Local Coastline 1 - South Shields

Cooked up in the sweat shop all week before waking up on a Saturday morning to bright sunshine and the urge to get out and get amongst it. Two days off work and certainly not a time to sit indoors without taking advantage of the good weather. The little man was off out with his nana for the day so me and Mrs Corr got the owld glad rags on and jumped into the car, leaving it all behind for a few hours. A weekly ritual that has been going on for quite a while now and the first port of call was a nice pub near Fulwell Mill where a pub lunch kicked off proceedings. The Harvester does a great spit roasted 'Kickin garlic chicken' with all the trimmings, plus a free salad bar, which comes in very handy. Weshed doon with refillable pepsi - hey, ya cannit get robbed man!

With bellies full of scran we then headed off on our coastal journy towards South Shields - also known locally as 'Sand Dancer Land'. We parked up at Littlehaven, just off the dunes, and walked onto the fine sandy beach that overlooked the Groyne Lighthouse and Tynemouth. The sun was beating down and there was hardly a breeze - perfect summer weather! A couple of lads owned the waters nearby, going ape-shit on their jet ski's. We just sat for a while and took it all in. There were plenty of broken clouds kicking about, which were ideal for those polarising shots that I keep churning out, he he. These filters come in very handy, not just for landscape photography, but also those occasional seascapes. Job done - it was now time to head back along the coastline towards Marsden...

Ash

Canvas Prints

Hello again pop-pickers!

Well it has been 'Full On' in the printing department lately, mainly due to my recent expansion into canvas gallery wraps. I'd done a fair bit of research into canvas production and it seemed like a natural progression from standard paper printing, so I decided to dip my toes in.

As you may have already read on a previous blog entry of mine, I got my hands on a large format Epson printer (Stylus Photo 4000) along with several rolls of Epson printable media, including Premium Glossy, Water Resistant Canvas & Hannemuhle Photo Rag. Each roll is 17" wide and the custom 'User Defined' settings will allow a panoramic print of several feet in length, if required.

Running with genuine Epson K3 Ultrachrome ink carts, I was quite looking forward to seeing what results came off the printer and I certainly wasn't disappointed. An A2 print measuring approximately 25x17 inches took approximately 8 minutes to complete and the results were stunning! Delivering a wide colour gamut (range), these K3 carts were very much the 'Doggies Danglers' and the fine detail in the print was one that I hadn't previously achieved, even printing on smaller media such as A3.

Once the print jobs were complete I then laminated them with Giclee varnish before framing each one on machine cut fir stretcher bars. The canvases were then hung on the wall and it was great to see the finished work in all it's glory, so to speak. Mind you, they weren't on the wall for long - the first 8 were all bought by one person and it's time to set to work again and produce another batch for the various outlets I'm currently selling my work in. It's all time consuming but I wouldn't have any other way to be honest. It's great to know my work is out there and hanging on Joe Public's walls around the region and much further afield. My 'Penshaw Poppies' canvas was sold to someone in Australia a couple of weeks ago. Who's have thought it, eh.

Anyway, stay tuned for more canvas updates.

Thanks, Ash

Red Carpet Treatment

No, I wasn't invited to a film premiere in Leicester Square - I was knee deep in poppies in Houghton-Le-Spring! Worlds apart I know, but I've never come across a field with so many poppies growing, and it was right on my doorstep.

It was hard not to notice the sea of red when dropping down Houghton Cut on the A690. Unfortunately the field, which is situated just off the dual carraigeway between Houghton and Rainton Gate, didn't have anything of interest surrounding it. Penshaw Monument sat in the distance and how I wished it was a lot nearer, like...right next to the poppy field. I've sold many photographs of Penshaw Monument recently - the best seller had poppies in the foreground. That shot was taken three years ago but the farmer hasn't planted rape seed since then so I'll just have to hang fire until he gets his arse into gear.

It was a very hot day and the sky wasn't doing much to help the shots. Sometimes when it's too hot the blue sky appears to be a light shade of grey. Never mind, grab what thee can, lad!

A rogue poppy stuck out like sore thumb and ended up being the subject of a few frames, as you can see here. That's about it folks. There's only so much to say regarding a poppy field on a hot day, but there ya go. Nice photogenic flowers though.

Ash

Liverpool

Our last trip to Liverpool was an enjoyable one, despite the poor weather. Almost a year since our last visit and despite the fact it was Summer once again, the weather this time round was even worse! There was the odd bit of sunshine here and there but we made the most of it during our weekend stay near the city's Albert Dock.

I was hoping for good weather so I could get to work with the camera but again my chances were scuppered so I just had to settle for what I could get, under the circumstances. The sun broke through the clouds as we walked past Albert Dock and through the residential area known as The Anchorage. This was quite a picturesque setting with many boats and yachts moored there. Looking back along towards the dock you could see the Ferris Wheel and Liver Building.

After a bite to eat in The Pumphouse we headed through LiverpoolOne towards the shopping centre for a spot of retail therapy. Later we made our way up to the Cavern Quarter and walked through Matthew Street, passing the Cavern Club and Wall Of Fame on the way.

Well, bollocks to the weather. It's all about about making the most of, and we had a great time. Mind you, it wasn't all about Liverpool. Last year we visited Chester while we were in the area and it was time to revisit, along with an appearance at a rather damn tasty Indian restaurant in Ellesmere Port. Aye, ya didn't think the curry addict would pass up an opportunity like that, did ya (he he). I'll tell you more about it in my next blog entry - coming soon!

Ash

More Of Those Swans

Another brief write up about the local Mute Swans.

I wish I had a quid for every swan photo I've taken this year. If I did then I doubt I'd be sittin' here prattling on about these long-necked hissy buggers, that's for sure. But there were no quids folks, so here I am eh, toggling between writing this blog and watching the Italy vs Paraguay match on TV.

Another opportunity to throw a few more nature shots your way, folks. There's even a shot of some Canada Geese in flight. Not arf bad for a bog standard lens at some distance away. Rainton Meadows on Pond Two, the location.

One Saturday night me and the little fella popped round the meadows and got our eyes well and truly opened when we noticed kids swimming in Pond Two, just yards away from the Mute Swan family. A couple of lads, must have been no older than 16 or 17, with some bikini clad girls!

Oh aye, what's gannin' on 'ere then? Not exactly Ibiza but there ya go. Takes all sorts I suppose. Anyway, we were off round the reserve to see what other surprises were in store. Not much to be honest, but who cares, it was a lovely night - there was no breeze and the waters were still.

Anyway, a few more photo's from Rainton Meadows.

Cheers, Ash

Swan Activity - Rainton Meadows

An update on the Mute Swan's at Rainton Meadows nature reserve in Houghton-Le-Spring.

There were two nesting pairs this year - one on Pond One at Rainton Meadows and the other across the way at Joe's Pond. There were eighteen eggs in total but only sixteen of them hatched, as the cygnets could be seen at close quarters on the water. However, the nine cygnets from Pond One were later reduced to eight, with a bit of mystery surrounding the missing chick. Maybe a fox or some other predator was responsible, who knows.

Mind you, if it wasn't for the bag of bread I was carrying I probably wouldn't have got near both families to take my photo's. Aye, as I've said before - coaxing the birds with grub is a sure way to get them eating out of yer hand. Not literally though, as the parents are very aggressive and wouldn't think twice about giving you a dig!

The sun was setting at around 9.00pm when I took the sunset shots (shown here). A few minutes after the sun went down parts of the the sky turned red, giving the shot a bit of badly needed colour. By this time the bread was gone and so were my hopes of squeezing the last few shots from my opportunity. The swans were off.
That's all for now, Ash

Store section now open!

Hello again pop pickers!

First of all I'd like to explain why there has been a distinct lack of site updates and blog entries over the last few weeks. No, I haven't been travelling round India, sampling the hottest curries as I went. Mind you, the thought has crossed my mind on many an occasion, he he.

I recently invested in a large format Epson printer and I've been doing quite a lot of research into canvas printing. After aquiring all the necessary 'Tools' (canvas, stretcher bars, varnish, electric staple gun, etc) I quickly got to work and produced a few A2 canvases that exceeded all my expectations in the quality department. I was surprised at how quickly it took the printer to complete a job on A2 media as well, a little over five minutes! I'm running with genuine Epson K3 ink tanks that weigh in at 110ml each, so they should stretch a fair bit and they're anti-fade for something like 2,000 years, he he.

Once printed and varnished, I stretch each canvas over precision cut stretcher bars and staple it into place. The staples are then covered with special finshing tape. That's about it. The finished product is the dog's danglers, aye.

I'm looking forward to printing my first panoramic canvas job. Again it will be 17 in height and something outrageous like 7 feet in length!

Now that the background stuff is out the way I can now concentrate on updating my galleries and blog. I've got a stack full of new images to move from ye olde hard drive.

Liverpool and Chester this weekend folks. Might have a few nice photo's to share during next week, weather permitting of course. Until then, hang in there.

Ash