Alex Nichol | Landscape & Architectural Photographer | Newcastle upon Tyne

I wasn’t feeling well this morning, but I hadn’t been out with my camera for a while, so I took a short trip back to Collywell Bay to see if there were any better viewpoints…

This morning’s trip to Kielder Water was a little underwhelming, but I came away with a couple of decent shots…

I was missing the cold wetness of getting soaked to the bollocks in the North Sea, so I took a short drive across to Collywell Bay in Seaton Sluice this morning to shoot St. Mary’s Lighthouse…

Having slept in too late to make it to Scremerston before sunrise, I headed back down to Bishop Auckland and Hamsterley Forest in the hopes of capturing some magic hour mistiness…

I was eager to continue my experiments with inland photography, so I took a short drive up to Belsay, to one of the strangest photography shoots I’ve ever experienced…

I decided to try something different this morning and head to County Durham for an inland shoot…

My first sunrise shoot since the winter was a little clumsy, but not as disappointing as I expected…

Okay, so I take back what I said about Newbiggin – it’s not all crap…

I really need to recce my locations before heading out at 4am to photograph them – I could have saved myself a journey…

I decided to take advantage of the retreating tide and attempt Whitburn arch again this morning. But when I got there, I was less than impressed…

We had our first decent sunrise in weeks this morning, so I headed down to Whitburn to photograph the famous arch, and came away with a few nice black & white shots…

It was seriously cold at South Shields this morning, but the fantastic sunrise more than made up for last week’s disappointment…

The photo gods were conspiring against me this morning, as I took a trip up to Newbiggin-by-the-sea to find out why there are so few decent photos of this stretch of coast…

My first shots of 2011 were a little depressing. I didn’t make it to the coast in time for magic hour, and the sun had dipped behind the horizon by the time I made it out onto the rocks.

Since it was really gloomy, I turned the camera inland and tried out a large(ish) aperture long exposure shot, just to see what it would look like – never seen one before. This was the only decent shot I got before it got completely dark.

The result is interesting: The shallow f/2.0 gives back a little depth that the dwindling sun had all but drained away, and the long exposure really pops the colour out in the sky, as usual. Not great, but worth hanging on to.

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Missed the sunset again tonight, due to a smash on the coast road. Facing a long drive back home, I decided to see what I could get away with despite the sun having dipped below the horizon. I’m not sure if the dark smudge of clouds behind the lighthouse ruins this or adds interest!

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Babies and kids are always so much more natural when they’re covered in food! These are some of my favourites from my great niece’s first birthday party at the weekend…

Probably my favourite from this morning. The side-light allowed a 3 minute exposure, which pulls out the colours in the sea beautifully. For some reason, the longer the exposure, the more ‘tropical’ the water looks. In reality, it is fairly grey and lifeless.

That’s what I love about this kind of photography – you’re creating something that could never be witnessed with the human eye.

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Another shot from Tynemouth this morning. I’m in two minds about this one. The hard grad casts a dark shadow across the sea that looks unrealistic, but adds a touch of drama to that imposing wall. I tried the soft Grad on its own, but it didn’t darken the sky enough. Aesthetically I like it, but the purist in me wishes it was less obvious.

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Another shot from High Force in County Durham this morning. This was a much less imposing waterfall, but a little more colourful.

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Got up at 5am to visit High Force in County Durham this morning. Shouldn’t have bothered, since it’s a dark, dingy basin, so it’s visually flat no matter what light you see it in.

This place reminded me of Planet of the Apes for some reason, hence the quirky angle to give it a slightly uncomfortable feeling. Considered photoshopping some chimps in for good measure, but thought better of it.

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