Recent wintery scenes in the Peak District National Park

Snow lay feet deep with cars abandoned, farmers battling to get to their livestock and people having to walk everywhere.  Finding colour in a white landscape was a significant challenge, but an old hawthorn tree full of berries provided the following perfect shot..............

and finally..........a Merry Christmas to all our readers where ever you are - we'd love to hear from you - honest !

Merry Christmas

A pottery Snowman, some real snow and photoshop!

Have a great Christmas from Andy and Andrew.

Deep and crisp and even!

Well it snowed and then some more! Still some opportunities to get some more shots in the camera, although only within walking distance. Supposed to be taking some night shots in Sheffield tomorrow - unlikely according to the forecast, but you never know. Watch this space.

Summer over and at last time to sort out images from recent trips to Croatia (fantastic place) with certain roads very hair-raising, spectacular scenary, amazing Venetian architecture - as well as very good food and wine. 

Then more recently to the Algarve for the last bit of sun before the winter cold.  This time exploring the hinterland up to the border with the Alentajo region - old area indeed.  Try Mertola with a very old church attached to its castle - but don't go on a Monday when things are shut (harsh lesson to do research beforehand !). 

Anyway. spent many a happy hour on the beach at Benagil, hence this image of my view from under the umbrella !

Chatsworth

Well our latest outing was to a very grey Chatsworth Park. Not much inspiration early on as the total cloud cover made for very poor light indeed. However a quick walk from Endsor across the parkland provided some interesting challenges in shooting (with a camera) a herd of deer and some falling leaves - very tricky. A long coffee, some breakfast and a stupendous jam scone lightened the mood and with the sun threatening to break through we set off back across the park along the river. Plenty to shoot but the light was still very poor. Eventually the sun decided to try to appear and the sky at least lightened to allow some contrast. Not difficult to get lovely shots of Chatsworth and with the Autumn colours resplendent across the park we did at least get a few worthwhile images.

However it did give us an idea - Photography for Beginners Walks - coming in 2011. If you might be interested please contact us.

Andy is off to Portugal now and I'm off to Mid-Wales.

Autumn is with us............

Yes those barmy summer days (did we have any?) are clearly a thing of the past, yet October can prove to be one of the best months, full of light winds, wonderful misty dawns and colours to die for. Can't wait to get out there and shoot some more landscapes and the good thing is.... dawn isn't so early and dusk isn't too late!

Not quite packed the balloon away yet as I'm on standby to fly the Channel with 70 other balloons - should provide some interesting and colourful images, but I must remember to fly the thing as I don't want close-ups of the waves.

Off to Bristol again this weekend to witness 20 or so gas balloons take-off in the 54th International Gordon Bennett Trophy. We will be supporting a local pilot who set a world record last year. They fly thousands of miles over several days and the winner is the one that flies the furthest as measured in a stright line from the take-off site. Could be tricky shooting as they take-off at night! Gordon Bennett 2010   Gas Balloon Video

Summer over...........

With piles of dry leaves accumulating in various parts of the garden, high winds buffeting those waiting patiently in a bus queue and xmas cards appearing in the shops........I suppose its fair to say that autumn has arrived !  Thinking back, its been a good summer having spent a large part of August travelling around Croatia - an relatively unknown travel destination in the UK - and thats why Mrs C and I went there.

Apart from an unpronouncable language, it is really a great place to go to.....food, wine, beaches, scenary, history, excellent hotels / apartments, B&Bs.....well worth the effort.  And as a little taster to a discrete section on the website in the near future here are some images......

Bristol Balloon Fiesta

Hot on the heels of our arrival back in the UK from a spot of ballooning in beautiful Umbria (photos under development, so watch the web site) we are off to the world famous Bristol Balloon Fiesta this weekend. So if you see the VK balloon give us a wave - you might be caught on camera though.

Street art in Sheffield

Walking through Sheffield and came across this fantastic piece of street art on the side of a building which takes account of the chimney half way up on the right.  There is more of this style of art around the city centre - so watch out for further postings...........

Andy