Gallery – fraggle ~ rocking a camera across the Universe

Farne Islands ~ part 2

July 10, 2015July 11, 2015Posted in birds, Fuji, nature, Nikon, photography, UncategorizedTagged Arctic Terns, cormorants, Farne Islands, fraggle, Fuji XT1, guillemots, Inner Farne, Nikon S1, puffins, razorbills13 Comments

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Landing on Inner Farne is not fun, lots of vicious arctic terns think you’re here to steal their babies and dive bomb everyone as they get off the boat and peck their heads- advice was to wear a hat, which I did ( and walked fast!) Sophie kindly stood still so I could get a shot of one pecking her head, but boy they are so FAST!

There were lots of twitchers on the island with very long camera lenses, they do make me laugh.

They were also some Italian people and they were very happy.

This chap reminded me of Timothy Spall OBE the actor 🙂

When we got back to the harbour, which only took 15 mins on the way back, we had a wander around as blue skies had arrived. Also I’d mostly used the Nikon for the bird shots and wanted the fuji to have some fun too.

As you might have noticed, I strung all the birds shots into a slide show, the little Nikon did a good job, though it made me laugh standing next to a Big Lens person, but will be going back with my new zoom lens at some point. Sophie forgot her zoom lens on the day too so we both struggled, but it was a fab day out and we had a good time 🙂

laters gaters

😉

Mount Grace Priory~ part 6

July 5, 2015July 11, 2015Posted in flower, Fuji, gardens, macro, nature, photography, uncategorisedTagged flowers, fraggle, Fuji XT1, garden, macro, Mount Grace Priory, photography20 Comments

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Of course when there is such a garden as the one at Mount Grace you have to get the macro lens in full swing on the camera, it would be rude not to. 🙂 My 60mm macro does quite a good job I think.

And this ends my outing to the priory, a lovely day for me to remember and fun to be out with Sophie. Hope my WPeeps have had a good weekend, am off to Scotland to work tomorrow, hope to get a few views through the camera 🙂

laters gaters

😉

Mount Grace Priory – part 1

June 26, 2015July 11, 2015Posted in castles & ruins, Church, Fuji, History, photographyTagged Carthusian, fraggle, Fuji XT1, history, Mount Grace Priory, Thomas Beaufort, Thomas de Holland17 Comments

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Ok ready for more History?

Mount Grace lay on the medieval road from York to Durham. (my posts re: York start HERE) It is the best preserved of the ten Carthusian Monasteries in England. Founded in 1398 by Thomas de Holland, Duke of Surrey & nephew to King Richard 2nd and then refounded in 1415 by Thomas Beaufort, Earl of Dorset and later Duke of Exeter, it was the last monastery established in Yorkshire before the Reformation (the part of our history where Henry VIII & Thomas Cromwell had them all pulled down). Unlike other monks who lived communally the Carthusians lived as hermits. They worked, meditated and said daily prayers in solitude in their own cells, meeting each other only for daily Matins and Vespers, and at the convent mass.

The priory was closed in 1539 at the Suppression of the Monasteries, it’s monks were given pensions, and most of the buildings dismantled. In the 17th century the north guest house was converted into a comfortable residence and at the end of the 19th century the industrialist Sir Lothian Bell extended the house in the Arts & Crafts style and began repairing the Priory ruins.

On visiting we were able to see the layout of the priory including a reconstructed and furnished Monks cell and the house that occupies the shell of the priory’s original guest house. I went with Sophie and as you can see it started out a grey day but we did get some blue skies towards the end of our visit. The extensive gardens were beautiful too, so lots of photo’ s to get through, and I’ll split them into a few posts. This set of shots is just the main Priory itself.

laters gaters

😉

The York Report 8 ~gargoyles and carvings.

June 18, 2015July 11, 2015Posted in Church, Fuji, gothic, History, medieval, photography, UncategorizedTagged fraggle, Fuji XT1, gargoyles, York Minster16 Comments

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I love gargoyles and York Minster has a fine collection so I took some photo’s of them. When I researched what gargoyles are all about on Wiki, I found that really they are just a form of plumbing! “a gargoyle is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between. Architects often used multiple gargoyles on buildings to divide the flow of rainwater off the roof to minimize the potential damage from a rainstorm. A trough is cut in the back of the gargoyle and rainwater typically exits through the open mouth. Gargoyles are usually an elongated fantastic animal because the length of the gargoyle determines how far water is thrown from the wall.” Also they were viewed in two ways by the church throughout history. The primary use was to convey the concept of evil through the form of the gargoyle, which was especially useful in sending a stark message to the common people, most of whom were illiterate. Gargoyles also are said to scare evil spirits away from the church, this reassured congregants that evil was kept outside of the church’s walls.

laters gaters

😉

Sorrento Streets

May 11, 2013May 11, 2013Posted in Nikon, photography, Travel5 Comments

Had a lovely week on the Amalfi coast, a lot of photo’s taken, so am uploading sections as galleries, click through to see them bigger, Sorrento is a beautiful place.

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