My Eyes Open

Photos : One cold January morning on the Tyne

JawD — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:30:46 +0000

You know when something seems a good idea and reality cracks you in the nuts?

The idea was this. Get up sharp, get down the quayside and capture the Newcastle Quayside waking up. The people grasping their take away coffee to keep warm and the reflections in the tyne plus the waking sky. The end results were satisfying but not only didnt I get a coffee myself, but my hands were freezing by the time I was done!

Thought for the day – someone needs to invent a tripod with heated legs…

I’m planning another trip down, this time when the sun has broken. There is a lot of glass on the Quayside and I’m planning some reflection work as well.

Photos : Beamish Wild

JawD — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 19:44:01 +0000

So another trip to Beamish wild and another attempt to capture birds of prey. Ideally in flight but some of them are such fantastic creatures that you have to take shots as they bask in their glory. For that I’d say check out the Sea Eagle. Capturing any bird in flight is a task. I have such admiration for those who seem to do this effortlessly. In general I am shooting on continuous focus and spot. The trouble usually seems to be that as they move so quick, the camera struggles to keep up. I have also tried to manually focus on one spot and shoot in burst mode in the hope that as the bird passes through my spot I will capture it. Other struggles are things like wanting to shoot with an aperture of around f/5.6 or less to blur out the background but that given even less room for error. So, I’ve tried shooting at around f/11 for the increased depth. It’s an ongoing battle but I’m slowly getting there!

Here are my picks from the visit (by the way, if you are from the north east I’d really suggest visiting Beamish Wild if you havent. It’s a great day out, especially for kids where they can interact with the birds and learn about them).

Stellar Sea Eagle

Snowy Owl

Stellar Sea Eagle

Short Eared Owl

White Backed Vulture

Common Buzzard

Walking : Great Gable, Lake District, Cumbria.

JawD — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:43:19 +0000

Yes its that time again. In December? Yep, in December. I’d not done Great Gable before but I had heard it was slightly challenging compared to some. Well, if you are going to push yourself, why not do it with snow in your face?

The walk took us up Green Gable, across Windy Gap (though it was windier on Green Gable than Windy Gap below it) and then up to Great Gable. I have to say, when you reach Green Gable and stand looking down over Windy Gap and then the formidable sight of Great Gable stands above you, it’s quite humbling. I’ll not write the exact phrase that went through my head, but it was a more abrupt version of “Oh my that looks an interesting climb”.

As ever, when the rock is 6″ from your face rather than a few hundred feet, it’s not quite as bad. But the wind, hail and snow did add some extra interest.

If you are thinking of doing this walk, I would certainly recommend it. It does involve an upward scramble from this direction but it’s not too difficult. Something akin to climbing up a 30ft pile of oversized lego?

Photos : Fairfield Horseshoe

JawD — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 20:06:49 +0000

Took a walk to the lake district this weekend and was fortunate enough to have near perfect weather. I’ve started taking my camera on these walks packed with my kit lens (I have my eye on a Sigma wide angle lens for these walks, maybe after Christmas!). I dont take my tripod though as would be a bit much to carry (though I may plan a climb for photos only so will take it).

The route I take for the Fairfield Horse shoe starts off in Rydal (tip! part on the road outside the church at the edge of Rydal Visitor Centre. It’s free parking but I’d encourage you to leave a tip in the church box that’s there). I walk clockwise around so thats takes you up Nab Scar, Heron Pike and Great Rigg before you arrive at the top of Fairfield. The top can be a little confusing so Id certainly recommend a compass here as you double back on yourself for the horseshoe. It’s all too easy to take the wrong path towards St Sunday crag and end up in Patterdale!

Coming off Fairfield you drop down on to Hart Crag, Dove Crag and High Pike before arriving back in Ambleside.

The walk has a total ascent of 3450 feet and is 10.5mile or 17.4 equivalent miles. At an easy going pace it is 6 hours.

Some images from the walk:

Photos : A New Northumberland Day

JawD — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 21:53:02 +0000

So it’s 5.30am. 5.30am anywhere during October is generally cold. 5.30am in October in Northumberland you KNOW is going to be a bit chilly. And Dark. Oh, and in a Caravan, well, now maybe you start wondering how I even got out of bed. That was kinda what was going through my head as I waited down on the beach at Amble. This was my first attempt at a coastal sunrise and it didn’t disappoint. I dont recall if it was really that cold. Mild I think would be more accurate. Either way, as soon as the light started to paint the slightly clouded sky I was in awe. I was fortunate to keep some wits about me and load the grad filters and take some shots. It was stunning. Then when the sun did break the horizon it was like watching some cosmic event that only happens once every few hundred years. I almost wanted to run back and grab the wife and kids (so the kids could look at the grass and say “what?, what do you see?”).

Yet, this happens every day. But I think this is the first time I really saw it.

and finally to sneak this one in. This was from later that day. Amble Harbour.

Photos : Josh up close and personal

JawD — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 19:41:11 +0000

Yep, more of my youngest. These from a day out at Gibside.

Photo : The Gate

JawD — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 19:38:19 +0000

National Trust area, Gibside Chapel and Pleasure Grounds to give it the full title. As we live quite close I spend many days wandering the grounds, wondering how I can somehow get to own it… Yes, I do tend to daydream there! Anyway, I’ve always found this gate intriguing. It sits on a long wall and connect the main drag on to the parking / garden area.

Photos : Alexander Business Park, Sunderland.

JawD — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 19:35:23 +0000

About Alexandra Business Park Alexandra Business Park is Sunderland’s largest commercial site. Located on the banks of the River Wear in Pallion, it comprises more than 600,000ft² of office and industrial accommodation on 96 acres of land. Now flagged for demolition the site is to be gradually vacated once the leases of the current tenants expire. Along with the Newcastle Photo Walk group, I had the opportunity to drop along and these are the images from the (wet) day.

Photos : A day of thing #2

JawD — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 12:36:00 +0000

Photos : A 4th Birthday Party

JawD — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 19:15:37 +0000