Monthly Archives: November 2013

Bibury

wpid7909-C59F8991.jpgNancy had looked at some possible places to visit while we were in the Cotswolds and one of them was Bibury.  I had never heard of the place but it turns out that this is one of the most photographed places in the UK.  I guess I should have known about it but I didn’t.  The photogenic area is a row of old cottages that are down near the river.  We certainly took a look but we also wandered around the rest of the village which is pretty without needing the most visited sections.

wpid7913-C59F9002.jpgThe heart of the village is the church.  It was a pretty nice looking building but surrounded by some places that were either not too appealing or were being rebuilt and were covered in scaffolding.  A little careful angling meant I could avoid the worst of the backgrounds.  The graveyard was also an interesting place to look around and see just how old some of the grave were.

wpid7899-C59F8965.jpgWe did return to the most visited part of the village.  Coach loads of people would show up every once in a while so we did our best to avoid them and find times when they weren’t filling up the view.  Also, it was an effort to try and minimize the cars in the shot.  When you live in an old home, you don’t have parking included.  Therefore, you park outside your house.  Perfectly reasonable for the homeowner but having colorful modern cars is not what you want when taking a picture of centuries old buildings!

wpid7901-C59F8967.jpgI can certainly see why the place is so popular with the tourists.  It really is about as typical of an English country village.  No idea why I had never heard of it but now I have so all is good.

Surely Not More Window Cleaning

wpid7989-C59F9748.jpgI imagine you are wondering how many posts I can get out of the theme of window cleaning.  Well, here comes another one.  I think this will be the last one though, not least given our departure from Chicago.  This time I found myself looking down as a couple of guys were heading out over the edge of the building roof to clean another line of windows.  Watching people descend the side of the building is one thing but the first step over the edge always seems more precarious.

wpid7987-C59F9745.jpgAdditionally, the guys attach their lines to something solid on the roof.  However, I was not so impressed by the choices they were making.  Hooking on to an air conditioning unit did not seem quite as solid as whatever I would choose to base my survival on.

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Sheffield Park Gardens

wpid7948-C59F9138.jpgOne of our transit days in the UK had us moving from the Cotswolds back to Surrey for my Dad’s birthday party.  En route, we decided to take a detour to an old favorite location of ours.  When we lived in Sussex, we were not too far from Sheffield Park.  This is an estate that has been divided up with the National Trust owning the gardens and parkland and the house being privately owned.  The gardens are a delight to visit.

wpid7933-C59F9102.jpgOver many years, a collection of different botanical species have been cultivated at the gardens so they have a great diversity of plants and trees including some sequoias.  The gardens are built around a series of lakes that make the whole place look just gorgeous.  Some of the older trees are really solid and gnarly looking.  Nancy thought it looked like something from the Wizard of Oz.  One of the National Trust guys told us to look for a spot that had a great view back up the lakes to the house.  It took a bit of searching since the tree cover is quite dense but we found it.  It was certainly a nice view.

wpid7940-C59F9117.jpgGreat to get back to this place after being away for so long and to see it on a lovely day was even better.  If you are ever thinking of visiting, they apparently have a nice day trip from London to get there.  You can take the normal train to East Grinstead and from there the Bluebell Railway runs a steam service to Sheffield Park.  A shuttle from the station operates on busy day but it is not a long walk if not.  Not done this myself but it sounds like a nice way to make a day trip of the whole thing.

Shooting the Astar

wpid8070-Helinet-07-Rob-Edgcumbe-AU0E8307.jpgThe team from Helinet was in town recently as part of a movie shoot.  With the end of the shoot coming up, I was asked to get some shots of the helicopter in the city.  Alan knows exactly what he is doing when flying in amongst the city buildings and can put the helicopter wherever I wanted it for the images.  We even got lucky with some great weather.  (The following day, it was foggy and no go at all!)

wpid8068-Helinet-02-Rob-Edgcumbe-C59F9681.jpgWith some advance planning and some good communication during the shoot, we were able to position the helicopter to look dynamic in amongst the buildings.  It would have been good to get some video too but time was limited and stills were required so that is what we did.  A fun shoot and great people to work with.

Burford

wpid7897-C59F8951.jpgOur stay in the Cotswolds needed a base and Burford was the place we chose.  It is Oxfordshire rather than Gloucestershire but just about sneaks in on the edge of an area that I don’t think has a hard boundary anyway.  Burford is an old market town and looks just like you would expect a Cotswold town to look.  The buildings are all Cotswold stone and fit your image of what you would want.  Apart from providing a nice location and a great hotel, it also provided the opportunity to take some walks without having to drive anywhere.

wpid7862-C59F8867.jpgOne walk we took was a loop starting and finishing at the hotel.  It was a lovely day for a walk (and not just because I could see Hercules and A330s flying from nearby RAF Brize Norton in the distance!).  The sun also seemed to be attracting a large number of pheasants.  Every time we came around a corner, there seemed to be more pheasants hanging out in our path.

wpid7882-C59F8921.jpgThe walk provided a variety of sights as we went.  Some wide open hillsides which had been harvested so were easy to cross, wooded areas, small valleys with trees either side and riverside sections meant the outing was constantly interesting.  We saw some very old churches, some long views and a selection of wildlife.

wpid7887-C59F8926.jpgThe river had swans and geese that were interested in our presence and one section of the footpath included some young cattle.  They were not huge since they were young but young cattle are still pretty chunky.  While they were busy eating, we appeared to be of no interest.  However, once we got a little closer, they got curious and came to greet us.  We took a little care since, while they were not going to harm us, they can push you around without realizing it.

wpid7876-C59F8901.jpgThe last part of the walk brought us back in through the village and to the hotel.  Given how much we were eating and drinking on this trip, it was a good thing to get some exercise in at last!

Trump Views

wpid8005-AU0E8638-Edit.jpgI watched the Trump Tower being built a few years ago since it is directly across from where we were living.  Aside from a visit when the spire was being completed, I hadn’t been in again since.  I then was asked to carry out a shoot from the terrace on the 16th floor so ended up checking out the view.  The 16th floor is a long way from the top of the building but its terrace has a great view of the river and surrounding area.

wpid8001-AU0E8186.jpgI was able to get a few local shots while waiting for the shoot to start and then once it was over.  Having seen this terrace out of my window for years, it was nice to finally be there.  I probably should have gone at some point but I finally made it just before leaving the city.  One more thing checked off the list.

Helicopter Over London

wpid7967-C59F9300.jpgMy Dad’s 70th birthday seemed like something that deserved a decent present.  What to get him though?  As someone who spent his entire working career in London property, he has seen all parts of the city many times.  However, I know he hasn’t seen it from above so much.  Therefore, a helicopter ride over the city seemed like a good idea.  The fact that I thought it would be really cool too is neither here nor there!

wpid7958-C59F9268.jpgI asked a friend of mine who flies helicopters who he would recommend for this and, being an outstandingly good fellow, he volunteered his services.  A very generous gesture.  Having someone I know flying the trip meant it was a lot easier to discuss exactly what we wanted to do.

wpid7965-C59F9292.jpgThe helicopter corridor across London runs along the River Thames.  You join it at Greenwich to avoid the London City Airport airspace and then head along the river through the city and out to the west until you reach Fulham at which point you peel off to avoid Heathrow – always a good idea if they aren’t expecting you!

wpid7952-C59F9223.jpgThe weather was not quite what we had hoped.  The day started very nicely but the haze built up as we went.  Flying early was probably a good idea since it didn’t clear up again until the evening at which point the birthday party was underway.  I saw a few buildings that have sprung up since I left including The Shard.  I do love London and seeing it again from such a great vantage point was a lot of fun.  I hope Dad enjoyed it as much as I did!

Oxford

wpid7840-C59F8794.jpgOur UK trip included a stay in the Cotswolds.  While we were there, we wanted to take a look at Oxford.  It has been a long time since I was last there and my previous visit was an ad hoc trip so we didn’t really see all that we could.  This time, we took a guided walking tour of the city center.  The guy who took the tour, Jacob, was a local lad and a student at the university.  He had plenty of information at his finger tips and I suspect most of it was true.  How would we know?

wpid7848-C59F8809.jpgThe tour focused on the area in the center of the city around some of the older and more famous colleges as well as some of the university buildings.  It was a lovely day and the city was very busy.  Consequently, pictures taken were holiday snaps – no time to try and be too artistic.  We did have a shorter second loop after the tour though so I could go back and look at some places in slower time rather than get hurried on to the next part of the tour.

wpid7852-C59F8820-Edit.jpgIt is an old city with some great architecture.  The school is okay I suppose but there are better establishments of learning if you are serious about your studies!  As the parochial cousins go, though, they do okay.  It all ended up with us having a pint at a pub down by the river so it really could not be considered a bad day.

Flying Over Chicago

wpid8223-C59F1956.jpgOne thing I have been thinking about for a while is doing a flight across Chicago in a helicopter.  I had contemplated this on and off for a while but never got around to doing it.  Then I got an offer that was impossible to pass up.  Someone I have been working with on a couple of things was going to be doing some flying across the city on another project and asked if I wanted to ride along.  Let me think about that for a second…

wpid8215-AU0E1838.jpgThe day was not the best for photography sadly.  The city was shrouded in low cloud with the tops of the taller buildings in the clouds.  This didn’t harm the work they had planned but it did change the perspective on things a bit.  However, the city was still there and I was still in a helicopter – one with an opening window no less – so time to make the most of it.

wpid8233-AU0E2090.jpgWith our departure from the city not far in the future at this point, it really was a great time to get a view like this.  I have been on plenty of tall buildings in the city working with the helicopter crews so I have seen some great sights but heading around the city to different spots gives you so much more of interest.  I grabbed as many shots as I could while the guys got on with the reason for being there.  They were great to fly with and a very professional crew.  Thanks for taking me along.

Spitbank Fort Visit

wpid7774-C59F7834.jpgMy mum’s birthday included a party on Spitbank Fort.  This is one of Palmerston’s follies built out in the Solent not far from Portsmouth.  The place has been restored in a great way and retains a lot of the character you would expect of a Victorian fort out on the water but with modern comforts as befits a hotel.  I will spare you the family photos but here are a few shots to show you just what it is like out there.  The service is great so, if you feel like spoiling yourself, check them out.

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