High Force

Children playing in the sun at High Force waterfall, North Yorkshire.

Angus

A well cared-for angus yearling shelters from the cold winter in Wallhouses, Northumbria. If you open it full-size you can even see a tear in its eye. Aw.

The Conspiracy

The other cows would laugh and call him names.

War Memorial

Newcastle upon Tyne

Cemetery, Blyth

Newcastle

Paddy Freemans

Wedding Day

Barcelona

Heathrow Terminal 5

Marsden in Black & White

Cullercoats

After yesterday's disappointment, I decided to try again this morning, this time in Cullercoats. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't on my side, and the sky was flat and grey, so no light at all. This black and white image was the best I could muster under the circumstances.

South Shields

This morning was my first trip out with the camera in months, due to a busy work life and a lack of energy for early summer mornings. I was very rusty, and it shows. These were the only three images I managed to rescue.

EXIF: 50mm : f/1.8 : 24secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 1.2 ND : Lee Big Stopper

 

I'd picked an uninspiring spot along the South Shields coastline (I won't be going back), so I opted for some close-ups of the rocks instead. This kind of thing irritates me, as it gives no sense of place, but then I guess it's better than coming home empty-handed!

EXIF: 50mm : f/1.8 : 15secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Soft Grad : Lee 1.2 ND : Lee Big Stopper

 

There's something I find extremely fascinating about wide-aperture long exposure, that I'd like to explore more. Long exposures are usually shot at very narrow aperture for maximum depth-of-field, and to increase the amount of time the shutter can be held open.

EXIF: 50mm : f/1.8 : 25secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Soft Grad : Lee 1.2 ND : Lee Big Stopper

 

I've been experimenting with extreme neutral density (11-stops) to get a reasonably long exposure time, yet with a very narrow depth-of-field, which leads to some interesting and unusual shots. I just need to get them looking good now :)

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.

Newbiggin by the Sea II: The Resoakening

I took a trip out to Newbiggin by the Sea this morning to test-drive my new waders (a birthday gift from my other half). I took full advantage of them, wading up to my knees to a good vantage point at the far south end of the village where I managed to get a few decent shots.

EXIF: 50mm : f/16 : 261secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Hard Grad : Lee 0.9 ND Soft Grad : Lee 1.2 ND : Lee Big Stopper

 

It was also the first time out with my new camera bag: the Kata W-94. I was getting a little tired of my equipment being washed out to sea because I had to leave my bag on the rocks behind me, so I decided to try this waist-pack so that I could keep everything with me at all times.

EXIF: 50mm : f/16 : 122secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Hard Grad : Lee 1.2 ND : Lee Big Stopper

 

The bag is fantastic, and waterproof too. Lots of space and plenty of protection, and the build quality is just as good as Lowepro (which have served me well throughout the years). All in all, I was very impressed, despite the heavy price-tag.

EXIF: 50mm : f/16 : 76secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Hard Grad : Lee 1.2 ND : Lee Big Stopper

 

The south end of the beach at Newbiggin is far more photogenic than the north end towards Church Point, with some interesting rock formations. Try to catch it just after high tide, with the the tide heading out for the best shots, as it gets a bit sparse once the sea level drops.

EXIF: 50mm : f/16 : 12secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Hard Grad : Lee 1.2 ND : Lee Big Stopper

 

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.

Dunstanburgh Castle

Total waste of a journey up to Dunstanburgh Castle yesterday morning. Firstly, I was unaware that the castle itself was a 40 minute trek from the nearest car park, so I missed sunrise altogether and only just caught a glimpse of magic hour.

To make things worse, the tide was way out by the time I got to the North side of the castle so there were precious few of those famous black boulders in the surf for a good long exposure shot. I had to walk miles out to get a shot with even a few rocks in the water - this was the only one I got.

I also discovered that Dunstanburgh Castle is yet another of those uninspiring landmarks along our coastline that only really comes to life through an ultra-wide angle lens. I love the simplicity of my single 50mm prime setup, and really don't want to be buying more lenses, but sometimes it's difficult to create a dramatic image with such a pedestrian focal length!

EXIF: 50mm : f/16 : 122secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Hard Grad : Lee 1.2 ND : Lee Big Stopper

 

The second of my disappointing shots from yesterday's trip to Dunstanburgh Castle. I was so uninspired by the castle itself, I decided to call it a day and home with only a single half-decent shot on the card, despite having woken at 4am specially to shoot it.

On my way back, I saw this submerged gate in a flooded field that looked quite interesting. There were no great compositions to be had, as the landscape around the pond was so awkward and cluttered (I would have liked to have isolated it) and most the of the viewpoints around it were cut off by the water - I need some waders!

The best I could do was to use my hard grad to black out the mound behind it, and make the most of those lovely magic hour highlights. Unfortunately the shot was pretty much ruined by the horrible flare right across the middle (which I couldn't see on the LCD at the time). Looks pretty interesting nonetheless.

EXIF: 50mm : f/1.8 : 8secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Hard Grad : Lee 1.2 ND : Lee Big Stopper

 

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.

Whitburn

We had our first decent sunrise in weeks this morning, so I headed down to Whitburn to photograph the famous arch. Unfortunately, the tide was higher than expected and I couldn't actually get to it, so I settled in the bay just around the corner.

EXIF: 50mm : f/16 : 242secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Hard Grad : Lee 0.9 ND Soft Grad : Lee Big Stopper

 

My 3-stop soft grad struggled to keep the sun under control without crushing the blacks in the rocks to the right. At times this like this, I could really do with another soft grad to layer on top, as the hard grad just isn't suitable for this kind of shot.

EXIF: 50mm : f/16 : 47secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Soft Grad : Lee Big Stopper

 

I wanted a shallow DoF shot of the wet pebbles, so I had to use a whopping 14-stops of ND to get a long exposure at f/2.0. The result was quite nice, though I would have liked to have experimented a little more. Unfortunately, I was kneeling in the surf at this point, with my precious camera about 6" above the water, and the sea-spray was quite overwhelming.

EXIF: 50mm : f/2.0 : 16secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Soft Grad : Lee Big Stopper : Lee 1.2 ND

 

I always kick myself after taking shots like these, as they say nothing about the surrounding environment - they could have been taken anywhere - but I just find rock formations like this absolutely fascinating!

EXIF: 50mm : f/16 : 80secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Soft Grad : Lee Big Stopper

 

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.

Klarty Kids Collection

Babies and kids are always so much more natural when they're covered in food! These are some of my favourites from my great niece's first birthday party at the weekend.

Click on any of the photos to see them full-size against black.

EXIF: 50mm : Av Mode : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4

Blyth at Sunrise

It was raining cats n’ dogs in Blyth this morning, so I took refuge under the pier. The angles and lines are great down there, though the colour is very drab and grey - hence the black n’ white adjustment!

Click on the photo to see it full-size, or buy a print (from only £1.51)

EXIF: 50mm : f/8.0 : 1/40sec : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Hard Grad : Lee 0.9 ND Soft Grad : Lee Big Stopper

Blyth at Sunrise

The sky was grey and colourless this morning, but this looks nice in monochrome. It’s just a shame about the burnt-out sun. I wish I could blur out the sea like this, but keep the crisp detail in the clouds!

Click on the photo to see it full-size, or buy a print (from only £1.51)

EXIF: 50mm : f/16.0 : 46sec : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Hard Grad : Lee 0.9 ND Soft Grad : Lee Big Stopper