Falconry UK, Kirby Wiske

Here is a change of direction from the usual Landscape photography that I immerse myself in. It's back to Nature for the next two blog entries, as I focus on two recent trips in the field to photograph birds, both in the wild and captivity. Our annual trip to the Farne Islands off the Northumberland Coast was another opportunity to get up close to the thousands of nesting seabirds, but more of that later in the week, when I bring you shots breeding birds within the colonies, as well as birds in flight. Today I will concentrate on last weekends visit to a bird of prey centre in North Yorkshire, at a place called Kirby Wiske, not too far from Thirsk. As the Tour De France was taking place not too far away from our location I expected plenty of traffic during our journey South, but luckily for us that wasn't the case and even the bird of prey centre was less than busy, so things worked out quite well on that score. We've visited four similar places within the last 18 months or so and this one is definitely our favourite of the bunch. Unlike the others, Falconry UK has many birds on display outside of their usual enclosures, so photography opportunities are in abundance, with some of the smaller birds perched literally a five or six feet away from the perimeter fence. The largest of the birds, such as the Bald Eagle, Golden Eagle and Griffon Vulture are tethered at distance, although easily photographed with a 300-400mm telephoto lens.

We watched two flying displays during our visit, with two different teams of birds, including a Golden Eagle, Bald Eagle, White-Headed Vulture, Northern Hawk Owl, Barn Owl and a Kestrel. Each bird flew between the perches in the arena, giving me an opportunity to photograph them in flight and the two Eagles spread their wings a little further by venturing out of the arena for short periods, before returning to their handlers. Each bird was different in its flying habits and behaviour and this was apparent when the Golden Eagle swooped very low in front of me and almost knocked me off my seat, on more than one occasion it has to be said. I'm sure everyone else found it amusing, but when your eye is fixed on the bird through the viewfinder and it heads straight towards the camera, you don't get much time to think of a manoeuvre before it's almost in your face. I relied heavily on the big bird making the first move, which it did, so I escaped a good kicking!

The running commentary by the handler was quite interesting, although I wasn't taking too much notice for the best part, due to concentrating my efforts on pulling in some decent shots. These birds are quite difficult to capture in flight, it has to be said. Capturing them is one thing, but accurately capturing them in sharp focus is another task entirely. As I'm still getting to grips with my Canon 100-400mm lens I expected to find it quite difficult to begin with and that was indeed the case, with a fair percentage of my shots just missing focus. One or two of my attempts efforts missed the birds completely. The more shots I took, the better I became, and this was evident in my keeper rate shooting up dramatically during the last display from the Golden Eagle. I was running on A1 SERVO AF with IS2 selected on the lens, for moving subjects. Then it was a spot of fine tuning in-camera when selecting the appropriate selection between CASE 1 and CASE 6, which is excellent for tracking moving subjects and auto focusing on subjects that immediately enter the frame. There's also options for subjects that move erratically, ignoring possible obstacles along the way. It's all good stuff and the Canon 5D3 will fight your corner all the way, as long as you 'Tell it what to do'.

As mentioned earlier, if you like what you see here, then stay tuned for my next blog entry that covers more birds in flight at Planet Farnes. Not to be missed. Until then, I'll get myself away to watch the football, with a sherbet or two. Adios!
AC

View From A Hill

My first ever visit to the top of Penshaw Monument was well overdue. The last two Summers have presented an opportunity to climb the column steps of the Monument, but I never took advantage, for reasons unknown. Better late than never, so they say, as I paid the £5 National Trust fee to go to the top, for all of 15 minutes. As expected, the steps were very narrow and dimly lit, even with my supplied head torch. The climb was slow and seemed to last an age. Once at the top I was snapping away whilst the 15 minute timer ticked down to zero. Visibility was excellent and so was the weather. Plenty of blue sky and broken cloud - ideal. Only one side of the Monument had public access, facing South to West and in between. Great 180 degree panoramic views. With 15 minutes flying by in a whizz, I was soon making the descent to the column door, with camera tucked away inside my top to avoid a scratching on the stair walls. I took a few more shots next to the Monument before making my way down the hill.

As I was about to get back into the car I noticed some nice cloud formation away to my left, so I set off on foot, along the road towards the fields, in the hope of catching the clouds before they passed by the Monument. By the time I got to where I wanted to be I was out of breath. Shirt stuck to my back off the mid-afternoon sun. Here are a couple of the shot I took, before converting them to Black & White. I was quite pleased with the results. Back soon...

Ash

Return To Marsden Bay

After an excellent dawn light show at St. Mary's Island three weeks ago, I finished my outing with a quick stop off at Marsden Bay before heading home. It was around 6.30am when I parked up on the cliff top, before walking down the 100 or so steps to the beach - where is the elevator when you need it, he he. I had the bay to myself, which was a bit surprising as I expected to see one or two other photographers on the sands, or at least the odd dog walker. As usual I stopped at the bottom of the steps for a while and checked out the tide, sun position, etc, before stepping onto the rocky, pebbled beach, which was a bit awkward under foot. I might as well have been wearing slippers judging by the wafer thin soles on me willies, which didn't offer much in the way of protection. Good job I wasn't in company, they would have had a good laugh watching me negotiate those rocks! It was a very mild morning and the sea was calm, with little or no incoming waves, so I ran off a few long exposures and made my way back towards the Grotto pub at the foot of the steps. Back on flat ground I turned to face the huge stack that is Marsden Rock and eyed up one last shot before heading back up the steps. I composed this one with a nice foreground feature of a massive rusty anchor, which was propped up by the Grotto wall. Some nice subtle colour in the sky added a lovely backdrop, so with my gear in place, all I had to do was trip the shutter. Not much more to add, other than I was in and out within fifteen minutes or so. Mind you, that climb up the steps left iz paggered and ready to jump back into bed! Job done...


More photo's to come..
AC

Facebook

Welcome back!

A few months ago I decided to get myself a Facebook page to connect with people through my photography. Every week I update my page, sometimes several times, sometimes only once. The photo uploads are mostly new images, although I occasionally post bit and pieces from my archives. As well as posting on my own page I also contribute to other photography related pages, such as Let's Talk Photography North-East and Monochrome Vision UK. If you happen a member of these pages then keep an eye out for my work. Both sites have some excellent photography from people who know how to take a shot or two and as well as viewing their work they often post details of camera settings/equipment used, etc. Social media photography pages are a great resource for information and as a member myself it's never a bad thing to share this kind of stuff amongst the like-minded. If you would like to connect with me and my work then feel free to 'Like' my page. You can find me and my photography here - Ashley Corr Photography (Facebook).

Here is a quick preview of my last two posts on Facebook, featuring 'Bamburgh Sunrise' and 'Guardian Angels'

Catch ya later, Ash

Roseberry Topping (Via Newton Woods)

There hasn't been any photography activity this weekend so it would seem a good a time as any to catch up with another blog entry. I've got stacks of photo's on the back burner, from recent outings with the camera, so it's a case of getting them all uploaded to my blog page as soon as I can. Another set ticked off the list today, in the form of Bluebells, and lots of them! Two trips to Roseberry Topping in mid-May yielded some nice shots of the blue carpet, right across the meadow and pasture, towards the hill in the background. My first visit was an early evening affair and upon arrival I had been beaten to the box seat by another six photographers. This came as a surprise, although I never expected to have the plot to myself, I had an inkling one or others may well be in my company at some point. These fella's were by no means novices, judging by the banter and not least, their kit. It was full frame all the way along the back fence of the meadow. A gang of camera robbers would have made an absolute killing. The sun eventually broke through the clouds, just I was set up, so the first few frames were captured in the evening sun. Nice colour bathed the meadow and in turn brought the colourful hue from the bluebells right into our faces. After a minute of sun it was gone again, seeking refuge behind the cloud cover to our left. At this point the posse was joined by Andy Redhead, another photographer from Bishop Auckland, who I first met on a dawn visit to Buttermere, which to date remains one of my most memorable photography outings.

We waited for the sun to show again as it dropped towards the horizon, ready to set. We were out of luck. One by one we packed up and headed out, back through Newton Woods and on to the steep descent to ground level and eventually the car park. At least I had bagged a few nice ones, albeit during one minute of a 90 minute stay in the meadow. Oh well, owt is better than nowt, as they say. I got back home around 10.45pm, rather knackered after a days work before the 80 mile round trip for some photography. I intended to get another trip under my belt before the Bluebells died off, so it was a simple case of watching the weather for favourable conditions. And it wasn't soon before I made the second trip South, accompanied by Billy Short, friend and rookie photographer. The last two shots in this blog entry were taken during visit two, one of them ending up as a mock magazine cover (below). It was composed with magazine in mind - I think it works quite well. I gave Billy an insight into graduated filters, giving him a free run of my Lee grads, and  he commented later that they made all the difference to his shots, which was nice to know. The sun spread so evenly over the landscape that the filters weren't required for the best part, but as the sun dropped behind cloud cover they came into play, balancing the exposure as required, using 1,2 and 3 stop grads.

It only took two visits to bag these nice shots. On my first trip one the other photographers said he'd visited over the last 7 days in the hope of catching the light, which he never did until that very night we all stood alongside eachother. The things you do to grab the shot you want, eh. Oh well, been there and got many t-shirts!
Until the next time...
AC

As always, click an image to reveal enlarged version...

St. Mary's Lighthouse, Whitley Bay

It's time to unveil my latest sunrise photographs, taken at St. Mary's Lighthouse, near Whitley Bay. I know I've mentioned this once or twice previously, and I'll make this one the last - it was at this location that my Canon 5D2 bit the dust on the rocks after a gust of wind. The tripod blew over as my back was turned and the rocks did the rest. I was out of action for 5 weeks, during which time my camera was away for repair and it never returned, deemed 'Beyond economical repair'. My insurance company replaced the camera with a brand new 5D3, much to my disappointment... NOT!  I was chuffed to bits. Everyone loves a happy ending. And so the new chapter begins. The 5D2 was my dream camera, so when I finally got my hands on one I was a very happy bunny. 5D3 was always a pipe dream, until now. Getting my hands on this spec was more than I ever imagined and it's fair to say I have now reached the top of the tree, camera wise. It's now up to me to get the very best from it's capabilities. It's gonna be a challenge and I don't feel as if I'm punching above my weight, not at all. Let's just see what's round the corner...

As I get to grips with all my new camera has to offer, it seemed a good idea to return to the fateful location that is St. Mary's Lighthouse. A kind of unfinished business, shall we say. A summer sunrise and a 3.30am alarm call. Now that was a first. I had only had two hours sleep after a late Saturday night, so I was rather knackered as I drove out of Houghton toward the A19 and Tyne Tunnel. Arriving at St. Mary's at 4.40am in time for a 5.00am sunrise, there was already colour showing in the sky and I was hopeful of even more as shooting time approached. There was one other guy on site, already set up and pulling in shots. He warned me that the tide was rapidly incoming, so I kept out of wet reach and opted for safe haven on the causeway steps as the sun was about to rise. I dotted about, not wanting to bag a whole set of shots from one viewpoint. And here is a small selection of them. A stunning light show and what a way to return to a location which holds bad memories of my last visit, now banished and well forgotten, judging by the shots shown here.

Cheers, Ash

Saltwick Bay, North Yorkshire Coast

Following on from my recent Whitby blog entry, here is the latest instalment featuring Saltwick Bay. The Bay is a north east-facing bay situated 1 mile south of Whitby. Above the bay is Whitby Holiday Park, where we stayed over the course of a weekend in May, with the Cleveland Way cliff top path running through it. Access to the beach is via a footpath just beyond the park's gate. The path has suffered from some erosion and in places can be quite steep and also very slippery when wet. The path leads down to the sandy beach which gives way to rock and slate scar at either end. To the left is Saltwick Nab and to the right is Black Nab. If fishing from either end, be aware of the tide, as it travels quickly across the scar. The beach and rocks reveal much of Saltwick's alum mining past, and it is also a great venue for finding fossils. Saltwick Bay has many photographic opportunities due to its North-East facing coastline. This means that at the height of summer the sun sets over the sea when looking North-West as well as rising over the sea when looking North-East. In this respect, this small part of the Yorkshire coastline is unique in the whole of Northern England. The Bay also has a sandy beach either side of which is a flat, shale shelf (the Southern and Northern Shelves). These shale shelves are littered with texture-filled (and possibly fossil-filled) shale rocks. On the southern shelf is the local icon “Black Nab” and the remains of the wreck of the 'Admiral Von Tromp'. On the Northern Shelf is the other local Icon 'Saltwick Nab', which from a distance makes the outline of a whale.

I was out of bed bright and early to catch a sunrise on our second full day at the Holiday Park. It was a bit of a wash out to be honest, with very little colour on offer as the sun rose and quickly disappeared behind the low bank of cloud cover on the horizon. The tide was advancing at a fast rate so I kept this in mind as I photographed from a position at the cliff foot (see top photo). Because of the lack of sunrise I was back up the steep cliff path and back to the caravan within an hour of leaving it behind. Infact, no sooner was I back in the caravan and my head was down once again. Can't beat an already warm comfy bed. The Mrs was none the wiser! On the way back to the caravan I was already planning a return visit to the bay later that day, when the tide had retreated. The mission was to find the wreck of The Admiral which I had read about on the internet earlier in the week. I knew it was located somewhere in a hole on the Southern Shelf, so plans were made and later put into action. On our return the tide was way back, leaving the path clear to explore the bay in greater detail. Firstly I took a few black and white shots, one of which you can see in this paragraph. 

A ten minute walk along the Southern Shelf was all it took to get our first glimpse of the ship wreck. The mangled metal, twisted and eroded stuck out like a sore thumb and it was no time at all before we were on site of the mysterious remains.  The Admiral Von Tromp was a fishing vessel from Scarborough which came aground during a storm in 1976 with the loss of 2 lives. Not much of it remained, although the curved bow was instantly recognisable as it sat slumped to one side in the hole. Remnants of the engine sat nearby, covered in limpets, offering a reminder of its sorry state. Black Nab sits in the background of my third shot (shown here). At high tide the nab resembles that of a submarine floating near the sea surface. I walked out to the Nab to take my final shot (below). The colourful flat rock formation is quite an eye catcher as you walk along the ridge to the Nab, which rises approximately 18 feet to its tip.

The kids were more than happy to scan the rock pools as I photographed nearby. After landing a few crab they had to be persuaded to leave the beach! Even the lure of Fish n' Chips wasn't enough to get them walking instantly - they would've stayed there all day if I had let them. It was a nice way to kill a couple of hours, that's for sure. I'd like to return to Saltwick Bay for another crack at sunrise photography. I imagine this place would look the part with a good sunrise, especially at low tide when I can get the shipwreck in the foreground. But that's one for another day. Until then I'll keep this place on my list of places to revisit. It's certainly worth that...

Until next time, Ash