Having lived near RAF Waddington all my life and as a child having been obsessed with aeroplanes and the RAF, I take the family up to the annual Waddington Airshow every year.
This year was special however due to the appearance of the Avro Vulcan, its first public appearance for over 15 years following a £7m restoration (check out http://www.tvoc.co.uk/ ).
As a kid I used to cycle up to Waddington in the school holidays and sit at the end of the runway, directly below the Vulcans as they took off, I still remember the way the noise and shear power of them rattled my teeth and made my ears ring!
For the first time therefore I went up on Friday, the arrivals day at Waddington, where you can get on the base and watch the many aircraft arrive, practice their displays and taxi next to the viewing area and into the static display.
In many ways it turned out to be better than the display day on Saturday as you get to see the static display aircraft flying (and the weather was far better).
In such circumstances I always look for something different to shoot and I got a couple of shots of the crowds and fellow photographers (and big, expensive lenses).
Saturday was extremely wet in the morning but dried up in the afternoon, had to wait for the rain to stop therefore before catching any shots. There were two highlights of the show for me, a typhoon (Euro-fighter) flying with a spitfire and of course the Vulcan, which as well as displaying alone also flew in tandem with the Lancaster, spectacular!
Had a couple of days camping in the North Yorkshire Moors, just north of Pickering last week, I had great plans to photograph waterfalls, landscapes, seascapes and skies but ended up with virtually nothing!
As soon as we stepped out of the tent the clouds descended and a constant drizzle began, only stopping as we began to pack the tent away. As if I needed reminding why I decided to holiday in France each year!
Despite visiting Robin Hoods Bay, Goathland, The NYM Railway and Flamborough Head I only managed one photo, of Flamborough Head Lighthouse, which I think is good enough for the Gallery. Regardless of the weather, the railway is well worth a visit and killed a few hours, especially wandering around the engine sheds at Grosmont.
The line runs through some spectacular scenery and there a ppears to be a great walk between Grosmont and Goathland which follows the line, something worth checking out next time!
I had been busy telling the kids how beautiful Robin Hoods Bay was and was planning lots of photos of the beach and cliffs, as it was the only thing we saw was the inside of a fish and chip cafe! very English but very welcome on a cold and wet afternoon.
I've never driven through fog so thick as I did as we climbed out of Robin Hoods Bay and drove back to our campsite.
Pickering Castle is a real jem of a place to visit, hidden away above the town and gave my oldest son the chance to tell me all about motte and bailey castle construction. A fascinating ruin still with enough detail to imagine how secure it must have been in its time.
We travelled home via Flamborough Head and it was only as we were climbing the steps from the beach back to the car that the sun finally showed up! Just to finally kill off the trip, the footpath I wanted to follow along the top of the cliffs north of the Head was closed due to coastal erosion, I had to settle for beach shots instead. The beach is nice and picturesque, with cliffs, a sea stack and a mixture of sand, gravel, cobbles and rock. Better skies would have rendered some more attractive photo opportunities. Be warned though, as soon as the sun appeared hundreds of people appeared from I know not where, presumably all as desperate as us to finally see some decent weather.
Overall a bit of a wash out but plenty of notes of places to visit on our next trip.
During this weeks holiday to Center Parcs, Whinfel Forest in Cumbria I had the chance to make an early morning visit to Ullswater in the Lake District.
As I had never visited the Lakes before I sought assistance from some DCMag forum friends who recommended Pooley Bridge (the boat house) and Aira Force waterfall.
My son decided to join me this morning so we left our lovely warm and comfortable beds to cycle to our car. Once I had spraped ice of the windscreen and noted the -2 degree temperature! we drove to Pooley Bridge. As it was still before 6am we were able to have a good look around and choose a location, the Pier where the steam boats dock or the classic boat house shot? Well, as the lighting looked a bit rubbish, with dull overcast skies, I chose the boathouse! We jumped down from the road onto the bank of the lake, set up and waited.
The sun came up but to be honest you would have been hard pressed to know it, the cloud being so thick. We ammused ourselves by counting the cows on the far side of the lake until suddenly my son told me to look back at the boathouse. The sun had peeked through the clouds and over the hills and lit the side of the lake with an amazing golden light. We shot off about 20 frames each, altering our composition and exposure slightly each time.
Eventually the light became too harsh so we moved on to Aira Force, not before stopping on the way to take some shots along the banks of the lake.
It was still only 8am when we arrived at Aira Force and with no-one else around we walked up to the waterfall, the only sound the woodpeckers in the surrounding trees. We spent about half an hour taking shots at the base of the falls, the dark shadows and (by now) bright sky a bit of a challenge.
We finally returned to Center Parcs about 10:30am, for a well deserved coffee and to review our photos.
Check out the full size shots in the gallery.
Is it time for breakfast yet Dad?
