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!

Five Beaches

Today I had decided was going to be a beach day. I had the opportunity to have a full day out so could go a bit further. You may have noticed previously that one of my favourite places to go is Hell's Mouth and there were waves of 6-9ft predicted today, so I don't really think there was any doubt where I was going!

When I left home it was windy and raining and it rained practically all the way there and I was starting to get a little concerned. However, just before arriving the sun broke through and sent the clouds away and it turned gorgeous. Still incredibly windy, but dry.

I decided to take my music with me today thinking that ear phones would protect my ears from the extreme winds, which they did. There wasn't a soul around and with the deafening crashing of the waves it seemed like a good opportunity to sing along. There is nothing like being where absolutely no one can hear you to bring out the inner diva. I can recommend Sam Smith, with all that raw emotion, unrequited love and very high notes, you can really let rip!

There is something so very special for me about Hell's Mouth and I'm not really sure what it is. I think possibly because it is so different every time I go and there is something wild and untamed about it. That is something I would love to have been myself!

It has been noted that I may have a slightly unhealthy obsession with surfers. It's possible and there were a couple in the water, but when you see them somewhere like this, its not all Hawaii Five O, the conditions look pretty scary to me, so lets go with admiration rather than obsession.

I decided to head for Pwllheli after this but saw a sign en route pointing to a different beach, so nothing if not adventurous, I detoured. It was a National Trust beach called Llanbedrog and was so different from Hell's Mouth. It was sheltered by a cliff and the water and wind so calm.

But the main beauty of this beach were the huts. A long row of gorgeous brightly coloured little houses.

A photographers dream! I can just imagine sitting on a deckchair with a kettle on a camping stove brewing some tea. 

Next stop Pwllheli and back to wild winds and waves. No pics of those because I think you can only get excited about occasional images of waves before they all start to look the same.

You can walk a long way along the beach to get to the harbour where all the boatyards are. There are some very impressive vessels here and I would love to have a go at sailing. Ooh, another thing for the bucket list!

The wind was still extremely strong and blowing the sand around and it felt like needles hitting my face, so with my hat, sunglasses and scarf pulled up over my nose, I must have looked like I was either Scott of the Antarctic or a soon to be bank robber! It did mean however, that I didn't take as many pics as I would normally for fear of getting sand in the camera, and having only just got Bob back, don't want to be sending him away again so soon.

Heading now to Caernarfon for petrol and journey home, except I get distracted by the sign pointing to Trefor. Been a couple of times before and really like it there. It has a pier which can only be being held together by wishful thinking.

After the winds today, I am surprised its still standing. Back to the music, and Russell Watson this time. With the wind raging and the waves crashing, opera felt a bit more appropriate.! 

Tide was out and so the boats in the harbour made an interesting scene. Haven't done much editing to any of these pictures, just a bit of cropping and colour definition. I think that the more I take, the better I am getting at composing the pic actually in the camera, playing around with exposures and shutter speeds. Still a long way to go, but I am definitely seeing some improvement. Hope you are too.

So last stop of the day, Dinas Dinlle. Another place I had heard of but never been. Being a member of some of the North Wales Facebook groups has introduced me to some wonderful places and I would recommend anyone joining. You don't have to submit your work if you don't want to, but you will probably see some amazing pictures of places you really need to visit.

So a wild and completely amazing day and not only was it great fun and good exercise (7.4miles) but it was also free. Apart of course from the fortune spent in petrol!

Lessons Learned: OK, I may be a tad obsessed with surfers, but the Mantra I live by is "You may be on a diet, but that doesn't mean you can't look at the menu"
Followed swiftly by "Looking is fine, but nibbling may be deemed inappropriate"

Diet Diary: No comment!

Erddig

I have been lucky this week in that I have had the opportunity to go out exploring a few times. The weather hasn't been the kindest, but whats the worst that could happen? I get wet. So I'll dry, eventually. I've waded through 3ft of water, so I laugh in the face of rain!

Decided to visit Erddig, a wonderful National Trust property near Wrexham. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/erddig/

Its not just a Stately Home, it has beautiful gardens and many interesting workshops in the grounds.

There is a different attitude in this house. They treated their servants more as family apparently and had paintings done of them. It is one of the few homes where you can actually see how the staff lived. No pics this time, as I concentrated on the outside, which was probably the wrong way round with the rain and all!

One of the owners was a huge collector of vintage vehicles and they are all displayed. All in various states of repair, pushbikes, motor bikes, cars and coaches.

The above pic shows a couple of the cars in their garages, plus I think you might also be able to pick up just how much it was raining!

This is the grooms workroom and I just love the horse boots on the table. I was a little concerned with a lot of these photos that they wouldn't come out clearly. I forgot to take the tripod and so was using a high ISO with slower shutter speeds, but most seem to be ok which is great. Any graining from the ISO seems to add to the overall vintage effect which is also great. Just tweaked the clarity and adjusted the colours a bit and I am pleased with how it is looking.
I was very sceptical about Lightroom originally, but now I love it. Still not looked at Photoshop tho. One step at a time.

The rain eased off momentarily and I ventured into the garden where I saw the beautiful creature above. Apparently a Greater Spotted Woodpecker. I was perfectly positioned behind a hedge with the telephoto already on when he swooped down for a quick snack and was gone. Talk about right place right time!

On a completely separate note, I had a question posed to me earlier. "what would you attempt today if you knew you could not fail" Can't tell you my first thought, but my second was sky diving. Always liked the idea of the flying through the air part, but not keen on jumping out of a plane or landing several hundred feet below said plane. 

I have been pushing my boundaries and taking risks over the last few months, what with all the hiking, mountain climbing and pink hair and it is difficult to know what to do next. I am thinking possibly zip wires in Snowdonia, but not sure yet. I saw a T shirt on Facebook earlier which said "If I can't take my camera, I'm not going!" so that might limit my choices. Watch this space.

Lessons Learned: Don't ever let the weather stop you getting out. If its not acid rain, then it won't do you any harm, just keep the camera covered!

Quote for the day: Take risks, if you win you will be happy, if you lose you will be wise, either way, you will feel alive (unless the risk you take is skydiving. If you lose at that, you won't feel anything, ever)