Author Archives: athyfoto

Heather over Heartbeat

Now that the temperatures are slowly declining I have been looking back a couple of months at some RAW files I haven’t started processing yet. This one is a subject I keep returning to, the heathers on the moors and the sheep that live among them. This shot is on the North York Moors National Park and is right next to a village called Goathland, A.K.A Aidensdfield, the setting for the TV series ‘Heartbeat’. If ever you need to unwind, get away from everything and everybody then the North York Moors can really blow the cobwebs away . . and your hat!

Sheep amongst heather

Sheep amongst heather

A blot on the landscape

Now, I don’t like wind turbine farms, but I have to admit that close up they can be an impressive and towering presence. But when I am looking out across a landscape with these things dotted all over the horizon I cringe. Alternative sources of energy are obviously a necessity but I’m sure there are less obtrusive methods. Anyhow I don’t want to bring politics onto my blog and here is a shot of a couple of turbines I have isolated from all their giant friends.

Wind turbines

Wind power.

Whitby (Windy!) Harbour

Visited Whitby on Sunday at the end of a drive from Ripon to Helmsley to Pickering and across the North York Moors to Whitby. It was 22 deg and sunny with a cooling light breeze when we set out. By the time we got up on the moors near Goathland I tried to get a couple of landscape shots because the heather is in full flower now and I was literally being blown off my feet. Dropping down off the moors into Whitby it seemed a lot calmer, until we walked out along the harbour wall when the strength of the wind restricted me to two shots, this is the better one. I was hanging on to the tripod and the wind was still moving it. I managed this shot, 25 secs @ f16 iso 100, during a spell of slighty less wind but still had to hang on to the tripod.

Whitby Harbour Walls

Whitby Harbour Walls

Rolling Ribblehead Clouds

The other day we were driving along one of our favourite routes, that being the B6255 from Hawes in Wensleydale across to the west of the Pennines to Ingleton. As we approached Ribblehead a huge bank of cloud rolled over the top of Wherneside and threatened to tumble down into the valley. It sat there though as we headed through the valley between Wherneside and Ingleborough. For this shot I pulled over onto the verge and leaned over the roof of the car with a 300mm lens on and I have never heard so many motorcycle engine notes change as they came up the road and spotted me and must have been unsure if I were a speed check or not.

Clouds rolling over Wherneside at the Ribblehead Viaduct.

Clouds rolling over Wherneside at the Ribblehead Viaduct.

Castle Howard . . Revisited

Part of the sumptuous interior of Castle Howard, the setting of Brideshead Revisited.

From the main stairway.

From the main stairway.

The skies were absolutely fantastic , really heavy, and the only drawback to this was the humidity which I found a little uncomfortable but at least the rain held off all afternoon. This shot is across the lake (I resisted the urge to do a Mr Darcy and dive in) with the house, as big as it is, looking dwarfed by the hugely active sky.

Under a leaden sky.

Under a leaden sky.

The third shot is of a temple, it is the Temple of the Four Winds just a short walk from the house.

Temple of the Four Winds.

Temple of the Four Winds.

It’s a wonderful place to visit and you could spend many hours wandering around the place with camera in hand and never be short of subject matter.

Visit http://www.castlehoward.co.uk/ for more.