Having decided to holiday in Whitby, we thought that we could fit in a trip to Lindisfarne, which I visited with my wife on our first holiday as a couple err-hum years ago. On that occasion, it was November and everything was closed.
Anyway, a week before our holiday, I actually decided to look at a map of the region and discovered that Lindisfarne is 130 miles north of Whitby. Oops. We also had to factor in the tidal causeway which links the island to the mainland. Around the time of our visit, it was impassible between midday and six pm, which made a day trip from our base near Whitby difficult to organise.
So, we canned the idea of a day trip and decided to drive up on the Saturday at the end of our holiday and stay over in a nearby hotel. As long as we left our accommodation around eight am, we could get onto the island before the causeway closed and spend the day there. No problem.
On the day, we were still packing the car at eight thirty and finally got away about nine am. Still, we agreed that we could make it. Apart from the fact the A1 was one long series of minor accidents, which held us up just long enough to prevent that.
So, we had to replan. Go to the hotel, check in and then find something to do with the afternoon and go onto Lindisfarne in the evening. In Alnmouth, we raided the hotel's supply of tourist leaflets and discovered that boat trips to Lindisfarne were available from Seahouses. Back into the car and off to see if we could get onto the island that way.
After nearly an hour hacking about on country lanes, we got to the harbour to discover that no boat trips were running that day - apparently the "convenient" causeway opening times meant that there was no current demand.
So, we had to replan, again. Back in the car we decided to go to Bamburgh Castle, which we finally reached about three pm.
And so, at six pm, we finally made it onto Lindisfarne, were we spent a few hours before the sun set. We walked out the the castle (pictured above), strolled round the village and peered at the priory through the locked gates.
As we drove back down the causeway about nine pm, my wife said "Next time, we'll come when the place is actually open..." and I thought to myself, "What next time?"
Another image from the Whitby trip and a further attempt at making images of people. This one was taken at Whitby harbour - the couple are sitting on the breakwater and I was on the beach behind, on the Old Town side of the river. That's the East Lighthouse beyond.
The place was absolutely heaving, so I was amazed that I managed to isolate them, although I have to admit to cloning out a woman who was sitting to the right of the lighthouse. Even so, I'm not sure that the image works as it stands - maybe if the couple had been looking at the lighthouse rather than the seagulls something.
Another image made with my Nokia 1020. This one is of Scarborough Castle, taken from the promenade, near the Sea Life Centre. The mono conversion was done in post, with GIMP. Nice cloudscape.
Another image from the Whitby trip. This one was made in the Old Town with my Nokia 1020 - the name appealed to me and it was easier to get my phone out in the dense crowd on Church Street than wrestle my DSLR out of my camera bag. Yet again, the phone made a good job of some difficult lighting conditions, in my view.
So, in this post, I'm going for the big reveal of this year's holiday destination. And it was...ta-da...Whitby, spiritual home of the UK's goths. Not that that's of any interest to us, of course. We were there for the sun and sea, which we got in good measure, considering.
Naturally enough, we found our way to the abbey, where I made quite a few images, of which this is the best.
On the wall in the on-site cafe, there is a large format print of an image taken from just this vantage point, which looks to have been made about 150 years ago, judging by the cowherd featured in the foreground. I've gone for a sepia treatment here as a bit of an homage.
On the day there were a number of other photographers using this viewpoint - one chap with an entry level Canon on a tripod, who gave me a look when I sauntered up, made this image hand held and then sauntered off again. I don't know what I'd done apart from failing to pay the subject enough respect by taking my time over it. Such are the pitfalls of making images on a family outing.
Anyway, I have a few more images from our trip, which I'll post over the next few days.
Another image that I'd been saving for a rainy day. Apologies for posting yet another image of a rose.
We've been on holiday, hence the recent hiatus in posts. There are a few images from our trip that I'll post, but I haven't processed them yet. So, in the meantime, here is a an image that I made a few weeks ago.
Usually, I photograph flowers in situ, outdoors using available light. However, a few weeks ago, there were some cut flowers - love in the mist, I believe - in the house, so I got my light tent out and made a fair few images, most of them unsuccessful. This is probably the best of the set.
