A day out to Bolton Abbey in the Yorkshire Dales and then to Skipton Markets!

Today my Mum, my Nana, my brother Tom and I all set off to view the amazing views on Bolton Abbey in the Yorkshire Dales along with Skipton Markets for a bit of shopping afterwards!

Bolton Abbey is around 30,000 acres of stunning countryside, over 80 miles of footpaths and oodles of fresh air to be inhaled! There are plenty of interesting things to view and explore such as the ruins of the beautiful priory, the vast ground space, great for kids of all ages to run around, a lovely riverside, woodland and moorland paths to stroll along. Restaurants, tea rooms and café's galore! 

Setting off on our travels armed with sweeties and chocolates in our bags, music in our ears and spring lambs in the fields as we passed by!

Golden, morning sunlight pouring through my windows as I start my day, excited to go to Bolton Abbey in the Yorkshire Dales with my wonderful Mummy, my adorable little Nana and my stinky 13 year old brother Tom! (Just kidding I love him too!) ....One word to describe this morning...Perfect!

We head off with the sat nav making our every move and Nana proudly sat front passenger enjoying the warm early morning sunlight creeping over the country hills and fields. Of course our first objective when we got there was...'Coffee and Cake'. We found the nearest little café called the 'Blueberry Kitchen' and admired the beautiful homemade jam and honey jars sitting wholesomely on the shelves as we awaited our first bites of the day looking over the little paper map we were handed on arrival!

We enjoyed homemade scones, sausage rolls, HUGE sandwiches lavished with salad and mayonnaise on a scrumptious soft seeded bun! Washed down with lattes, bottles of diet coke and fresh mineral water. After our early lunch we head out of the little café and make our way up the road to explore the Abbey! The sun was shining, blue skies were above us and the day had started!

This was the marvelous view from the top of the walkway, bright blue skies, white fluffy clouds here and there and lush green grass all around!

My Mum and I fell in love with the leading lines of the footpaths in these photographs and the views got better as the day went on...

We head down hill to explore some more taking in all of the natural beauty as we went along. My little Nana was thrilled to be out of the house and able to stretch her legs on such a glorious day. My brother Tom was also just as happy to be in the fresh air, enjoying his Easter holidays off from high school! My Mum and I were MORE than happy strolling around clicking away with our camera's too!

Seeing such an impressive building which was founded at Embasy in 1120! Technically the Abbey was actually a Priory despite the name and was later founded in 1154 by the Augustinian order on the banks of the River Warfe. The main part of the abbey church was in use as a 'parish church' from around 1170 on wards and then survived the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

Most of the Priory is still intact and standing however there are eerie gaps in the beautiful structure which my Mum and I were able to capture!

Stopping every so often for a few family portraits for the ever growing album of our days out!

My brother Tom also got in on the action, borrowing mums camera along the way showing off his newly developed photography skills of the landscapes! He became quite the natural, even telling me what kind of shots to get! Cheeky!

A visit to Bolton Abbey just wouldn't be the same without a trip to the see the stepping stones and of course look who had to show off and go all the way across!

A little too close to taking a tumble there Tom, remember you have to walk around soaking wet all day if you fall in!

I on the other hand was far too interested in taking pictures of the spectacular ripple effects created in the shallow waters colourful landscapes than what my little brother was up to.

 The sun was shining and naturally Nana was a magnet towards the Yorkshire Dales Ice Cream truck parked within eye shot of the stepping stones and obviously it would be rude to deny the wishes of a 90 year old lady...

A very excited Nana homing in on the ice cream truck and the perfect spot to enjoy some of the Dale's finest Vanilla cones! 

Who could better delicious ice cream in front of a view as wonderful as this?! 

This has to be one of my most favourite shots of the day, the sheer love and happiness of both my brother Tom's face and my Mum's just really pulls on my heart strings! 

Having Tom join us on our day out really made a huge difference to the atmosphere, he brought laughter, smiles and love all around just like he always does and I have never seen him more happy and relaxed in all his life, enjoying his ice cream, running round the fields and being the humorous joker he is! My Mum has been my brother's, my sister's and my whole world, our rock and best friend... This day has been perfect up to now but it's time to see what other wonderful scenes and events this day has in store for us all! Starting with admiring these intriguing Gothic style window arches! 

The images we captured above and below show how a simple style change in the developing process can turn the Abbey into an imaginative minds playground!

The eerie tombstones on the right were a stark contrast to the natural beauty of the riverside that ran to our left...

However, the dramatic changes of natural sunlight and cloud formation transformed the atmosphere into a fantasy setting from a romantic novel.

Looking back over our shoulder for our last glimpse of the Abbey we couldn't help noticing the drastic change in the clouds as if the Abbey was sad to see us leave. We were soon stopped in our tracks on the way back to the car when a stubborn chicken stopped traffic along the country lanes right outside of the 'Blueberry Kitchen' where we had eaten earlier! Customers of the café were shooing the enormous hen out of the road where it had been happily strolling and picking up the crumbs of passers by!

Next stop...Skipton markets!

A spot of light shopping just wouldn't be the same without a few cheeky 'selfies' with the hats on sale! It was treats all around, sunglasses for Tom, Nana yet another cardigan, as she just can't seem to get enough of them, (even though they're bursting from her wardrobes!) Mum added to her colourful collection of garden toys, with pretty butterflies, and silly characters including a blue moo cow, a bright red lady bug and a vibrant sunflower!

Myself personally couldn't stay away from the market stalls with crisp cotton scarves blowing gently in the breeze practically calling my name and naturally I had to buy two so the other wasn't lonely!

 

No trip out with Mum and Nana is complete without a final pit stop for more coffee's and homemade cakes! We stopped at a lovely and unusual themed café, called 'Coffee and Clay', where you are able to make pottery from clay and paint your masterpiece whilst enjoying a pleasant snack!

Being the true photographer that I am, I just couldn't resist a sneaky snapshot of this wall mural inside the café, framed with handmade pottery tiles from previous school visitors! This image is of Skipton High Street in 1900 prior to the industrial revolution, where live stock was on sale instead of the stylish scarves we see hung out for sale today! Cars in the photo are replaced by horse and carriage and suits and top hats were the jeans and leggings of today! 

Like all good things it was time to say goodbye to the Yorkshire Dales and head back home with full bellies and silly faces!

En route back to Manchester!

En route back home from South Wales University!  For three whole weeks! :D so excited to see my family and my loving boyfriend and hopefully going to go on lots of nice trips out with my camera to take some nice pictures for my blog :D
<3

Garry Winogrand! The Masters of Photography!

This has to be one of my favourite images of all time taken by Garry Winogrand.

Truly breathtaking! How I would have loved to be there that day watching this picture come to life and to hear the thing Winogrand heard and see the things he saw and how he saw them. We all know that Winogrand viewed the world through the lens of his camera but the life and soul he captures in his images are just spine-chilling!

Life is like photography, We develop from the negatives!

Found this wonderful little piece of advice while searching around for some inspiration and this made me stop and think and really appreciate the hard times for bringing us into the better times!

A Day Trip To Windermere!

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!

A day trip to Windermere!

What a lovely day today with my Mum and Nana at Windermere! 

A little bit of a fog but such beautiful views of the lakes and the cheeky ducks, geese and swans surrounding us for the duck food! (aka corn flakes!) We had a long warm drive up and then a quick coffee and cake (hot chocolate with marshmallows for me!) and then a lovely little stroll round the lakeside!....

The big swans were as big as me and towered over my little 4 ft 9" Nana!! Naturally I ran away screaming in terror as they came towards me looking for their cornflakes and my little Nana stood in the midst of it all telling them to pick up their crumbs! hahaa!!

Now for a warm car drive back home and pictures will be uploaded very soon!! :D 

A Lovely Trip Out To Lymm Dam With My Dad :)

What better way to spend a sunny Thursday afternoon than with my dad at Lymm Dam! 
Beautiful glistening water, colourful trees just getting ready to blossom, blue skies and sun shining down!

Me and my dad had a lovely afternoon strolling along the lakes photographing all the beautiful surroundings and having a nice, well needed catch up. We stopped off along the way and had a yummy meal at a cosy little pub called The Golden Fleece, with a nice big outdoor area with benches and tables and lots of sun! Little bit chilly when the breeze came by but not enough to get me and my dad to sit inside on such a lovely day! Cheap prices and amazing portions! 

We then head off with full bellies to continue our stroll and taking lots of pictures along the way!

Tiny waterfalls all around to enjoy including running streams and a wishing bridge!

Beautiful Landscapes, clear blue skies and lots of green land!

Lovely little birdhouses scattered all above in the tree's to accommodate the wide range of bird-life there at the dam!

Golden Sunshine, blossom tree's blooming and just a perfect day for photographing the world.

Tiny details usually get passed by but not with me and my camera around! Looks like the squirrels have been near!

Found the Squirrels! We also learnt that they made the WEIRDEST noises! A strange, hyena-like, chirpy bird noise is the best way I can describe it haha
Sometimes a photograph doesn't need any words except...Beautiful.

Lovely Lakeside view...Imagine the view from THEIR side!

Awww!! Baby swans' are on their way by the looks of this nest making!

Amazing lunch at The Golden Fleece pub where I had one of the biggest burgers EVER with some chunky chips and an ice cold Pepsi! Safe to say ....I was defeated! Finished my burger but the chips just couldn't find any room in my little belly anywhere!

These rocks astounded my dad and I when we read that they have been there for over 250 MILLION years! Strange to think that a few years ago as little girl I used to be running and climbing and playing on these with my big sister and we never even knew how special they are!

This amazing tree had these incredible root-like branches running all the way from the top of the tree into the ground wrapping around the tree!

There were some truly beautiful scenery that day but what really interests me is the little details like these pretty little white flowers, the bright yellow mushrooms growing on the tree stumps and the bright green ivy that clung to the walls all around the nature reserve.

There were little plaques on every park bench with their own tribute or message on them but this one just kept standing out to me and made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! :)

We also came across these beautiful wood carvings! How fantastic are these creative little things! My favourite had to be the little fairy!

These were some of the other wonderful wood creations! OH! and we actually saw a real life woodpecker along with this wooden one! Who knew they had such beautiful red feathers and my dad was particularly surprised with the overall size of the birds....Expecting a great big bird and we saw this cute little red breasted one pecking away at the top of the tallest tree knocking off big chunks of bark and watching them tumble to the ground. 

Can always count on my dad to pose for the camera and share a cheeky smile!

Love creating these wonderful pattern images of blossoms and tree branches! Perfect for screen-savers and wall canvases! 

Loved this pine green door surrounded by the beautiful stone wall. We just HAD to peek through the bushes and see what was on the other side and turns out...it was the beautiful white house we saw earlier! Somebody likes their privacy and wouldn't you if you were in the middle of the beautiful nature attraction...In such a beautiful house and location everyone would be peeking in your windows! However it is a great escape door to the nature reserve as soon as you step out from it!

A beautiful end to a beautiful day with a few little details captured on the walk back to the car! Lovely flowers in bloom, dried leaves glowing in the sunshine ready to spring new ones and not forgetting the gorgeous white little flowers all over the bushes!

Such a perfect day on my week break back from university and just a wonderful day to spend with my dad and chatting along the lake-side enjoying the views. Will definitely be heading back their in a few weeks to see how that swans nest is getting along when I return back to Manchester for my Easter holidays! However for now...University work is piling on and sunny Newport is my home... until the next time...