Boxing Day Dip 2012 - Seaburn, Sunderland

As mentioned at the end of my last Blog entry, here are some more Seaside shots. Not my usual Seascape offerings, these are 'People shots' taken on the beach at Seaburn, Sunderland, during the annual Boxing Day Dip. I already have a slide show at ashleycorr.com featuring more of the same from last years event, so feel free to check that one out. I had no plans to attend this years madness, until I received an email from the people at the BBC Tyne and Wear website, who dropped a hint for photo's of the event to add to a regional Boxing Day Dip gallery they were about to create. I charged the battery pack up on Christmas day and made the usual preps, before throwing the Wellies into the car for the task ahead. The Boxing Day weather was very mild, which was a definite plus point, as this was the only thing that would have put me off. I mean, who wants to brave the wind, rain and freezing cold North Sea, when they could easily be sat on their arse eating more turkey leftovers! If I see another piece of that stuff I'll most probably throw up - so off I went, bound for the coast at Sunderland. The event kicked off at 11am, so I made sure I arrived with at least 30 minutes to spare, parked up and ready to go. The crowds were out in force to witness this increasingly popular show of mad Mackem folk, running into the sea with barely a stitch on, all in fancy dress, all shapes and sizes. There were some big 'un's on show alright. I'm sure Greenpeace were in attendance, ready to push one or two of them back into the water! Yeah, some big ones - hairy, covered in tattoo's and looking mean as owt - and they were just the women!

Well done once again to the attendees of this years dip. Thousands of pounds raised for good causes through sponsorship and collections on the day. There are several such dips held around Europe, but the largest is organised by the Lions Club of Sunderland and it attracts one thousand dippers every year. Up to five thousand spectators turn out to witness the dip, including the City’s Mayor and Mayoress. Originating in 1974 the dip is one of the oldest events in the country. The dip of 2011 raised nearly £90,000 for charity, with several teams taking part. Some of the major donators are Ashbourn Guest House, Alexandra Plumbing and Heating, the New Clipper, CR Builders, TWR Window Frames, Ttonic, MTL Scaffolders, Print Centre, Jolly Potters, Jacksons.

11am came around quickly enough - I almost got flattened in the stampede. The lens cloth I brought was a godsend. I grabbed what photo's I could before everyone had their few minutes of fun before retuning to dry land. By this time I was soaked. Wellies were half full of salt water, freezing cold salt water. I did, on more than one occasion, ask myself why I bothered in the first place, but casting aside the obvious disadvantages, our Boxing Day Dip has its merits. Firstly, I was lucky to photograph the event instead of actually taking part, then there was the fun side of it, seeing all the madness unfold right in front of me, and there were some brilliant costumes on display. Finally, the short walk back onto the promenade was a good one, as usual, as the sight and smell of the fish shop was one to behold and I certainly wasn't gonna walk past it. Greedy bastards never do, he he. Sorry for the lingo, folks. Just getting the last few swear words in before yet another failed New Year's Resolution. Oh well. And on that note I shall bid thee farewell, with the promise of one or two more Blog entries before the end of 2011. Make sure you overdo it (wink).

Oh, before I go, here is a link to the BBC Tyne and Wear web page,  featuring a couple of my shots. I sent a few in, but they decided to show two of my 'Weaker' efforts, for some odd reason. Click here (Image numbers 4&5). Also, a short video clip from 'Look North', our regional BBC news bulletin, featuring this event. Plus, a few of my photo's. . .

Back soon, Ash

The North-East Winds

With Christmas almost upon us I took the opportunity of using a spare hour or so to fit in some photography. December has been a quiet month with the camera, as you may have noticed by the acute lack of updates at www.ashleycorr.com. This has been due to the usual hectic programme that often accompanies December, but I intend to make amends before the month is over, with a few updates being planned for the final few days of 2012. My last Blog entry brought you a batch of Seascape images, taken at Seaham Harbour last Sunday morning, and I was by the sea again this morning for more of the same. This time I was shooting big waves from the promenade at Seaburn, Sunderland. Although there was bright sunshine this morning, it was typically cold and the strong winds almost had me on my arse on more than one occasion, but I managed to keep my balance against all the odds. My Sigma 70-300mm lens got a rare run out today. It was just what was needed to pull in those telephoto shots - range is everything when shooting from afar, so the long lens was called upon once again, and it never fails to deliver. There was very little colour to play with this morning, so I converted my shots to Mono (Black & White), which is always a good idea with this type of photography. I think it worked quite well, apart from the lack of detail in the sky, but you can only pee with the tail you've got! Some folk add new sky to get round this problem, but we don't want to do that do we - no cheating allowed!

And here they are, three shots, cherry-picked from a batch of ten and shot in RAW format. I was done and dusted, then out of there after a few short minutes. Back into the car and off home to sit down to a nice roast lunch. I'll be back soon with more Seaside shots, so get yer'sel back here in a few days time. Until then, have a nice Christmas and don't overdo the calorie count, eh. You know it makes sense!

Back soon, Ash

In From The Cold

It's been a while!

Hello again, and an apology to my blog readers for an acute lack of activity on my page. Historically, December is always a busy month for me as I fulfil orders and other commitments during this hectic time of year. Naturally, I have less time to get out and about with my camera until the Christmas holidays, but I managed to change that this morning by getting my arse out of bed to photograph another sunrise. This time I travelled South, which is a rarity, as all of my previous coastal visits have been to the North of Sunderland. Today the destination was Seaham Harbour, a small town in County Durham, situated 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Sunderland and 13 miles (21 km) east of Durham. I made a quick stop to photograph the Christmas display on the promenade before driving the short distance down the gill towards the harbour. This was my first visit to the pier at Seaham. Upon arrival I got chatting to a fisherman who had travelled from Consett. He told me the sea was very rough the previous day and huge waves had battered the pier walls, which was evident 24 hours later by the many pools of sea water that sat along the whole length of the pier. He set up to fish the sea as I went on my way, passing through the pier gates to look for an ideal spot to photograph from. Unlike most piers, this one had no perimeter fence, so I made sure not to go too close to the edge, or that would have been it! 

Here are some of the photographs I captured. Plenty of colour, the sun on show, nice compositions. It was nice to get back into the car and open a flask of hot coffee, whilst warming my backside on heated seat. Overall, it was well the effort this morning - I 'll be back with more before the Christmas holidays. Stay tuned. 
Ash

www.ashleycorr.com

Hello again and welcome to my new look blog page. I've been toying with the idea of tarting this page up for quite a while now, as the original template wasn't consistant with the theme that I designed at ashleycorr.com. Gone is the brown background with the less than interesting header bar -  'In' with the plain white and mid-grey, along with the ACP logo of Penshaw Monument. Now then, that's better! So there seems like no better time than now to write about my website and the nuts, bolts and many cogs within it. Since the introduction of ashleycorr.com back in 2006 the site has evolved and developed into much more than it originally started its life as. It's humble beginnings as a modest 20 page web site has grown rapidly during the past six years and now contains a staggering 156 pages and almost 1000 photographs. God only knows how many hours of work has gone into the site down the years, a labour of love that continues to this day and hopefully many more years ahead. I often tinker with the site, as you may have noticed from time to time, as there's always room for improvement here and there, although I always try to avoid making wholesale changes with its overall appearance as I feel that this can distract the visitor and be quite off-putting, especially if it happens regularly. I used to do this in the early days, until I realised quickly that I was chasing my tail. No more.

So, more specifics about ashleycorr.com - currently showing a hit counter of 75,111 visitors as I write this blog entry, the site was set up and designed by myself, with no previous experience of Web Build. Those first few days were an opener, to say the least, when I opened up the Content Management System and wondered what I'd let myself in for. Although the toolbox didn't look too daunting, unlike that of Photoshop CS6 (gulp!), there was a hell of a lot to get to grips with and a brief dabble with the tools left me with no doubt that my delve into website building wasn't going to be an easy one. After dipping my toes in I quickly got to grips with quite a few of the features and found the software was exactly what I'd been looking for, as everything was there 'In the box', so to speak, just waiting to be lifted out. Exhibiting photography couldn't be easier and everything I wanted was here, including slideshows with the facilty to add music, pop-up galleries, image effects and much more. With an 'All you can eat' disc space of 5000 Megabytes there is scope for thousands of image uploads in future, so the sky is the limit in that particular department.

Forthcoming plans for my site - well, unless by some quirk of observation you haven't noticed a complete lack of activity on my Profile page, I can now announce my intention to get my arse into gear and turn that blank canvas into what it's supposed to be, a page about myself with accompanying photographs of yours truly. Hang on a minute, maybe that's not such a good idea at all, he he. For one reason or another I simply haven't got my act together to design the page, although I did have it up and running four years ago, only to 'Pull it' a few days later due to the cheesiness of my profile pic. Oh dear. I need to get out there and get some new photo's of myself, on location, camera in hand, so if you're up to the task then give me a shout. Profile page aside, there are no immediate plans to add anything major to my site, although I'm constantly thinking along the lines of improvisation, so don't be too surprised if I introduce new ideas at some point in the near future. My Canon 7D shoots stunning High Definition Video, which is something I may incorporate once the footage is edited, so keep your eyes peeled for that one. The Store at ashleycorr.com will be hosting new products shortly, including my new 2013 calendar, as well as A1 and A0 poster prints of my photography. Again, watch this space!

Finally, a big THANK YOU to you, my audience. Without those 75,111 hits my site wouldn't be what it is today. I often wonder who visits my site and where they live, which town, which country, which continent. I'm looking into Google Analytics, to find those answers, which are always interesting. As far as my blog page is concerned, click on the two images above for the latest stats - these relate to my blog page only, not site-wide. To date, my blog page has 10, 733 page views since its introdution on July 18th, 2009. It's all good stuff!

And on that note I shall make myself scarce. Time for a cup of coffee.
Thanks for visiting!
Ashley Corr (Webmaster & Curry Connoisseur)

Reflections - Durham Cathedral

The blog entries are coming thick and fast, well...for now at least. Last Saturday afternoon I headed across to Durham City Centre and made my way along the riverside path as the light fell quickly. I was surprised to cross paths with a few people along the way, as the riverside has no lighting on its route and it's not the type of place you'd walk alone, unless you're a photographer with intentions of 'Getting the shot' regardless of the conditions. At 4.30pm I was in position next to the boathouse ramp on the north side of the River Wear, opposite Durham Cathedral. Fifteen minutes passed and it was now pitch black where I stood, with no-one else around. A big splash on the water directly in front of me had me thinking I wasn't alone after all. Was someone lurking in the thick woods behind me, throwing rocks and getting a kick out of it - 'Let's scare the shit out of that bloke with the camera.' Well they certainly did that! I was looking through the viewfinder at the time of the splash and I must confess that I nearly shat me'sel when the rock hit the water. Or was it a rock after all? Was it a Salmon jumping, I doubt it, unless it had been on the roids for weeks on end. A mystery to me. I started to ask myself what the hell I was doing here, it pitch darkness, nowhere near assistance if some dodgepot came looking for bother. Time to man up and forget the crap, so I grabbed a few photo's and got out of there. As I left the scene at 5.00pm the Cathedral bells chimed on the hour, adding an even more eerie slant to the whole experience. Walking back along the riverside path to Framwellgate Bridge I passed a goth, on his own, long black trench coat and all the horseshit, looking a bit sheepish as I passed him. God knows where he was heading, and why. Maybe another photographer looking to bag that nice shot, who knows.

The shot above is my favourite from the outing, a nice reflection, captured shortly before 5.00pm. I emailed it to Tyne-Tees Television the following morning and it was shown on their weather charts a few hours later. Result! Worth the effort after all. Where will I take my camera next, I wonder. You'll find out soon enough. Thanks for visiting.
Ash

Today's Sunrise

After working through the night and hurrying home to catch the sunrise I managed to get to my chosen location just in time to catch the colours. It was well windy at the top of Copt Hill Barrow, where the Seven Sisters Neolithic Burial Ground is situated, on the edge of Houghton le Spring. Before leaving for work the night before, I had my camera bag at the ready, knowing I would be heading home shortly before sunrise at 7.44am, but the Mrs stuck her beak in and said 'You're wasting your time, the weather forecast isn't good for tomorrow morning.' I mean, she's a cracking wife and all that, but I tend to ignore her advice when it comes to photography, but on this occasion I gave in and put my gear back where it belongs. Bad move! It was a dramatic sunrise, to say the least. The wind was up and it was freezing cold, but nevertheless I was at Copt Hill Barrow, armed with a mobile phone (yeah, p*ss poor, I know). I took a couple of shots and grabbed an HD movie clip to go with it.
Here they are...

And next time I'll tell the Mrs to keep her advice to her'sel (he he).
Back soon!

Ash

Another Book Cover!

Following recent news regarding my photography appearing on my first ever book cover, I have been approached by Graeme Reynolds, a novelist who specialises in Horror and who currently has publications for sale via Amazon, so a second book featuring my work is now in the pipeline. The book in question is a sequel to 'High Moor', which was published exactly one year ago today, and although a working title is not yet available, the scene is set in Finchale Abbey, County Durham, a location I have visited and photographed on several occasions. The book goes to print in early 2103 and a proof of the cover will be uploaded on my blog just as soon as I get my hands on it. Here is the photograph that was requested (above), which will be used as a background on the front cover. The book illustrator, Stu Smith, of Graviton Creations, sent me this email following agreement of Image Licensing terms between myself and Graeme...

Hey Ashley,

Just to fill you in on a few details, I'm the bloke that is illustrating Graeme Reynolds second book (I did the first one too) and it was me that was searching for great images of the Priory because I'm unfamiliar with it (I live in Cleethorpes!). I did an advanced Google image search as I recall and your picture stood out.

I suggested to Graeme that instead of sending him out there to take a picture we might simply just ask you if we can reproduce it under license for the cover! Good job we did because it makes my life so much easier if I can have some quality reference images.

So, I just thought I'd personally send you a thank you from me as well. I'll send you a copy of the full resolution cover when I get it done (but that's a few moons away!)
Cheers!
Stu

Graeme sent me a copy of the first book, High Moor, which I started reading a few days ago, so by the time the sequel arrives I'll be 'In the picture' and ready to pick up from where I previously left off. I'm staying away from the curry though, as it's not a wise idea to eat that stuff then read a horror novel afterwards - don't want any accidents, and I've had a few close shaves in the past, I'll tell ya!

And on that note I shall scurry off with embarrassment, he he. I shall return soon, folks.
Cheers, Ash