Hartland Quay

A little late, but here some images from my last full day in Devon over the Christmas break.  I was joined again by Vic and we headed for Hartland Quay.  The weather was better than the previous 2 days, with the sun even making an occasional appearance.  This is a location that I have photographed many times before, but I never managed to get a shot I truly love.  I didn't this time either.  But I added to the collection.

As the tide was starting to run in, I tried some long exposures shots using my 10 stop neutral density filter.

Hartland Quay is one of my favourite places to watch the sun go down.  Sadly, there was too much cloud on the horizon for a great sunset.  This final shot was taken a few minutes after the sun had set with the last bit of colour still visible in the sky.

Appledore and Instow

Or things to do on a dull grey Devon December day - part II.

The day after Boxing Day I was joined by Vic for a trip to Appledore and Instow.  We started off at Appledore with a walk along the estuary to the burrows.  We particularly wanted to find an old derelict slipway that we had seen used to good effect in other pictures.  Sadly the light was just as poor as the day before, this and low tide meant that we had to settle for a some low angles and close-up abstracts.

 After lunch in Bideford, we crossed the estuary and spent a couple of hours in Instow.   The light improved slightly, so I chanced a couple of wide-angle shots of the boats stranded by low-tide.

Beachcombing at Westward Ho!

Or things to do on a dull grey Devon December day. 

Post Christmas day, I always like to get out with the camera for some fresh air, exercise and maybe get a few images of the fabulous North Devon coast.  Sadly the weather this year was not helpful, with several very grey days.  So on Boxing Day I spent a few hours at Westward Ho! 

Westward Ho! is famous for being the only place in the UK that has an exclamation mark as part of its name (and the only town I can think of that is named after a novel).  It is also a place I know well, having spent many summer Sundays there as a child.  I knew I could find some potential pictures along the huge pebble ridge that is a major feature of the beach.  Sure enough, I was able to find enough interesting bits in the strand-line to keep me occupied for a couple of hours.

A Christmas Tree

An appropriate image for my last post before Christmas, and one I have been waiting a year to show.  I took this shot on Boxing Day last year on the edge of Exmoor.  Before anyone accuses me of decorating the tree myself, let me assure you, it was like that when I found it.  Besides it was far too cold to get creative. 

I have seen, and photographed, this tree on a previous Christmas and it was decorated then too.  So it must be something of a local tradition.  I have no idea why.  There are no houses in the vicinity.  Just a minor road, the moor and a tree with tinsel on it. Still, that's Devon for you.

Cambridge Christmas Lights

This is a busy time of year, so I am behind on the blog.  About 10 days ago, the Abbey Horizons group had one of our regular outings to take pictures.  The subject was the Christmas lights in Cambridge.  We spent 3 hours or so circuiting the centre of town followed by a warm-up, pint and bite to eat in the Eagle.  Discussing our pictures, we came to the conclusion that Cambridge's lights are just too tasteful.  Lots of subtle white lights and no gaudy riots of colour. I tried a few zooms to add interest and also shot the occasion shop window.

Hill Testing The Pen

Some shots from the second day of my recent trip North.  We did a fairly gentle trip around 4 fells in rather grey weather.  I wasn't expecting much photographically, and thought this would be a good opportunity to put the Olympus Pen through it's paces in hill conditions.  I didn't come away with any great shots, but exploring the details of a dry stone wall gave me an possible idea for a panel for next year's portfolio competitions.

Ingleton Waterfalls

Last weekend I visited my friend Vic for another couple of days of hillwalking, photography and beers.  The weather forecast on the Friday wasn't too promising.  The best of the weather was to be had in the east and not too high.  So we opted to head for the Yorkshire Dales and do a gentle walk around some waterfalls at Ingleton.