Progress on new river Wear bridge, Sunderland

I missed the raising of the supporting pylon, combination of a bad cold and a horrible day!

However these two shots were taken shortly afterwards.  Look out for the heron in the foreground of the vertical format shot.

Christmas Day, Alnmouth beach, Northumberland

We went for a walk around Alnmouth, it was very warm for the time of year, with occasional full sun, but a very strong south westerly wind blowing sand on the beach and spume from the waves.

Autumn Colour in Weardale

Shittlehope Burn, which runs into the river Wear from the north at Stanhope.

There is a circular walk from Stanhope taking in the burn and, later, the great disused Ashes quarry.

It was muddy underfoot at this time of year, and you need to hop across the burn at a couple of locations, but on a bright autumn day, a magical journey.

Work progresses on new Wear Bridge, Sunderland

Work is progressing on the new road bridge over the river Wear in Sunderland. The deck is being assembled on the south bank and pushed out across the river on temporary supports. There will be a tall pylon to carry the suspension cables, but that has as yet to be installed.

Sony NEX 6 probably Zuiko 50mm f1.8

Hadrian's Wall

The section of the wall just to the west of Housesteads is one of the most dramatic. I probably used my old Olympus 50mm f1.8 Zuiko lens for this shot, which takes in Hotbank Crags, looking east.

Perspective Correction Part 2

In an earlier epistle I listed a number of methods for shooting tall buildings and reducing or eliminating converging verticals. I listed the technique of stacking several images but noted that I had not tried this method.

Well I have now given it a go and have been reasonably impressed with the outcome, see for yourself below.

This is the Emerson Chambers building in Newcastle upon Tyne, situated at the head of Grey Street and currently occupied by Waterstones bookshop. 

I used a Sony NEX 6 camera fitted with the standard Sony 16-50 zoom lens at about 28mm focal length ( 42 mm equivalent full frame). The combined photo used 5 shots, starting at the base working upwards with a healthy overlap between them. 

The images were developed in Lightroom, with the only adjustment being a standard lens profile correction.

The developed images were transferred to Photoshop (CS4) as 16 bit TIFF files, and two different methods of combining them were tried.

1) The easiest way to do this is to use the File Automate Photomerge command, selecting all of the currently open images. This did a job. The main building was not too bad but there was some weird colouration in the sky while the buildings to the rear right were well distorted.

2) The next method is a tad more complex, but produced a better result.

I selected and copied all of the images over to the base layer (the bottom of the building) so as to obtain a layer stack of images. I then selected all of the layers and used the Layer Align command, followed by the Merge Layer command.

The resulting image was a great improvement on that produced by method 1, but there was still some distortion of the buildings to the rear right, and  a little chromatic aberration along a couple of edges. 

Some Photoshop skulduggery was able to sort all that out to produce a final photo that is 6616 x 4628 pixels in size. Printing at 300 dots per inch would result in  finished dimensions of about 22 x 15.5 ", but the quality of the original and, taking into account a sensible viewing distance, would allow a much larger reproduction were it required.

Edit - I've played around with this technique rather more now and have found that the degree of perspective correction appears to be related to the geometry of the base level shot. If your camera is completely level as you take the first shot, the software tries to mimic that geometry as it adds the layers above. While this may sound a good thing, an image without any trace of convergence of the verticals looks a tad strange, while the top layer has to be contorted rather more than might be considered comfortable in order to comply. I guess that I'm still in the experimental stage, but I am beginning to prefer a base level shot that is just off the horizontal, so that the resulting image has some degree of natural perspective after assembling all of the layers.

I've also tried the automatic panorama feature in Lightroom 6 (Right click, Photomerge), which is surely the quickest software fix for this problem, but I have not been as impressed with the results as with those that I have achieved using my venerable copy of Photoshop.

Last edit 25-2-2016

Roker seafront

My wife and I love to walk or cycle along the north east coast and we recently visited Roker in Sunderland

Sparkling sea, you can see a multitude of colours in the original large file, I guess some kind of rainbow effect. I never tire of seeing the sun sparkle on the sea.

They have recently installed a new surface on the pier, so you now see a white arc above the blue sea. You might be able to spot the group of surfers waiting for waves next to the pier.

Environmental improvements include pieces of driftwood and plantings of bulbs etc.

A closer view of a surfer riding the wave that builds up alongside the pier.

Sony NEX 6 Various manual focus lenses.

South Hylton to Fatfield

I used to cycle this way daily when I worked in Sunderland, but today I took the Metro from Sunderland to South Hylton and walked the rest of the way.

 The trip started badly as I encountered this heap of stripped cable just off the track. The person concerned had carefully bound the different rolls of cable with tape, but then dumped the lot, showing a complete disregard and disrespect for the area and countryside. He probably stole the cable in the first place.

Never fear the sun was still shining as I walked down towards the river Wear from the old Sunderland to Durham railway track above.

But then came the rain and wind, fortunately there was some shelter along by the riverside. Entering Coxgreen  I noticed this old sign for Coxgreen railway station, closed in the 1960s.  I have to confess that I have cycled this way many hundreds of times, but never previously noticed it! The ring on the top says Durham County Council.

Crossing the river using Coxgreen footbridge and walking along the north bank I came across this attractive wreath attached to a tree. Presumably a memorial, but there was no message.

 Turning up towards the James Steel park, I saw that the owner of the end terraced property has nicely tidied up this piece of land adjacent to their house. There are numerous bird feeders, and in the short time I stood and watched I spotted chaffinch, blue tits, robins and bullfinch. 

Finally the pond in the James Steel park, with dogwood glowing red on the opposite bank. There was a swan on the water, but he was too shy to pose for the camera.

Sony NEX 6 Pentax 28mm f3.5 K and Zuiko 50mm f1.8 (couple on track)

Warkworth to Amble, Northumberland

We drove north to Amble, under grey skies most of the way. The weather forecast did not lie however, it was cold but bright in this part of Northumberland. Our walk went from Amble to Warkworth and return, along the course of the river Coquet.

I had forgotten the wealth of wildbirds that you see in this part of the world. There were eider duck in the harbour, a heron fishing along the river bank, the cry of a curlew, and oystercatchers above.

Carol spotted a seal catching a fish in the river.

Warkworth Castle

The river Coquet, with a mirror smooth surface

Last of the winter sun for the day at Amble marina

Sony NEX 6 Pentax 28 f3.5 K and 35mm f2 lenses

NE coast walk

A cold but bright December day was the occasion for a walk from Blyth to Whitley Bay

Approaching Seaton Sluice 

Fish and chips in the Harbour View cafe - that's the so called small portion!

St Mary's Island

Sony NEX 6

Views Zuiko 50mm f1.8, food Sigma 19mm f2.8

Gasometers - Hendon, Sunderland

Gasometers, or gas storage tanks, are a rapidly disappearing feature of the landscape.  I noticed that they are currently dismantling the tank at Wallsend, long a Tyneside landmark, and decided that I should photograph the Sunderland gasometers before they also go.

There are three surviving tanks on the Hendon site and they represent an evolution of the technology from early to late Victorian, and then 20th century. The oldest tank has ornate cast iron columns, the late Victorian tank has a riveted steel framework, while the most recent is self supporting.

The last time I looked at the tanks a few years ago, they were still in use, but today they look  sadly neglected and I suspect that their days are numbered.

I'd like to see the oldest of the three preserved, if at all possible.

The three tanks seen from the south, newest nearest to camera

The oldest tank with ornate cast iron columns

The riveted steel (or wrought iron?) framework of the middle tank dating back to 1895

Sony NEX 6

Wallington, Northumberland

We try to get to the National Trust property at Wallington once a year, primarily to see the fabulous walled garden. Click on any photo to enlarge.

A NT gardener told us that the pink flowers are lobelia, but they don't look like lobelia to me

He might have been referring to these small pink flowers?

Fuchsia in the greenhouse

Butterfly on Buddleia - infinite patience required for this shot!

The water lily lake, seen on the walk to the garden.

See also Wallington Hall and Gardens

Sony NEX 6 Manual focus lenses

Helm Crag near Grasmere

We try to get across to the Lake District whenever we can spare the time and there is the chance of decent weather over there. It's been difficult of late, with rain coming in from the Atlantic keeping the west side of the country dull and plenty wet. However today's forecast was for sun.

Helm crag is a popular walk from Grasmere, but one that we had never tried. It's not far, about 2 miles, but there's a fair climb with a little bit of scrambling, particularly if you elect to climb the Lion rock.

Not for cars?

 

Climbing the crag you get a good view over towards Easedale where the stream was running full and could be clearly heard  from a distance. Easedale tarn is visible from the top of the Lion rock.

So much for the sunshine - Grasmere town and

lake from the crag

The Lion and Lamb rocks. Not the best view and no sense of scale. Best seen from the north I think when you can see the body of the "lion", and they are much larger than this image suggests.

View from the top of the Lion rock.

Sony NEX 6 - Pentax 28mm f3.5 K, Samsung 35mm f2, and Zuiko 50mm f1.4

Sunshine at Roker

Before the rains came this week, we had some fabulous summer sunshine.

It's not often that it's warm enough to swim in the north sea at Sunderland, but this photo of Roker/Seaburn beach shows people choosing to sit in the shade, to get out of the sun!

Cragside, Rothbury, Northumberland

We try to get to the National Trust property Cragside at least once every year, and the best time to go is normally early June, when the azaleas and rhododendrons are at their best. This year we have had a severe winter and a cold wet spring, so things are a tad out of joint. There were some fabulous flowers to be seen, but nothing like the profusion of bloom of previous years at this time. However there's always something of interest to see at Cragside, our all time favourite NT location.

Click on any photo for an enlarged view.

Sheep with lamb, Tumbleton Lake

Blossom, cherry?

Stream

Carved into a fallen tree

Tree sculpture covered with toy trucks

Tulips too!

Sony NEX 6 various lenses.

Fishing Boat Passing North Shields

Taken from the river Tyne ferry.

Sony NEX 6 Pentax 75-150 f4 M