Day 1: Newcastle
Penshaw Monument Corner
Originally uploaded by Liam O’Neill.
Our first day of photography was around the Newcastle/Sunderland area. We started off with the Penshaw Monument outside Sunderland. The weather was great for this sort of photography, though the wind was never far away. The Monument seemed a reasonably popular place for people to come and climb the hill and admire the view. It was here we met the first of a number of people who were happy to just stop and chat, not the sort of thing that happens that often down South, but seemingly perfectly normal up North.
After we’d finished with the Monument, we took a scenic route through Sunderland and on to Marsden. Marsden Rock was, at one time, an arch much like Durdle Door. The current Rock, the remains after the arch fell in ‘97 is still an impressive sight, and covered in sea birds at this time of year. The midday sun, combined with an incoming tide, limited the photographs I wanted to take here. I did experiment with a new focusing technique here though, more of which later.
Millennium Bridge Curve
Originally uploaded by Liam O’Neill.
After the beach, and a detour for petrol, we headed into Newcastle proper. We had some lunch at the Life Center, where the strange architecture was just made for James to photograph, before heading down to the riverside. I have no idea of the why’s or how’s, but within a small stretch of the Tyne where Newcastle meets Gateshead, there are three road bridges, three rail bridges and a footbridge. There is also a fairly new walkway along the river which makes for a lovely walk. We naturally photographed the bridges and the river, though shots of the famous green bridge (you know the one) were hard to properly come by, what with a great big ship being parked underneath.
We took a little diversion there to go see the caste that gives the place it’s name (no great pictures thanks to a very strong sun in just the wrong place) and Earl Gray’s statue, he of the tea fame, before continuing along the river to the “new” Gateshead Millennium Bridge, or the “blinking eye” bridge as it’s also known. It’s certainly an interesting looking sight, it’s futuristic appearance matching the nearby Sage theatre as much as it contrasts with the old Baltic Flour Mills. It’s all curves and arches and bends, and this shot just seemed to capture all that so well.
Angel Of The North
Originally uploaded by Liam O’Neill.
On our way home, we did make one final stop at the iconic Angel Of The North. The sheer size of it is what grabs your attention, with those huge wings. Thats when the wind catches you, and you begin to image what that wind must mean for those wings. On a nice evening as the sun was setting, there were still a handful of people milling about, not ideal for a photographer who likes to take shots without people in them when at all possible. I did get a little caught out with the other shot, thinking I had the tip of the wing hard against the right hand side, when the picture later showed I hadn’t. Putting more space in front of the angel, on the left, would have been better. This shot, taken from further back, was more of a “just-in-case” shot in the rapidly failing light, in case I didn’t get one with nobody in it. As it happens, I did, but like a lot of big things on a photograph, the lack of scale let it down. The people in this shot actually help add that scale and help give some impression of the size of the thing.