[RonHendriks1966]

Just take less with you next time.

Nice to read. My plan for next may is to visit the Farne Island and also your named Holy Island.

[jeallen01]

Nice story and lessons!

A few more:

* get a map of the destination (printing some screen shots of Google maps can be useful)
* annotate the map with must-see locations
* get moon-rise & moon-set times for night shots
* get a tidal chart for islands & coasts

Of course, all these planning lessons can over-burden a vacation with all the over-preparation time and overly-dense scheduling -- oh the irony of returning from a vacation more exhausted than before!

Sometimes the best vacation involves bringing the minimum of equipment and expectations.

Ref the 1st "*", printouts from Streetmap.co.uk are FAR better than from Google Maps which has cost me a lot of confusion and time recently - StreetMaps printouts, or at least the "copy and paste" versions, have far better detail, contrast and definition!

[BigMackCam]

Just take less with you next time.

Nice to read. My plan for next may is to visit the Farne Island and also your named Holy Island.

Yes, I think less is key. Plus, I'll know for next time what a sensible kit would be, and the subjects I'd like to spend more time on. Rather than trying to capture everything and ending up with very little, I'd concentrate on one or two subjects and styles of shot.

May would be a good time to visit, I think. The weather is improved enough by then, but the tourist onslaught won't have begun in earnest (according to the people I spoke with, at least), nor the regular summer events and archaeological digs etc. The castle is still undergoing maintenance at the moment, delayed due to some nesting owls - but it will be complete well before May next year, and the furniture and artwork put back in place. If you do visit, also try to find time for Bamburgh Castle on the mainland. Just a few miles away, it's one of the larger, prettier castles in the region with a mix of architectural styles from different periods. Well worth a look

[BigMackCam]

So when do we see the pictures?

Well, I'm typically not one for sharing my photos online (they're just for my own enjoyment, and I don't really have anything outstanding to offer)

So... here is what I think will end up being the best of the shots I took (which will give you an idea as to how average the rest were ).

This is a photo of the Emmanuel Head day mark navigation beacon on the North East point of the island (35ft / 9m high), built between 1801 and 1810. The shot gives no context to the item or its historical significance, but I liked the geometry. I took about 20 hand-held shots of this, trying to achieve a combination of suitable cloud formation and accurate alignment of the left and right sides of the elongated pyramid structure (harder than it sounds without a tripod). This was the best of the bunch. And I'm ok with it, actually... It's not too bad, except for the dark patch of cloud at the bottom right. Doesn't tell any story, but it's reasonably artistic, in its own limited way

Shot at 1/100s, 28mm, f/22, ISO 100 using that Tamron 28-300 PZD lens... Vertical cropping only to 1:1 format, which I felt worked best.

Attached Images

View Picture EXIF

File Date

 

[Culture]

So... here is what I think will end up being the best of the shots I took (which will give you an idea as to how average the rest were ).

This is a photo of the Emmanuel Head day mark navigation beacon on the North East point of the island (35ft / 9m high), built between 1801 and 1810. The shot gives no context to the item or its historical significance, but I liked the geometry. I took about 20 hand-held shots of this, trying to achieve a combination of suitable cloud formation and accurate alignment of the left and right sides of the elongated pyramid structure (harder than it sounds without a tripod). This was the best of the bunch. And I'm ok with it, actually... It's not too bad, except for the dark patch of cloud at the bottom right. Doesn't tell any story, but it's reasonably artistic, in its own limited way

Shot at 1/100s, 28mm, f/22, ISO 100 using that Tamron 28-300 PZD lens... Vertical cropping only to 1:1 format, which I felt worked best.

A very mysterious looking shot.

[sean_ks]

Good story for lessons learned. Definitely dig the shot that came out of it. Sort of an ominous shot? Haha