Lee Filters On Test

Hello again!

More low-light photography comes your way after I made a recent trip up the coast to St Mary's Lighthouse, near Whitley Bay. This location was featured on my Blog not too long ago, and once again I have more Sunrise shots to share. The alarm clock called out at 5am and a cold wash had me awake in no time, before I necked a cup of coffee and left the house. St Mary's is approximately 35 minutes from home, passing through the new Tyne Tunnel before heading down to Tynemouth and coninuing along the coast road. Passing Cullercoats I saw the first colour breaking through on the horizon, which is what you hope for on a freezing cold morning like this. Not many folk around at this hour, just the odd dog walker and a couple of photographers with tripods - must be mad! Today though, it was time to give my Lee Filters a run out - something of a rarity, which I need to address after paying an arm and a leg for them. The set comprises of 3 Neutral Density Grad's - a 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 - or 1 stop, 2 stops and 3 stops, whichever you prefer. Basically, each filter is clear at the bottom and dark at the top, the shading is graduated and fades out in the middle of each filter, allowing you to balance exposure between the highlights and shadows of your chosen subject. The filters are ideal for Sunrise shots, especially when you have a colourful sky at the top of your frame and darkened rocks at the bottom. Metering off the foreground rocks will expose perfectly for particular area of the shot, but will in turn burn out the detail in the sky. That's where the grads come in handy. After selecting the correct strength filter (based on the difference in f-stops between the dark and bright areas, the filter is then positioned over the highlights in the sky to 'Hold back' the detail in it. Just for the record, the filters are made of resin and are calibrated precisely to reduce the amount of light by either 1,2 or 3 stops - they measure 150x100mm and are dropped into a filter holder (Lee Foundation Kit) that is fitted to the lens. The dark portion of the filter is positioned carefully over the sky to retain detail. In the first two photo's shown here, the rocks and sky are exposed very well, but because of the big difference in f-stops between the two, I had to use two filters together, a 0.9 and 0.6 soft grad, stacked in the holder. Shutter speed was down to 5 seconds for these two shots, so naturally a tripod and remote release switch came into play. The tide was in when I arrived but it seemed to retreat quickly enough, allowing me to pick my spot on the rocks as I shot towards the Lighthouse. The sun rose over to my right, almost out of shot, but I managed to get some colour without panning to far across and losing St Mary's Island altogether.

Feet were stone cold, icicles began to form on the owld snozz, but there was work to be done so I persuaded myself to stop being a pussy and continue the task in hand. And no Blog entry of mine would be complete without a mention of food and drink at some point. As the sun came up and the colours faded I began to limber up for a pit-stop at McDonalds, on the nearby Silverlink. I could almost taste that double sausage n' egg McMuffin and the hot coffee!

Half a dozen photographers were scattered around me, as I packed up my gear and headed onto the sand. I felt I had the best spot out of all of us, so it was worth scrambling down the muddy bank onto those rocks, even though the tide was swirling around below. Fearless photography and all that - or am I just an idiot who puts his camera first? My last offering is a panoramic effort. Well, not strictly true - I simply cropped the top and bottom to create that format after deciding the bulk of the detail lay in the middle portion of the frame. Some nice subtle colour in the sky, coupled with the ancient groynes that add some interest to the right-hand side of the shot, with the focal point being St Mary's Island itself. And that's about all folks - another early start that saw me get to grips once again with those trusty Lee Filters. I feel that I haven't given them a proper run as such, and will use them heavily in the coming weeks and months, along with a new filter that I've just invested in - a Lee Filters 'Big Stopper'. For more details click here.

I ordered this one six months ago and have just recently received it, due to the long waiting list from the supplier. Most definately the most sought after filter in the world! Lets see what I can do with the 'Big Stopper', eh.

See ya soon. AC

Tyne-Tees Television (Parts 35-39)

Another update to my Blog and it comes in the shape of more video clips taken from the regional weather bulletin on Tyne-Tees Television. I submitted five photographs, three of which were shown in one week during January 2012, with the remainder being shown late January/ early February. The first video player contains two of my photographs which were part of a slideshow of Winter Sunrise shots, followed by another set of Winter Scenes. My contribution was -
1. Seven Sisters Sunrise, Houghton le Spring
2. Bamburgh Castle Sunrise, Northumberland



The second video player contains a compilation of three photographs, which are as follows -
3. Millennium Bridge, Newcastle Quayside
4. Mute Swan At Sunset, Rainton Meadows, Houghton le Spring
5. Frosty Dawn, Penshaw Monument, Tyne & Wear

Thanks for visiting. More website updates to follow...stay tuned.Ash

Big Country - o2 Academy, Newcastle

In 2008 I saw Big Country perform at Legends, Newcastle - Bass player Tony Butler took on the role of lead singer, following the death of original frontman Stuart Adamson. With due resepect, Tony is no singer, but he done the best he could on the night and the fans went home happy. At Legends, back in 2008, the overall sound of Big Country was inevitably hollow due to the 'Missing' guitar parts that Adamson played, but again the band improvised and done a job as well as they possibly could under the circumstances. Tonight however was a very different matter, as the band had enlisted the help of Mike Peters (lead vocalist of The Alarm) and used his vocal prowess to compliment the anthemic Big Country sound, and he fitted in perfectly. Not many could have filled the void Stuart Adamson left, but Peters is a worthy successor judging by tonights vocal performance. And remember those 'Missing' guitar parts - well they were back and so was the full BC sound, courtesy of Jamie Watson, son of lead guitarist Bruce. Jamie was earlier drafted in as a kind of experiment after practising Stuart's guitar parts with his dad over a period of months. The band attitude towards a possible inclusion of Bruce's son was 'Let's give it a go and see what happens.' Some may have seen this is a gamble, but if it was, it was one that paid off as Jamie Watson fitted into the live set-up equally as well as Mike Peters - round pegs in round holes!

Big Country were founded in Dunfermline in the early 1980's, and another band with Scottish roots, Gun, supported them at tonights gig at the o2 Academy in Newcastle Upon Tyne. Gun weren't my cup of tea, to be honest, although they went down very well with the audience, who had turned up in large numbers and the event wasn't short of a sell-out. An hour in and I was still freezing cold - someone needed to hoy 50p in the gas meter to pump some well needed hot air into the place. It was -2 degrees outside yet it felt even colder inside the venue, but it didn't take long to warm up once Big Country took to the stage. The band received a huge welcome from the crowd as they started their set with a track called Angle Park. The place was soon bouncing - we were lucky to get places at the front so I was in confident mood of grabbing some decent live shots, taken with a modest Fuji F60 'Point and Shoot' affair. The band played their 1982 album 'The Crossing' in its entirety, to mark 30 years Anniversary of its release. The set list on the night was as follows...

1.Angle Park 2.East Of Eden 3.Another Country 4.Balcony 5.Restless Natives 6.The Crossing 7. In A Big Country 8.Inwards 9.Chance 10.1000 Stars 11.The Storm 12.Harvest Home 13.Lost Patrol 14.Close Action 15.Fields Of Fire 16.Porrohman...encore -17.Tracks Of My Tears 18. Look Away 19.Wonderland

From the freezing cold to the hot and sweating - the fast tempo of the music, coupled with a crowd paked in like sardines and bouncing about to the music, we soon warmed up. Highlights of the gig were as follows...

Mike Peters vanishing from the stage, eventually emerging at the rear of house, perched on someones shoulders and singing the 1983 hit 'Chance', much to the pleasure of the surrounding fans. As he made his way to the front of the audience he was helped over the barrier right next to us by security staff. I grabbed a shot of him at close quarters (second shot, above).
During one of the encores 'Tracks Of My Tears' Mike Peters altered some of the lines in respect of Stuart Adamson...'Since you left us, if you see me with another band, Looks like I'm having fun. Although I might be cute, I'm just a subsitute, cos you're the permanent one (Mike points skywards).
Another highlight (literally) was again centred around frontman Mike Peters as he turned his acoustic guitar to reveal a mirrored back, before pointing it towards the audience and reflecting the light from the rigging above onto the crowd in a 'Search Light' effect. It worked very well, easily reaching the seated audience on the balcony, as well as those at the back of the stalls. I can't remember off hand which song was playing at the time, but it covered atleast two minutes of instrumental as Mike's 'Search Light' flashed past most of the audience. I managed to grab the effect with my humble Fuji, shown here in my third shot.

I could ramble on, but I'll be here all night if I do. Enough said then. A great show - looking forward to seeing them again sometime. I hope BC can hang on to Mike Peters though. He's been getting rave reviews on The New Big Country Website for his performances on this tour so far. Bruce Watson, Tony Butler and Mark Brzezicki played their part as usual, leaving their fans with the feeling that there's still plenty left in the tank.
That's is all, until the next time,
Ash

Closer To Home - Rainton Meadows

It had been almost three weeks since my last outing with the camera, so I put the record straight with a recent visit to Rainton Meadows Nature Reserve in Houghton le Spring. That last outing - a 160 mile round trip that included visits to Bamburgh and Holy Island on the Northumberland Coast, was one that I'll definitely repeating soon, but my latest photo offerings were captured much closer to home, as mentioned above. Historically, January is a often a month of excellent Sunrises and Sunsets for me and 2012 has been no different - infact, this year has probably yielded more opportunities than previous years as there was one brilliant sky after another. If you can tolerate the 'Brass Monkey' arctic temperature then you're half way there, although there's still work for idle hands to do and a pair of wooly gloves comes in rather handy in these conditions. Of course I don't wear such 'Pussyfied' attire - well, maybe now and again, but keep that to yourself, eh.

So here I was, at Rainton Meadows, with my 11 year old son, just killing an hour or so before tea. Walking to the first pond we passed a young couple - the lad was armed with a Canon 5D Mk2, which was capable of doing a lot of damage with the attached 500mm telephoto lens. Of course, I couldn't tell when passing that it was a 5D, the strap gave the game away. I experienced a slight tinge of envy because of the kit he was carrying - full frame with top notch glass attached, it must have tipped the scales at around 4 grand, easily! As we passed he noticed the loaf of bread in my sons hand, then told us there was a hungry Swan on the water ahead of us, and that he had no bread himself and as a consequence he got no decent close-up shots of it - not that he needed close-up's anyway, with that size lens. Tough titty eh, get yersel' away son and leave it to the experts, he he!

The sun had just set in front of us and some colour lifted the sky as I took my first couple of shots. I was literally three feet away from the Mute Swan as I photographed it, all the time being wary that it may have a dig at me at any given moment. But the grub was the key and I was confident it wouldn't 'Bite the hand that feeds.' That was the case, so things went smoothly during the short time we were there and the big bird eventually fettled a full bag of Warburton's without hesitation. Hungry Swan indeed. Composing the shots was very straightforward - Swan, Sky and the inclusion of a reed bed to emphasise the habitat - it worked ok and the colourful sky finished the shot off quite well, although beforehand I had hoped for a better sky - beggars and choosers, and all that. Natural Life is an interesting subject to photograph, although I don't devote much time to it as I'd like to, mainly due to the fact that my biggest lens only covers the 300mm mark, but maybe sometime in the future I'll get more 'Into it.' Until then here ya go - two shots taken with the trusty Canon 7D and 18-135mm lens on it's widest setting. Happy snapping.

Back soon, Ash

Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland

After much planning, and more intention than enough, I finally visited the Northumberland Coast last weekend for some Sunrise Photography. I recall a Blog entry of mine last October, when I announced that a trip to Bamburgh Castle was imminent, but one thing or another scuppered my plans and the outing never materialised. Three months later, and a willingness to let nothing get in the way of a January trip to the same location, and suddenly here I am driving north on the A1(M) at 6.30am. I had plenty of sleep the night before and my preparations had actually started three days in advance, so everything was neatly in place by the time I awoke at 5.45am on Saturday morning, the day of the event. I had been out the night before for a nice Indian scran and the plan was not to pouch anything too hot otherwise I might be in a spot of trouble the next morning. As it was, I'd put away a mild 'Lamb Tikka Bhuna', made the necessary bog stop the next morning before I left for the coast, so that side of things was taken care of and I felt confident I wouldn't be running around like a loppy dog, looking for a netty amongst Bamburgh sand dunes at 8.00am. So the plan was to leave home at 6.15am, to arrive at Bamburgh Castle around 7.30am, giving me ample time to find a vantage point and get my gear set up with time to spare before Sunrise. I packed my camera gear into the car, along with flask of Coffee, Wellies, Spare Socks, Goodie Bag, and Music. I drove the car off the drive at 6.17am, two minutes over planned departure, which was neither something or nothing. The morning chill was something else, and it took a good fifteen minutes to fill the car with warmth - the temperature outside was minus 2 degrees! After 15 minutes on the road I passed the Angel Of The North whilst filling me fat face with Salted Peanuts - not the usual typical breakfast fayre I put away on a Saturday morning - it's usually cold Vindaloo, leftover from the night before! As I reach the bottom of Bowes Incline my eyes are drawn to the chimneys over Team Valley and the smoke that bellows from them. The smoke instantly freezes upon exit and rises high into the morning sky, offering a great photo opportunity, but I'm stopping the car for no-one and nothing. I pass the MetroCentre and the odd car here and there before crossing the River Tyne near Scotswood, noticing the still water and the perfect reflection of the riverside buildings and street lamps. Again, a great photo opportunity in front of me, but I'm heading somewhere else so I quickly leave the reflections behind. I'm now on a clear stretch of the A1(M) and there's not much company on the road, other than the chill-out sound of Enigma playing through the speakers. It's now 6.35am and I'm warm as toast by this time, still pouching those Salted Peanuts and beginning to think today is going to be a good one.

Around 7.00am I pass the historic town of Anlwick and notice bright red sky to my right, on the coast and exactly where I'm heading. There's an hour to go before sunrise, yet there's enough colour on display to start photographing right here and now. No good to me though, I'm thirty minutes away from my destination and I've still got to get off the big road before heading inland to my eventual stop. Hopefully the colourful sky is a rehearsal for what will follow, before and during sunrise, at which time I'll be tripping the shutter and grabbing what I can. At 7.15am I'm finally off the big road after getting caught behind a haulage wagon on single carraigeway for a good few miles. I'm still on schedule and the planned arrival time of 7.30am becomes reality as I now see the illuminated Bambugh Castle ahead of me in the distance. The bag of Salted Peanuts have bit the dust by this time and I'm feeling rather sickly - greedy 'Bar Steward' that I am. I enter the small village of Bamburgh and pass through it, approaching the grand castle on top of the craggy outcrop. Up the ramp and towards the castle car park I go, stopping the car at precisely 7.30am - things are looking very good indeed! There isn't a soul to be seen, just me, a backpack and a hefty tripod, as I step out of my trainers and into a cold pair of green wellies. There may be the need to walk into the incoming tide to get the necessary shots, so the wellies are a must if I don't wanna get the toes wet.

From the castle car park I head through the sand dunes and onto the beach, and a fine beach it is. The tide is low but incoming, so I'll need to monitor it as I photograph from the beach, as the tide has a habit of creeping up and I have no intention of becoming marooned. By 7.40am I'm off the dunes and onto the beach, where I want to be, and for the first time I'm about to photograph a sunrise at a location that has been on my wish-list for far too long. The day has finally arrived and colour begins to burst through the clouds at 8.00am. The purple hue is a nice backdrop for the silhouetted castle and I'm now beginning to mentally compose my shots, before unpacking my gear and getting down to work. And I'm not the only person with that idea in mind on Bamburgh beach - there must be around a dozen or so of the like-minded folk, all jockying for position along the sands as the tide crept in slowly. I photograph a couple of snappers as they lean forward, looking into their viewfinders as they, like myself, make pictures of the scene that appears directly in front of them. I'm remotely firing off frame after frame as the incoming tide swirls around my feet, and I feel them sinking slowly into the sand. I'm unaware that I'm about to get a good soaking as I take my eye off the ball, so to speak. I'm engrossed in the stunning sunset that now unfolds around 8.30am and the freezing cold water of the North Sea suddenly flows over the top of my wellies and I'm suddenly a far from happy bunny. I continue to photograph from the same spot on the beach and as the sun rises above the castle and the colour in the sky diminishes. I call it a day and head onto dry land. I'm soon back at the car park and supping a cup of hot coffee from my flask - just what the doctor ordered. I stand for a while and watch the waves rolling in as I pour myself another cup. It's a grand view. A few minutes later I make a swift sock change before slipping into my hiking boots - no more soaking wet feet.

I finish off with a few shots of Bamburgh Castle from the sand dunes. One particular shot is shown here with the sun bathing the foreground grasses, as well as the castle itself. At 9.15am I'm back on the road and heading north to Holy Island for some more photography. Bamburgh was an experience and now that I've done my first sunrise shoot from its sands, I'm now aquainted with the location and know where to grab the best shots. I'll be back soon for more of the same. I hope you like the selection I've posted here, and don't forget to click them to reveal enlarged versions.

When on the road I fettled a bag of Salted Peanuts, a Gregg's 'Spicey One' Pasty, a bar of Toblerone, half a box of Miniature Heroes and two cans of Pepsi. However, I balanced the boat of healthy eating by eating a single white grape. Aren't I good? (wink).
Until the next time...Ash

Seven Sisters - Daily Visits

Hello again. Regular visitors to my Blog page will be aware that during the Winter months I make regular visits to the Copt Hill Barrow, also known locally as the Seven Sisters, situated in Houghton le Spring. A quick 'search' of my Blog will throw up previous entries where I have visited the monument to photograph it during different seasons. I rarely bother photographing it in Summer as the leaves are thick and the silhouette against a bright sunset is nowhere near as effective as it is during Winter when the leaves are long gone. A week of great Sunrise and Sunset photography yielded my latest batch of silhouette shots and I can't remember a week like it, as it was one brilliant sky after another. In the meantime, here is a brief description, copied and pasted from another web page...

Monument: Seven Sisters round barrow, Copt Hill, Houghton le Spring

Parish: Sunderland

County: Tyne and Wear

National Monument number: 32055

National grid reference (s): NZ35344921

The monument includes the round barrow known as Seven Sisters. It is situated in arable land on the western flank of Copt Hill and is 300m south of Copt Hill public house. The barrow mound is 3m high and approximately 25m in diameter. It is of earth and stone construction. The stones include magnesian limestone and sandstone. To the west and north west of the mound there are visible remains of a surrounding bank. An aerial photograph of the monument indicates a further boundary to the west and north of the mound about 25m from the edge of the mound, and a rectilinear cropmark to the east believed to be the terminal of a cursus. Excavation of the barrow in 1877 by Canon William Greenwell and Mr T Robinson revealed that the primary burial was a Neolithic cremation believed to be an example of an axial mortuary structure. There were also several Bronze Age cremations and inhumations, and an early medieval inhumation.

Between Monday 9th and Thursday 12th January I visited the Seven Sisters each day, twice at sunrise and twice at sunset. Winter, especially January, has historically presented the most colourful skies at each end of the day, so if you like to shoot silhouettes then this is one of the best locations in the North-East of England for this type of photography. I'm lucky, I only live round the corner, so within ten minutes of leaving the house I'm 'Set up' and ready to work. During the golden hour - 30 minutes before sunrise and 30 minutes after sunset, I captured many images, all recorded in RAW format at 18 Megapixels on a Canon 7D. I used a bog standard 18-135mm lens and a 10-22mm wide for the images shown here. Each lens gives different results in their own right, although the wide angle glass gets you right up close, almost on the barrow itself, and you can still fit it all in! The close angle offers a sense of drama as the trees tower over the lens, and if the right sky is available, you get drama on a big scale, which is exactly what I was after. Two of my shots show 'One Man And His Dog', which has almost become an obligitory fixture for me when I photograph the Seven Sisters. Scale is quite important here - I always try to include people whenever they present themselves and this place is a favourite haunt for Man and his Best Friend, so you're never short of the odd 'Extra' or two entering the frame. Some folk walk round the barrow when they see me, thinking they might be spoiling my shot by walking over the top, which is never the case, as a walking man and dog offer a nice profile in silhouette (as shown here, shot 3). And there's no escape, as this fella walked round the barrow and I still caught him and his dog. It worked quite well. Just for the record, the first and last of my four shots were taken at Sunset and the middle two at Sunrise. Whether it's 8.30am or 4.00pm it makes little difference, as I was freezing to the bone, despite wearing two fleeces and a jacket as well as the black wooly 'Bin Man' hat. I switch off to the cold - little choice, but looking back I'm glad I did. It wasn't long before I was back in my house and sat down with a cup of coffee while the wife massaged my feet. Well, maybe I made the last bit up, he he, she wouldn't go near my feet with a knotty prop!

And now to the last shot. And it's colour all the way - once again. I love this one. I showed a friend this shot and he thought it had been captured in Africa, of all places. Houghton le Spring is a far cry from the African continent, although you often see the odd 'Elephant' walking in and out of the Silver Grid (Local Chippy). And before I forget, some of you may have noticed the obvious discrepancy - there isn't actually Seven Sisters, but Six, after one was burned down a few years ago by some brain-dead 'Chav' who obviously had nowt else better to do than torch the Monument. Tosser! Ah well, he's cursed now - history and myth of the real Seven Sisters (Witches) will catch up with him sooner or later - card well and truly MARKED. Ah well, it is on that note that I shall wind up my latst Blog entry and finish off by telling you that another scribble or two will follow shortly. As mentioned earlier this week, I planned a visit to Bamburgh Castle on the Northumberland Coast, which is where I eventually ended up yesterday after planning and later postponing my previous attempts to photograph on location.So stay tuned for more low-light Sunrise photography, this time on the sand with the imposing Bamburgh Castle silhoutted against yet another dramatic sky as the sun rose. For a sneak preview check out my Historic Northumberland gallery over at ashleycorr.com (Images 24-27).

Full write-up coming soon.

Ash

Lumley Castle, Chester le Street

Lumley Castle is a 14th century quadrangular castle at Chester-le-Street in the North of England, near to the city of Durham and a property of the Earl of Scarbrough. It is a Grade 1 listed building.

History
It is named for its original creator, Sir Ralph Lumley, who converted his family manor house into a castle in 1389 after returning from wars in Scotland. However, after being implicated in a plot to overthrow Henry IV he was imprisoned and ultimately executed, forfeiting his lands to the Earl of Somerset. In 1421 the ownership of the Castle reverted to Sir Ralph Lumley's grandson, Thomas. By the nineteenth century, the castle had become the residence of the Bishop of Durham, after Bishop Van Mildert gave his residence of Durham Castle to the newly founded University of Durham. The castle thus became a hall of residence for University College, Durham. Castlemen, as the students of University College, Durham are known, spent their first year at Lumley Castle and subsequent years in the Castle at Durham. Lumley Castle was sold in the 1960s by University College to fund the building of the Moatside residential halls in central Durham, in order to keep all students on the same site. The role of Lumley Castle in University College's history is still commemorated by students in the biannual 'Lumley Run'.

Hauntings
In 2005, the touring Australian cricket team was said to have been haunted during their stay at Lumley Castle. Shane Watson got so spooked that he slept on the floor of teammate Brett Lee's room. Even the Australia media officer Belinda Dennett said: "Several of the players were uneasy although a lot of them in the morning said they were fine." Australia are not the only cricket team to said to have been scared by hauntings. In 2000, three members of the West Indian cricket team, including captain Jimmy Adams, checked out of the same hotel because they were scared.

Today
In 1976, management of the castle was handed over to No Ordinary Hotels (although the property is still in the possession of Lord Scarbrough), who had the castle turned into the 59-bedroomed hotel it is today. It is also a picturesque backdrop for Durham County Cricket Club's Riverside Ground, which was first used in 1995.

These two shots were taken at dusk yesterday evening. There were a scattering of parked cars on the drive in front of the castle, which hampered my chances of getting the shots I wanted, so I improvised and done the best I could. Ancient castles and brand new Mercedes cars don't go hand in hand! A very photogenic castle is this - the grounds and nearby golf course are very well kept and there's Squirrels all over the place - photographing them is a different ball game altogether.

Back soon with more shots of the Seven Sisters, Houghton le Spring.

Until then, see ya.

Ash