Monday, April 27, 2015

Spring colour at Ditchley



I took a trip over to the Ditchley estate near Charlbury at the weekend, as there were quite an expanse of rape fields in full bloom and it would have been a shame to let them go to waste. The weather was a bit changeable, with the forecast to be quite stormy that evening, so I thought it might produce a dramatic sky for sunset.

Friday, April 24, 2015

North Yorkshire Day 2 – Sunrise, Staithes, Saltburn & sunset



Strolling down to Whitby harbour at 5.30 that morning, I was hoping for at least a blush of sunrise colour for my effort. The ocean on my left, and far below, as I walked along West Cliff in the cool pre-dawn air, seemed to have the consistency of molten lead, occasional, dull highlights fleetingly glimpsed and completely silent. In fact it seemed as if the whole town were hushed, the sound of my feet hitting the pavement the only thing disturbing the peace.

Once I had reached the end of West Cliff and descended the steps to sea level, I made my way along the outer reaches of the harbour towards the pier, just as the sky was beginning to come to life with dawn light. I walked onto the West Pier and saw that while the sky looked promising, with a smattering of clouds above, the horizon was out to possibly spoil things, with a thick bank of cloud reclining across the horizon in a disappointing ribbon.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

North Yorkshire Day 1 - Smugglers and vampires



Arriving in Whitby, located on the North Yorkshire coast, I was looking forward to a few days of photography along this scenic stretch of coastline. I had visited Yorkshire several times before, but due to its massive size, it’s by far the biggest county in Britain, I hadn’t reached the North York Moors and accompanying shoreline before.

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Stormy Swanage Seafront



Sunrise on the Sunday morning wasn’t much to write home about, mainly because I’d forgotten to set my alarm, so I slept through the whole thing. This annoyed me somewhat, until I looked out the window and saw the glowering clouds and dismal, hazy drizzle that peppered the window.

So, pleased I hadn’t missed much, I got my stuff together and headed out to Swanage seafront in case things brightened up a bit, plus I was up, so I felt as if I should do something. Apart from a couple of dog walkers I had the beach to myself at such an early hour, so I wandered along the blustery shore looking for something to catch my eye, and waited for the soupy spray to abate.