Richmond N Yorks

7 October 2012

Good grief, has it been so long since I add to this one?  A regular comment on old school reports comes to mind; "Must try harder!"

So here we go then.  Left home at 7am; arrived in Richmond a 10.30am even though we stopped twice on the way up.  The weather was good and dry and didn't start to cool down until we began driving home.  Both trips were problem free; no traffic hold ups and traffic overall was pretty light for a Saturday.  So first stop was to the bank to get some dosh.  Then we walked down to the Castle Inn for a drink - but it was too early.  So off we went for a wobble and looked around the indoor market where Jan bought a new beady necklace thingy.  By the time we had walked around and back to the Castle it was open.

Here it be on the inside ... 

It's been done out completely and looks a lot better.  Over the bar is this ...   

The Castle Inn is where Jan and I first met, but we did like how the pub has been renovated.  You can stop there for £75 a night if want.  We left there after a drink and looking across the road we saw this ...   

That's the Castle Keep. 

We got up to the top hill and sat for a rest on the benches outside the Green Howards Museum.  There on the floor was this plaque ...  

Across the road from us was the Market Cross ... 

yes I know, there is no cross.  If it looks as if it's slanting to the left, it is and not my image.  I noticed it from the other side.  From there we drove down to the River Swale where there are number of waterfalls which look good even if they are a bit small ...

This is how water should look like in a photo; not the soft creamy looking stuff that so many snappers produce.  Here you can see the force behind all that water coming off the Dales! 

We drove along the river to a small car park at the bottom of the town and got these two shots ... 

From there we headed off to Reeth but I only got pub signs from there.  We decided that seeing as I haven't been to Barnard Castle and that Jan hasn't been there for more years than she's known me, that's where we headed ... until we saw a sign for the Tan Hill Inn.

I don't know if you know but the Tan Hill Inn is the highest pub in England and is well worth a visit at some time.  Here's the pub ... 

and across the road, here's the view.  

I'm not very good with landscapes so I don't do too many of them but seeing as were so close we decided to go to Hawes, another place I wanted a look around.  On the way we found this ... 

the upper reaches of the River Swale and this viaduct at Garsdale was a welcome surprise ...  

Hawes is an OK place but we didn't hang around and headed off to Sedbergh ready to pick up the M6 and drive home.  It all sounds a bit flat I suppose but it was a full day and good fun for us both. 

Well, that's a flavour of what we did yesterday.  To see all 56 images, have a look at my flickr stream on ...  http://www.flickr.com/photos/15764683@N00/   Your comments of course will be welcome.

I promise to try to remember to do more on this blog in future ;-)))          

New eyes needed

13 May 2012

Yesterday saw Jan and me heading off to North Norfolk for the day.  It was a hit 'n miss sort of day really.  It was meant to be a birding day, and was which was the hit.  But at the same time we also do some snapping while we are out and about.  I got just eleven images out of 120 that are of anything good enough quality to be useful. 

I have a 500mm Samyang mirror lens which was pretty much a waste of time taking it with us.  I'm afraid my eye sight is not good enough able to get the focusing right on a manual focus lens.  I think it may appear on eBay soon.  So here's one from yesterday then ...

Lots of tips and know how, disablity and the snapper

24 April 2012

Our current issue of Digital Camera arrived yesterday.  I like the mag and Jan was so impressed with it that she arranged a subscription for it.  When I read these mags I want to rush out and try all the skills they cover.  I’m the same with Amateur Photographer too.  Then I hit the big brick wall!  Which one shall I try?  There are so many of them that at times I can get a tad lost in it all. 

I’m thinking of going out for a few hours soon, just a ride down through the park and around to Sainsburys for some salad bits for dinner tonight.  The weather isn’t all that good though with fairly low cloud cover with a brief murky look at blue sky.  That means changing all the settings on me Alpha 350 if I do go.  I stayed in all day yesterday because the weather forecast was for rain all day – yet we didn’t get any until later afternoon and even then it was raining for long.  I could do with going anyway cos AP is out today.  Speaking of which …  

One of the items I like in the photo-mags is the one where a staffer meets up with a reader and helps them improve the snapping.  It’s called The Photo Fixer in DC.  I’ve always fancied going on one of those but because of my limited mobility and having to use a scooter to get around, so I haven’t actually applied yet.  But I will do so soon I’m sure.

The issue of disability is a huge one even just for day to day life.  Add in hobbies like photography and birding (both of which I love), then it becomes even more difficult.  In most places councils have seen the problem and have provided dropped kerbs.  That’s fine in towns and cities here in the UK, but abroad things are not so good.  But actually, they are not all that good in some areas of the UK either.  Morecombe being one in particular we were not impressed with.  Zoos are good as long as they not built on hills as is Belfast Zoo and Dudley Zoo.  Town parks are usually good too.  But get out in the countryside and we have major problems in most areas.  All the best photo sites are in areas where it is extremely difficult if not impossible for disabled snapper to get to.  The Lake District, Peak District, the Scottish Highlands, Dartmoor and so on are on the whole no go areas for us scooter users.  But even locally there are problems.

Brandon Marsh is the HQ for Warwickshire Wildlife Trust.  There is a safe and accessible pathway around part of the site but to my mind the best areas for birds and photos are not accessible at all to scooter or wheelchairs.  And so it goes on.

Another item in the photo mags I like is the readers’ letters.  In the new DC the start letter is about buying a camera at a lower price from aboard than you can get it here in the UK.  The writer paid £850(ish) for his new Canon and now found out that seeing it was bought from abroad Canon are unlikely to honour the warranty for it … opps … not such a good but then.  A second letter fits me to tee!  One of the joys of reading these mags is the first rate photos in them.  Many a time I have looked at some of the images and thought, “That’s it – I give up!”  I just can’t see myself getting any shots like them.  Ian Hamilton was feeling the same until he bought DC and used the enclosed DVD with it.  Now he has subscribed to it as well.     

A new camera?

21 April 2012

I think that I have mentioned that I really do fancy one of the new Sony Alpha 77 cameras - and I still do.  But I've been getting a bit jaded right now and I'm not sure that if I could afford a new 77, that it would make all that difference to my images anyway.  Here's one I got while away for a few days earlier this week ...

It's not all that good is it?  I'm not sure that I would have got any better with a 77.   

Now both Nikon and Canon have released new models costs mega-bucks.  But does the average snapper really need cameras like these two, or in fact a 77 either?  I bought an AP yesterday and guess what?  Ogden Chesnutt asks the same or similar questions but his view point is that the very best camera in the world is the one you have with you at the time.  That is why we should all carry a camera at all times.  But most of do don't we?

Most mobile phones these days have a camera within them.  My Blackberry does but I'm not all that impressed with the images it produces.  One of the letter writers in AP says that he loved his Nikon FM3A and what he would really like is for Nikon to take that camera and update it and make it a digital camera without any of the fancy trimmings that seem to go with the new DSLRs that being are thrust onto the cash paying public.  I agree with him but in my view it would the Minolta XD7 that would be updated. 

Think about it, do we really need ISO setting up to inter-seller figures?  Do we really the ability to use burst rates of 10, 11 or 12 frames per second?  Do we really need lenses like Sigma's 200-500mm tele-zoom at £12,999?  I remember seeing one ad for a Canon 1200mm lens going for £72,000!  Come on!  As a mate says, "There's a difference between farting and ripping your arse!" 

Look, one of the reason's I went for Alpha 350 in the first place was its weight.  I bought a copy of What Digital Camera and I used the tables in the rear of the mag to work out which was the lightest to carry around.  Next came price and  lastly came the range of kit that could be bought with it.  The overall winner for weight was the Olympus E510 but it was much more expensive and there were fewer lenses to go with it within the range I thought I would need.  The Alpha 350 came out on top in the price and kit range. 

Now look at the new kids on the block.  That new Canon weighs in at 950grams without batteries and cards.  The new Nikon weighs in a 1 kilo, and without a lens too.  I would argue that the famous 'man in street' doesn't need all that weight; doesn't need such high burst rates or high ISO speeds; doesn't need 200-500mm lenses - let alone a 12,000mm lens.  Even now I don't use my Alpha 350 to its maximum abilities, not because I can't do so but because I haven't come across the need to in what I shoot. 

Here's the type of image I like to get ... 

Today is market day but the weather forecast isn't so good so I'm staying.  I don't do landscapes cos I can't actually 'see' them (if you know what I mean), I rarely try portraits apart from the sort seen above. 

So do I really need the new Alpha 77?  Nope, I don't ... but when I can afford, I will be getting one ;-)))