Whitby Swing Bridge

It was a blustery day day the last time we visited Whitby.

Different Perspective

Coming around the South side of the abbey I spotted a different view which I captured with my Samsung phone camera.

Whitby Abbey

I took a walk around Whitby Abbey at the weekend, as usual I didn't have my camera but my Samsung phone camera stepped in to the breach. This is the view looking due West.
Whitby Abbey was Bramstokers resting place of Dracula.

Mount Taranaki

Libby is currently out in New Zealand and sent back this shot of Mount Taranaki

Boat Trip

We finally got the boat out in the sea and took it for a spin past the wind farm.

Game of 2 Halves (part 2)

I travelled North to the Northumberland coast yesterday to a small village called Beadnell accompanied by my daughters for a dive on a reef that I've had my eye on for several years. Several reefs run East/West from the shore and reach around 8 to 10m deep. We picked one with easy access called Nacker Hole, entered from the beach, navigated through a gap in the rock and turned eastwards out to sea. The water wasn't very warm but the visibility was quite good for general UK diving, a complete turn around from Sundays dive.
I took my camera and got some reasonable (in my book!) shots of the girls but I made a small error with my lens. With supplementary lenses an effect called vignette can occur where the primary camera lens picks up the edge of the supplementary lens in the corner of the photo, this can be eliminated by slightly zooming in. Care must be taken not to zoom in any more than is necessary as this will negate the benefits of  the wide angle lens.
My need for reading glasses has meant I missed a bit of vignette in the bottom corner of the photo but also meant I can't see the camera settings very clearly on the display screen.... its time to admit defeat and take a trip to Denney Diving in Redcar to talk about prescription lenses in a dive mask for my camera work.

Vignette bottom left

Game of 2 Halves (part 1)

I was at Ellerton Waterpark on Sunday with 2 of my buddies, Martin and Steve, and although the water wasn't cold it was distinctly green! Luckily my supplementary wide angle lens meant I could close the distance between the camera and the subject and reduce the amount of suspended matter in the foreground of the shot.

Steve in the green

Martin in a dry drysuit for once

Lions Teeth

Les dent de lion. Apparently, or so I think I was once told, the shape of the petals of the dandelion flower resemble lions teeth and that's where the name came from. Well that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
I think that maybe a spot of extra light might have been beneficial but it was shot in super macro, f/8, ISO-80, 1/125 sec.

Zoom

I spotted this bunch of newly hatched spiders on the fence at home. You may have to zoom in to say them though. I shot them in super macro, f/11, 1/50 sec and ISO-80 and a small amount of post production.

More Macro

I saw this flower while I was out and about, somebody may be able to tell me what it is but I think its a Red Campion.
It was taken in super macro, f/8, 1/160 sec and ISO-80

Reassurance

I've seen this tree on lots of occasions, there are several like it but this one seemed to be standing defiantly and proud on its own. I find big old trees like these very reassuring. The tree stands close the tiny village of Upleatham.
The photo was taken with my Olympus C7070, f11, 1/80 sec and ISO-80

Dog Walk

I've had a week off and finished it with a final walk with the dog who is now fast asleep in his bed. I took a mixture of long shots, macro and super macro shots.
How many times do we look at something without actually seeing it? This Dandelion head caught my eye and Ted waited patiently while I experimented with my super macro mode.
ISO 80, f11 and 1/100 sec.

Sunset on the Beach

The sea looks like its finally settling down now after several weeks of storms and strong winds.

Cliff House

Its been a long ,cold and wet winter and so it was a great relief to see some sunshine at last.

Uncovering the Past

A forest once grew along what is now the North East coast, presumably crossing the area that is now the mouth of the river Tees. Around 7000 years ago the sea level rose and the forest was flooded and what was left onshore was cut down to allow for farming and more recently housing and industry. 

Last weeks storms removed the top layer of sand along our stretch of coast line and uncovered an area of petrified forest on Redcar beach which is currently visible around the low tide mark. This area does become uncovered every 10 or 20 years and stretches from Hartlepool to Redcar. It generated lots of interest and big crowds have gathered every low tide, I wasn't alone in finding it fascinating to look at trees from 7000 years ago

In the Snow Again

These are the last pictures from a rather brisk walk in the snow at Marske Headlands in the middle of last weeks snow. They were taken on my Samsung S5.

Beast |From the East

The much publicised storm hit the UK yesterday, sweeping in along the East coast. I was out with the dog late yesterday afternoon after work and managed to get some snaps on my phone. It would be fair to say that Ted isn't overly excited by the snow.

And Finally

Here's the last ones of my snowy walk for now.

Winter Sunset

The end of a great day.

Health and Safety

First of all I'd like to say I had a pretty normal and responsible father and a normal safe childhood. With that said and looking back we did some pretty adventurous stuff as kids and I've tried to carry that on with my offspring.
This photo looks less than responsible but in actual fact the water was only a few feet deep below the ice. I increased the shutter speed to eliminate blurring and increased the aperture.
ISO 80, f3.5 and 1/200 sec

Black and White

I spent several winters in Norway with the army and the one thing that struck me on my return to the UK was the colours. It was a similar sense on our walk at Sutton Bank but I have exaggerated the feeling using black and white.

Sutton Bank

I went for a walk near Sutton Bank in North Yorkshire yesterday in the snow.