As part of the Summer Holidays, I took in a Tour of Britain. During this trip I visited Wales, the South of England, London, The Lake District and Scotland.
Before taking the ferry from Dublin to Holyhead I got a nice few photos in Howth where there was an beautiful sunset. These twin boats caught my attntion.
Lake Ogwyn on the eastern side of a mountain i have climbed many times - Tryfan. This time I wheezed my way up the other side of the valley to get this shot of the water cascading down the mountainside. Getting here took a good 45 minutes but the view and the shots attained paid me back in dividends.
Llanddwyn Island Conical Tower as the sun rose in the early morning. The weather was stunning, the silence was was even more impressive and i could have stayed out on Lllanddwyn Island for hours. Plenty of shots were taken but I was back on the road again for 7am after a 40 minute walk back to the carpark. A slice of paradise and a highly recommended location. Be careful though, as the high tide can cut people off from the mainland for an hour or two.
I travelled down through Wales into Hereford to snap the cathedral, back to Tintern Abbey, The Severn Bridge, Bristol, Bath and then south to Dorset. Dorsetand the Jurassic Coast is going to get another visit as I was most impressed by this area. It deserves several days but I didn’t quite have that time. I arrived at Durdle Door Beach at 9am paid £8 to park and was told by the 4 parking wardens that i had 1 hour before the carpark was closed for the night. With the beach 10 minutes away I raced and took over 100 photos (some longer exposures at the is venue.
Following trips to Stonhenge, Salisbury & Winchester Cathedrals, 4 days in London and Blackpool, I arrived in the lake district and the first evening I got lucky at Ambleside at the northern tip of Lake Windermere. The water was like glass and the colours in the sky were very interesting.
Next stop after the Lake District was Scotland. After Edinburgh and Glasgow, I was disappointed with Glencoe…..there wasn’t enough water but the Glenfinnan Viaduct didn’t disappoint. I had 2 cameras set up on 2 tripods with a cable release in either hand. I thought the Sony A7R3 would out shoot the Canon 5D Mk3. But it didn’t. Of the 73 shots I took of this train crossing the viaduct, 39 were from the Canon. I was afraid that i wouldn’t get a shot of the Harry Potter train. I was in situe an hour and a half before the train arrived and I had a prime shooting spot. There were plenty of others on the hillside also.
Despite the incredible amount of midges at the Fairy Pools on the Isle of Skye, I managed to get a few decent shots. The midges in the early evening cleared the crowd and though I had a mosquito hat on (very unfashionable) the midges managed to annoy me to distraction for the 2.5 hours I spent shooting the different pools. I could barely see the screen at the back of the camera as there were so many on my netting and on the back of the camera. Stand still for 30 seconds and you were mobbed.
The Quaring in Northern Skye is a very exciting and interesting place. It is also visited quite a lot by tourists. As I was there in the middle of the day i had to find something different to deaden the strong sun. When you pay a flying visit to places you just snap what conditions you are given. It is impossible to be at every location for sunset or sunrise (providing that there actually is a sunrise/sunset)
Loch Harport, Isle of Skye Scotland. On the way back to the lodgings after shooting in the Fairy Pools and giving up any hope of getting to shoot the sunset at Elgol, I came upon this scene at a Fjord like harbour in Western Skye. From Skye I headed for the Ferry shooting Trump Turnberry Golf Course Lighthouse and again several locations in Northern Ireland before heading home.