Things We Learnt On Holiday

October 18, 2013

Don't be late for a quality sunset, it waits for no man.
Darryn Wade is a talkative chap when it comes to local photography locations.
The big blocks of concrete on the beach are anti tank defences not anything to do with preventing coastal erosion.

That place on the coast that you think will be quiet first thing on a Sunday is actually full of fishermen
A 30 second exposure of isolated rocks looks pretty.
The electric trains that go past the cottage sound like cylon raiders.

Governments in the 16th century couldn't build things on time and on budget, just like today.
Don't try and do long exposure at 300mm in high wind.
Public toilets in Berwick cost 20p, but it only costs £2.50 to park all day.
You can make a distant object closer to your foreground interest by stepping back and zooming in.
Sometimes, when you think a sunset is done, it'll surprise you and explode in a vast swathe of orange.

Omnia hospites vidistis (all guests have seen) Vobis gratias agimus (thank you) Nune fortuito mingite (now go forth) Is the inscription in the middle of the maze at Alnwick Garden. The last line is contentious.
When you're waiting for the sky you have framed to turn red at sunset, somewhere else will be prettier.
Fisheye works well with curvy things.
Sunsets in pretty places attract large herds of people wielding tripods.
The Sun Inn serves better food than the Schooner Hotel.
A two year old girl, presented with a broken sit on tractor, must work out what's wrong with it before changing to a different one.
Wednesday - Cragside
When smiling in sympathy at a couple strapping a bawling toddler into their car, the correct response from the father is 'you guys want to swap!?'
We picked a day with high winds and a feels like temperature of 1 degree for our photo course tomorrow.
The labyrinth at Cragside is huge. The walk length on the board in the car park says it's one mile...or more!
The furthest stars you can see with the naked eye are about 4000 light years away.
There are red squirrels at Cragside but they're really good at hiding from us.
The road down to the dunes on the south side of the river at Alnwick is best navigated slowly to avoid destroying the car suspension.

Our photo workshop is delayed till Friday owing to the high winds and driving rain.
The Scots never managed to take Alnwick castle.
The Sheriff of Nottingham fell out of a window in Durham and landed in Alnwick at the end of Robin Hood Prince of Thieves.
You can see the sea from the cottage (just!)
There's a good photography location on the bridge at Alnwick looking back towards the castle with the lion.
They made Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane 5 ft 7 in) look like a giant by having him on a grassy bank and the kids on the path outside the castle.

DrumCoder