Journal for the year 2013

I have decided to try and create a Blog/Diary/Journal and hopefully keep it up to date. My biggest problem is I seem to find so much to do, travel considerably or as is most often get side tracked into doing something else. The main reason for doing this Journal is to keep some sort of record of my photography during my travels and explorations. Sometimes I will have few words and images if it is just for a very short trip. Hopefully on my longer journeys I will be able to provide more information and images. This particular year I have made more excursions than usual so haven't put anything into the Journal which is just a day out.

Whitby Goth Weekend - 1 to 5 November

I spent two days in Whitby for the Goth Festival, it was very crowded and difficult to get the Goths in their full costumes without messy backgrounds, quite a few images are therefore closeups of the people. Whitby Abbey was very impressive and it look good at night as it was lit with coloured lights. Whilst in Whitby took the opportunity of going to other places nearby as I hadn't visited this part of Yorkshire before. Below are a few of the Whitbyh characters and Whitby Abbey, for more images on Whitby click on my Whitby page.

North Wales - 12 to 20 October

A party of us from Exmouth Photo Group went to North Wales to a self catering cottage, this was a converted chapel and ably accommodated us all. As we did in Yorkshire we divided ourselves into small groups and explored the area. Quite a bit of the time was spent on the Isle of Anglesey, the weather seemed to be better there than around the Snowdonian mountain range. Again a very mixed bag of images and below are only just a few. I have included a Wales page into the Great Britain section, click here to follow this link.

Outer Hebrides - 27 September to 6 October

The Outer Hebrides trip involved a stop on the way up and back to break up the journey, this we did at Glen Coe and also made a quick photographic stop at Eilean Donan Castle and Isle of Skye. We stayed on the Isle of Harris in a beautiful house right beside a loch, not far from Tarbert. Our week there involved lots of travelling up and down Harris and all the way to the top of Lewis. I think Harris and Lewis is a must for any photographer, beautiful islands, well worth the long trip.

French Alps 13 to 16 June

I visited the French Alps in the hope to getting something a little different from my usual images. I had hoped to get quite a few different wild flowers and my wish was for a wild flower field with a backdrop of the mountains, this was not to be but I did enjoy the trip and certainly got some different shots. Stayed in a lovely chalet called Chalet Bluebell in the village of Les Gets, a perfect spot and wonderful cooking. Had some brilliant views from Mont Calay of Mont Blanc.

The Bohemians, Queen Tribute Band - 18 July

This band performed at Bicton Park, Nr Budleigh Salterton. A very popular tribute band that create Queen very well. Plenty of atmosphere and ending with a firework display.

Tuscany - 14 to 20 April

Tuscany has been a place I have wanted to go and take photos for some time now and the opportunity came in April of this year. I think it was all that I expected, I really loved all the cypress trees, they certainly give the landscape a completely different feel, monumental and elegant. I would have liked to have had more mist in the mornings though as I wanted to capture mist coming across the rolling hillsides, but I did have good weather on the whole, just a few images I have put below as again I intend doing a page devoted to Tuscany, there was so much to see. The place we stayed in was Il Rigo Farmhouse, Localita Casabianca, San Quirico d'Orc, absolutely beautiful and in a perfect position for all the places I was hoping to see. Val D'Orcia Valley, Bertolli House, Pienza, Montefollonico, Montepulciano, Pitigliano, Saturnia, Sorano and Siena. Wonderful scenery and a delight for landscape photography. Please click here for the Tuscany page.

Isle of Skye - 3 to 9 March

After the Yorkshire Trip we extended our photographic holiday and went to Skye. Two friends and I went see a an ex Exmouth Photo Group member, Dave McHutchison, who has a property on the Isle of Skye. We stayed at his place and because he is getting a business going doing Photographic Workshops we were his first 'guinea pigs'. Dave drove us all around Skye and to some places I hadn't visited before, although the weather wasn't that kind it was a very successful trip. I would recommend Dave if you want to stay on the Isle of Skye, this is the link to his website where you can find more information. Below just a few images I took, I will be putting more into the Scotland section at some time in the future.

Yorkshire Dales - 23 February to 2 March

A group of twelve of us from Exmouth Photo Group decided to go to Yorkshire Dales for one week and hired three self catering cottages near Hawes. An excellent choice of place and position where we had a very convivial time together, each cottage taking it in turns to do the evening meals, quite a gathering each evening!!! We all went off each day in small groups to visited waterfalls, moorland, limestone paving, Fountains Abbey, the barns in Swaledale, in fact there was plenty to see and the weather was ideal. In fact one particular morning we got some fantastic light over the Hawes hillsides with frost on the ground, very pleasing. All in all an excellent trip.

Paris - 1 to 3 February

A trip to Paris was a very good start to 2013, I went there for a family celebration, it was my son Ian's 50th birthday last November, also his partner had her 50th birthday within a couple of days so they decided to have a family celebration at The Moulin Rouge, convenient for them as they live in France. We the family from Exeter flew from Exeter to Paris and we made a weekend of it. Going up the Eiffel Tower, visiting the Sacre Coeur, Monmartre, Lourve and Galeries Lafayette, and what a celebration, it was fantastic. We all loved The Moulin Rouge.

Galleries Lafayette	Eiffel Tower through glass	The Louvre at night
At the top of the Eiffel Tower - very windy and cold