Christmas shopping

I've been invited by a friend and former colleague to join and small (very select!) online photography club. The idea is that we have a monthly theme, take photos around the theme during the month, select one to put on the club website at the month end and then each add our comments and constructive criticisms to each other's. The idea appeals as a way of breaking out of the creative box I've lately felt I've put myself in. (It's easy to end up taking photos 'to feed the blog' and nothing more.)

December's theme is 'Intersection' so I have been thinking about and looking for subjects that would interpret that. This is, for me, a new way of approaching photography. Though I can often find photos retrospectively that fit a theme, I rarely go out with a specific theme in mind.

Opportunities for photography being scarce at the moment, I ended up taking my DSLR with me when I went Christmas shopping in Leeds.  That was an 'intersection' in itself!  This photo of the new Leeds Trinity Shopping Centre could be one interpretation of the theme - both in the way the walkways criss-cross and in those complicated spider's web Christmas decorations.

If you're wondering what the horse is about, look here. (And that is another photo that could, I suppose, fit the 'Intersection' theme quite well.)

High Corn Mill, Skipton

Apologies for my absence from blogging. I seem to be very busy with necessary things that have prevented me from going out and about with my camera. It's always harder to find time in the winter. It's still dark when I leave home in the mornings and dark again by the time I come home from work. Weekends in the run-up to Christmas seem to be full this year. I haven't even been out to look at Saltaire's Advent windows yet!

I did take my camera when I went to meet a friend in Skipton recently. We spent so much time chatting over coffee(s) - and cake of course - that I left myself no time for taking photos. We rather lost track of time. (Isn't it delightful when a conversation is so engaging?) Then I suddenly remembered my parking ticket had run out and I had to dash back to the car before a traffic warden got there first! I took this quick snap of the old corn mill beside the canal. It has a water-wheel at the far side but it's not in a spot where you can really get a decent photo.

Saltaire sunset

Sitting at my desk, I could see some enticing wisps of pink suddenly appearing above the roofs of the houses opposite. I grabbed my phone, ran to the end of the road and was rewarded with this lovely show of colour. You have to be quick to catch the sunsets round here and I rarely seem to see a good one. This wasn't the most spectacular but I am always charmed by the pretty effects. I think the iPhone did a creditable job of rendering it. I have not boosted the colour at all.

I'm going to take a break from blogging for a few weeks. I have a lot of other things I need to make progress with. I will be back, no doubt with a few Saltaire Christmas photos at some stage. Don't go away!!

Dales view

I wasn't going to post this one on my blog, though I've put it on Flickr.  A letterbox crop is the wrong shape for the blog really. But since I think it's probably one of my best landscape pictures EVER..... please view large (click on it). It's another view of Langstrothdale, such a scenic and unspoiled place.

Langstrothdale

Langstrothdale must be one of the most photogenic of the Yorkshire Dales. It's often the smaller dales that are the most stunning, wonderful for walking but less amenable to car travel as the roads are so narrow. The infant River Wharfe rises in this dale, heading south to the village of Buckden, where its valley becomes Wharfedale.

Rainbow over Langstrothdale

'Gratitude is the real treasure God wants us to find, because it isn't the pot of gold but the rainbow that colors our world.' Richelle E Goodrich

Cauldron Falls

Recent heavy rain has made the waterfalls in the Yorkshire Dales rather spectacular. This pretty spot is Cauldron Falls in West Burton. It was sketched by J M Turner in 1816, when he was taking a grand tour of Yorkshire, and from the sketch (part of the Turner Bequest held in The Tate) it seems that little has changed since then. West Burton itself is an attractive Dales village, clustered around a large village green with a market cross.

Coat of Arms

There has been a church in Linton since Saxon times (850 AD) and the present church contains many ancient features such as a Norman font and arches. The church has been modified and extended several times, including a major Victorian restoration in 1861, which created the distinctive squat belfry with its carillon of four bells. I can't find much information about this coat of arms on the wall, but it makes an impressive feature. It relates to King George III. I believe that at one time churches had a statutory duty to display the royal coat of arms as a sign of loyalty to the crown and to the sovereign as Supreme Head of the Church of England.

Linton Church

The little parish church of St Michael and All Angels sits beside the River Wharfe at Linton Falls, just across the river from the village of Grassington. To my mind it's one of the most picturesque places in Wharfedale. We were lucky enough to catch quite dramatic lighting, in between dodging the rain showers. Look closely and you will see this is a self-portrait too, shadows being unavoidable in the low sunlight. Me and my tripod!

There are estimated to be over 10,000 people buried in this churchyard and some of the memorial stones are fascinating. There is one for a two-year old boy who died of pneumonia in 1926, after playing Cupid (in the nude) in a pageant in Grassington.

Upper Wharfedale

Over the next few days I will post some of the photos I took during my holiday at Scargill in the Yorkshire Dales. This is the view across Upper Wharfedale from the track up to Buckden Pike, showing the typical landscape of this area with its drystone walls and limestone barns.

Through the triangular window....

It was raining at the time (!) but I think nevertheless you can see the impact of the glorious scenery viewed through one of the gable windows of Scargill House's chapel... Yorkshire drystone walling and lots of trees on this side, a view across the valley on the other.

I don't suppose many people will remember where my title comes from - did you ever watch 'Playschool'?  When my daughter was small, in the early 1980s, we often watched this children's TV programme. They zoomed in to a film sequence through a different-shaped window each time.

The chapel at Scargill House

I had another holiday! I spent a few days up in the Yorkshire Dales (Upper Wharfedale, to be precise) at Scargill House near Kettlewell. Scargill is a Christian holiday and retreat centre, home to a resident community of some thirty people from all over the world, who welcome all to enjoy a few days being well-cared for in a spectacular environment. The programme I went on was a photography holiday (what else!) so I spent time with a lovely group of like-minded folk, exploring some of the wonderful local beauty spots and being patiently coached where coaching was needed. I think I have finally got to grips with using a tripod, which had always frustrated me before. I'm not saying I will always lug one around with me; I like to travel light on my walks - but at least I now feel I can make proper use of one when I need to.

My photo shows the chapel at Scargill, recently short-listed in the top ten in a competition to find the best churches built in the last 60 years. Built in 1960 and designed by George Pace, the chapel has a soaring A-frame roof in a Scandinavian style. Through the huge, clear glass, gable windows you can see the lovely Yorkshire scenery outside, making it an especially uplifting place to worship the Creator God.

Remembrance

'They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.'

[From 'For the Fallen' by Laurence Binyon]

The East Window of St. Mary's Church, Kettlewell in the Yorkshire Dales shows the figure of Christ appearing to soldiers in the trenches at the Battle of the Somme, 1916. The window is a memorial to Lieutenant G. Cutliffe Hyne of the Irish Guards, who was wounded in the battle, aged just 18, and died of his wounds later in a military hospital in London. He was buried in St Mary's churchyard. The pile of clothes is his and the faces of the soldiers are reputedly those of his friends.

Golden hour

'The golden hour' is very golden in Saltaire, when the low sunshine lights up the honey-coloured stone. This is the entrance to Salts Mill from Victoria Road.

Golden moment

'Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognise it as such.'  Henry Miller

(New Mill chimney, Saltaire, reflected in the Leeds-Liverpool Canal.)

Across the weir

New Mill, Saltaire. A familiar viewpoint in a different light.

Shadow play

Roberts Park bandstand, Saltaire. Even in the mid-afternoon now, the sun is getting low and the shadows are long. I waited a while to see if the youngsters would move out of the bandstand but the smooth surface is good for sliding their scooters and skateboards around. In the end, perhaps the rim-lit figures add something. I begin to think I may be a little too impatient to get people-free shots. Sometimes I might give the impression that Saltaire is uninhabited, which is far from the case!

New England 5: Covered bridge

New England is famous for its covered bridges. Having read 'The Bridges of Madison County' and seen the movie, (yes, I know that's in Iowa), I have a romantic notion of them and was keen to see and photograph some. The limitations of a group tour meant that I wasn't able to see more than a couple and they were not the most authentic versions either, so I didn't really tick that box in the end. However, this pedestrian bridge in Stowe, Vermont was quite attractive. I feel sure it is there primarily as a tourist attraction; it looked relatively new.

Autumn leaves

The Rowan or Mountain Ash tree has leaves that turn a nice shade of magenta in the autumn. Sadly, this year, they have not been able to stay on the trees for long due to the wind and rain we've had.  You have to look down to see the beauty now, not up.

Autumn windfall

There are more leaves on the ground than on some of our trees now - and yes, this is Autumn in Old England, not Fall in New England. (But with the occasional vivid red leaf among the yellow and brown ones, who would know?) Wind, rain and mild weather have combined to ensure that Britain's autumn this year is nowhere near as spectacular as last year's was. It is still possible to find some inspirational images though. This is just how the leaves fell, I didn't arrange them.

By the way, I have not finished with my USA trip photos yet, it's just taking me a while to work through them.