Penshaw Tea Rooms

Situated between Chester le Street and Sunderland, just off the the A183, lies one of the North East's most iconic landmarks - Penshaw Monument. To those of you who aren't familiar with the Monument click here, it'll save me the bother as I'm off out to collect an Indian takeaway shortly and time isn't on my side, he he. At the foot of Penshaw Hill is Penshaw Nursery & Tea Rooms, a place that has been exhibiting and selling my work for over two years. People flock here from far and wide, if not to buy the plants and shrubs, then probably to sample the fine food and drink that is on offer each day. Who knows, some folk might even make the journey just to admire the artistry on the walls, before digging deep and walking out with a piece of their own. Although one or two other artists exhibit their work in the Tea Rooms, I have established myself as a popular photographer, judging by the amount of sales that Tony and Robert (The owners) have made during the last two years. It all started off with an enquiry by myself, which led to my feet getting well and truly underneath their table, before going on to bigger and better things. Originally, half a dozen mounted prints were sold, then I hooked up a couple of A4 framed prints to test the water, and they sold. I then exhibited larger mounts and larger framed prints (A3), which followed suit. The trend continued well into my second year of involvement so expanded my product range to A2 framed prints, Canvas Prints and Postcards. The decision paid off handsomely as more of my work was ordered due to the sales of previous deliveries. The majority of orders by request are photographs of Penshaw Monument, although we have had success with other subjects, such as Angel Of The North, Durham Cathedral and various coastal scenes throughout the region. Penshaw Tea Rooms is now stocking a large range of my photography in a variety of formats, featuring lots of new scenes. There are approximately 20 framed prints in a variety of sizes and colours, 6 Canvas Prints, 30 Mounted Prints and a small selection of Postcards. No spare hooks to be at at the moment, but hopefully that will change soon, especially after the heavy volume of people that pass through the doors over the Easter period and beyond.

Why not get thee'sel owa and check it out!

AC

Another Close Encounter

Venus/Jupiter Conjunction (March 2012)

Well, as promised, here's my second batch of photo's of the recent terrestrial event, known as the Venus/Jupiter Conjunction. I was aware that this 'Meeting' of the planets was due to last only a couple of weeks, so I made every effort to get out there to strike while the iron was hot - this was my second and third attempt to photograph this optical illusion and once again I was presented with a clear night-time sky on both nights - perfect visibility for this kind of photography. My second outing took me on a short car journey to Gateshead, home of the Angel Of The North, where I was very hopeful of landing some good shots, as I usually shoot the sculpture when facing West, the same direction the conjunction appears to the viewer. On arrival I had the place to myself, apart from my 11 year old son who was 'Helping Dad' by posing in the frame, here and there, Lowepro bag weighing him down! (see picture 1). Once again, the inclusion of people offer a sense of scale to the shot, so if you've never visited the Angel you'll get a rough idea of its size when compared to the 'Extra's' in the frame. Mind you, it's a pain in the arse when folk start climbing onto the feet of the sculpture as this spoils the photograph and I usually rely on Photoshop to bail me out with the odd bit of brush work. Luckily this time round the group of youngsters didn't bother with climbing routine, so there was no need for me to run at them with an extended tripod, he he. Sensible Geordies they were - I never knew they existed!

So there I am, for a short time, probably ten minutes or so, pulling in a half dozen shots of the Angel with Venus and Jupiter lending themselves to the shots. As night fell rather quickly I was running with 30 second exposures. Any more loss of light and I was heading quickly towards Bulb Mode, a function that allows shutter speeds of beyond 30 seconds, which is the maximum speed when shooting in Manual mode (my preferred function mode for low-light photography). For the tech heads amongst you, I made these pictures with a Canon 7D, with an attached 10-22mm wide angle lens, fired remotely with the camera sat on Manfrotto legs. The unwritten rule applied - image recorded in RAW format, highest possible resolution and the lowest possible ISO setting of 100, to give crystal clear 'No Noise' clarity when printed out at A2 size (25x17 inches). Those remote control units are priceless! I got my hands on a piece of cheap Chinese rubbish via eBay, which actually does a brilliant job - it does as it says on the box (Yes folks, I do know the odd word or two of Chinese ya know...............................Chow Mein! Oh no, here I go again, turning the subject towards food once again! Sorry about that. Yes, the small hand-held transmitter communicates with a receiver that slides onto the camera hot shoe. With a range of 50 metres the transmitter triggers the shutter and Bob's yer Uncle. At a price of just eleven sheets ya can't get robbed. Camera shake is most definitely a thing of the past. God bless the Chinese!

And I wasn't done there. The very next night I was at it again. Penshaw Monument was the venue again, just like my first excursion to photograph the Venus/Jupiter Conjunction. This time there was another guest to the show - the Moon. Sitting close to the two planets, my luck was in and conditions were once again very favourable, so three planets make up my last batch of shots, shown here. Penshaw Monument - let's av it...

Ash