York

I recently had a couple of unexpected free days.  So I made a last minute Travelodge booking and headed to York.  I was there for three days.  The first and third days were very dull and grey, but the middle day had blue skies and lovely warm light throughout.  York isn't a place I knew.  My only other visit had been for a conference and I saw little more than the hotel.  So whilst the grey days offered nothing photographically, did enjoy exploring.

The Rising Tide At Ilfracombe

Okay, now this post is just very late, and I offer no excuse.  Over New Year, Vic and I were looking for ideas of what we could shoot on another grey day.  A little research on 500px showed that part of the harbour in Ilfracombe gets covered as the tide comes in.  It offered some interesting shapes for long exposures images.  Again, the tide times worked well for us and we were able to shoot from the first wave touching the top of the wall, until it was completely submerged.

High Tide at Westward Ho! and Hartland Quay

A touch of flu has made these next couple of updates especially late.  My friend Vic has moved back to Devon, from Preston.  I visited him in his new place for a few days over New Year.  Since this was the West Country in winter, it mainly rained while I was there. 

We picked a rather torrid day of high wind and rain to visit two of my favourite places, Westward Ho! and Hartland Quay.  It was nearing high tide when we got to Westward Ho! and we headed straight for the bathing pool in the rocks, hoping to gets some shots as it filled.  Our timing was just about perfect and we were able to get in position and set up before the first wave topped the pool wall.  There then followed a frantic few minutes trying to hang on to our cameras and keep the lenses free of spray, as we tried various slow shutter speeds.

After a quick lunch, we headed to Hartland Quay.  The tide was just beginning to turn.  The wind had whipped the sea to frothy milk.  But at least is wasn't as wet, and we could find some sheltered spots for 10-stop exposures.

Northumbria - Blyth Harbour

Blyth, where I was staying, has an oft photographed harbour.  Since it was less than 10 minutes drive away and sunrise was a little after 8am, I really had no excuse not to roll out of bed for a dawn shoot.  The weather forecast had promised that the previous days cloud would clear to blue skies.  Sadly, this didn't happen until later in the morning.  For dawn there was just a thin sliver of sun visible.  The best of the colour in the sky lasted for just one frame.

Northumbria - Newbiggin and Tynemouth

More catching up with processing of recent(ish) shoots ahead of the new year.  At the start of the month, I took advantage of staying with a friend, who lives just north of Newcastle, to do a couple of shoots on the Northumbrian coast.  I spent a day of rather mixed weather at Newbiggin-by-the-Sea.  The offshore breakwater features a massive sculpture, which gives another element to seascapes.  I have shot it before on a bright summers day.  This time I wanted to try some shots in evening light.  As well as the beach, there are some small cliffs that kept me entertained as I waited for the light to drop.

 

Finally, one image from a quick visit to Tynemouth.  The sky was rubbish, but I couldn't resist trying a moody post sunset shot of the harbour walls.

The Shard at night

After a busy couple of weeks, I am catching up on processing some images.  It had been a while since I last did a night shoot, so a couple of weekends ago I popped into London for some shots of the Shard.  It was the viewpoint in the mono image that I was particularly keen to capture.  But as sometimes happens, I got distracted with some views by the river and reached the scene a little later than intended.  The sky wasn't quite as light as I hoped, so I'll have to go back and have another go sometime.

Wimpole in the snow

Last Sunday's snow took me by surprise.  I am so used to predicted snow missing Huntingdonshire completely, that I didn't pay too much attention to the latest forecast.  So when I woke to a blanket of white on Sunday morning, I had to quickly come up with a plan.  I choose to go to Wimpole, as I was fairly sure I could get there safely and that the park would be open.  Plus, the big trees and the restored folly would make great subjects in the snow.  A light sleety snow continued to fall for most of the day, which made keeping the lens clear somewhat challenging, but it also made for some lovely minimalist and reduced palette shots.