National Trust - Cragside

It was a lovely warm day yesterday, if a little hazy, so we decided to have an afternoon exploring the gardens around the Cragside estate in Northumberland. We received a National Trust membership for Christmas and the estate opened at the beginning of March, so we took the opportunity to have a relaxing afternoon enjoying the sunshine. Was rather weird to be out walking without a dog in tow, but was also nice to have some free time and do exactly what we wanted.

Neither of us were that bothered about going in the house, so we looked around the gardens surrounding the house and lake.

On our way along to the powerhouse. we came across this bridge. This is one of the things I was hoping to find. This bridge is exactly the same as one of the bridges in Jesmond Dene. I did get a photo of it on Wednesday, but if you have read my previous post, you will know I lost most of my photos from that day, including one of the same bridge. Lord Armstrong obviously liked this bridge to have had two built - one on each of his estates.

The waterwheel on the way to the power house. Graeme studying the map to make sure we were going in the right direction. I took a few photos in the powerhouse, but seems as they are of boring machinery and waterwheels, I won't share them all here.

Then we took the path back towards the house, admiring the scenery and grounds as we went.

It was so refreshing to see established, old trees that have been left untouched for hundreds of years. Obviously they are managed so they are safe, but other than that they are just left to grow.

After a quick pit stop at the kiosk to have a drink, we set out to find the Iron Bridge.

As we made our way down the stone steps to the Iron Bridge, I stopped to finish my can of Sprite. I looked up and saw this view - the hazy sunshine streaming through the tree canopy.

I stopped on the Iron Bridge to capture the view of the House. Not an easy task as the bridge rocks quite a bit when anyone walks along it and there were a few families around at the time.

Once you go over the Iron Bridge, there is a meandering walk up the hillside to the Formal Gardens, Clock Tower and Wildlife Hide.

We paid a quick visit to the Clock Tower. I only had my 55-300mm lens on the camera and did not want to swap it for a few photos, so could only get decent photos of the spire and clock, rather than the whole building, as there was no room to move far enough away to get the entire building in one shot.

We then went through the rabbit control gate and entered the Formal Garden.

The spring flowers in the garden are just coming into bloom, so I took the opportunity to practice some flower photos. I love these photos, as they show us that spring has most certainly sprung.

We popped in to the Wildlife Hide, not really expecting to see anything. Luckily, the National Trust has placed a few bird feeders out, so I was able to capture a few of the birds that visit the feeders.

Once I had exhausted the photos opportunities, we made our way down to the Lake and Visitor Centre for another pit stop.

The stunning view of the Lake near the Visitor's Centre.

The Boathouse in the corner of the Lake.

We then made our way back along to the House, via the Pump House.

There are some stunning views of the House and Iron Bridge as you go back along the bottom path.

I took some photos in the Rock Garden on the way back up to the House. As we did not have a dog with us, Graeme drew the short straw to pose for photos in the rockery.

As most of the other visitors had now gone home, I took the opportunity to get some closeup views of the House.

On our way back to the car park, I stopped to capture the last of the sun through the tree canopy.

By now it was nearing 18.00, so we decided to head home. We took the opportunity to follow the Estate Road to see the entire estate and work out where we could go for our return trip. Definitely want to try to return in May/June to visit the Labyrinth, when all of the rhododendrons and azaleas are in full bloom. There are also a couple of lakes at the far end of the esate which are stunning, although we only had time to drive passed them, as the estate was closing and we didn't really want to be locked in for the night.

Today taught me a very important lesson regarding my photography skills. I hold my camera slightly tipped to the right, so all of my photos with straight lines in had to be slightly rotated to the left, thus losing a small area of each photo. As I have not really taken photos of buildings and bridges before, this was a complete surprise. But sure enough, every single photo was slightly off. The weird thing is, they were all off by the same amount, so at least I am consistent. Something else to try to be aware of for future photos.

Learn to Back Up My Files!!!

I am absolutely hopping mad today. I had a free-ish afternoon and instead of doing the long list of jobs around the house, I decided to take my camera on one of my local walks to Jesmond Dene. It was a sunny, warm day and I had a lovely afternoon, exploring and discovering new parts of the Dene I had never seen before.

As the Dene was relatively calm, I decided to try to get some reflections of the trees in the water as a new technique for my photographic skills. I was out a good 2.5 hours and took over 400 photos. Got back and had a quick look through. Quite a few that could be binned straight away, but I was pleasantly surprised by how my reflection photos had turned out. Instead of backing up my photos, I left them on the memory card and quickly washed the dishes before I settled down to edit my favourite photos.

Uploaded the photos to Adobe Photoshop Elements and only 109 appeared. Checked and re-checked and that was all that was on the memory card. Somehow most of my photos had been wiped and of course, all of my favourites had completely vanished. I am kicking myself that I didn't back-up my files as soon as I could.

At least I now have an excuse to go back and take some more photos. Here are the couple of photos that were worth keeping, all from the banqueting hall that is now a ruin but still has some lovely features.

I will most definitely be backing up my photos straight away next time.

Cat in a Plant Pot

Well, I didn't think I would be taking photos again so quickly. Came home from work this afternoon, let the dogs in the garden and found one of my cats sunning himself in a plant pot on the patio. Could not miss the opportunity to get some photos, as he is black and photos are difficult at the best of times. Luckily he stayed put whilst I grabbed my camera and I got a few nice shots of him, for a change.

He does look a bit raggedy as he is 12-13 and is a bit of a fighter. No other cats come in our garden unless they want a good chase and he was heard fighting a couple of days ago, but luckily no injuries this time. In the house, he is the softest, most loving boy around and gets on well with my other 2 cats. Outside is a different matter and he will fight anything that comes within range.



Watching the dogs play

I have had enough of this posing lark, thank you!

He is called Puss Puss, but I did not name him. He came from a care home where I worked and already had the name. As I already knew him as Puss Puss, I could not think of another name that suited him, so it stuck.


Excuse me, I was enjoying a cat nap in the sun!

Well, I suppose I could open my eyes a  little and do a bit of
a pose for you



Puss Puss, my loveable rogue.

My Photography Journey So Far .....

This probably should have been my first post, but I am always keen to share photos before sharing information, so please forgive my random order.

We have owned our DSLR Nikon D3000 for a couple of years, after wanting a better camera to take photos of the dogs. Not really knowing how to use it, I occasionally got some really good photos, but most of the time they were not so good. But why on earth were some of my photos stunning and the rest were total rubbish? Maybe a photography course was needed to get to grips with the basics. Thanks to Groupon, I found the ideal course - not too far away, a good price, not set in a studio and would show me how to get the best out of my camera without being too technical.

So in October 2011, I attended the How to Use Your SLR for Beginners course with Photobarn Photographic Training in Northumberland http://pathway.photium.com/. A fantastic start to understanding why some of my photos are rubbish and some are fantastic. I now had a good basic understanding of apertures and shutter speeds which had previously been a complete mystery to me and appeared to be very complicated.

The Dripping Tap - taken on the first part of the
Photobarn course

After practicing with my photography for a couple of months, I decided I wanted to do the second part of the course to take my photography skills even further. So in mid January 2012 I returned to Photobarn and had another fantastic day. It was a small course with only 4 of us attending and we had a dry day, if not a little chilly. It was the first time I had concentrated on photos of people, rather than pets, and I loved every minute of it. I now had a better understanding of light and how to use it to capture better photos. If nothing else, the cup cakes and buffet on these courses are well worth the visit.

The Model - taken on the second part of the
Photobarn course

During this time, most of my practice photographs were of dogs, as they are always willing subjects and I always have a dog or two with me. At the end of January, my grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary with a family party. I bought a flashgun for my camera and took photos of the party, in order to practice my photography skills and give my grandparents a reminder of the day that they can keep forever.

60 Years of Marriage and Still Smiling

I had now decided I wanted to broaden my range of subjects and not just stick to dogs. As I live just outside of Newcastle and have some rather famous photographic scenes on my doorstep, I wanted to learn how to capture the beauty of Newcastle. Again, thanks to Groupon, I found a night-time course that would allow me to learn 2 completely new skills - night time photography and landscapes all in one go. So, in February 2012, off I went with my camera and borrowed tripod, to take some photos of Newcastle at Night. I thoroughly enjoyed learning a new skill with a group of like-minded people and got some lovely photos out of the evening.

The Theatre Royal with Light Trails - my favourite from
the evening

Thanks to my dad, I now have a quality tripod that does not blow around in the wind. I got this just in time for the Global Rainbow to arrive in Whitley Bay and thought I had better not miss an opportunity to practice another new subject. So off I went with my husband, camera and tripod in tow, on a blustery and cold Friday night (yes, we know how to live the high life!) to capture the Global Rainbow in all of its glory http://yvettemattern.com/

Global Rainbow in Whitley Bay

And that brings you up to date on my journey with photography so far. Hope you are still with me and will join me on my journey in the quest to learn how to capture better photographs and develop my skills as a photographer.

Gundog Training Weekend

Sorry folks, but my first post will be dogs. I will try to minimise my dog photographs and look into different subjects, but I would not be true to myself if dogs did not appear quite regularly. So I might as well start as I mean to carry on.

I have been wanting to start some gundog training with my standard poodle, Lottie, for quite some time. I recently found a weekly class not far away and we have had our first lesson. I attended a weekend of training last week and had a fantastic time. Of course, my camera came along and I managed to get a few shots of some of the dogs working.

We had a fantastic weekend and were both rather tired by Sunday evening. The best part was getting a 'very good' award for the first stage of the gundog tests. Hopefully we can attend the next weekend in Sept and we will be working towards the beginner level tests for the next time. In the mean time, here is a selection of the photos I took on Saturday when the pheasant training dummy was tried with some of the dogs. These are my first gundog photos and I was rather pleased with how they turned out.


This gorgeous Clumber Spaniel was only too happy to pose with
 his prize

This lovely English Springer Spaniel was not so keen on
 the dummy

The Welsh Springer Spaniel had a good go, whilst keeping
 a good eye on mum at the same time.

This English Springer Spaniel was offering his very best sit in
order to have his turn with the pheasant dummy.

The yellow Labrador was rather intrigued by the strange
 feathered thing lying on the floor

A rather intrigued but cautious Cocker Spaniel girl.

The Spanish Water Dog got very excited by his prize and did
 a huge lap of honour to show everyone what he had found.

Sprocker girl checking out the dummy, while her cocker
friends look on in the background.



The black Labrador has a good sniff, but that was as far as it
 went