A Holiday from Holiday

  For the first time since i left work last Friday i managed to get away from the family days out to do a quick hour of shooting.  I met up with one of my shooting pals Paul and we headed to Lytham/St Annes beach.  It was windy.  Extremely windy.  Tripod use was out of the question.  We headed down onto the beach hoping to head for the remains of the old pier but alas the tide was further in than i have ever seen it so we had to shoot from afar.  After spending some time messing with assembling my Bronica i finally got some shots in.  The tide was coming in at a ridiculously rapid pace and by the time i had setup my gear and eyed the shot in on my waist level finder i was stood in water.  Metering was a nightmare so i just used my instincts and shot.  I was a bit worried as the strong wind was battering our cameras with sand particles and blowing our gear bags all over the place.  We persevered regardless and shortly moved further up the coast where a flock of birds was sat on the water quite close to shore.  The local dogs chasing them proved to create some nice photo opportunities.

  Shortly thereafter i spotted a partially filled plastic bottle dumped on the sand which caught my eye so i snapped it.  It turned out to be one of the best shots on the negative.

  Our final stop was a little further up the coast where the waves were now smashing against the sea defences.  I sacrificed dryness to snap a few quick shots of the spray coming over the wall.

  The results were a bit hit-and-miss on the developed negative and some shots took a bit of work to get a decent image of but all in all i think they came out ok.  It was nice to be out in some extreme weather shooting on instinct rather than taking my time over each shot and meticulously recording every detail.

Loughrigg

  Dont go hiking in a blizzard.  I booked a Friday off work to go for a hike in the Lake District mountains with a friend i hadnt seen for ages.  Unfortunately Friday was the day the snow decided to hit hard.  We decided to risk it and head out anyway which turned out to be a good decision as once we got past Lancaster the snow eased and the skies cleared.

  We decided to head to Loughrigg as it is a relatively low fell and an easier walk.  We had only walked a quarter of a mile or so before the path opened up onto a lake with a distant mountain reflected perfectly in its glassy water.  This was definitely a shot to be taken.  We then kept following the path as it began to descend towards the summit.  Whilst the valleys were clear the peaks were snow capped and just as we got to the summit the sun started evaporating the snow creating a glorious mist.  The views were astounding.  We took a break and had some food  whilst we stood and took in the horizon.  Landscape spread out for miles, rolling hills and blue waters surrounding us.  I took as many shots as i could before we began our descent down some icy steps to the car park.

  The walk only took us a few hours and was around 5 miles in total but it was thoroughly enjoyable.  It is so satisfying to be in a beautiful country with a great friend.

Roddlesworth

  Although the afternoon had turned a bit grey and dreary (after a gloriously sunny morning) i headed out to do some shooting.  I had last minute booked the afternoon off work and wanted to head to my newly found favourite shooting location of Roddlesworth in Tockholes, Lancashire.  Roddlesworth is an area of beautiful woodland with paths leading throughout and even venturing by reservoirs and a small stream with numerous waterfalls of various sizes.This makes for a photographic utopia!  I only had an hour or so to shoot before sunset by the time i got there but it was nice to wander round the many trails and be among the beauty, taking my time shooting.

  I developed the film immediately when i got home.  the negative didn't turn out the best but i'm getting better at measuring my exposures and shooting accordingly.  I have every intention of returning to Roddlesworth as soon as i can, hopefully with some sun this time!