Father Christmas came early. Three months without a camera was enough, he reckoned. He lacked a beard and red clothing, and looked remarkably like Malcolm, but he helped me choose, provided the credit card and carried the new camera home for me.
We trialled it on Sunday. The grounds of Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal is familiar territory, but reliably photogenic.

Even at ten o’clock, there was still mist rising from the Moon Ponds. And even though the view from Surprise View is no longer surprising, it’s none the worse for that.

But look! This is what we spotted in a distant meadow. Time to put the zoom lens through its paces. Aren’t these deer magnificent?
Later, we passed the fine Elizabethan Fountains Hall. It was fun to contrast the view of the house itself with the version spotted in a puddle we passed.
A good walk, and it’s good to have a camera once more.

As usual, click on any image to view it full size.
I enjoy Jo’s Monday Walks, and browsing through the posts of some of those who contribute too. So I thought I’d join in the fun. Yes, I know it’s Tuesday…..
It’s all the better for being Tuesday, Margaret! 🙂 🙂 Here in the Algarve I walk Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays (and whenever else I can find the energy 🙂 ). Thanks so much for this lovely reminder of one of my favourite places! The deer shots are fantastic! Good evening on the stage last night? All the very best to you 🙂
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Thanks – and to you. We had a great night – I’ll be posting about it soon.
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Your eye through the new camera lens has yielded fantastic results. Loved the reflection.
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Thank you! A good morning.
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I thought about you treading the boards! Very glad you have a shiny new camera, and you picked a perfect place to try it out. Beautiful pictures! See you on Friday. x
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Yes, see you then. Sunday was a great day for photography. And last night went well, really well.
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Beautiful images, location and wildlife, look forward to seeing many more, enjoy the walks and capturing such beauty.
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Stunning! With many more beauties to come now you’re up and shooting again. (Glad last night went well.)
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Thank you. Report later – and happy Christmas by the way.
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And a Happy Christmas to you and yours too, Margaret 🙂
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You are too self deprecating: a camera is only as good as she who drives it. Beautiful deer, sadly we only ever see them dead by the road side but it’s ice to know that there are plenty of live ones hiding in the woods.
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Dead ones? How sad. Nothing I’ve ever witnessed here, despite their being fairly common, and not just contained at Fountains Abbey. Happy Christmas, both of you!
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They’re fearless and have no road sense. They are very fast and hop over hedges at dusk when they are hard to see and then get hit by cars, it happened to me but the deer survived. It happened to a good acquaintance whose car rolled and he died. So they are a beautiful liability.
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Looks like your new camera is a winner! Enjoy.
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Thank you. I propose to!
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Lovely photos, Margaret. You definitely have a new friend in that camera. May you make lots of wonderful memories together. Love the deer shots.
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Thank you! The deer were extremely obliging.
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All absolutely stunning countryside! You captured the deer perfectly!
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Thank you! The deer were very up for it.
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My pleasure!
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These pics are lovely, and I am so happy that you have a camera again and that in this respect at least Christmas arrived early. I am curious to know what camera you chose?
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Oh, well you will be shocked, because I discovered long ago I haven’t the patience or skill to manage an SLR. So though my camera has settings, I don’t anticipate taking it off automatic very often. It’s a Panasonic Lumix – one of the higher spec ones. I’m pleased with it so far. Happy Christmas by the way.
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Not shocked at all – I too have a Panasonic Lumix and I really enjoy it as it is easy to use and versatile and copes with low light. The model I have is no longer available, but mine is still going strong.
Thanks so much for the Christmas wishes and Happy Christmas to you too.
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That’s a pretty huge herd. Your zoom looks good.
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It’s a standard size group for Studley Royal: the deer seem to go round mob-handed. And yes, I was pleased with the zoom. As a test, I took a snap of a distant sign post. I could read it when I looked at the photo.
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Ah Fountains is beautiful and in the low winter sunlight you’ve certainly done it justice. I know phones are pretty amazing these days, but you still can’t beat a camera especially to capture low light beauties such as those deers.
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Yes, my camera phone, though not bad, is nowhere as good as a real one. Have a good – and peaceful after all your hard work – Christmas.
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YAY! It must be a relief to have a camera again–and it looks like you got a good one! The zoom makes it especially nice, and how lovely that the deer gave you a perfect opportunity to try it out–they are really spectacular creatures. I agree with another commenter, though–some of the beauty of these photos should be attributed to the photograher, not simply the camera.
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Well, thank you Kerry. Hope you have a very happy (and quiet) Christmas with your family.
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I’m sure you feel complete again. Losing a camera is akin to losing a part of you isn’t it? I do love the expressions on the deers faces. They would make a beautiful Xmas card.
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You’re right! If only I could get to feel Christmassy this year……
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I’m amazed you made three months. I was a week with my camera not working, mind you I could go out dressed in clothes without pockets. I’m looking forward to seeing more photographs from you.
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I sort of wanted to go without to see how hard it was. It was! Camera phones – or mine anyway – don’t do it for me. Have a lovely Christmas, you three!
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Yea, you are back in business. Great shots. You are a lucky lady to have your own “Santa”. Have a safe and Merry Christmas. Cheers.
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I am. Thank you. And have a great Christmas.
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What a delight! I’m so happy for you to finally have gotten hold of a new camera. I’m not using mine anymore, I’m only ever using my (newish) smartphone which I bought basically only for the camera!!!!! So handy, (btw, in Switzerland we call mobile phones still ‘Handy’….), lightweight, always with me and the quality is even though not stellar, but good enough for my purposes.
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Always handy to have your handy. But mine is a not very marvellous smartphone, so I greedily wanted a camera too.
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