Showing posts with label hastings hill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hastings hill. Show all posts

Sunday 20 July 2014

Floral Dance - Summer 2014

Welcome back to my blog page once again. The juggling act between here, ashleycorr.com and Facebook continues. Blogging occasionally takes a back seat when priorities remain elsewhere, but that isn't to say it will die a slow death in the near future, far from it. My Facebook activity tends be nothing more than a photo upload with an accompanying line or two, which is a world away from the more in-depth write-up that generally appears here, and I don't want to lose sight of that, so blogging will continue and be an active part of my website indefinitely. Which brings me nicely on to todays offering. I've photographed some nice landscape scenes over the last month or so, all very local and with plenty of colour to show, so here is a selection of them, beginning with a rural poppy scene at Foxcover Lane, near Hastings Hill, Sunderland. I noticed some nice broken cloud as I was passing, on the A19, and decided a quick stop off wouldn't do any harm, especially as my camera bag was in the boot of the car.

The next shot (shown here) was taken in the wildlife garden at Souter Lighthouse, a National Trust property that lies on the North-East coast between Whitburn and Marsden. The garden is saturated with a variety of plants and flowers, such as Sunflower, Poppies, Daisies, Firethorn, Foxglove and Lavender. A designated path runs round the entire garden, offering many different angles to shoot from, which is ideal and avoids a free for all when the trampling visitors land. The lighthouse, with its red and white hoops, is an ideal backdrop when photographing the garden, and if you're tall enough you might just fit some North Sea into the frame too. I had the place to myself during my short 30 minute stay, which was also ideal - no waiting around for people to move out of shot. The garden is very well maintained, it has to be said. Across the way, in the vegetable garden, a one armed gardener was getting a right old sweat on, digging away during big temperatures. He seemed to be in his element, with his little radio for company, grafting away and looking far more dedicated than I ever could. Gardening isn't something I'm keen on!

Finally, another floral shot with an ancient backdrop that is Hylton Castle, a landmark that I have visited and photographed many times. Having said that, this is the first time I have seen the floral display that is seen here, and although the light was quite poor on arrival, I managed to get this nice shot during a one minute window when the sun decided to cut through the overcast sky behind me. In fact, the only decent colour in the sky was exactly where I wanted it, behind the castle itself and right in front of my lens. The little fella was sat a few feet away, transfixed on two tiny frogs he'd spotted on the path. That kept him quiet while I ran off a couple of frames, he he. So there ya go, some nice colour in the form of local landscapes. I'll be back soon with one or two recent Black &

White shots, so until then, I'll catch up with ya later. Cheers!
Ash



Friday 20 September 2013

Out And About In The Sun

As Summer comes to a close and we head towards Autumn, this seems like a good time to show you a few of my recent photographs that were taken in the sun. I was out and about with the camera on a number of days, mainly on the doorstep, and occasionally off the beaten track. I found myself visiting places that I used to tread many years ago, when I lived at South Hylton, during the 80's and early 90's. Places like Cox Green, Hastings Hill and Offerton were regular haunts back then, so it was nice to take a stroll down Memory Lane, after a long absence. As well as these local haunts I also visited a couple of places in County Durham, on the way back from a camping trip in the Lake District (more of that coming soon). Egglestone Abbey and Bowes Museum are located near Barnard Castle, and a quick stop off provided a chance to grab some nice postcard type shots, so I made the most of that. Another stop off, after an early morning drive to Bamburgh, had me calling in at Blyth Beach to see the colourful huts along the promenade. Clear blue skies were on show, offering an ideal backdrop for a quick shot or two, so I didn't hang about. And finally, moving slightly further down the coast, I found myself at St. Mary's Lighthouse. Not much else to say, other than here are the photo's...

Until the very next time...
Ash

Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham


Egglestone Abbey, County Durham
 

Foxcover Lane, Nr Hastings Hill, Sunderland
 

Beach Huts, Blyth, Northumberland
 

River Wear @ Cox Green
 

St. Mary's Lighthouse, Whitley Bay