Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland

After much planning, and more intention than enough, I finally visited the Northumberland Coast last weekend for some Sunrise Photography. I recall a Blog entry of mine last October, when I announced that a trip to Bamburgh Castle was imminent, but one thing or another scuppered my plans and the outing never materialised. Three months later, and a willingness to let nothing get in the way of a January trip to the same location, and suddenly here I am driving north on the A1(M) at 6.30am. I had plenty of sleep the night before and my preparations had actually started three days in advance, so everything was neatly in place by the time I awoke at 5.45am on Saturday morning, the day of the event. I had been out the night before for a nice Indian scran and the plan was not to pouch anything too hot otherwise I might be in a spot of trouble the next morning. As it was, I'd put away a mild 'Lamb Tikka Bhuna', made the necessary bog stop the next morning before I left for the coast, so that side of things was taken care of and I felt confident I wouldn't be running around like a loppy dog, looking for a netty amongst Bamburgh sand dunes at 8.00am. So the plan was to leave home at 6.15am, to arrive at Bamburgh Castle around 7.30am, giving me ample time to find a vantage point and get my gear set up with time to spare before Sunrise. I packed my camera gear into the car, along with flask of Coffee, Wellies, Spare Socks, Goodie Bag, and Music. I drove the car off the drive at 6.17am, two minutes over planned departure, which was neither something or nothing. The morning chill was something else, and it took a good fifteen minutes to fill the car with warmth - the temperature outside was minus 2 degrees! After 15 minutes on the road I passed the Angel Of The North whilst filling me fat face with Salted Peanuts - not the usual typical breakfast fayre I put away on a Saturday morning - it's usually cold Vindaloo, leftover from the night before! As I reach the bottom of Bowes Incline my eyes are drawn to the chimneys over Team Valley and the smoke that bellows from them. The smoke instantly freezes upon exit and rises high into the morning sky, offering a great photo opportunity, but I'm stopping the car for no-one and nothing. I pass the MetroCentre and the odd car here and there before crossing the River Tyne near Scotswood, noticing the still water and the perfect reflection of the riverside buildings and street lamps. Again, a great photo opportunity in front of me, but I'm heading somewhere else so I quickly leave the reflections behind. I'm now on a clear stretch of the A1(M) and there's not much company on the road, other than the chill-out sound of Enigma playing through the speakers. It's now 6.35am and I'm warm as toast by this time, still pouching those Salted Peanuts and beginning to think today is going to be a good one.

Around 7.00am I pass the historic town of Anlwick and notice bright red sky to my right, on the coast and exactly where I'm heading. There's an hour to go before sunrise, yet there's enough colour on display to start photographing right here and now. No good to me though, I'm thirty minutes away from my destination and I've still got to get off the big road before heading inland to my eventual stop. Hopefully the colourful sky is a rehearsal for what will follow, before and during sunrise, at which time I'll be tripping the shutter and grabbing what I can. At 7.15am I'm finally off the big road after getting caught behind a haulage wagon on single carraigeway for a good few miles. I'm still on schedule and the planned arrival time of 7.30am becomes reality as I now see the illuminated Bambugh Castle ahead of me in the distance. The bag of Salted Peanuts have bit the dust by this time and I'm feeling rather sickly - greedy 'Bar Steward' that I am. I enter the small village of Bamburgh and pass through it, approaching the grand castle on top of the craggy outcrop. Up the ramp and towards the castle car park I go, stopping the car at precisely 7.30am - things are looking very good indeed! There isn't a soul to be seen, just me, a backpack and a hefty tripod, as I step out of my trainers and into a cold pair of green wellies. There may be the need to walk into the incoming tide to get the necessary shots, so the wellies are a must if I don't wanna get the toes wet.

From the castle car park I head through the sand dunes and onto the beach, and a fine beach it is. The tide is low but incoming, so I'll need to monitor it as I photograph from the beach, as the tide has a habit of creeping up and I have no intention of becoming marooned. By 7.40am I'm off the dunes and onto the beach, where I want to be, and for the first time I'm about to photograph a sunrise at a location that has been on my wish-list for far too long. The day has finally arrived and colour begins to burst through the clouds at 8.00am. The purple hue is a nice backdrop for the silhouetted castle and I'm now beginning to mentally compose my shots, before unpacking my gear and getting down to work. And I'm not the only person with that idea in mind on Bamburgh beach - there must be around a dozen or so of the like-minded folk, all jockying for position along the sands as the tide crept in slowly. I photograph a couple of snappers as they lean forward, looking into their viewfinders as they, like myself, make pictures of the scene that appears directly in front of them. I'm remotely firing off frame after frame as the incoming tide swirls around my feet, and I feel them sinking slowly into the sand. I'm unaware that I'm about to get a good soaking as I take my eye off the ball, so to speak. I'm engrossed in the stunning sunset that now unfolds around 8.30am and the freezing cold water of the North Sea suddenly flows over the top of my wellies and I'm suddenly a far from happy bunny. I continue to photograph from the same spot on the beach and as the sun rises above the castle and the colour in the sky diminishes. I call it a day and head onto dry land. I'm soon back at the car park and supping a cup of hot coffee from my flask - just what the doctor ordered. I stand for a while and watch the waves rolling in as I pour myself another cup. It's a grand view. A few minutes later I make a swift sock change before slipping into my hiking boots - no more soaking wet feet.

I finish off with a few shots of Bamburgh Castle from the sand dunes. One particular shot is shown here with the sun bathing the foreground grasses, as well as the castle itself. At 9.15am I'm back on the road and heading north to Holy Island for some more photography. Bamburgh was an experience and now that I've done my first sunrise shoot from its sands, I'm now aquainted with the location and know where to grab the best shots. I'll be back soon for more of the same. I hope you like the selection I've posted here, and don't forget to click them to reveal enlarged versions.

When on the road I fettled a bag of Salted Peanuts, a Gregg's 'Spicey One' Pasty, a bar of Toblerone, half a box of Miniature Heroes and two cans of Pepsi. However, I balanced the boat of healthy eating by eating a single white grape. Aren't I good? (wink).
Until the next time...Ash

Angel Of The North, Gateshead

Static objects like the Angel Of The North are very straightforward subjects to photograph. As always, the light controls the conditions and the photographer controls exposure. A combination of correctness in both areas can yield a great final image, and although there's no such thing as 'correct' weather, as this is entirely open to interpretation based on the type of efffect you wish to achieve. There's no effects in these images though - they are simple daylight shots with plenty of colour under ideal summer weather conditions. As always, I try to include people in my Angel shots to give a sense of scale - The Angel Of The North rises 70 feet, but to anyone who hasn't seen the sculpure up close they obviously don't know the sheer size of it, hence the addition of people as extra's. I shot this first image from an angle that I previously hadn't attempted - crouching low under bushes in a small wasteland near the perimeter path. An overhang of leaves at the top, and grass sprouting from the bottom, frames the Angel quite nicely. There was a lot of broken cloud which sheltered the sun from the Angel every few seconds, so I had to act sharp and release the shutter precisely as the sun shone through, bringing out the natural rusty colour in my subject.

After switching postion to the far side of the Angel I heard voices nearby. People were walking up the path and into my shot - time to add that sense of scale - My second shot shows what I'm talking about. I waited a while longer, hoping more people would come along and lend themselves to my shots, but no-one showed up. Once again I heard voices and got myself ready for some more photography, but this time I got more than I bargained for. A coach load of German tourists had arrived at the site and within a few seconds the place was flooded with them, but this was no good to me, the shot would have been far too busy with that lot in frame. No thanks. Hoards of camera's were clicking away as I packed up my camera and made my way back to the car park. They seemed to be enjoying their experience so who was I to complain, eh. The 'Jormans' have landed!!!

My third shot was taken later that day when I returned to the site after a brief visit to Newcastle. Once again I waited for human intervention, which came in the shape of a mother with young child. The mother disappeared behind the legs of the Angel, leaving the youngster as an extra in my shot once again - now that's what I call scale! The only filtration used on each shot was a 67mm Circular Polarizer (Hoya Pro-1 Digital), rotated accordingly for maximum effect on the sky. All shots were taken handheld, on 'Shutter Speed Priority' (1/30th), using an ISO setting of 100. My trusty old 7D rig done the necessary once again. Can't be without it these days - it's a breeze to work with!

Coming next - Whitley Bay Sunrise - getting to grips with my brand new set of Lee filters.
Cheers, Ash

Herrington Country Park, Sunderland

A former Durham pit site, which was reclaimed and developed into the now known Herrington Country Park, the park is one of the largest in Sunderland and is home to a large selection of events including the Annual County Show, Marie Curie daffodil walk, diabetes UK walk in the park and many more. The park has cycle routes, boating lake, cycle/skate park, large amphitheatre created from grassed embankments and numerous sculptures/art works set out around the park. Herrington Country Park was once the site of Herrington Colliery, which closed in 1985. By that time the colliery waste heap was the largest in the North East and cast in the shadow of Penshaw monument, it was transformed into one of the premier parks of the North East.

A typical summers day presented me with an ideal opportunity to take some shots of the park from nearby Penshaw Hill. This vantage point was ideal as I had the bright sun behind me, bathing the park in light for long spells due to the sparse scattering of clouds. My first shot was taken between two pillars of Penshaw Monument as I faced south towards the park. A shadow of the Monument was cast across the grass embankment in front of where I stood, which was an ideal subject to fill the foreground, which would have been fairly bland without sun and shadow. This shot only shows a small section of Herrington Country Park, which lies to the right of the pond which is seen in the distance. Farm fields make up the bulk of this landscape shot and these are situated between the park and Offerton, just off the A183 single carraigeway. My second shot shows a larger section of the park although this, in fairness, is only a quarter of the actual size of the park. I was drawn to the landscape in front of me when composing the shot, opting not to pan too far to the right where the bright sun was 'Burning out' the sky. Once again, both shots were taken on a Canon 7D with a 18-135mm EF lens. A circular polarizer gave a nice effect to the cloud formation, adding some saturation to the blue sky in the process. The polarizer is a must for landscape shots - mine being a 67mm HOYA PRO 1-DIGITAL affair, picked up on ebay as a used item, but mint condition nevertheless. If you've just bought your first DSLR and fancy knocking out a few landscape shots (Ross!), then give one of these filters a try, they're worth shelling out for.

I'll be back soon. I'm trying to catch up on a backlog of blog images for you, including more low-light work in the shape of a Whitley Bay Sunrise, Latrigg Fell Walk in the English Lake District, Sunrise over Keswick and a few Angel Of The North shots. Until then...

Ash