Thursday, July 29, 2004
Golden Age of Steam
All through the Summer months steam trains are running on the National Rail Network between York and the seaside town of Scarbourgh.
The plan is for these trains to be hauled by the famous 4472 Flying Scotsman which has just been saved for the nation.
Having never visited the area before I used www.multimap.com to identify possible locations to photograph the train.
The area around Kirkham Priory looked promising so I arrived with plenty of time to look around the area.
The signalman in the Grade 2 listed signal box confirmed the train was due at 12:30 but was being hauled today by standby locomotive Black 5 45407
I finally selected a point on the hillside overlooking the valley to photograph the passing of the train.
The addition of some grain and a sepia tone look gives the final image a feel that means the image could have been taken in the 40’s or 50’s.
Time 12:32pm Shutter 1/350 Aperture F6.7
Monday, July 26, 2004
Transporter Bridge, Middlesbrough
The Transporter Bridge is one of Middlesbrough’s most popular icons and a symbol of Middlesbrough’s industrial past.
The bridge is a total of 851 feet (259.3 metres) in length which makes it the longest operational Transporter Bridge in the world
As a place to photograph it’s good at anytime of the day.
During the winter the bridge is also flood light.
Time 09:59am Shutter 1/250 Aperture F13
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Challenging Light
The light today was challenging.
So it required a little bit of care and good technique to produce the image above.
What you are looking at is two exposures of the same view taken with a tripod mounted camera.
One image was exposed for the sky and the other for the landscape.
Then I combined them in Adobe Photoshop and used a graduated fade to merge them together.
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Swaledale, North Yorkshire
Swaledale in North Yorkshire is a beautiful part of England.
It was made famous by the country vet James Heriot and the long-running TV series All Creatures Great and Small
The key to capturing the beauty of the Yorkshire Dales is, as always, the position of the sun, the time of the day and the time of the year.
As its mid morning in the height of summer you can see the light is coming from the right of the frame and sun is high in the southern sky.
The position of the barn is also an important part of the composition.
Time 10:40am Shutter 1/180 Aperture F11
Monday, July 05, 2004
Oxford, England
Sometimes you just have to visit somewhere twice!
The picture on the left was taken on Saturday when the weather was not great with plenty of grey cloud.
The one on the right was taken today when the sun did me proud.
Time 09:54am Shutter 1/60 Aperture F22
Sunday, July 04, 2004
Texture
I do like a good texture.
This is a close up of the River Thames at Abingdon in Oxfordshire.
What you are looking at is the blue sky and white clouds reflected and distorted by the water.
Saturday, July 03, 2004
Not to be Moved
Today I visited the Didcot Railway Centre, home of the Great Western Society and its collection of Great Western Railway steam engines, coaches and wagons.
These types of museums are great places to explore with your camera.
In this image I have chosen to pick out a small detail rather than show the whole steam locomotive.
Friday, July 02, 2004
Kennet and Avon canal, Newbury
Whenever you visit a new place it is always worth having a look around, deciding what would be nice to photograph, even if the weather is not too good.
So this evening I went for a walk by the Kennet and Avon canal in Newbury, Berkshire – my first visit to the town.
The warm evening light on the church tower caught my eye but everything else was in shadow, so I had to ensure I did not over expose the shot.
To reduce the contrast and bring up the shadow detail I have used a graduated fade in Adobe Photoshop.
Hopefully I will get chance to visit the same spot again a little earlier in the day.
Time 20:55 Shutter 1/125 Aperture F5.6
Thursday, July 01, 2004
Newcastle upon Tyne
I spent some time in Newcastle upon Tyne today.
From the late 17th century shipbuilding was one of the great industries associated with Newcastle so I was looking for a picture which combined shipbuilding and the River Tyne.
This view shows the Swan Hunter shipyard in Wallsend and Royal Fleet Auxiliary support tanker Orangeleaf.
I was trying to do something combining the river, the colourful cranes and the tanker.
To compress everything together I used a 28 – 200m zoom set at the 200mm end.
Time 16:58 Shutter 1/500 Aperture F6.7
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