Kit and caboodle

I record most of my visits to historic sites with a Canon EOS 350D digital camera. At one time I lugged around a kit bag with three 35mm camera bodies loaded with 100ASA, 400ASA and either slide or B&W film. Add in wide-angle, standard 50mm, macro zoom, telephoto and 500mm mirror lenses plus flash, filters etc and it's no surprise that I had back-ache. Now I can get along with the Canon digital plus three lenses in a bag a quarter the size and a fraction of the weight. The quality of image, as in this photo of an iris, is still very acceptable. I love these black and near-black flowers such as this example of Helen Proctor or others like Black Watch.

Knole, Kent

My Easter break was spent visiting my sister in Kent. That was a great opportunity to see (and photograph) her collection of irises. The previous week she had been awarded a bronze medal at the RHS London Flower show, and was mentioned in an article in the Times. For a view of the current stock of irises, see her website at Iris of Sissinghurst where there is a photo gallery.

We made a repeat visit to Knole. I was last there over fifteen years ago, before I met my wife, so it was an opportunity to introduce her to the house and the extensive deer park. Knole is an interesting house, supposedly based on a calendar with 365 rooms, 7 courtyards and 52 staircases. Originally built in the 15th century by Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury, the house and estate was passed to the See of Canterbury before being appropriated by Henry VIII who enlarged the house. The estate was finally given to the Sackville family by Elizabeth I.

The deer in the park are incredibly tame - much more so than those in other deer parks that I have visited. They allow people to approach very closely, even the very young ones. I suspect that this is because people are feeding them (despite the prominent signs to the contrary). I saw several groups sharing their food with the deer.