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
