Aruna Ratanagiri Monastery, Northumberland

I was eager to continue my experiments with inland photography, so I took a short drive up to Belsay this morning. I'd been that way numerous times on my motorbike, and figured that with the right light, it would be pretty breathtaking. I didn't know at the time that it would lead me to one of the most bizarre mornings I've ever experienced.

EXIF: 50mm : f/1.4 : 1/250 sec : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4

 

I passed a huge hill that offered the best possible vantage point looking east toward the coast, and turned into a side-road to see if I could get up there. The road led all the way to the top, where a farm - or at least what I thought was a farm - was situated with 360˚ views of the Northumbrian hills.

When I got out of the car, I was met by a friendly Dutchman by the name of Herman. At first I thought he might be the farmer, and that I was about to be kicked off his land - that was until he offered to make me some breakfast!

EXIF: 50mm : f/16 : 1/15 sec : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4

 

I politely declined, as I didn't have much time before magic hour and I wanted to explore the hillside for the best possible viewpoint, and went on my way.

With the sun tucked between the trees, my ND Grads weren't much use, so I took the opportunity to experiment with HDR. I've tried it in the past, and was never satisfied with the results, but I was determined to get it right. All of my wide landscape shots are HDR, albeit very subtle (I'm not a big fan of over-processed HDR).

EXIF: 50mm : f/1.4 : 1/15 sec : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4

 

Further down the hill, I found a tiny broken-down play park, with some makeshift swings and a crooked old bridge. When I leaned against one of the supporting trees, it almost came down on top of me, as the whole thing was rotted and brittle.

What made this place all the more weird was the strange singing noise drifting down from the top of the hill on the wind. It was very slight, but I was sure it was definitely not my tinnitus, and in the dead silence of the morning was actually quite comforting.

EXIF: 50mm : f/1.4 : 1/40 sec : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4

 

When I returned to the car, Herman was waiting for me, and told me had a surprise for me. With a glint in his eye, he took me to what I thought was the farm building at the top of the hill, and invited me inside. It was in fact a working Buddhist monastery, and the singing I had heard on the hillside had been the monks.

Inside the monastery was a beautiful Buddhist temple that Herman told me he had helped to build some twenty years ago from the ruins of an old farm building. It sounds odd to say it, but the building filled me with an overwhelming sense of goodwill.

EXIF: 50mm : f/1.4 : 1/400 sec : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4

 

He made me a cup of tea, and told me that he and his wife travel across from Holland each year to spend four weeks looking after the monks. The monks apparently can't cook for themselves, nor do their own gardening (for fear of killing worms and other creatures), so they're somewhat dependant on kindly volunteers to help them get by.

It was a strange little place, and yet very tranquil. Herman and his wife were lovely people, and even the sheep were quite sociable. My only regret was that I didn't get a photograph of Herman, although I did get his email address to send him some of my pictures.

EXIF: 50mm : f/1.4 : 1/200 sec : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4

 

Click on any of the photos to see them full-size against black, and please do leave a comment below if you like the photos.