Return to The Lakes

So I had to go to Edinburgh again. I do like Edinburgh for it's photogenic opportunities, however as I had to go by car, I wanted to stop somewhere on route to get the perfect sunrise.

My attempts were somewhat thwarted by the fact that on the morning, and only the morning of my visit, the clouds came out to play as well! I plodded on though and snapped the lakes although it would have been so much more gratifying should there had been a great sunrise like that of recent.

The drive was long and mostly dark as I wanted to be at Glenridding in Cumbria by 6am to be sure of enough time to set up my gear. Travelling by night is so much less stressful than during the day, the only other people on the road are lorry drivers so no jams, and best of all, nobody threatening to beat me up which seems to happen more and more frequent these days...

I arrived at my first stop and set my camera up on its tripod and adjusted the settings.

The sun rose behind the clouds and the day started, the lake at Ullswater Lake at Glenridding appeared glass like as it lay still, the hilltops and surroundings reflected quite amazingly so I took as many shots as I could before starting off again in the direction of Edinburgh.

The scenery in the UK is so amazing it's quite a shame that people decide to travel abroad for there holidays. Saying that I'm not so sure that most folk would appreciate this type of view rather than that of a bar, pool, beer and somewhere to get laid so maybe that's for the best, eh?

I really must plan a trip to span over a few weeks to get north and spend some time photographing this wonderful country

Back.. With a difference!

Hello all, I'm back. I've been a bit busy just recently, however not with the shows. I have been concentrating on other areas of the photo taking business, trying to head back to the roots with landscape, portrait and fine art photography.
I have decided to head away from music based photography for my own reasons including that I feel that I have achieved exactly what I set out to, and so far feel utterly content with the decision that I have reached. One thing I don't want to feel is that taking photographs is 'just a job' and I kind of feel that it was beginning to feel that way. I may stick only to the festivals for the music and leave the gigs to those who feel passionate about them.

Anyway, enough! I am including in today's diary update a couple of shots that I took yesterday on my way to Eastbourne. One of them is this glorious toadstool. I have never seen something as big as this bad boy and had to put it on film.

This is the right time of year to find fungi, what with the damp and dark conditions. This particular variety is a Fly Agaric and I found it on some remote country road in the heart of East Sussex. Although plant life isn't something I've ever really been interested in, I felt that I couldn't pass this puppy without shooting it!

When I reached Eastbourne and finished what I went there for, I took the small drive up the lane to Beachy Head, as I want to put a few Lighthouse shots into my archive. It took me some time to find this viewpoint, but I'm glad that I did. I will return to BH again to shoot this view in more stormy conditions. It would be good if I could find a lower view of the house, or even locate another lighthouse that can offer a more dramatic scene. This will give me something to research before I return to that part of the South Coast. If you ever get the chance to go to Eastbourne, and of course Beachy Head, I highly recommend it. It really is stunning with loads to photograph including the windswept trees, amazing views and a huge area to wander up above the rest of the world.