Another Visit To York

Last month Mr & Mrs C had another weekend away in York, which is one of our favourite places to visit and it's only a 90 minute car journey at a steady pace. Mind you, although we visit York at least twice a year we never seem to hit on good weather, for some odd reason, and our latest visit was no different. That said, it was February, so it was no surprise that the North of England was once again under a dull overcast sky, with accompanying cold winds and the odd bout of snow and sleet. What to do eh, other than grit thee teeth and get on with it - this weather is not for the soft lad. Or maybe it was, as I headed into warmer territory that is York Minster, while the Mrs went for a spot of retail therapy, which is not my cup of tea whatsoever, so a canny compromise was made to pass an hour or so before meeting up. I kept my entrance ticket from my previous visit, which guaranteed free entry to the Minster for a full year, so there was no crossing palms with silvers on this occasion, as I went on my way, into The Nave. It's £9 a go these days, but there were plenty of takers, especially foreign folk, eager to see what was on show in this ancient building. There was one noticeable absentee however, my tripod, which was given the day off,  as I wanted to see what the 5D Mk2 was capable of in a handheld situation with high ISO settings. Every shot inside York Minster was captured this way and the results were stunning, especially the ceiling shot in the Chapter House (Shot 2, below). As you can imagine, there was very little available light to play with inside the Minster, so the Auto ISO setting was necessary to give me a fast enough shutter speed in low light, even though it cranked itself right up to 3200 in the dimmest areas to get a fast enough shutter. Reviewing the images, I couldn't help but notice how pin sharp they were when magnified on the monitor, so off I went, in search of more. I covered all of York Minster, apart from The Quire, which was out of bounds due to an ongoing hymn practise. Handheld delivered some great shots, if I say so myself. Oh, and there's a rare shot of me too, capturing a mirrored reflection in the South Transept.

After a 30 minute sesh in the Minster I had just enough time to head over to the popular Shambles area of York City Centre. The Olde Worlde character of this place is tailor made for photography, although my shots don't show its popularity on this occasion as the place was almost deserted when I got there. It was almost 4pm and Sunday shopping was near its end, so the majority of folk had cleared off by this time, which wasn't a bad thing as the camera got to see what it wanted, with no crowds obstructing its view. Shambles (or The Shambles as it is often referred to) is a street in the city centre of York with a long and interesting past. Today it features great shops, cafes, restaurants and tourist attractions. A fine place to stroll on a day in York or visit to take in some shopping, history and culture - also this year's winner of Google's Most Picturesque Street in Britain. As the snow started to fall I packed the camera away and headed off to the pre-arranged meeting place, where my other half was already waiting, laden with shopping bags. Oh aye...what's the damage? She had a big smile on her face when I arrived, but I still don't know whether it was due to the bargain she'd bagged, or the state of my hair, which was looking very sorry for itself by this time. Ah well, time to sit down for a beer and a bar meal. It's not all trudging around in the cold, this York malarky.

As usual, click on an image to enlarge. And on that note I shall disappear once more, only to return with more photographs, made in the North-East of England. Until then, stay safe.

Ash

     

Castle Howard, York

Castle Howard is a stately home in North Yorkshire, England, 15 miles (24 km) north of York. One of the grandest private residences in Britain, most of it was built between 1699 and 1712 for the 3rd Earl of Carlisle, to a design by Sir John Vanbrugh. Although Castle Howard was built near the site of the ruined Henderskelfe Castle, it is not a true castle, but this term is often used for English country houses constructed after the castle-building era (c.1500) and not intended for a military function.Castle Howard has been the home of part of the Howard family for more than 300 years. It is familiar to television and movie audiences as the fictional "Brideshead", both in Granada Television's 1981 adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited and a two-hour 2008 remake for cinema. Today, it is part of the Treasure Houses of England heritage group.

Castle Howard has extensive and diverse gardens. There is a large formal garden immediately behind the house. The house is prominently situated on a ridge and this was exploited to create an English landscape park, which opens out from the formal garden and merges with the park.
Two major garden buildings are set into this landscape: the Temple of the Four Winds at the end of the garden, and the Mausoleum in the park. There is also a lake on either side of the house. There is an arboretum called Ray Wood, and the walled garden contains decorative rose and flower gardens. Further buildings outside the preserved gardens include the ruined Pyramid currently undergoing restoration, an Obelisk and several follies and eye catchers in the form of fortifications. A John Vanbrugh ornamental pillar known as the Quatre Faces (marked as 'Four Faces' on Ordnance Survey Maps) stands in nearby Pretty Wood.

 

Four shots, taken on a red hot day - just what ya want, really. Ideal conditions - not to be sniffed at!

Not too much to say that hasn't been mentioned above, apart from a great day that was had. Came back home a shade of Lobster Red - it didn't half sting the next day. Sun cream is for pussies!

 

AC

 

 

 

Black & White Shots

I really need to revamp my Black & White Gallery at ashleycorr.com as it has been rather neglected over the last year or so. I used to set aside some time for mono conversions, but that appears to be a thing of the past for no particular reason, other than my photography interests lying elsewhere. Sometimes it's wise to have a break from specific areas of photography, then when you revisit it brings out that creativity again, which reflects in the results, and here I have one or two examples of what I am getting at. The first shot was taken outside York Minster on April 23rd, 2012. The weather wasn't anything special that day - the sky was overcast and there was little or no sunshine to be had, but that didn't deter this photographer, as I planned to convert any decent shots into Mono (black & white). I spent 90 minutes inside the Minster, grabbing a batch of photo's to complete my York Minster Gallery, which, for the record, are all colour images. Upon leaving the Minster, via the Gift Shop, I crossed the road towards the shops and stopped to take a photo which is shown here (image one). The reflection in a shop window caught my eye immediately and out came the camera once again. I used a 10-22mm wide angle lens to cram as much content as I could into the frame, plus the use of a CPL filter on the window next to me, which made the lettering more prominent, when rotated to suit. I later edited the image in Photoshop CS6, which is the latest 'All singing, all dancing' software from the Adobe stable (a class bit o' kit!). I altered the levels and grey tones to suit, before converting the image to HDR (High Dynamic Range), which always works a treat with ancient stonework, and I think I pushed this one to its limit and brought out the best in what was a fairly 'Flat' image to begin with.

My second Mono shot, shown here, is another one that got the HDR treatment. Taken at a location that I have visited so many times - it's Penshaw Monument, on the outskirts of Sunderland, Tyne & Wear. I remember this visit very well - a freezing cold February morning, and there I was attempting my first ever Sunrise shots from the top of Penshaw Hill. Another one to forget though, as the sun only showed for a matter of seconds before departing behind a bank of low cloud on the horizon. I made my way back down Penshaw Hill after this non-event and stopped half way to photograph from the steps, which were well frosty, almost having me flat on my arse a couple of times. The 10-22 wide was paying for itself once again as it put itself to good use, with the pathway and steps offering the perfect 'Lead-In Line' to the shot, with Penshaw Monument once again providing the focal point for another Black & White effort. HDR came into play again, with two bracketed images instead of the single RAW file I used on the Minster shot above, tone mapped and aligned to create what is shown here. I've got this one printed on Ilford Galerie Satin Paper (280 g/sm) and mounted in textured white board, then framed in black - I have to say...it's a winner!    

And just before I pop off for a bite to eat folks, I'd like to tell you I'll be back shortly with some more creative photo's that I recorded last night, with the help of some string, an egg whisk and a roll of wire wool. Strange, eh. You'll be surprised at the results though. Not long to wait...

Ash 
www.ashleycorr.com