Category: Photography

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Lunchtime Photo Walk

Very little has happened this month compared to the excitement of the last few months. We have been getting back into the swing of work, Caroline has been horse riding but due to the weather Richard has not managed to go flying this month.

Photo Walk

We did manage a quick day trip to Whitby and a couple of days at Southwold at the very end of last month but nothing this month except a few photo opportunities around town in our lunch hour and enjoying the last of the good weather.

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A New SLR – Nikon D200

The Nikon D200.

Well today I made my first digital SLR purchase.  A Nikon D200.

After many months of research and with the price of the D200 dropping, it was the logical choice.

I moved from Canon to the Nikon system back in the 1990’s and a Nikon was my first choice.  The feel of a camera is very important and I find that Nikon bodies always feel better in my hand then other makes.  As an existing Nikon film user with an extensive investment in Nikor glass, it made sense to choose a Nikon that would work with my old lens and the D200 would do that.

For a good review of the camera see DPReview site for more information.

It feels good in the hand, very well built and has the combination of features that I need in an SLR.  I intend putting it through its paces over the next few months with a studio shoot also planned.

Isle of Syle
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Our North Yorkshire Holiday

A whole week booked off but where to go. A favorite place for us is Whitby. This time we decided to stay in a little village called Hutton-le-Hole, we had stayed there before in a lovely Bed and Breakfast called Burnley House.

Off we set on Sunday morning. Normally I drag Caroline via every B road going, taking all day to get to our destination, but the car is getting a little elderly now. Caroline bought a VW Polo from new, over ten years ago, and its given her reliable service for all those years. This last two years we have broken down three times and we are going to have to face facts that we will have to go car shopping.

We left via Durham bridge, paying our 25 pence toll and headed for the A1. Straight up the A1 then we swung right onto the Thirsk to Scarborough Road. The difficulty was Sutton bank. It was a slow climb up the escarpment in first gear but we made it! Once we had got to the top we stopped at the National Trust Visitors centre for soup and coffee. Excellent soup! The entrance hall contains a rather interesting wood sculpture as can be seen here:

Arriving at Hutton-le-Hole we were welcomed at Burnley House by Caroline the owner. She made us feel welcome with tea, coffee and two slices of victoria sponge. We rested in our room then went to the local village pub for an evening meal.

For our first full day in North Yorkshire we decided to have a short walk through through the village taking pictures of the church and village centre, giving our new digital compact a good try out.

We then headed off to Whitby and took some photographs before visiting our favorite coffee shop, Mulberrys. As we had both had a huge cooked breakfast at Burnley House I thought I would just order a latte with cinnnamon, and some olives and bread. I was somewhat surprised when a huge plate of different breads and an olive oil and balsamic vinegar dip arrived, with the coffee and olives. This was far more then I expected for the price.

After this wonderful meal, we wondered around Whitby some more. If you are ever in Whitby on the north side. Head on up to the Whitby Sutcliffe Gallery. He was a photographer at the turn of the century who took some wonderful shots of the people and the local area. I went around Whitby taking lots of shots and as you can see here I have tried to replicate one of his photographs. Yes I am sad, I took an Apple G4 12″ Powerbook to do some digital darkroom work in the evenings!

That evening the local pup was closed so we headed out to the next village Lastingham and their local pub the Blacksmiths Arms, very good food and good ale. We might be heading back that way on the bikes as they also do accommodation, looks good for a weekend break.

Tuesday saw us getting ready for our first walk of the holiday. A short circular walk based at Hutton-le-Hole and with the half way point at Lastingham.

The weather was fine and a gentle but cold wind was whisking the clouds over, causing the light to change moment by moment. One moment clear blue skies and bright sunlight, then overcast and dull. There has been a fair bit of rain during the night so we made sure we were ready for all the weather cold throw at us. Together with walking poles and gaiters we would easily cope with anything we might meet.

We left the car park of the bed and breakfast and headed past the road. We passed the lovely church and then turned right to start the walk proper. Through the fields over a small bridge and then into the trees, we went up and down until we emerged from trees beside the road to Lastingham. We followed this for a short distance then turned off into the moors. Once again, up and down we went, at one point we had a small stream we had to ford, walking poles defiantly help in this type of situation.

Eventually we came to the sign on the moors for Lastinghamwe turned and went down hill into the village. Here we took a break, visited the church and crypt before heading out over the fields to make our way back to Hutton-le-Hole. All in all a wonderful walk.

Well we will not bore you any more, suffice to to say we enjoyed the holiday immensely, visited lots of lovely villages in the area, walked part of the Cleveland Way and had many fine meals in local pubs.

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Happy New Year to Everyone

A New Year and its going to be new start to my photography.

The last couple of years has seen me do very little photography.  I used to shoot at lot of landscapes, architecture and studio work,  I had even  shot the odd model portfolio for a Peterborough model agency.

But for some reason the creative side of me lost interest in photography.

Luckily for me we have a few keen photographers here at work, and them together with inspiration from internet sites such as Luminous Landscape sparked my interest again.

I had always ignored digital, not as good, not real, and the cameras were slow and hard to use.

Last year showed me that digital cameras has started to come of age. I had the pleasure of shooting with Canon 1DII , and I also got to try the Nikon D70, both were a pleasure to shoot with.

I have decided that i’ll give digital a try and to that end I have purchased a basic Nikon digital compact, to get me started.

There is a lot to learn but the adventure starts next month.