Wednesday 28 November 2012

As subtle as a brick through a window.













Sea palling,Norfolk is not like your normal beaches found along that stretch of coast.The cliffs are replaced by sweeping sand dunes and and a visually pleasing rock sea defense which encloses the area nicely.Its very popular because of these points so i tend to visit in the evenings when its quietened down.Seeing the sea defenses does revert me back to being a child,with signs clearly stating 'please dont climb on the rocks' which in reality means 'we know your gonna climb over these rocks but if you hurt yourself then dont come crying to us!' Abit futher up from Sea Palling is Winterton which is the story that has inspired this blog post.My brother James is also into his photography and had brought a new lens which he was ready to put through its paces.On arriving at winterton he attached what could be better described as what looked more like a rocket launcher then a lens.Its the kind of thing you'd expect sly stallone to carry around just before he was about to take on a small army in a 80's classic.As my brother Wielded this thing around the beach i couldnt help wonder whether he was going to take pictures or attempt to blow up a boat in the distance! Both these beaches tho have plenty to offer to keep you interested and the seals seem to have taken up residence around that area too.

Cliff climbing,All in a days work!







Trimingham,Norfolk is a particular favorite beach near to where I live. With its high cliffs and old wooden sea defenses which ooze character with the bonus of it normally being quite secluded, so my urge to want to eradicate people from my photo's in editing is greatly reduced. It does have one downside tho, In order to make it onto the beach you have to overcome one slight obstacle....the Cliff face. It does have a vague route down the cliff which looks like it was designed back at the dawn of time and like any good challenge, changes with each trip. I may have on one occasion played down the severity of this point to my friend Simon Watson on one such trip down there. It hadn’t helped matters that it had rained during the day and so was more suited to skiing down rather then walking. Thinking back, I think our 'lost' trip round Dilham may have been him returning this favor. Even still, Trimingham has been host to some beautiful photo's and a cliff top footpath gives amazing views out to sea. I just see the cliff walk as another part along the adventure.    

BY ECK,ITS E-BRIDGE MILL!
















It’s amazing how you can live somewhere for so long and not realize a beautiful place exists right under your nose! Well, E-bridge mill is one of those places. It’s located on the outskirts of North Walsham, Norfolk and was suggested to me by my friend Shelly who knows the area clearly alot better then I do. She often takes walks and bike rides around the local area and after describing how lovely it was gave me directions to get there. My problem is im not very good with road names and general navigation. My whole place knowledge is based on whether it’s near a fast food outlet or pub, which in the middle of nowhere is pretty few and far between. I do have a plan B though folks and its called Google maps.Id like to think that the creator of it had heard of my half arsed attempts of tracking down places and thought 'This one's for you David, you directionally challenged oaf!' E-bridge mill had been restored over the last few years by a dedicated group of people and now boasts some awesome sights overlooking a calm and serene lock, when before it was just an overgrown mess and clearly one I had probably overlooked when driving by in the past.

If only animals could talk....







Animals have always been a popular subject for the photographer, whether it be your house pets, wildlife outside your door or that funny chimp in the zoo that always puts on a show for his eager audience. What makes them so appealing....I think its there unpredictability and that they aren’t restricted to the same rules of normal behavior as us. Admittedly seeing a human perched in a tree, who then swoops down onto your lawn to gorge on the potato skins you put out from last night would seem pretty strange but what a image that’s conjures up! Taking pictures of these animals can be a tricky affair though as I found out when I purchased a zoom lens for my camera and was eager to try it out. The birds congregate every morning in my garden like some social elderly group and so thought they would make the perfect subjects. After setting up camera and tripod by the shade of a tree next to my pond in the garden, I done my best impression of a human statue and waited for the little blighters to once again descend on the lawn. After all I had laid out a smorgus board of treats for them (well if stale bread and the scrapings from lasts night dinner can be classed as that) but alas, they stayed in there trees and mocked me with there chirps. Still tho, as I was about to give up, a frog popped his head up from the pond. Obviously he was curious as to whom the birds were laughing at and so he became my muse. As for the birds, Im drawing up plans like they do in the cartoons to get those pictures. No doubt it will end with an acme rocket involved and me looking grim faced again! 

Wednesday 21 November 2012

Did we just get lost?!




After chatting to a friend of mine,Simon Watson about our recent adventures with our camera's.He told me about Dilham,Norfolk which was a stones throw from us.He'd walked the route recently,admittedly only for the first time but i felt his confidence as he explained some great photo oppotunities.The weather was good and so we set off.As the afternoon went on and the sky changed for the sunset we found ourselves walking along Dilham lock which leads into a long grassed area,it was only after we'd trudged through did Simon inform me it was a popular area for the local snake population.I think his 'Dont tell him of the perils til after' approach was quite Steve Urwin esq and it was only when the light was fading that i heard the dreaded words 'Hmmm,this doesnt look familiar?!' Needless to say,it involved backtracking our whole route,with the last bit in the dark and a humble phonecall to the missus to say there had been a slight hiccup but all in all was a good day with plenty of laughs and good company.Next time,im taking Sat Nav tho Simon ha ha.

Nurse,Fetch my medication!




Waking one saturday morning,i decided that i was going to do some photo's with a twist.Wether this was due to the effects on the previous nights drinking i dont know but still i had this one thought in my mind....Make myself invisible! Luckily i live next door to a field so the setting was already choosen.The only downside to this place is that a public footpath runs through it,so anyone who happened to be passing through at this particular time would have seen what could only be described as a mental patient in a field using a camera to document his crazy antics for the day! Anyway,this was the result of my madness and on the plus side the amount of walkers going through has strangely dropped since that sunny saturday.