This location is the gat
eway to the North-East of England, as thousands of motorists pass through it each day. Since spreading its wings in February 1998 Antony Gormley's Angel of the North has become one of the most talked about pieces of public art ever produced. Rising 20 meters from the earth near the A1 in Gateshead, the Angel dominates the skyline, dwarfing all those who come to see it. Made from 200 tonnes of steel, it has a wingspan of 54 metres. Getting up close and personal with the Angel is an experience you'll not forget in a hurry! Apparently, the Angel is as tall as four double-decker buses and its wingspan is as big as a jumbo jet. Ah well folks, ya learn summat new every day, eh.Anyway, enough of the details. Today I made the relatively short journey to the Angel with my son Christopher, who is 9 years old. We done a bit of sledging at the site as the sun was about to set. A good laugh was had. It was back to the car for a quick snack in front of the heaters before returning to the Angel for some photography. The little fella shadowed me as I ran off a few frames, but I wasn't expecting much patience from him in such freezing conditions, so it was 'Job done' and back to the car once again.
This was my first crack at the
Angel with my new wide-angle lens. Great stuff once again! The whole wide-angle effect is shaping up very nicely, ta. Some nice colours in the sky shortly after sunset, which gave me an opportunity to grab some nice shots with visitors in the frame. As cold as it was, it's always worth waiting for people to enter the frame as this lends a sense of scale to the whole 'Angel vs people' scenario. Also, I was metering off the highlights in the sky, which in turn threw the Angel and people into silhouette, which finished the shot off brilliantly...in my humble opinion, of course. The second shot (illustrated here) shows my son posing in an angelic fashion, he he, which is something he is very good at...but only on request! Anyway, you get the general idea of scale with this shot.And that's about it for now folks.
I'll be back soon - Thanks for visiting!
Ash
