St Aidens Dunes and Bamburgh Castle

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Bamburgh Castle from Lindisfarne

Bamburgh Castle from Lindisfarne

I am slowly working through the photo shoot from last week - it just keeps getting better. By the end of the week I will try and put another slide show together.

Getting carried away,,,

So there I was standing on a cliff top wondering how wonderful it was to see Fulmar's had return to their nesting site - they hadn't been there earlier in the week. The are was empty of people and I was trying hard to capture the birds flying. Bliss.

Then I started to notice that the Fulmars were starting to fly very close to me. Great - even more opportunity to get that great photograph. This went on for about 10 minutes - I was marvelling at the flying ability of the Fulmar, its control of the air currents to get it really close to the cliff edge near to where I was standing. Then I suddenly realised why they were flying so close to me - it was me. I had got too close and they didn't like it and they were showing me their displeasure. Fortunately the penny dropped and I made a hasty retreat before they resorted to their fall back defence - which is very unpleasant indeed.

This just proves how easy it is to get carried away with what you are doing and forget that you an interloper into another creature's life. You should always remember this and not disturb the creatures you are observing. It is fine line to tread and this time I overstepped it. As I write this I feel somewhat embarrassed and chastened. Just to give you an idea as to how close the bird got the minimum focus of the lens I was using was 2.5 metres and as the photo below shows they were getting much closer than that.

Cold, grey and curlews...

Boy it was cold on Lindisfarne this morning. Worse than this it was dull and grey. Then only real highlight was capturing a Curlew going about its business. One of the things about cars is that most animals don't see them as a threat so they can be a really useful hide - certainly more comfortable.

The rest of the morning on the Holy Island was dull. However I will work on the images over the coming weeks and lets hope something might come out of it.

After lunch we indulged my other passion - Anglo Saxon history. We went to Yeaving, the site of one of the most impressive Northumbrian palaces. This was the site that Paulianious introduced Roman Christianity to the pagan anglians. He is supposed to have baptised them in the near by River Glen, well if it was a day like today then he wouldn't have been that successful!

Northumbria photographs...

I have just published my collection of photographs from Northumbria. Hopefully, throughout the week I will be able to update this as I go along - WiFi hotspots permitting. Click here to view.

WARNING: The photographs are works in progress so are a little rough at the edges.

Calmer Day....

After the crazy horses of yesterday a welcome change of pace. The sea has calmed down and we are able to get our breath a little. We normally come to Seahouses in the summer time when the wildlife is abundant and interested in rearing the next generation. Now they only have survival on their mind. The climate is very strange around here. You only have the travel a few miles in any direction and you are back into the remnants of a snow storm that hit the area on Friday. However at Seahouses there is no trace of the snow and the air is very dry - I am sure that the sea has a lot to do with this.

Today I spent some more time with the eiders. I would have loved to have spent longer but I kept sinking into the sand and ended up saturated - not a good idea in the cold. Still I manged to capture some lovely portraits of these endearing seaducks. However, tomorrow it is Holy Island and the westher is starting to look more menacing - lets see what tomorrow brings.

Powerful weather and Eiders...

Talk about windswept. Coming from the centre of England I am not use to the power and majesty of the North Sea. The wind blew and the sea marched across the bay like some stallion, its mane flowing out behind. The weather is clear and blue and we humans are wrapped up to keep out the cold yet as you watch the passing ferment you notice in amongst the wildest surf ducks bobbing in and out as if nothing was wrong.

Of course to the Eider there is nothing wrong - this is what they are breed for, they are truly a seaduck. They don't try and swim over the crashing waves but wait until they tower above them then dive through the crashing maelstrom to bob out the other side as if nothing had happened. Of course to the eider it was just another day but to us weak humans, who would not last 5 minutes in such cold seas it seems like an impossible act of endurance.

They are simply a wonderful bird. They also happen to be unimaginably cute and loveable and have centuries of experience of getting passing tourists to feed them. We oblige - however we capture their likeness in vain attempt to preserve the character of this bird. A forlorn hope.

It's cold up north...

As I have been driving north so more snow has appeared in fields and roads. I'm writing this just south of Newcastle and the sky is alpine blue. Lets hope this cpntinues.

I'm on line at:

www.flickr.com/photos/guthlac

www.simonmarchini.co.uk

I hope you enjoy

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Preparing for Northumbria...

Northumberland Gallery

So just what photographs do I want to make when I am in Northumbria next week? This is an interesting question as I usually am trying to capture birds and nature when I visit. This time it is different - whilst there will be opportunities for wildlife photography I am more interested in landscape and wild places rather than wildlife. To start the process I put together the above gallery of really interesting photographs of Northumbria on Flickr. They are stunning.

But what do I want to do? Well the Flickr collection would suggest that the range is between Joe Cornish or Michael Kenna with the sample skewed towards Cornish. Is this what I want to do? Well as part of the preparation I have been going through last summer's photographs and the following give a good guide as to what I am thinking.

Embleton Bay - Low Newton

This is hardly Kenna's style, in fact it is nothing like his photographs, however I have been influenced by him whilst making this photograph. At the moment this is the type of landscape photography I am producing.

Farne Islands in the Evening- Seahouses

This is more in the Cornish style - long exposure, super saturated colours - usually at dawn or dusk with an emphasis on on a flowing form throughout the picture leading from one element to the next. So which style to follow? well it is not that simple. Both of these photographs were made months after they were taken and had a significant post production element. I guess what I am saying is that I am trying to find inspiration for the initial capture phase - after that I will let my imagination and and other influences fly. Really rather exciting.

One final thought. The castle at Lindisfarne has been captured in countless photographs. However, very few are very good (the link is a notable exception) and this will be an interesting challenge to try and produce something new and interesting - will mine be derivative or fresh and new? Only time will tell.

Red Red Wine...

Over indulged last night and so am paying for it today. Still it was good to see old friends but I am paying for it now. Anyway, being a little tender as meant that I can carry on working through my back log of work from last night. I have just put the finishing touches (far too grand - what I mean I have had enough of making moody seascapes) to the Northumbria seascapes and one or two other bird shots. If you want to have a look at the these then click here.

Wading through the past....

Eider Duck - Seahouses

More catching up. The past few days I have been slowly working through last years vault of under developed photographs. Today I was working on Northumbria 2009. There were two reasons for this; the first is that I am going to spend in Northumbria in a week or so. The second is that it is always worth while going through your previous work with a benefit of hindsight. I am never disappointed on two fronts; firstly I have kept some really bad images in the vain hope that they may make decent photographs, the second is that joy of discovery of moment forgotten. Just what was I thinking?

Anyway, I'm hopefully off to Bath on Thursday for a bit a naval gazing - my print is on display in a real gallery this may never happen again. Lets just hope it doesn't snow too much.

Embleton Bay

Beadnell Bay

Woolsthorpe in Belvoir

The hard work begins

Having had a couple of days away from my Northumbria photographs now the hard work begins. I have selected around 200 images of birds that I may wish to make into photographs. However, I will not be making 200 photographs - I suspect no more than 50. This means that I have to be really strict in what I select - not an easy thing to be.

So what am I looking for? Well first I am looking for photographs that I could use in my ARPS submission. Second I am looking for any photographs that might just sneak into my BWPA selection. Finally, any other photograph that I just like - however this is unlikely as they would have been selected for the first two.

After this I am going to work through my non natural history images - but that is another story!

Rain stopped play...

Fulmar - Seahouses

What a wonderful few days I have had in Northumbria. All my plans went out of the window the first morning standing above the cliffs by Seahouses Golf Club. The wind was howling, the sea crashing against the rocks below and the air was full of sea birds, their white plumage in stark contrast to the slate grey skies. Now that is what I call a real British summer.

I had planned to go to the Farne islands, only two miles off shore but suddenly it struck me - why? Why do I need to build my break around one event/day? Of course the answer was that there was no need and you know what it made the break even better.

So why am I not still sampling the delights of the North East? Well, last night there were severe weather warnings given out for the area. Heavy rain all day. So we could either stay put and watch the heavy rain through the windscreen of a car/house or make our way home. We decide the latter and drove home on Thursday evening. I'm glad we did - the roads were clear and although the weather was bad it was a lot easier driving in those conditions with little traffic on the road than spend the day travelling down the A1 with some Polish lorry driver only a metre from your rear bumper.

So the next few days will be spent working through images and make a few good photographs. Let the games begin! If you want to see the photographs as they are produced then click here:

Northumbria....

So we are off to the land of the Geordie. Well in truth Newcastle has little to do with the Northumbria I know and love. We are going to the real Northumbria far away from the bright lights and flesh pots of the Tyne. To the Northumbria of Bernicia, Lindisfarne, Cuthbert and Aiden. This is border country where once the reivers held sway and the rule of law was rough and ready.

This may sound like a romantic view of this part of the world but it is the way I look at it. Perhaps it is my endless fascination with all things Anglo Saxon but the coast around the Bamburgh is a special place. Not only are there miles upon miles of sweeping sandy beaches but the wind seems to hold portent. We sometimes view nations by their land but this part of the world is dominated by the Sea. It always has done. The great Anglo Saxon kingdoms were first and foremost sea faring. For them the sea was the highway. The land was always difficult to cross. In a away it still is.

After all that romantic nonsense perhaps a little clearer explanation would be no bad thing. We are off to see more puffins. Well, puffins, terns, guillemots, kittiwakes and so. We are going to spend a week bird watching and taking photographs - what could be better?

Beyond this there is the stunning scenery. We love Pembrokeshire but Northumbria is better. There is a loneliness in the empty parts of the north Pennines that I have never felt anywhere else - certainly not in Pembrokeshire which is dominated by the oil and gas industry - even high in the Preseli hills you can still see the refineries of Milford Haven.

Now having written about this it will mo doubt rain the whole week and I'll have no opportunity to take one photograph; the sea will be too rough to sail to the Farne Islands and we'll come home early. Syuch are the joys of holidaying in Britain - you just don't know what you are going to get.

If you want to see more of my Nortumbria photography then click here.

Bad backs and insects...

Wicken Fen! What a wonderful nature reserve this is. You have access to acres of fenland and all the fauna and flora that goes with this. Quite a few of which seem to want to have a bit of you as well. So why bad backs? Well I have been nursing a sore back ever since I came back from Pembrokeshire. I thought it had cleared up and so went off to Wicken with renewed vigour. I could be found bending over, squatting and lying flat on the ground (perhaps the last was the only dignified position!). The upshot of this is that I have a recurrence of back acre. It is something I have had to learn to live with over the years but it does cramp your style. Hopefully this will clear up for the weekend when I'm off to Northumbria for a week. If it doesn't I will have to rethink what camera kit I take with me onto the Farne Islands.

So back to Wicken - why so wonderful? Well first off it is flat. I know this is stating the obvious but it does make getting around a whole lot easier - especially with a bad back and load of camera gear. The wildlife is varied but perhaps the stars are the cuckoo and the dragonfly. However, the cuckoo had already left by the time I visited - maybe next year. The dragonflies are a different matter. You have to get your eye in as these things zip around at an amazing speed. The best advice I would give is to find a small patch of water and see what comes by - however, it should be noted I am no expert on these matters and I am sure there may be better ways.

If you are interested in the smaller insects then you need to examine reeds and sedges a little close. However, the insect world is so abundant you are not likely to be disappointed.

I hope to visit the reserve more often over the next few months. If you want to see the photographs I made then click here.

Going through the back catalogue

Meadow Pipit

I have just been going through my back catalogue for photographs I hadn't processed.   This is something I had been threatening, and should have done a long time ago.  I suppose better late than never.   It is amazing what a new project can spur you on to do.

Kittiwake and Chick

All the photographs were taken last year in and around Seahouses and the Farne Island.  A wonderful place to go for birds and other wild life.  Can't wait to go back again this year.

Ringed Plover

Kittiwake

Meadow Pipit

Guillemots and Shags