Spectacular Sunsets

Unless you've been on another planet during the last ten days or so you'll have
probably heard about the volcanic eruptions in Iceland, which has sent huge clouds of ash our way. According to news reports the micro fine particles of dust from the ash cloud are reflecting in an abnormal manner in the sky. So when the sun goes down the reflection of these particles makes the sunset more spectacular.

Well I haven't seen much of these 'Spectacular Sunsets' on my travels during the last few days. Well, there's been the odd nice sunset up here but nothing special. Maybe I missed all the action when I was sitting in the house gorging on Indian takeaways!

Last Friday night I headed off to the Angel Of The North in the hope of seeing one of these fine sunsets. I thought a silhouette of the Angel against a sunset backdrop would work well, so off I went. When I got to the location the car park was stuffed! It was obvious there were a lot of other folk up here for a nice sunset, but although there was quite a bit of cloud kicking about I wasn't expecting much in the way of a great sunset. I eventually got parked along the far end of the car park and made my way towards the Angel. When I got there, as I expected, there were lots of of photographers kitted up and ready to go. It was a case of jostling for position without p*ssing anyone off. Aye, it's a bummer when you set up stall and some tit walks right in front of you and sets his own gear up. You're then thinking to yourself 'Ere mate, can ya shift out me way afore ah wrap that tripod aroond ya skinny neck' !!!

As the sun went down there was a young couple sitting on a nearby bank, taking in the view. I took a photograph of them and waited for the colours in the sky to show, which they usually do shortly after sunset. After about 15 minutes a few photographers packed up and disappeared. I waited a while longer in case the colours got better. A couple of times in the past I've left a scene too early and the sky suddenly burst into colour, so I wasn't gonna make the same mistake this time.

Well, that was about it. Nothing spectacular tonight and although it was a decent sunset it wasn't what I and quite a few others had hoped for. I hung around and took a few more
photo's before walking back to the car. Never mind. Maybe next time...

Ash

Staithes, North Yorkshire

The remote village of Staithes is located on the North Yorkshire coast, between Middlesboro and Whitby. This is a perfect example of a village that has expanded over time - the original 'old' village is located at the bottom of a very steep hill. At the top of this hill is the 'new' village where there are houses that are mainly occupied now by local residents.

I usually visit Staithes in Spring as it has an excellent viewpoint that overlooks the village and its harbour, as well as Cow Bar Nab, the nearby cliffs. The viewpoint, which is accessible from the approach road to Cow Bar, is always decorated with daffodils and this adds to the picturesque scene that I have captured above.

The village really is a walkers paradise. There are 2 art galleries displaying paintings of Staithes and other nice villages of the area, while there are the usual village amenities of a Butcher, Post Office and Village Shop. The Bottom of the village has numerous holiday homes for people to stay in and is resident to two pubs, one of these is the 'Cod And Lobster' that famously gets flooded each year by the sea as it is on the sea front, the other is The Royal George. There are also a couple of eateries; the best of these is the Endeavour fish restaurant which is opposite 'The George.'

Staithes is a nice little stop-off. My wife and I were on a little tour of the North Yorkshire coast today as the weather was very nice, although a tad chilly at the same time. Time to move on - next stop Whitby.

Cheers, Ash

The Daffodil Story

As readers of my blog will probably know by now, I occasionally e-mail a selection of my photographs to Tyne Tees Television, as they encourage viewers to contribute towards their weather bulletins with suitable photo's. I've been lucky enough to have had quite a few of mine shown on their evening bulletins, with 'Staithes Daffodils' being my sixth in total so far. The whole episode recently took on a bit of a twist recently and it's now time to enlighten YOU, the readers of my blog...

As Spring arrived, Philippa Thomson, Weather Presenter on Tyne Tees Television, appealed to the viewers for daffodil photographs. Well, the daffs weren't out in Houghton yet so I had nothing to send. I decided to submit one that I took LAST YEAR, just to get the ball rolling with the daffs on the weather slot. I had a feeling that Pip (Philippa) would have guessed my photo wasn't taken taken this year as the daffs weren't out yet due to the bad winter we'd had, which knocked back the arrival of the flowers for a few weeks. Did she guess? Well, play the clip below and find out...

Yes, the game was up, my little joke was out in the open, he he. Anyway, as the daffodils started to appear, people were sending in their photographs and Pip then had a playful dig in my ribs. Oh yes...play the next clip and all will be revealed...

Aye, I nearly choked on me Nescafe when I was watching the programme 'Live'. But hey, the story doesn't end there. I decided to prolong the fun a little while longer as I had a daft idea which I couldn't resist putting into practise. Obviously by now there was a doubt about when my daffodil photo was taken - was it 2010 or 2009? Of course it was 2009, he he he. So I decided to photograph a vase full of daffs that we had on our dining room table and then send the photo to Pip, with todays date on the actual photo as proof it wasn't taken LAST YEAR, he he. This was what happened next...

The very next night my original daffodil photo was shown again but there was nowt said this time...

I couldn't help but laugh. LOL ! And th, th, th, the...that's all folks! Ash

Lake District Revisited

Easter 2010. A long weekend in the English Lake District. Weather forecast says 'Unsettled'. Nothing new there then. Our family 'Weekender' was booked weeks ago and we were really looking forward to this one. Despite the cold, and the unsettled weather forecast for the whole weekend, we were determined to make the most of our break. We had a great time, staying on a lovely site just outside of Keswick. We were staying in a nice caravan right on the river and the place was very quiet. For the most part the weather was very much as predicted, although each late afternoon saw the sun breaking through the clouds and the whole place was transformed. The Lake District is a place of outstanding natural beauty and if you're gonna see it at its best then the weather has got to be kind. Over the Easter weekend we visited Bowness On Windermere, Keswick, Hawkshead, Coniston, Ambleside and Elterwater. With the weather acting itself I didn't bother with the camera, apart from dozens of family shots - opting to wait for the cloud cover to disperse and the sun to finally show up. It didn't disappoint! The first three photo's (shown here) were taken at Keswick Launch, a popular place where visitors can take their own boat trip across the waters of Lake Derwentwater.

The mountains in the distance had a covering of snow that added that extra something to my photographs. Giving an almost Icing Sugar effect it certainly made for a picturesque scene and after visiting Hawkshead during the day I eyed-up an excellent viewpoint at the top of the hill next to St Michael and All Angels Church. The scene had a bit of everything - all that was missing was the sun. The sky was overcast and on a better day I would had an opportunity to bag a great postcard shot. After returning to the camp site the weather took on a dramatic change - typical really. The clouds had parted and the sun was shining brightly. After half an hour there was a big break in the clouds and lots of blue sky was present. That was when my mind started working overtime and I was having flashbacks of the church at Hawkshead and the mountain backdrop. That was it, time to revisit. The fifty mile round trip was a bit of a gamble as the sun might well have buggered off by the time I hit Hawkshead. But luck was very definately on my side and the gamble paid off. On arrival I headed up the hill towards the church and round the back where I'd walked the earlier path. What a view! In my own humble opinion this is without doubt one of the best landscape shots I've ever taken...

Thanks again for reading. Ash

Out And About In Sunderland

The Easter weekend is upon us.
Last Thursday afternoon I had the luxury of an early finish at Nissan so I decided to take advantage of the nice weather as I had a couple of hours to kill. Lovely blue sky with broken clouds everywhere - just right for those nice postcard shots I like to grab now and again.
I started off in Sunderland town centre, on the top level of St Mary's multi-storey car park, overlooking Wearmouth Bridge and the River Wear. The wind was up and the corrugated roofing was rattling like neebody's business. I was sure it was about to fly off any minute, ending up god knows where. As long as it didn't tw*t me then I wasn't really bothered ...(that's twit, by the way). I got the shots I wanted before heading off to the ticket machine to pay the £1.10 charge. Quite steep for only five minutes stay!

I was quickly off on my travels over the Queen Alexander Bridge and a swift shuffle through the one-way system brought me out along Keir Hardie Way, near Southwick. I parked on a double yellow and nipped over the fence to grab a couple of quick shots of the Stadium Of Light and the banks of the wear. No time to hang about though. I was in and out like a ferret down a rabbit hole!

From there I drove along Wessington Way towards Hylton Castle. On arrival I dropped anchor in the adjacent car park and grabbed my gear from the car boot. Once inside the castle grounds I heard a few shouts and noticed a gang of local chav's playing footy on the grass - right in front of the bloody castle! I considered adopting my 'Park Keeper' routine and telling them to 'Get the f*ck of MY grass', but decided against it when I realised that five against one would probably see me coming off worse in the event of a stand off. I decided to suck the preverbial lemon and simply grab what photo's I could. Here's an angled effort, with the local riff-raff cut out of the shot...

Well, it was half an hour to go before my Indian scran was ready to collect so I headed up the A19 and then along towards Tandoori Garden in Shiney Row. Hang on a minute - I'm fifteen minutes early so I'll pop into Herrington Country Park for a last bash with the camera. A pair of Mute Swans were swanning about gracefully on a small pond, as they do, so I took up position with Penshaw Monument as a nice backdrop. Bob's yer uncle. Fifteen minuted was over in a flash. Time to nash. Fifteen minutes later I was back to base and gorging me'sel on the finest chicken Vindaloo money can buy. Aye, ad already done me prep work and the bog roll had been chilling in the fridge for a good twelve hours! With me belly filled it was time to check my latest photographs. Hey, quite pleased with the results, considering it a was an all round rush job.

Thanks for reading my latest exploits folks.
Til the next time, ta ta!
Ash

More River Banks

Last weekend I found myself on Newcastle Quayside and the banks of the River Tyne. Today I was on the banks of the River Wear in the East End of Sunderland, bathed in sunshine, although quite windy at the same time. It was last Spring that I got a great shot along this stretch, one which has sold well in Sunderland Tourist Information Centre and which also appeared in St Benedict's Hospice Calendar 2010. The photo in question was taken on a very similar day to today and the broken clouds were back so maybe I could repeat the performance.

Not wishing to duplicate that shot, I took up position near the Fish Quay, on the south side, opposite the St Peter's Church. The tide was high and there were plenty fishing boats to give the shot plenty of foreground interest. The four-frame panoramic shot (below) includes Sunderland University Campus, Wearmouth Harbour, Hendon Docks and Wylam Wharf.

Hope you like them. See ya later!

Ash

Newcastle Quayside

It's been at least a year since my last visit to Newcastle Quayside. This place is one of my favourite haunts for low-light photography - there's so much to capture. Inevitably I was drawn to one of the focal points of the location, the Millennium Bridge, or Blinking Eye as it also known.

This time around things were very different. I had a Canon 7D to play with, not the Nikon D80 which had served me so well for so long. With a battery grip attached I knew I needed to upgrade my existing tripod to something more sturdy and durable. I bought another Manfrotto carbon fibre affair with a separate 222 joystick ball head grip. The new legs are the 055 XDB model and they are much lighter to lug around than they actually look.

I spent half an hour testing the Canon 7D, whilst getting to grips with the new pod at the same time. I'm very impressed with them both and can't wait for the summer when I'll be pushing them to the limit during more landscape photography. With a Hoya PRO Circular Polariser on order that's me finished with the spending for now. The time has come to get a return on what I've spent and what better way than to get back out there with the kit bag. I've spent too much time printing and framing lately that my photography has taken a back seat. Time to put that right, I reckon.

Stay tuned folks!

Ash