Haway then, here's the first one.
Nowt special, just a random shot that was taken as I walked through a wooded area in Durham City, in search of a vantage point on Whinney Hill that overlooked Durham's dramatic Cathedral. The sun shone brightly through the tree's as I headed up a steep wooded bank towards the top of the hill, on the outskirts of a built up residential area. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the Autumn colours were well and truly on display, so it was now a case of leaving the woods behind and hunting down that vantage point. Before that though I took a couple of shots in the woods, especially as the floor was a carpet of golden brown. There were squirrel's everywhere, but photographing them was another matter of course - these creatures were hard to pin down with a lens, so I gave up the ghost after five minutes or so. Back to the task in hand - up the bank, over a stile, and into the pasture that became the place I'd been hunting down for the past 30 minutes or so.And here I was.
Three Sycamore tree's lined the top of the hill beyond me as I made my approach, wondering what view would greet me at the top of the hill. The wait was soon over and I stood there for a short while, admiring Durham Cathedral from a totally new viewpoint for the very first time. The shot was right there in front of me and I paused for another moment to tell myself that although this place was totally new to me, it would be somewhere that I would be visiting a lot more in the near future. My regular vantage point to photograph Durham Cathedral is over the other side, near the railway station, but this one was equally as impressive and I could only imagine what it would offer at night time, when the Cathderal is lit-up. Aye, I promised myself I wouldn't have to wait too long to see that one, and you won't either as I plan to get back up there very soon so watch this space. Photographing Durham Cathedral at ground level is one thing, 
but capturing it from afar and from a modest height is something else. As I fired off a few frames I composed to include the Autumn colours in the foreground. The third shot (shown here) was taken from Whinney Hill and includes the roof tops of the nearby estate. I imagine a similar shot after a heavy snowfall would be one worth grabbing so I'll add that to the memory bank for future reference. My third shot was taken from my usual haunt near the Railway Station, and again features Durham Cathedral. A ten minute drive from my last stop-off at Whinney Hill - the views across the city are something else. There was no-one else on the hill while I was there so it was nice to have the place to myself. It is what it is - the money shots are here, it's a simple case of picking the right time to get them. Ten minutes later and I was out of there.Finally, AC was back
in God's Country and in the grounds of an ancient Anglo-Saxon church - St Peter's at Monkwearmouth. St Peter's Church, founded in 674AD, is one of the UK's first stone-built structures with the tower and west wall remaining as fine and rare examples of Saxon building. Fragments of the oldest stained glass in England are on display, dating from the 7th Century. The Venerable Bede, who lived and worked here, wrote an account of its foundation. St Peter's along with St Paul's has been short-listed as a World Heritage Site. The sun had risen only twenty minutes before I took this shot and I remember waiting as it rose above the trees to cast it's early morning light across the ancient stonework. I like this shot as it typifies Autumn in a picturesque fashion, although I wish there was more colour in the overhanging leaves that I used to frame the top of the shot. Ah well, baking my cake and eating it wasn't on today's menu so I settled for what was on offer.And on that note I shall disappear. Until the next time...ta ta!
Ash
