Lands End to John O'Groats with our Friends, the Hall McNairs ~ Part II

As I said earlier, we were lucky enough to accompany our friends, th

e Hall-McNairs at two points during their journey. The first was from Tewksbury to nearly Nantwich which I wrote about in an early blog entry. And the second point was from Wick to John O'Groats.

It was never our intention to be there for the finish, although if my husband could have had his way he would have joined them for their entire journey. Luckily for me it wasn't possible due to other commitments (like paying the mortgage). Not that I didn't want to be there with the Hall-McNairs. Its just that the weekend from Tewksbury to Nantwich was enough for me to see just how much work was actually involved. The 18 days from Land's End to John O'Groats was no holiday.

Andy though, was determined to see the finish. We had discussed it on several occasions but it just didn't seem to make sense. There was too much on for us both and the drive to John O'Groats seemed too long, particularly with kids. But as he kept harping on about it in the end I caved and agreed to make the drive through the night in order for us to be there for the morning of their last leg of the journey. This was clearly something important for Andy. Besides, he said he'd owe me big time for this. I just better make sure I cash in on it before he forgets.

Well we made it in time for Andy to accompany the crew for the last leg of the journey and I took the kids to the finish, although we almost missed it as we sat drinking coffee and eating cake. Luckily someone spotted them from across the car park and ran to tell us so we could get into position. We really only had seconds to spare. In hindsight the coffee could have waited but it is hard to gauge how long it will take to run 17 miles. We're just lucky the finish line was right next to the coffee shop.

It was great to be there for the finish. What an accomplishment it must have felt for all those involved from the start. Niki and her parents did a fantastic job taking care of everyone. The boys, Atticus and Reuben did incredibly well to last the journey with minimal complaints. And of course Rob, Sue and Martin did amazingly well to complete it in 18 days without a days break. I was exhausted just from driving it. I couldn't imagine doing even a quarter of what they did. Congratulations to them all.

Well we really lucked out with the weather. It was blue sky and sunshine for the first 2 days of our trip. It could have been a bit warmer so that the kids could really have enjoyed the seaside but with the weather we've been having lately I really can't complain.

We enjoyed a lovely day at the beach at Dunnet's Bay. The kids were in and out of the water all day, while Andy and I sat cosy and warm watching from a far in peace and quiet.

My daughter, Mackenzie, absolutely loves the beach. Its all she has wanted to do all summer. So we finally gave her a day at the beach. She was in heaven. And she didn't care one bit about how cold the water was. Andy and I found it too cold for our feet yet she was lying in it and thinking it was great.

While up north not only did I get a nice break away from home but I also managed to meet up with a fellow photographer, John Baikie, who was kind enough to drive over from Thurso to meet us at the Seaview Hotel in John O'Groats. It was great catching up and hearing what he has been up to and about some of his plans for the future. Its always nice talking to a fellow photographer and being able to talk shop. Working on my own means I don't often get the chance to speak to people about the business of photography so it was great to get that opportunity face to face rather than just on a forum as usual. I really enjoyed it. And while I was meeting John, Andy arranged to meet with one of his ex-colleagues, Kate who also lives in Thurso. It was a little strange being so far from home yet still meeting up with people we know.

Well this concludes the good weather portion of our trip. I think I will post this as it stands and add one final entry for the remainder of our trip as it includes getting a photograph of Prince Charles. Who would have expected that way up there?

Comments

My Work Experience Week by Hester Sharpe

A week in the life of a Photographers assistant, is not all about saying cheese! I’m Hester Sharpe, currently at JCC but took a week out of normal school life on work experience to be a photographer’s assistant and learn the bits behind the camera, photograph and the process to get to the end result. During my week of work experience in photography I have learnt that there is a lot more than just taking the pictures and printing them. The steps in between are the key to getting the perfect photo. For example the photos have to be cropped, tweaked, edited, colour corrected. That is just a taste I have had in the processing of the photos and there is a lot more than just those things. Those processes are the most time consuming part of the photograph and a tremendous amount of detail is put in to the picture but all the hours spent are paid off with the end result; a perfect picture. It isn’t just how the picture looks; presentation is a key to photography too. Selecting the best ...

Wedding Workshop in Nottingham

On Wednesday of this week I made the trek up to Nottingham (which wasn't actually much of a trek compared to most of the other delegates who travelled from as far as Glasgow, Portsmouth and South Wales) for a workshop held at Crash Taylor's home. Crash, a very talented photographer, specialising in weddings is someone I can highly recommend to anyone. Apart from spending the morning getting to know the other photographers we then spent the afternoon photographing a hired model, in her own wedding dress, as we wandered through Nottingham Castle. It provided me a chance to see how other photographers handled their weddings as well as a chance to experiment with equipment I haven't had a chance to play around with. Like in this image to the right. Here I used my flash, mounted on a tripod off to the side. This allowed me to achieve studio quality lighting out of the studio, a technique I will be using in my environmental portraiture. I can't seem to make up my mind on whi...

I Shot My First Wedding

I finally did it, my first wedding. After years of saying I would never do a wedding I finally decided to have a go. I don't know what convinced me. Maybe it was the thought that if I did one I could say with authority that I don't do weddings. My husband had been on my back for ages trying to get me to give one a go. For me I would have to say that the most difficult aspect of wedding photography is the pressure and stress caused by the importance of the day. I worried about this since the day Dawn emailed me to say they had decided they wanted to book me. I hadn't expected to get this wedding given that I had no samples to show them. And I certainly didn't give them a hard sell as I still wasn't convinced that this was something I wanted to do. I kind of figured that if I got this wedding, with no samples and no experience then it was meant to be. Well I have samples now. In the weeks prior to the wedding I read and I read and I read. I read books, magazines and ...

More Newborn Baby Portraits

This time we worked with a more alert baby, even though she was within the 2 weeks we recommend for newborn sessions. But to be honest, I do like getting a selection of both. Its nice to get the chance to see their eyes as well as those beautifully peaceful sleeping portraits. Making eye contact is just difficult and smiles are nearly impossible, which are only wind related if we managed them at all anyway. I always try to get a few detail shots in order to capture their tiny little fingers and toes. These can be quite difficult with an awake baby as they move so much and I need to rely on autofocus to make sure these details are in focus and with such a narrow depth of field this can be difficult. And rather than just a hand or a foot I like to get some of baby's face in the shot as well which poses another problem with an awake baby, they just don't stay still for very long so their hands and feet aren't always in the right place....

Portraits of a Newborn Baby Girl and Her Family

Its always so nice when a family return to have their latest addition photographed in the same way as their first child. Its a great feeling knowing they cherished my work so much the first time that they want to come back to continue the tradition. I also love it when I'm given permission to share the portraits I've created. Its not often that I'm asked not to share but I never take this opportunity for granted because I know how sensitive people can be about sharing personal moments. And I'm especially grateful here for being allowed to share some of the more intimate ones. Although I always ask permission to share the standard stuff I create, I always make it known that I am fine with and fully understand if there are any private portraits that should remain so. In this case I was given full permission to share everything and I'm so pleased to get the chance to show some of the other work we can do for families. I really love how skin tones turn out ...

Christina Lauder Portraits

Search This Blog