Keswick...

Apologies for the large absence of posts recently, I have been rather busy of late.  Moving out of my uni accommodation (passed first year with a 2:1!), packing my stuff away at home, shooting a conference over a couple of days for my Dad, and I have been on holiday with Sarah in Keswick, which was amazing!

So Sarah and I looked at the weather forecast for the week in Keswick and it didn't look too good.  Rain every day and a tiny, tiny bit of sunshine.  Oh dear.  But we weren't going to let that stop us!  The first day took us to the bottom of Derwent Water, so we could walk from the village of Grange, past the Bowderstone, through Watendlath, then on to Lodore falls and catch a bus back into Keswick.

Bowderstone.

The Bowderstone is a 2000 ton stone, 300 feet high, carried here by glaciers of the Ice Age.  Quite impressive!  Having climbed onto the stone (I say climbed, I mean walked up the steps...), we walked on for a fairly long time, taking in all the wonderful views, until we came to the beginning of the Lodore Woods.  We spent a while working out which way was the right way to go and we were on our way again.  We then came to a part of the river that feeds Lodore Falls, which was very fast flowing.  I made my first exposure of the holiday here.  I also used the 5x4 for the first time at this location.  It took me a while to set up, and for my trouble I got attacked by bugs!

Up from Lodore Falls.  

The next mountain that Sarah and I conquered was Skiddaw, the fourth highest mountain in the lakes.  The day started off fairly warm.  It was a good day to climb to the top, and the views were spectacular!

 The views from the ridge on the way to Skiddaw.  

Unfortunately, when we finally made it to the top of the summit the weather turned and within 10mins of reaching the top, we were in the middle of a cloud!  It wasn't all bad though, before the cloud covered us, we could see such fantastic views! We could see all the way to Scotland!  Even though I didn't manage to get any photos at the top, I did manage to get some on the way up, and it was still a very enjoyable walk.  

The third walk that Sarah and I did, was the Threlkeld Railway walk, followed by a trip down to the lakeside.  This was an easy walk compared to the previous walks that we had completed, but the old railway line offered views and scenery as spectacular as the views from the mountains!  Along the way there some information boards. These boards had info about how the railway line was constructed, the towns it went to and came from, and it also pointed out interesting things to look out for along the way, including mile markers, old level crossing gates and signal posts.  

The Threlkeld Railway. 

Having completed the Railway walk, we went to the lakeside.  Here I tried lots of compositions, trying to incorporate the rocks in the lake, Derwent Isle, and other things that I found interesting.  I found some interesting posts that were jutting out of the water.  These must be the remains of an old pier or jetty.  Having made some exposures with my 7D, I decided to set up the 5x4.  Whilst I was setting up, a photographer who sitting down the beach noticed the camera I was using and came over to have a conversation about equipment, approaches to photography and other things.  

Derwent Water

The fourth and final walk that Sarah and I completed, was the Ashness Bridge walk.  The weather was perfect for walking.  It was sunny and warm, with a nice breeze over the tops of the fells.  We got a bus to the bottom of Ashness Bridge, and walked up the lane to the bridge.  We stopped to rest and cool off, and for me to do some photos.  

Ashness Bridge.  

I felt that this view warranted me to use the 5x4, so I set up and shot one slide of film here.  After I had packed up, we walked up and over to Walla Crag.  On the way, we had some stunning views across Derwent Water, to Catbells and Maiden Moore.  

We carried on over to the top of Walla Crag, stopping for lunch on the way.  At the top of Walla Crag, I shot images to stitch into a panorama.  I also set up The 5x4 here too, and had another photography related chat with some fell runners.  We set off again, down from the top, down to the river that runs through Springs Wood.  We then walked through town back to our flat, where we soaked our feet in cold water! 

The 5x4 on Walla Crag.

Later that evening we headed down to the lakeside for the last time this holiday, and we were greeted by an amazing sunset.  This was the perfect end to a perfect holiday.  Sarah and I were very lucky with the weather.  The days we decided to walk we had lovely weather; sunny and warm, with some cloud cover which suited us both! I like the clouds for my photos, and Sarah like the sun!  The days that we decided not to walk, there was some light rain, but it was still warm.  

Sunset over Derwent Water.  

The gorgeous Sarah and I.

I would just like to say thank you to Sarah for being so patient with me when I was in the 'zone' taking photographs, and for all of your support and suggestions of what to photograph when I had one of my many 'photography blanks'!  And I would also like to say thank you for an awesome holiday!

Thats all for now, I'll have the film developed when i'm back at uni and share the results on here.  More photos from the holiday can be seen on my Flickr page 

Enjoy!

G

I came home for the Bank holiday weekend, and amidst the all of the work that I was doing, I managed to get out and about and shoot some photos.  I went out in the evening, and the light was perfect.  I took my 7D, 35mm, and Bronica with me, and managed to shoot a roll of film for each of the film camera's (which hopefully I'll be developing today) and a few shots digitally.

I am working on a new website which should hopefully be up and running soon.  I'll put a link to it on here so you can all see.  My deadlines for my last projects are looming, so I probably won't be posting as much, but after my deadlines I'll have more time to shoot and post on here.

Enjoy!

G

A Night On The Town...

This evening I went into town to get a shot for one of my briefs.  Having got the shots I needed, I made a quick detour into a car park near by.  I was struck by how calm these empty spaces seemed, amidst the still busy city.  Also, the ambient light was just right, it wasn't completely pitch black, but the street lights had come on, which made for an interesting blend of natural and ambient light, as well as fluorescent light.  I had to play around with the colour balance to get the images looking realistic.

I have a lot of work to finish at the moment, but also some days off coming up.  Hopefully if the weather is nice I'll be able to take a walk and see if I find anything to shoot.  I also have film to develop and scan, so I'll be sharing those with you soon.

Enjoy,

G

A Day in London....

Just a quick post today.  I recently went to London with Mum, Dad and Henry for Henry's birthday surprise, which was a lovely outing!  I managed to shoot 4 rolls of film, and around 100 frames on my 7D.  I found that I could 'see' more photos when shooting film, than I could when shooting digitally.  I will hopefully get the film developed by the end of this week, so keep looking!

Enjoy,

G

Sunny fields

Its been quite sunny in Milton Keynes recently so a couple of days ago, I decided to head out into the countryside around Milton Keynes to see what I could find.  I took my 5x4 and a couple of sheets of film loaded into a dark slide.  I knew that there are oilseed rape fields nearby, and I knew that the colours will be nice and saturated on the Velvia 100 I used.  I took me a while to find a suitable place to stop and setup  my tripod, in the end I had to go through a gap in the bushes and place my tripod through a fence which was rather had to work the camera! I also managed to shoot another panorama further up the road, but the file is too big, but you can see it here.  This is a stitch of 6 portrait orientated images, overlapping by 30%-40%.  This is to make it easier for the software to stitch the photos together.

I am hopefully going to be able to shoot some more soon, and i'll share the results with you.  I am also going to London with the family for Henry's 21'st birthday day out.  I might be able to get a few shots there too.  That's all for now!

Enjoy,

G

Parental Visitation.....

This weekend I had some very special people visit me....Mummy and Daddy!  It was nearly two months since I had seen them last! That's the longest I've been away from home!  They took me for meals, did a food shop for me, and we even went to see the fireworks and the bonfire in Hyde Park!  It was lovely to see Mum and Dad again, and I can't wait to see them again at Christmas!

On Saturday, Mum and Dad took me to Malham Cove, which is in the Yorkshire Dales.  When I woke up, the sky was a flat pale grey.  Not very nice to be taking landscape photos in!  I was picked up at 10 O'Clock, and we made our way to Malham Cove.  After a little detour around some roadworks, we finally arrived in Malham!  The sky had completely transformed.  There were now light clouds, and the light was amazing!  It was the sort of light that you get in the evening, but it was half one/two O'Clock!

After we had walked up to the top (I say walked, it was more like a climb!), I set my camera up.  The view from the top was amazing! I could see for miles, and they was a slight hazy mist on the horizon, which was perfect.  The limestone pavement was spectacular, I suggest you go if you ever get the chance!  It was like standing on giant teeth made of stone!  And to my surprise, some of the rocks moved when I stepped on them!  I would love to go back, there are so many photographs I could make!  I also shot a panorama, which Blogger couldn't upload, but you can find it on my flickr page, here.  May I suggest that you click on all sizes, and then original.

I would like to say thank you very much Mum and Dad, for a lovely weekend!

Enjoy!

G

Once Again......

Once again I headed up to Hyde Park this morning.  On my way up to Hyde Park, I thought I'd photograph the hill I now have to walk up everyday for college.  I may even use this image in my landscape brief.  I took two photos, and merged them in photoshop.  I took one exposure for the sky, and one exposure for the foreground.  In photoshop, I then masked out the sky in the foreground exposure, to reveal the sky of the sky exposure.

The light was amazing this morning; it had that warm but cold feeling to it, the kind of light you only get early in the morning in the winter time.  Its my favourite light to photograph in!  I love the shadows and pools of light leading my eye through the bottom image.  Even though i've taken many photos in Hyde Park, I find the light is forever changing, and I always find new compositions, and different things to photograph that I didn't notice the last time I was there.

Enjoy!

G

Monsters in Leeds.....

Hello good people of the internet, many apologies for my lack of blog postage over the past few days, I've been visiting my lovely girlfriend Sarah, who is the best,  at university in York.  York is a wonderful city, I suggest you go if you should ever get the chance, there is a fantastic fudge shop, that gives free samples. I'm yet to try this, but I'm going to take multiple outfits with me and keep walking past, maybe even get a fake moustache....You lucky people are getting two blog posts squeezed into one today, just because I'm too lazy to write two individual ones. 

Anyway, back to the matter at hand.  Sarah and I went on a walk, and it was like walking into another world.  Its odd; if you turn left out of Sarah's accommodation, you find yourself in the uni campus, but if you turn right you end up in the middle of some fields!  The light was really strange; there was bright sunshine, and there was this strange mist in the distance that made everything seem to fade away.  I have a feeling we will be walking along here quite often.  

I went on a walk around the back streets around my accommodation today, to get some photos for my Landscape brief.  I'm happy with the results, but will keep shooting, refining my ideas and shooting style for this brief.  

On my trip, I had a horrible surprise.  I was walking along minding my own business, looking at how the light was falling on the street and the houses, when suddenly I stepped in something squidgy.  I thought to myself, 'please don't be what I think it is!'  I looked down, and sure enough I saw a monster pile of excrement, spread allover the pavement.  Now, there must be some sort of creature stalking the streets of Leeds, because no dog I know of could have produced something as rancid as that.  But don't fret, I've cleaned my shoes and they're all squeaky clean now.  

Anyway, here are the results of my travels.  

Enjoy!

G

Visually explore your new surroundings.....

This was shot for my assignment, re-viewing your surroundings.  Although it probably won't be used in the final 4 images I need, I think it is a good starting point.  When I looked at it on my mac, it reminded me of a photographers work, who's name I forget.  I'm just about to go on a walk now, so if I get anything worthy of sharing, I will!

G

Fenced Off

This is the second image of the ten photos I had to shoot for my project.  I struggled a bit with this one, Its hard to make an image that will be different and interesting compared to the others in the group.  Anyway, I hope you find this interesting....

G