Northumberland 2021: Part Seven

10 June 2021

I started the day today just trying to capture pictures of the Eider ducks. I didn’t really fancy walking all the way down the beach to where I was yesterday, so walked up a little instead. The first group of ducks all slowly moved away at my approach, and on realising these were clearly shyer birds, wary of people, I tried again, gently this time. I stealthily climbed and hid behind the rocky ledges and eventually found a good spot where I was still pretty much hidden, but had a good view of the birds, and I balanced the camera ready. As I started shooting the area slowly filled with lots of them, mostly swimming, but 7 came ashore, 4 males and 3 females. Happy was I!

After this, I had a good think on what I wanted to do next. Since I needed to be at Berwick-upon-Tweed around the 16/17th (that’s when the tide is high in the evening, so pretty much my only chance of a nice sunset not on mud!) I decided to start at the bottom of the coast and work my way northwards.

This meant that today was going to be Tyne and Wear day! Yes, yes, I know its not Northumberland, but its a very small county, so I may as well tack it onto this trip, right?!

My first stop was Jesmond Dene waterfall and Mill. This was a location I had found online, and was really excited to see in person. Finding it was really easy, and after a short walk around the wooded area, I found myself standing on a small bridge, looking at a gorgeous waterfall. Since this was a public park, there were several groups of youngsters that came and went, all sitting on the edges of the waterall. It was fine because I was in no rush, turning the camera onto the mill here for a bit instead. The sun was shining on it, and the flowers looked lovely in the light – it was an easy shot really! I then went and explored it, reading about the history of the mill and this whole park, then had a short wander downstream – by the time I came back, the crowds of youths had thinned, and the photography of the falls was much easier.

By now the sun had disappeared though, but I still managed to capture some nice pictures. After shooting from the bridge, I decided to try a shot with the bridge itself in, so found a route down, and waded carefully across the river in my beach shoes. (really pleased I had the forethought to bring those!!) It wasn’t too hard, but not sure I’d try this with the river in full spate! The shot from here looked absolutely beautiful, and I fired lots off – full zoom, wide, tall, long exposure and fast shutter shots… so many… but this was a view that I really wanted to stay and stare at! I didn’t manage any pictures with sunshine sadly, as it didn’t reappear long enough while I was down here. For a brief second it did flicker out tho, the lush trees in the background almost glowed it was so beautiful. I’d come back here any day…

From here I tried the Angel of the North. Initially I wasn’t quite as interested in this one, and it felt more like an ‘I guess I should’ shot to go for. When I got there though, early for the sunset, but just into golden hour, I scouted the area and realised why so many people photograph it. Its a stunning and dramatic piece of artwork, with very easy parking, and not in a full on tourist spot encouraging huge constant crowds. It was really lovely here! As sunset was an hour away, I had a bit of supper and then went back. I really wanted one particular shot with dramatic moving clouds moving towards (or directly away from) me if I could, but I haven’t been able to achieve this before. Tonight I might get lucky – and I was secretly hoping for a double bonus of a sunset as well. Either way, I had chances of two possible shots I was aiming for. As luck would have it, the clouds were moving in the right direction from what I considered to be the best vantage spot, and they were moving at quite a pace – I felt my luck might be in tonight! As I tried these pictures, the setting sun slowly gave a bit of a glow to the cloud and I started getting excited about my prospects… then another photographer boldly walked right across the scene in front of me.

Now, most photographers check, and either wait, or go behind you. Those that step into your shot without realising, immediately apologise and hurry through your scene, because its an spoken understanding that people in your shot can ruin it – and none of us like that! But not this guy, oh no, none of these applied to HIM. With his tripod and camera over his shoulder, he strode in a slow, ‘look at me, I’m da man’ cocky style, staring directly at me, grinning from ear to ear. He knew full well what he was doing. He milked his moment as he slowly sauntered past the feet of this awesome sculpture and I did nothing but watch, displaying no emotion for him to feed off. Although I hated his crappy attitude, I can be patient… so I just stood watching him grinning at me, and waited. This clearly pissed Karma right off however, and 3/4 of his way over, I heard the gut wrenching sound of clattering and smashing glass, saw him instantly stop, turn and fall to the floor – his camera had fallen off the tripod behind him! I couldn’t help it, but a laugh erupted from my mouth – which I immediately stifled and tried to disguise as a cough – while he gathered bits of filters, the camera and scurried off. (I seriously hope it was just filters and not the glass from a lens!!) Even though I had a cracking spot for the shot, he didn’t come anywhere near me after that, and he disappeared from view altogether very quickly after, not returning. I felt awful laughing at someone’s misfortune, but boy, you gotta love Karma when it hits like that, and it taught me a very valuable lesson.. Don’t mess with Her and be nice!

Oh, and don’t walk with your camera on the tripod over your shoulder without triple checking it’s security…

As the sun started lowering in the sky, I took my shot – well I took several – and I was finally rewarded with one that far exceeded the shot I had hoped for. Patience clearly has its own rewards…

From here I wanted to shoot the classic view of the beautiful bridges and their reflections over the Tyne at Newcastle Quayside. With blue hour and early darkness, this should look amazing. I found a good parking spot and excitedly wandered over, but what a failure my efforts became!! The river was moving quickly, and I instantly got confused as all my attempts were a total disaster… Its a river, it’ll always be moving surely?! I had absolutely no idea how people could get a glass like reflection – was I doing this wrong? Does the water still enough at some moments? Have they all cheated and faked it in photoshop??!! Is Karma paying me back for my cruel laughter?? Who knows…?!! Confusion and frustration ruled as I took what I could for now (see header) and I eventually decided I would have to try this again at some other time, but for tonight, it wasn’t worth continuing. I left it within 20 minutes, driving away from the whole area in my annoyance with myself, and I went to find somewhere else to stay the night instead. In the darkness, and with the hours drawing on, I found myself getting more confused and frustrated with both the evenings efforts, and worse, with finding somewhere to stop and sleep – driving up and down the coastline too unsure of what I should do next. (I am not good with sudden changes of plan) Eventually I ended up in a big car park somewhere near (I hoped!) to St Marys lighthouse for the morning. My final hope was that I might get lucky with a dawn shot instead. I would know in 4 hours, but for now, I was in desperate need for sleep…