Attingham

Really not sure how I do it. Going somewhere I have been before in an area I am quite familiar with and still manage to end up going the wrong way down the motorway! I blame the roadworks!

Eventually got to Attingham Park, just outside of Shrewsbury. Another National Trust property, really am getting my money's worth this year! 

It was a beautiful day on Thursday so had a lovely wander around the deer park and woodlands. I don't know about anyone else, but I find woodlands very hard to take a good picture of. Whilst you are walking through them, especially on a sunny day, they are so beautiful but I find my photos are too green and uninteresting. 

I try to find focal points and pathways, but it doesn't always work. This is probably the best of a mediocre bunch. I do find it very hard to be objective about my pictures, so any comments appreciated.

The house itself is huge but only a limited amount of rooms are renovated. Apparently there was a lot of debt in the family and over the centuries most of the furnishings had to be sold and the house fell into disrepair.

None of the upstairs rooms are available to see, but there is a display showing what the National Trust want to do next. The current major work in progress is repairing the glass roof over the picture gallery and you can see how they are doing that inside.

They ask you to leave back packs in a secure area before you go in and I hate doing that. My pack is so much a part of me on these walks that I feel half naked without it, but I can understand why they ask because they are very bulky. Although it did feel like I was depositing a favourite child at a creche!

As with many of these old houses, what furnishings there are, are delicate so light has to be kept low, which is a photographers nightmare. The dining room had very low lighting and I was very surprised that a picture came out reasonably well.

As with Erddig, I had to put the ISO up really high and open the aperture to get half decent shutter speeds, plus the obligatory leaning up against a pillar!

I was definitely a servant in a previous life because I was drawn to the kitchens again. Just love all the old gadgets, copper pans and ranges!

To me this is all so much more interesting than portraits of Sir this and Lady that and all the posh furnishings. Copper jelly moulds are much more beautiful! 

Little bit more light in these rooms, so pics a little easier.

I am still trying to look at detail and texture as per my workshop with Richard. Still not there yet but there are definitely more pictures of "things" appearing!

This pic is one of my favourites of the day I think. You can see how big the mansion is by the scale of the people underneath the columns.

I pay my National Trust Membership over the year and it is the best £4.83 I pay out each month. I have got so much enjoyment out of my trips, and remember its not just stately homes. The NT manage miles of beach along the British coastline and your membership entitles you to free parking!

Lessons Learned: Don't go anywhere without the sat nav and a postcode.

Diet Diary: Nope, still no comment.

p.s. tattoo is a definite! Flying swan. Just hope to tweak design a little and its all systems go. When I asked an experienced friend about the pain levels, she said its not as bad as childbirth! Well that's alright then!