Fire In The Sky - Houghton le Spring

Hello once again!

Back for a brief update here on Blogger. With a folder full of backdated images to get through, I tick another batch off as I bring you my latest writings on all things photography. December 2108 and one of those 'Shall I' or 'Shall I not' pop out for an hour with the camera. It was a Saturday afternoon and the sky was brewing up quite nicely as sunset approached. I lost count of how many times I looked out my back window to check the sky. Each time I saw it I was nudging ever closer to grabbing my camera and heading out. With sunset looming I knew I wouldn't have time to go too far, so it would be another one of those very local trips like ... yeah, that ... the Copt Hill Barrow. Why not, it's in my own back yard and it's always a nice thing to pull in great shots from this location. I've lost count on the number of visits I've made, but hey ... two visits are never the same, let alone fifty!

And so it was to be ... the five minute car ride up the hill and across the field to those Seven Sisters. I got there around 30 minutes before sunset and the early indication was that this was gonna be a good one. Already the sky was taking on a colourful canopy - a one that would play an ideal role as backdrop for the Seven Sisters. Another photographer turned up, setting his gear close by. We'd met before. It was Ken Foulds, who lives across the way in Belmont, on the outskirts of Durham. Strangely enough, our first meeting was at this very same spot. Great minds think alike. I grabbed a couple of shots of Ken as I photographed his own scene, both of which are shown here. As the sky started to kick off I dotted around the Copt Hill, capturing the scene from various angles. The sky was definitely living up to its earlier billing, as the colour presented itself and seemed to linger for an age. This wasn't going to be a brief affair.

I was running with the Canon 5D3 for this outing, couple with a 16-35L lens and nothing else. No filters or remote, just the basics. I even   left my mitts in the car, which wasn't exactly the smartest move I made, as it was bloody freezing. Then again, we were into late December, so not to complain eh. I fired off around twenty frames in total, which definitely had a keeper or two amongst them, so I was looking forward to getting them onto my laptop to have a better look. So without further ado I said goodbye to Mr Foulds and headed off back to the car. By this time it would have been around 4.30pm. I had parked up in the Copt Hill Inn car park, which is a short walk from the burial ground that is Seven Sisters. I noticed there was still some lovely colour in the sky, which was odd, as the sun had actually set an hour ago. By this time there's usually no trace of red in the sky, but on this occasion there was still plenty to see. It was almost apocalyptic. Amazing to watch as it took on an almost surreal sight for sore eyes. Looking back now, I can safely say that the last photo I took (shown here, of the Copt Hill Inn) was by far my favourite one of the lot. Now, that was not part of the plan when I arrived, but sometimes those little surprises make the experience a whole lot sweeter. And so it was ...

Until the next time, be good

A.C

Pea Soup

The term 'As thick as Pea Soup' is often connected with fog. Last week I photographed one or two locations in thick fog with very low visibility, which was down to 50 metres at best. I've never been one for taking my camera into the fog to be honest, as those type of mysterious shots never really appealed, until recently. I don't need an excuse to get out with my new 5D3 these days, as the sheer experience of handling it is enough to get the creative cogs spinning in my head. It really is a remarkable piece of kit and I've only just scratched the surface regarding its capability, which again is quite exciting to know that there's a lot more to this camera than firsts meets the eye. When I test out the camera in various conditions and situations I'll be posting a full teardown review of it here on my blog page. Even then, it's one thing to mention the tools within its box, but another to actually try these tools out, so hands on is something I'm looking to and I've got every intention of getting into the nuts and bolts of my new toy. First impressions are as impressive as I expected and I hope the further in depth I go, the results are equally as good. But back to that uninviting bowl of Pea Soup...

As I say, I'm not one to photograph foggy scenes, but that will surely change as and when, after pulling in a few decent shots last week. I visited four locations in one afternoon, which were Copt Hill Barrow (Houghton le Spring), Seaham Harbour, Littlehaven (South Shields) and Newcastle Quayside. The middle two locations threw up next to nothing in the way of photo opportunities, mainly due to very poor visibility, but Copt Hill and Quayside offered me at least a crack at it. Here are a few photographs from my outing...

1. Tyneside Commute - It's fog on the Tyne, during an early evening rush hour on the Millennium Bridge.

2. Copt Hill Barrow, Houghton le Spring (Seven Sisters)

3. Copt Hill Barrow, Houghton le Spring (Seven Sisters), re-processed

That's all for now. I'll be back shortly. Feel free to check out my new 'Hadrian's Wall' gallery at
ashleycorr.com    Cheers!    Ash

Today's Sunrise

After working through the night and hurrying home to catch the sunrise I managed to get to my chosen location just in time to catch the colours. It was well windy at the top of Copt Hill Barrow, where the Seven Sisters Neolithic Burial Ground is situated, on the edge of Houghton le Spring. Before leaving for work the night before, I had my camera bag at the ready, knowing I would be heading home shortly before sunrise at 7.44am, but the Mrs stuck her beak in and said 'You're wasting your time, the weather forecast isn't good for tomorrow morning.' I mean, she's a cracking wife and all that, but I tend to ignore her advice when it comes to photography, but on this occasion I gave in and put my gear back where it belongs. Bad move! It was a dramatic sunrise, to say the least. The wind was up and it was freezing cold, but nevertheless I was at Copt Hill Barrow, armed with a mobile phone (yeah, p*ss poor, I know). I took a couple of shots and grabbed an HD movie clip to go with it.
Here they are...

And next time I'll tell the Mrs to keep her advice to her'sel (he he).
Back soon!

Ash

Seven Sisters - Daily Visits

Hello again. Regular visitors to my Blog page will be aware that during the Winter months I make regular visits to the Copt Hill Barrow, also known locally as the Seven Sisters, situated in Houghton le Spring. A quick 'search' of my Blog will throw up previous entries where I have visited the monument to photograph it during different seasons. I rarely bother photographing it in Summer as the leaves are thick and the silhouette against a bright sunset is nowhere near as effective as it is during Winter when the leaves are long gone. A week of great Sunrise and Sunset photography yielded my latest batch of silhouette shots and I can't remember a week like it, as it was one brilliant sky after another. In the meantime, here is a brief description, copied and pasted from another web page...

Monument: Seven Sisters round barrow, Copt Hill, Houghton le Spring

Parish: Sunderland

County: Tyne and Wear

National Monument number: 32055

National grid reference (s): NZ35344921

The monument includes the round barrow known as Seven Sisters. It is situated in arable land on the western flank of Copt Hill and is 300m south of Copt Hill public house. The barrow mound is 3m high and approximately 25m in diameter. It is of earth and stone construction. The stones include magnesian limestone and sandstone. To the west and north west of the mound there are visible remains of a surrounding bank. An aerial photograph of the monument indicates a further boundary to the west and north of the mound about 25m from the edge of the mound, and a rectilinear cropmark to the east believed to be the terminal of a cursus. Excavation of the barrow in 1877 by Canon William Greenwell and Mr T Robinson revealed that the primary burial was a Neolithic cremation believed to be an example of an axial mortuary structure. There were also several Bronze Age cremations and inhumations, and an early medieval inhumation.

Between Monday 9th and Thursday 12th January I visited the Seven Sisters each day, twice at sunrise and twice at sunset. Winter, especially January, has historically presented the most colourful skies at each end of the day, so if you like to shoot silhouettes then this is one of the best locations in the North-East of England for this type of photography. I'm lucky, I only live round the corner, so within ten minutes of leaving the house I'm 'Set up' and ready to work. During the golden hour - 30 minutes before sunrise and 30 minutes after sunset, I captured many images, all recorded in RAW format at 18 Megapixels on a Canon 7D. I used a bog standard 18-135mm lens and a 10-22mm wide for the images shown here. Each lens gives different results in their own right, although the wide angle glass gets you right up close, almost on the barrow itself, and you can still fit it all in! The close angle offers a sense of drama as the trees tower over the lens, and if the right sky is available, you get drama on a big scale, which is exactly what I was after. Two of my shots show 'One Man And His Dog', which has almost become an obligitory fixture for me when I photograph the Seven Sisters. Scale is quite important here - I always try to include people whenever they present themselves and this place is a favourite haunt for Man and his Best Friend, so you're never short of the odd 'Extra' or two entering the frame. Some folk walk round the barrow when they see me, thinking they might be spoiling my shot by walking over the top, which is never the case, as a walking man and dog offer a nice profile in silhouette (as shown here, shot 3). And there's no escape, as this fella walked round the barrow and I still caught him and his dog. It worked quite well. Just for the record, the first and last of my four shots were taken at Sunset and the middle two at Sunrise. Whether it's 8.30am or 4.00pm it makes little difference, as I was freezing to the bone, despite wearing two fleeces and a jacket as well as the black wooly 'Bin Man' hat. I switch off to the cold - little choice, but looking back I'm glad I did. It wasn't long before I was back in my house and sat down with a cup of coffee while the wife massaged my feet. Well, maybe I made the last bit up, he he, she wouldn't go near my feet with a knotty prop!

And now to the last shot. And it's colour all the way - once again. I love this one. I showed a friend this shot and he thought it had been captured in Africa, of all places. Houghton le Spring is a far cry from the African continent, although you often see the odd 'Elephant' walking in and out of the Silver Grid (Local Chippy). And before I forget, some of you may have noticed the obvious discrepancy - there isn't actually Seven Sisters, but Six, after one was burned down a few years ago by some brain-dead 'Chav' who obviously had nowt else better to do than torch the Monument. Tosser! Ah well, he's cursed now - history and myth of the real Seven Sisters (Witches) will catch up with him sooner or later - card well and truly MARKED. Ah well, it is on that note that I shall wind up my latst Blog entry and finish off by telling you that another scribble or two will follow shortly. As mentioned earlier this week, I planned a visit to Bamburgh Castle on the Northumberland Coast, which is where I eventually ended up yesterday after planning and later postponing my previous attempts to photograph on location.So stay tuned for more low-light Sunrise photography, this time on the sand with the imposing Bamburgh Castle silhoutted against yet another dramatic sky as the sun rose. For a sneak preview check out my Historic Northumberland gallery over at ashleycorr.com (Images 24-27).

Full write-up coming soon.

Ash