So I managed to worm my way in to crashing yet another day out with my Mum and Nana again, this time to windy Windermere! This was a day of where I was supposed to be doing my essay draft which had to be submitted within three days for university!...Don't worry...I got that done too just so you know I'm not a complete slacker...
So we set off early morning on our long drive from Manchester to Windermere, little Nana in the front, Mother-dearest the designated driver and little me sat in the back-seat ready for the day with my Nikon D600 charged and ready for action with Mum's camera at the ready beside of me!
Must admit we were doubting the weather situation and whether it would hold off the rain or not just for a few hours while we looked round as while we were driving all we saw was thick fog everywhere! However we arrived at about noon and of course, who can go anywhere with my Nana and NOT go and get a coffee and a cake to kick start our day?
We followed my little 4 ft 9" nearly 91 year old Nana, who by this point was running towards the nearest café into this lovely little area as seen below and our day began!
This adorable little café was warm and well needed after our long warm car journey and our exhausting walk ....across the car park. We sat down with our treats which just so happened to be bigger than all of us!
Each table had these adorable little sugar cube jars on them along with little poesy's of flowers and colourful napkins. Gorgeous shiny light tables and a lovely red, black and silver theme with wall décor and lots of natural light.
As you can now see by what I meant about the treats being bigger than us... there was NO exaggeration. A hearty slice of chocolate fudge cake, washed down with a special hot chocolate, special meaning it had lashings of whipped cream on top along with mini marshmallows and a yummy flake on the side for me...now I'd say that was pretty special to me. A soft home-made scone with a nice tub of strawberry jam and of course a big dollop of cream to go with it for my Mum and...my Nana actually devoured hers before I could even get a glimpse of her home-made cherry bake-well tart both of those washed down with smooth hot latte's, perfect for warming us up before braving the cold winds of Windermere!
Enjoying my yummy mug of hot chocolate appreciating every mini marshmallow! YUM!
Okay so yes we were a little bit defeated by the enormous portions of cake and coffee, however my Mum did actually manage all of her's both scone and latte, quite smartly she chose to go with a more reasonable size of cake's though whereas I on the other hand, naturally, thought I could well and truly take on a piece of chocolate fudge cake....It appears I was wrong....
So after leaving the café feeling very sick indeed, we couldn't help but spot the glorious sign of...dun dun dunnnn...DUCK FOOD! Of course we had to have some duck food (A.K.A Cornflakes) But there is no way you can come to Windermere and NOT buy some duck food especially when it's 3 bags for £1! Naturally I ran in the shop, duck food in hand and proudly presented my pound coin to the lady at the till. My nana however had other idea's as to what I wanted the duck food for asking my mum, 'does she like duck food?' No nana it's to feed to the ducks!
Would you be able to walk past an offer like this?? Of course not. Duck food for all! We then ventured off to feed these various ducks which turned out to be possibly thee most frightening thing I have ever imagined...
Oh yes they look all elegant and friendly but really they were evil bullies of the bird world who chased you and nipped at you until you threw the food on the ground to them! I was NOT as brave as I thought I was...Although I did NOT think that swan's were as tall as me! These great big, yes beautiful but still terrifying creatures towered over my little Nana and of course me being the wonderful granddaughter I am...ran away screaming while she told them off to pick their crumbs up off the floor talking to them looking them dead in the eye...yes the eye ...they were that tall...I can't even describe how tall these things actually are...like I had no idea...really...wait here...THIS is how tall and how terrified I was...
Mum naturally snapping away on her camera as I am getting mauled by the birds! Truly terrifying...I ended up just throwing the contents of the bag all over the pavement and quickly making haste hurrying my little Nana away from them all! We did however meet some lovelier little ducks and some cheeky geese and some beautiful white dove's and made sure they all got a little duck food too!
This duck had to be my favourite... He was ever so posy for me and completely adorable and polite! Have you ever heard of a polite duck...well this one was! Patiently waiting for a little handful of cornflakes and happily shared with all the other little ones!
After the both traumatic yet enjoyable experience we headed back down the road, strolling enjoying the wonderful views of the foggy lake side which were beautiful and mysterious all in one.
Although the weather was foggy and chilly the lakeside was still as picturesque as it would be in the glistening sunshine of summer or the snowy winter-land of winter. The environment was originally more this colour however with a few little tweaks in Adobe Lightroom I created this gorgeous old style almost rustic version of the beautiful view.
This warm soft tone and soft hazy glow is almost enough for us to imagine sitting there with some nice cold drinks, family, friends, and glorious sunshine brushing off our skin. Safe to say I will definitely be going back there when the nice weather kicks in to see the real thing!
We arrived back at our car to escape the icy winds and seek heat from Mum's emerald green car who ironically is named...Emerald who my Mum loves ever so much and always praises what a great little car she has been! Oh Mum! :D
Before heading home Mum decided to have a little drive around the town so that we can still get to see a little bit more of the place but in the warmth of Emerald! I couldn't resist this lovely 'Little House On The Prairie' style image with the geese happily scattered on the fields before we set off!
So we set off, me happily in the back-seat snapping away at all the lovely scenery as we drove slowly by. It was fun to try and get shots in a moving car of landscapes but do believe that there are still some flattering and beautiful shots of Windermere here that I managed to capture!
The sky cleared up in patches and we were able to enjoy a few minutes of blue skies and warm golden sun peeking through!
And then the grey fog would creep it's way back into my photo's while creating this wonderful moody look over the lakeside. I particularly liked this image with the possible granddaughter and grandmother sat on the bench looking out onto the lake, with a great use of rule of thirds and lovely moody lighting.
Sometimes the moodiest of images can have the most impact, these two images above are just so eerie with almost an essence of twilight in there with the woodland in the background, the cloudy mono-tonal sky along with the silhouetted foreground of the tree's and branches.
Looking one minute to the right and the next to the left there was a significant scenery and lighting change around every corner and every bend in the road! Definitely kept me on my toes whilst shooting and also tested me very well on my manual settings switching from high aperture to low aperture to fast shutter speed to low shutter speeds!
One of the funniest things about my Nana recently is her tendency to shout out, 'There's our Clive!' To every red car she spots on the road, Clive referring to my sisters car which is a red Clio! and of course every green car she spots, 'There's our Emerald!' Meaning my Mum's car!
Oh Nana haha got to love her and her wacky ways!
All in all it was a wonderful day despite the cold wind, I thoroughly enjoyed myself snapping away and I always look forward to uploading them to my blog so all of you can read about my adventures and join me by looking at the pictures I take!
And what would a day out be, without a cheeky 'selfie' on the car ride home!
