North Wales Landscape Photographer
Here are a few more shots from the past few months at sea. I’ve seen some good weather fronts so I thought I’d try to capture them as best as I could. Here’s what I got.
The view from the river including Talacre Light House
Some good patterns are made from the wake of other vessels on a calm day.
Minimalist during the fog
Occasional visits from Dolphins
Stunning sunsets
And some good cloud formations
We decided to get one last holiday before the baby comes in September so we decided a few nights down in Cornwall would be an ideal break away. Laura booked us into a small holiday cottage for the first night a few miles from Weston-Super-Mare which was an ideal stop off point on the way to her aunties in Porthpean on the southeast coast of Cornwall.
Weston-Super-Mare sand sculpture
Then on to Cornwall via a couple of National Trust properties.
Mevagissey
The Tall Ships at Charlestown
And the Milky Way taken from Porthpean beach
A selection of images from this year so far at Gwynt Y Mor wind farm, North Wales.
So the wife and I managed to get everything sorted for Christmas with time to spare so we decided to make the most of a free weekend together and go away. I found a nice hotel near Ironbridge as we had some vouchers to see the attractions there. Something I’d highly recommend.
First stop was Blists Hill.
The Baker
Blacksmith
Candle maker
The dentist chair
http://www.ironbridge.org.uk/our-attractions/blists-hill-victorian-town/
We then went into Ironbridge to look at the at the Bridge and have a look around the town. There’s a brilliant shop if you like a good selection of Beers and spirits.
Ironbridge
Next stop was the hotel for some rest, food and drink before a busy day on the Sunday. Up and out fairly early, we headed to RAF Cosford which I was looking forward to. I was amazed by the architecture of one of the Hangars there, especially with the light I had.
RAF Cosford
Laura with Airfix James May and his Spitfire
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_May%27s_Toy_Stories
I really wanted to get a good shot of the Vulcan but just couldn’t get the angle I wanted with it being indoors and surrounded by other planes, not to mention the size of it! I would definitely recommend RAF Cosford though and I’ll definitely go back there.
We then headed over to Attingham Park for a bite to eat. Whilst driving up to the house I noticed a few Deer in the grounds. We had a walk over and I was surprised at the numbers there, between 160 & 200 according to one of the notices.
Deer
Attingham house
The Skylight
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/attingham-park/
We had booked tickets for the light show at Erddig as it was on the way home and something we had both seen last we and wanted to photograph. This was the first year that they had put the event on and after speaking to a volunteer, it looks like they will be doing this next year as it paid for itself and had a very good response from the public.
View from the canal
Reindeer
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/erddig/
And thats it. A filled weekend before christmas thanks to being very organised with most things. Something we will hopefully be able to do again next year.
Me and Laura went to London for 3 nights as part of her birthday celebrations.
We got the train down there on Monday afternoon and got to our hotel around 4.30pm. The hotel was recently renovated to a very high standard and is set just off Hyde Park. Well worth a look if staying in London.
http://www.arborhydeparkhotel.co.uk/home
Poppies at the Tower of London
Imperial War Museum
Buckingham Palace
The Thames Barrier
Emiriates Airline
The Shard
Porsche 911 Carrera S
City Architecture
I’ve planned on doing this for a while, and with today’s miserable weather falling on my day off, I headed to the garage to set up a mini studio.
We had some paints mixed but wasn’t sure of consistency needed. A lot of trial and error but ended up with some decent results.
All shot using Canon 550d, Sigma 105mm f2.8, lit using two second hand studio lights which I picked up for a bargain. Lots of paint, lots of water change and lots of patience! Next time I want to get in even closer.
One of my favourite photography genres is night photography, especially the stars. In North Wales we have some cracking places to sit and watch the other worlds go by, weather permitting of course. I usually try to get out when there is no, or little moon, and as far away from the light pollution because even if you think you are somewhere dark, the sensor of the camera will pick up so much.
With my star trail shots, I started off using free software called Starstax (www.starstax.de) but now I use Photoshop to create the final image. All of the shots in this blog are taken with my Canon 550d, and most are shot on the Sigma 10-20 f4-5.6 lens with one exception when I used the Sigma 17-25 f2.8.
This is one of the first that I took. Its an old passenger ship that is permanently moored on the North Wales coast. The light pollution is coming from Liverpool and the Wirral.
One shot.
110 shots stacked.
The next shot is a small church in Cefn near St.Asaph.
124 shots. Would have been more but the clouds started coming in.
A month or so back, me and a friend went to Llyn Geirionydd.
134 shots. I actually took 170 but the lens started to fog up due to the cold.
This shot of llansylnnin church in the Conwy Valley was taken using the Sigma 17-35 at f2.8. The difference is unreal. It picks up a lot more stars. Unfortunately, the clouds came in early again! I didn’t get the shot to light up the foreground like I usually do but I think it works quite well.
Another angle from that night using the fish eye lens.
The Milky way is one of the most spectacular sights you will ever see. If you ever get the chance then do it, you won’t regret it.
These were taken on the Denbigh moors just after midnight in June.
And this one at nearly 2am in Snowdonia in July.
I look forward to spending some more nights searching for the milky way, watching hundreds of satellites pass above my head, and waiting for the sun to rise.
Aaron Crowe Photography 