livelihood.

First Week

Cornwall, the mixed bag of micro climates that it is, always refuses to give an easy ride to a beekeeper. It can be sunny and too windy, or warm but rainy- but increasingly rarely does it seem to be 1. Hot 2. Dry 3. Calm, When the honey flow is on. If all these stars align, the honey yield could be amazing, over 100 pounds per hive, allowing a beekeeper to cover costs and to also save money for the future. However, if this does not happen, as it has not for the past 4 years, honey yields could be far lower, causing the beekeeper not only financial difficulty, but also causing illness in the hive, as the bees may not be as strong going into the winter.

So, as I enter Cornwall on that fourth year of summer rain, but on the day when the weather forecast starts looking a lot more positive for the rest of the summer, I meet Rodger Dewhurst at my old university campus, to see how the bees have been doing since they were delivered here in spring!



The honey bees at the Tremough are in two different places and, as many of the hives Rodger keeps, have been given to groups so they can learn how to keep bees. If the bees still seem healthy into the summer, the group can buy the bees from Rodger. He teaches beekeeping techniques, and provides all materials for them.


Rosewarne: Duchy College



Here at Duchy College, the apiary is situated in a beautiful area full of wildlife. Although it was raining we saw some bees on the Clover (gone before the camera got to them) and this fly, who was so still i could photograph this close.