Country roads, take me home...

Well, we certainly get about... for the next 3 weeks we are house sitting in a delightful place in the beautiful Ryedale area of North Yorkshire... I have been instructed to put this right after my erroneous post last week... Sorry Frances.

The week started with us staying with good friends in their lovely farm - company wonderful, food likewise - relaxing and fun. I even got to watch some cricket - well kept Frank... They also run a B&B and I took some promotional shots for them...

Separate accommodation from the main house - I slept in here - so comfortable and peaceful... just the cry of owls and the dawn chorus for company...

small details make all the difference...

your own private terrace...

and a comfortable bed...

Keep an eye out for their website - I shall post a link when they are up and running.

From here, we moved down the road to house sit a beautiful old farm house... the next three weeks are full of relaxation and peace - mainly because we have no internet access or mobile phone signal, talk about feeling cut off... This blog comes from my parents' house in Scarborough, who knows where next weeks will come from... The peace and solitude will be broken of course by trying to sort out things for the move to Cambridge - Lucy picks up her new car today and we collect keys, pay deposits etc. on Monday. We are also having a party for Quinn next Saturday & Sunday... peace? Don't make me laugh!!!

this is where we are staying for the next three weeks...

I have already had an afternoon looking at butterflies in the garden - here are a couple...

Just a couple of portraits of a small tortoiseshell butterfly on lavender... post processed in Lightroom...

Finally, for the day yesterday we visited a local Castle - some prospects for photography...

Hope you have liked this weeks blog - as I said Facebook will be sporadic but you can always have a browse on my website if you want...

I (hopefully) will post another next week...

TTFN

Standing on the beaches, looking at the peaches...

Well the British summer continues and continue to bask beneath virtually unbroken skies in temperatures that are apparently making Mexico seem cool. So, with all this unbridled sunshine what have I been doing? Interestingly enough I have been completely re-designing and publishing a new website - I know you have all been sent links etc. - but here is a link to it as it stands... Website - if any of you have ideas for changes let me know...

And have I been out with the Nikon? Of course - I am working on a series of images called The British on Holiday - Scarborough is a pretty good place for that -

Regulars to my Facebook page will recognize some of these studies of South Beach and its temporary residents...

Standing on the beaches, looking at the peaches...

Most of these in my typical muted, contrasty style; just occasionally I throw in a more typical image...

We just don't always do the right thing - even for want of trying...

...but we do have to eat...

Not everyone gets to bask in the sun... some have to work...

whilst some sleep...

Where's Wally...?

So, after doing all that, we have been staying in York and enjoying our home city (well Quinn's home city) - great place...

... and of course we stayed with one of our closest and most trusted friends...

The best news of the week was that we have secured our house in Wicken - near Cambridge - as far as I'm concerned being next to Wicken Fen (and I do mean next to) is the highlight - I can get out and shoot the wonders of the Natural World every day... now that is a result. So we need to finalize a date for moving in and just ... move in... Stay tuned for pictures from there on a regular basis.

Now we need to find a car - Lucy has her eyes on a Saab at the moment... Let's hope that goes according to plan.  From tomorrow We are house sitting for friends up here in the Yorkshire Wolds - a farm house so plenty of photo opportunities there - stay tuned for that.  What a week...

Keep your eyes on my website as it is likely to change as I tinker with the layout. Any comments would be welcome, especially if you are having difficulties in reading it...

With that I shall bid you all a great week - if you are in the UK enjoy the heatwave, it will be gone soon...

TTFN

Windmills of your mind...

Now that was a week and a half - nearly all the things we set out to do we did although as I'm writing this nothing has been done... Confused? Then I shall explain...

We found somewhere to live - a gorgeous house in the village of Wicken. As far as I'm concerned it's a great location as a wonderful nature reserve is just out the back...

offering plenty of photo opportunities...

and close to the wonderful Fenland landscape...

with more photo opportunities - yes I've been at the poppies again... sorry!

I found this old barn that lent itself to my muted style...

even in the fenland countryside you can find industrial remains...

I enjoyed exploring armed with the usual...

my Nikon D2Xs + bag of primes (Nikkors 28mm f2.8 AFD; 50mm f1.8 AFD and 85mm f1.8 AFD + SB-700 speedlight) all in my trusty Billingham.








So, with that sorted - well it's not sorted as we have to wait for all the referencing etc. to go though; but apart from that we now have to find a school for Quinn - as is the case wherever you are in the UK it is a lottery - the freedom to choose means that all the good schools are full so you have to choose 3,  go on the waiting list and hope you get a place before September... Now comes the fun of choosing 3 and waiting... (It's always waiting... waiting...waiting...)

We did however get the chance to wander around Cambridge - a city I have been to before but one I don't know. I'm sure there will be plenty of photo opportunities here with the tourists, students and hundreds of years of history...

I mean... they have odd modes of transport...

 ...peculiar socks...

 ...but there is some lovely architecture, and Quinn enjoyed climbing the trees and desperately trying to walk on the grass despite the signs...

I think we are all going to enjoy Cambridge... We wandered along the river which gave me the opportunity to experiment...

I know the technique is a little dated but sometimes it works...

In addition to Cambridge we are close to Ely - a small market town with a stunning Cathedral - a place with more photo opportunities...

So Ely also looks promising - we have the delights of St Ives to look forward to...

One interesting thing we did see in the middle of Cambridge was the emergence of thousands of moths from their silken tents on the trees of Jesus Green...

An interesting sight although Quinn ran away!!!?

So for now, that's about it... I will be shooting away in Scarborough this week so some more coastal images next time - we are also staying with friends so I hope I can blog next week - stay tuned for that.

Don't forget to follow the daily shots HERE or on TWITTER and you can also check out my new website - which will be revamped when I get a moment... WEBSITE...

I hope you all have a good week

TTFN

There's no place like...

Back home, they'll be thinking about us... Yep, Alex JP Scott Photography has moved back the UK, although at no fixed abode until a place in Cambridge can be sorted out. We arrived back from Arabia on Wednesday after a hot and tiring flight back via Istanbul... Fortunately nothing was damaged, lost of broken and whilst Quinn was up and around at 5 o'clock this morning the rest of us are recovering our wits and energies.

Hopefully, I can get out and shoot some images sometime today - just so you have something to look at apart from my early morning ramblings...

First day and the view from my desk looks like this...

 None too shabby, the view from my parents dining room and a welcome change to sand! Actually, it's the light that I missed and the green.  I went out for an hour last night to take some shots and was happily shooting away at 9:45pm - that lovely low sun - golden time. Something they can't buy in the Gulf...

 Kids crab-fishing by the lighthouse. All I took out was my Nikon D2Xs coupled with my trusty Nikkor 35-70mm f2.8 AFD lens. The thing I have to be aware of is having to shoot at higher ISO values here. In the UAE there was so much light I could shoot at ISO 125 all the time; last night I was up to 320 in order to get decent shutter speed/aperture values. The only draw back of my D2Xs - not very good when it comes to noise... Still, mustn't blame my tools.

The light was also doing some cool things to an old crane...

I love the light on this support pillar. A vignette concentrates the eye and high contrast gives an industrial feel...

Really taken with the shadow and the monochrome feel to this...

 This is my favourite from the harbour last night... contrasting colours and strong shapes...

During the day, shopping was done and a new phone SIM was acquired - so I have a new phone number - 07806889453 so if you have my mobile number you can change it...

So, what else did I see through my lens yesterday? Well there was this...

View across the beach with a party of school children playing in the foreground. I think this one was with my Nikkor 20-35mm f2.8 AFD - still my favourite go to lens for everyday photojournalism shooting.

Then there was this...

 and this...

 and this...

 It seems my signature style is evolving into this type of shot - muted colours, high contrast. It doesn't always work, but I am drawn to it most of the time... what do you guys think?

I was at it again last night on the way down to the harbour...

I love this shot - taken 20 yards from my parents' house on the Esplanade... Nikon D2Xs + Nikkor 35mm f2.8 AFD - post processed in Lightroom 4 using my own preset.... Picture of the week (I shall post a feature image each week...). I like the slope of the path and the angle of the bench - contrasts well with the level horizon, and once again the muted colours. I wonder what she is saying to him?

 I also saw this - obviously someone had been having a picnic and discarded the glass - I loved the colour against the sand (see, I can't avoid sand)...

So, that about wraps it up for this week - great to be back, great to see green trees and grass; great to be able to walk around without getting hot; great to hear the cry of gulls and the dawn chorus. Great to be back in Blighty...

 Check out next week to see how we get on finding a house - you can also follow me on FACEBOOK or
TWITTER if you like. I also intend to finally update my website... see you all next week...

TTFN