Light Painting (War Of The Worlds)

Hello again.
Two blog entries in one day - what's that all about?
Well, I said I would write more regularly than usual, which at best is three or four times a month, so here I am again with my latest ramblings. Today's offering comes in the shape of another experiment as a novice in light painting. My recent Astro Photography got off to a good start when I pulled in some impressive shots of the Milky Way, as well as Star Trails. I appear to have picked that up fairly quickly and I expect to carry on in a similar vein during future midnight outings into the dark. But now, it's onwards and upwards into the world of light painting, another area of photography that until recently was as alien as Astro (no pun intended). With many years of experience in photography, this has springboarded me half way up the ladder in areas of photography that is new to me, as general knowledge of exposure settings and all round familiarity of the camera gives you that head overall start. You're already up and running, so it's then a case of acquainting yourself with the surroundings, lighting conditions and one or other minor factors that give you the main ingredients to throw into the mix. Trial and error plays a part too, as even the most accomplished photographer (not me, by the way) rarely gets it bang on first time. Nothing wrong with that, as we learn from our mistakes as we go along.

Anyway, enough of that. Here's my take on light painting with a simple torch. I tried it once at Hadrian's Wall, which again was quite challenging as it was completely new territory for me, but it came up trumps at Sycamore Gap. This time the location was a lot closer to home, at South Shields. The Groyne Lighthouse would be the location for this experiment, overlooking the mouth of the River Tyne, with the Groyne Lighthouse as the focal point. My first shot (above) has a slight Apocalyptic feel to it, reminiscent of a scene from 'War Of The Worlds', with the pod on legs and a dramatic sky as a backdrop. Well, maybe not quite in that mould, but that was what sprung to mind when I reviewed the processed images. So, without further ado...

Back soon, AC

TV Weather shots (Parts 63-66)

Hello again.
Here is my latest batch of Weather Shots that were shown on local TV recently. As usual, each shot is presented as a short video clip, taken directly from TV and converted for use in the blog video player (below). Today marks a slight change from the norm as I bring you my first ever BBC Weather shot!
Up to now all of my previous weather shots were shown on Tyne-Tees Television, all 62 of them, but I decided to try my luck with BBC and it worked out well. A recent camping trip on August Bank Holiday weekend gave me an opportunity to do my first ever sunrise shoot in the Lake District, which I grabbed with both hands. I captured what I consider to be one of my finest landscape shots I have ever taken, at Buttermere. A full blog entry of my camping trip will appear here soon.

Weather shots in the video player below are -
63. Roseberry Topping, Great Ayton
64. St Mary's Lighthouse, Whitley Bay
65. South Shields Sunrise
66. Buttermere, Lake District

Ash

Black & White Icons

Hello again!
Continuing the Black & White theme...

I have a rather nice set of framed prints on offer at £45 each. One or two examples can be found on display at Clay's Garden Centre, Washington and also Penshaw Tea Rooms. Mounted in white and framed in black, each measures 20x16 inches and is part of an ever increasing set of 'North East Icons'. There are four available at present, with more additions planned for the very near future. I recently sold two to a customer in Lechlade, Gloucester, so it's nice to know my work is continues to be scattered around the UK and further afield. Here are the icons that are currently available. I will post photo's of the actual framed images during the next few days. Cheers!

Ash

1. Winter, Penshaw Mounument
2. Groyne Lighthouse, South Shields
3. Millennium Bridge, Gateshead Quays
4. River Tyne, Newcastle
5. Guardian Angel

Black & White Photography

Wot, two blog updates in as many days! I guess it must be pissing down outside!!!
Oh dear, the colourful language raises its naughty head again, tut tut. Of course, pun intentional, as this latest blog entry has nothing to do with colour, unless of course I refer to grey scale, also known as Mono, but more commonly referred to as Black & White. I've never been a big fan of this type of photography to be honest, but lately I've been dabbling more and more with B/W conversions, and quite liking the end result. A big part of a good conversion is picking a suitable image to begin with. Many images simply won't work, so get your selection right and you're half way there. I cherry picked a few recent shots of mine before giving them the B/W treatment, and I'm well satisfied with their 'New look'. The majority of these shots were captured on dull, cloudy days, which is a good start as a lack of available colour generally has me pointing in the direction of B/W anyway, coupled with the fact that these moody skies often add a sense of drama to the shot, lending themself to B/W more than colour. Another slice of criteria is contrast - I tend to favour strong contrast in B/W conversions and always look at the depth of shadow and highlight before making a decision whether to 'Convert' or 'Back heel' the image I am considering for use. Thinking rationally, if it doesn't work in colour then there's only one path to go down. I choose to do my B/W photography in post processing, rather than capture it at source with the aid of Yellow, Orange and Red filters. Traditional methods, such as the Y/O/R filter route, were the only way to achieve true B/W shots before the introduction of digital camera's, but now it's a whole new ball game when you can easily lay your hands on a decent editing suite such as Photoshop. The end result, with the help of Photoshop is just as pleasing on the eye and it's a lot cheaper than shelling out on expensive B/W filters (that is, providing you have a copy of Photoshop that you managed to download for free!). Did I really say that? (wink).

And now to the business end of this blog entry - the photo's. Here is a small selection of B/W images by yours truly. Don't forget to click them for enlargements. The list is as follows...

1. Tynemouth (above)
Standing on the pier next to the Groyne Lighthouse, Littlehaven, I waited a few minutes for the arrival of the Amsterdam-bound ferry, which eventually arrived on schedule.  Plenty of great detail in the sky!

2. Tynemouth 2 (above)
As the ferry approached the Groyne Lighthouse at South Shields, I waited til it sailed alongside, then I tripped the shutter.

3. Transporter Bridge, Middlesborough
Positioned on the south side of the River Tees. Some nice foreground interest, and the Transporter Bridge dominating the shot. Not too much sky detail in this one.

4. Temenos, Middlesborough
A dramatic artwork on the banks of the Tees, with the Transporter Bridge in the background.

5. River Tyne, Gateshead Quays
I shot through a glass partition to get this one. A storm was brewing, as you can see in the distant black clouds. The rain was well and truly on its way...

6. Baltic Arts Centre, Gateshead Quays
And the rain soon fell! I took the lift from the viewing terrace back to ground level, which took no more than half a minute. Within this short space of time the heavens had well and truly opened. Seeking shelter in the Baltic doorway, I grabbed this shot, with like-minded folk opting to stay dry.

7. Roseberry Topping, Near Great Ayton, North Yorkshire
(as featured in my last blog entry). Works well in B/W. I quite like the added effect of the overhanging tree, which almost 'Frames' the iconic hill in the background.

8. St.Mary's Island, Whitley Bay
And finally, an experimental shot. Taken in broad daylight with a shutter speed of 45 seconds!!!!
An ND filter was applied to achieve an extra long exposure time, thus smoothing out the water in the process. A very dull and overcast day, with very little detail in the sky, Poor conditions for my type of photography, but you have to make the most of what you've got to play with, and on this occasion I landed a decent shot...

 

 

 

 

And that's all for now. I'll be back soon...in colour!

Ash

 

Littlehaven Sunrise, South Shields

A rarity from me - a summer sunrise photograph by Ashley Corr. This has to be the earliest time of day that I've gone out with the camera, of that I'm certain. Winter time is when I regularly shoot sunrises, due to the fact that there's no need to get out of bed during silly hours, which can't be a good thing. So, what made me shoot a Summer sunrise at 5.00am, you may be asking yourself. Well, I'd slept for a few hours during the day, followed by a few more hours at night, then awoke at 4.00am and couldn't get back to sleep. That was it - up and out with the camera. I drove down to Roker Beach, expecting the sun to rise behind the pier, as it usually does, but that is during the Winter months and today was very different. The early morning colour on the horizon gave a clear indication as to where the sun was about to rise, and it was nowhere near Roker Pier, but this is Summer, so the sun was about to rise further North, up the coast. With little time to spare before sunrise, I made the short journey to Littlehaven Beach, South Shields, where the sun was ready to rise over Tynemouth. I took up position in the sand dunes at Littlehaven and waited for some colour in the sky. It wasn't long before that happened. There wasn't a soul around, which was perfectly understandable. Only idiots get out of bed to photograph a sunrise at 5.00am!!

Here are three photographs. The first was taken shortly before sunrise. The second one shows the sun peeping over the low cloud cover, shortly after sunrise. The final shot, which is my favourite of the three, shows the sun over the cloud, as it shoots a ray of orange across the North Sea towards the dunes. Hey, maybe I'm not such an idiot after all. These shots were worth getting out of bed for, but somehow I don't think I'll be making a habit of it until Winter arrives once again. 
AC

 

Littlehaven & The Labour Party

Welcome back, pop pickers!

At the tail end of April I was contacted by a Labour Party Organiser, representing the South Tyneside constituency on behalf of local MP, Emma Lewell-Buck. The enquiry, which came through my website, was in response to one of my photographs that was spotted on Google images. As a result, I allowed the image, Littlehaven Sunrise' to be reproduced on a By-Election flier that was 'Dropped' in 10,000 homes in South Tyneside on the morning of voting day. Labour came out on top!

South Shields result -
Emma Lewell-Buck Labour 12,493
Richard Elvin Ukip 5,988
Karen Allen Conservative 2,857

Anyway, here is the electronic version of the flier (above). I received paper copies in the post shortly after the election, along with a nice cheque for allowing my photo to be reproduced. Another feather in the cap, eh.
And just a few days later I was at Littlehaven again, catching another sunrise, this time at 5.00am - a first. I usually capture sunrises during Winter months when I don't have to set my alarm clock too early. It proved to be a wise move as I got some great shots which I'll be uploading HERE, very soon. Until then...See ya.
Ash

Dawn Breaks At Littlehaven

At the beginning and end of each year I dedicate quite a lot of 'Spare' mornings to one of my favourite areas of photography, low-light sunrises. As each year passes I gain more experience at this particular skill and I've pulled in some great shots, so the expectation level rises each year as I make further attempts to deliver the goods. You have to be quite dedicated when you have a choice to either lie in bed, or get out of it to basically freeze your balls off on some remote beach, waiting for the sun, that might not show. Some would say it's a no-brainer, but if you want those dramatic sunrise shots in your portfolio then you're left with little choice but to get off your arse and go hunting for them. The early starts don't bother me - I can always go back for a kip in the afternoon, he he. Of course, the whole experience is what you make it, so I always add a few perks to make the outing that little bit more appealing, like a flask of coffee upon arrival, to the ritualistic visit to the McDonalds drive-thru on the way home. Both are pre-requisites and all part of the experience, although I often 'Forget' to tell the missus about the McDonalds bit, which she often susses out when I refuse a bacon sandwich when I return home, he he. So off I went, leaving home at 6.00am, with plenty of time to spare before sunrise at 7.30am. Wearing two fleeces and a body warmer (and jeans, of course) I fully expected brass monkey weather. This is October and the beginning of a five month stretch of low-light photography, so the excitement builds as I make my first outing to Littlehaven Beach, South Shields, Tyne & Wear. Here I go...

The Groyne Lighthouse becomes the focal point once again, perched on the pier at Littlehaven, as the sun rises behind it. Here are four shots that include one before sunrise, one during and two shortly afterwards. All shots were captured on my trusty Canon 7D, with 18-135mm lens, Lee ND Grads 0.3, 0.6 (stacked), shot in RAW format using an ISO of 100, Manfrotto legs with ball head grip, fired remotely. Nuff said -

Until the next time, which hopefully won't be too long.
Ash

  

Great North Run 2009

It's that time again. It doesn't seem five minutes since the 2008 Great North Run. In many ways today, the day of the 2009 run, is very similar to last years event. I find myself on the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle and the area is packed with spectators on another sunny day in September. The drummers have turned up again, adding to the carnival atmosphere that has made this event a big hit since it started back in 1981.

Last year I photographed the runners at four different locations on the GNR route, beginning on the Tyne Bridge. This year I decided against 'Trashing it' and settled on photographing
from one location only. Naturally, many of the roads were closed to allow the run to take place, so driving from location to location on the route had it's problems and car parking was a nightmare too. So, the Tyne Bridge was an ideal backdrop for todays photographs and I was armed with a set of fresh batteries and an empty memory card - it was time to roll.

At around 10.30am the first disabled runners came through, follwed a few minutes later by the Elite Woman. Next it was the turn of the Elite Men, followed by the baggage coaches, and there were plenty of them!

Soon enough the main race started and thousands of runners were heading towards me on the Tyne Bridge. Many were in fancy dress and I kept my eyes peeled for the odd celebrity or two, which isn't easy when there's so many people running towards you. I fired off dozens of frames in sports mode, often catching runers with a series of staggered shots. The old stick standing next to me kept telling her grandchildren that she's seen this one and that one from Emmerdale - I never saw them, and even if I did I wouldn't admit it...he he. Then I heard her shout 'Hello Mr Ramsey'...bloody hell, the swearing chef had just ran past me!

I did manage to catch a couple of celebs on camera though. Jerome Flynn, half of the Robson & Jerome double act, and someone from Emmerdale...oh no, did I just say Emmerdale! Oh, go on then.

I stayed until the last runners had gone past, and followed shortly after by the 'Sweep Vehicle' that was clearing the road so that the bridge could resume normal service. Well, by this time it was almost mid-day so I made the short journey back to my car in Gateshead and then off home where a lovely big fat lamb roast was about to be served up. The Mrs, she's a little diamond...so she is!

Ash