There's So Many Colours Man!

Ive visited Sheringham Park on numerous occasions over the years and had some great shots taken there but there was always one thing that sat in the back of my mind and bugged me.There was talk of a certain time of year there when the Rhododendrons are in bloom,that transformed it into a sea of colour.It was like a myth told to people who knew the local crazy fool who'd seen it,kinda like the Loch Ness monster.Well.......i was to become that crazy fool! It had all started when i was doing my usual trawl through the crap on my facebook page when these pictures jumped out at me and practically slapped me in the face.A couple of friends of mine had been up to Sheringham park and taken a couple of pictures that oozed pinks,violets and whites.As quick as a flash,a message was sent to the friends in question,'were these recent?' and 'are they still there?' I was told that it had been a couple of days prior but the petals were dropping fast and wouldn't be there much longer.That was it,i felt like my blood had been replaced with red bull and i couldn't sit still.I had to go there,and right away! Id had a partically heavy day at work so all my body wanted to do was rest but my brain had other ideas.As i walked across one of the meadows there i wondered if i was too late,but then through the treeline saw this burst of colour.I felt like id walked straight into a fairytale there,it didn't seem real.Round every corner were these amazing colours and just when you thought you'd come to the end you stumble across more.It is a truly remarkable place to visit when the rhododendrons are in full bloom and if you ever get the chance then go,as its like nothing id ever seen before.

Sunset Searchers

Ludham,Norfolk is a village lucky enough to have the broads running through it,so it makes for some great photo opportunities.Ive been trying to find new places for my photography and after speaking to a couple of friends they told me about this place.They had the honour (or misfortune) to come with me.Id promised them a grand sunset that night as id been checking the weather forecast the previous night but as i now know,the weather people don't have a bloody clue whats going on and now sense that they update there forecast by sticking there head out the window and putting down what its like at that moment in time! Needless to say i endured a barrage of jokes during the day about the state of the weather as it was dull and cloudy for the best part of it.Be warned tho,the roads around Ludham are crap,especially the one leading to St Benets Abbey which looks like it hadn't been seen too since the early ages of man.On to the Abbey itself,a nice building had it not been surrounded by 2 large metal fences and resembled more of a building site,complete with portaloo which looked like someone had spontaneous combusted in there! Still,the surrounding area was nice and the sun was trying to break through the wall of cloud before it.Trying to a climb a barb wire fence with a tripod and full equipment is like mission impossible which i found out as i managed to get one foot on the top of the fence then found my leg had developed a mind of its own when it decided to swivel side to side with a move that even Elvis would of been proud of.Unscathed i got over tho to the disappointment of my other 2 mates.Our next stop was just down the road at How Hill which id visited a couple of times before.By this time the sun was setting and finally we got the colour in the sky we had been searching for.The other main problem with dusk and being next to a waterway is that it was crawling (literally) with fly's and mosquitoes who looked at us as an all you can eat invitation when i looked at my arms later on that night.The night ended in an ill tempered swan blocking the path,but our friend Matt seemed undeterred and at one point i thought he may well wrestle this beast back into the water from where it came.It was a good night but really tested our skills to capture what we did with an indifferent weather not helping.A thank you to Simon and Matt who came along with me,i think their only disappointment was not seeing me fall flat on my face trying to get over that fence!  

Pier Pressure!

If i was to describe my photographic style then 'spontaneous' would hit the nail right on the head and the pictures here were very firmly from that category.Id been thinking about a sunset id seen 2 nights prior to this night and that was enough,the seed had been planted! I checked the weather forecast and my eyes lit up as the sun was due a rare appearance and right at sunset.After unsuccessfully trying to convince my photographic partner in crime Simon Watson to stage an emergency of catastrophic proportions which would mean him having to leave his tasks he was doing,oh and convince his wife that he also needed his camera and all his equipment for a few hours without it sounding suspicious,i ended up funny enough, going on my own.The time i was down at Cromer that evening past in a blur of an orange and pink haze but to go from having an uneventful evening planned to what i captured here all within a 2 hour time slot made it the right choice by far.My friend Simon had vowed to giving me the silent treatment on facebook if i captured a good night of pictures that he would of missed out on...............All is quiet on the western front!