Peacock Hotel

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The Peak District is a pretty area and, if you are staying in a pretty area, you really need to have a pretty hotel. Nancy searched out a place for us and came up with the Peacock Hotel. This is obviously an old hotel but it is certainly not showing its age (unless you count trying to find power outlets where you want them – there are some things that older places do have a problem with!).

The hotel had a variety of areas that could be used. Aside from the rooms, there was a nice hall area in which you could sit and relax if you wished to. There was also a nice little bar area which you could use ahead of going to the restaurant or in which you could eat from a pretty impressive menu. There was a little nook in the bar which we adopted while we were there.

The outside had a nice garden area that would have been nice to sit out in if the weather had been a bit warmer. The garden actually extended quite a way along the river and a little exploring took you down to some farm fields that were just beyond an old rail bridge that is now disused. I had a nice time exploring some of the gardens prior to heading out for some hiking.

Late Runway Change for Southwest

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SFO controllers are known to make some late runway changes for the arriving aircraft. The two runways are very close together to the sidestep maneuver required is not too drastic but it is still not necessarily something the crews want to deal with. A Southwest 737 was on approach and passing near us on the shore when it apparently got the change instructions. We got a sudden topside view as it turned towards us followed by a reversal of bank as it straightened up on the new runway. Compared to the average arrival, this was quite a bit of excitement! Also, if you look closely, you can see another Southwest jet in the background that had just departed.

Lyme Park

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The drive from the Lake District to Derbyshire provided an opportunity to check out a place that Nancy was interesting in visiting. Lyme Park is a country house not far from Stockport. It is a lovely looking estate but the reason is it well known is that it was used in the filming of Pride and Prejudice. The lake from which a damp Colin Firth emerged in the production is now even named on their map as Darcy’s Lake!

The area around the house has some beautifully landscaped areas and an impressive glasshouse. There is a lake in front of the house and a structured garden area to boot. Outside the house area is a far larger estate that covers much of the local area. Deer roam through much of this part of the property. We did our usual thing of checking out the outside area but skipping the interiors. Our National Trust membership got us wherever we want to go but the interiors usually leave me less inspired than the exteriors. We also had to keep an eye on the time.

It was a slightly overcast day – maybe not a huge surprise for the outskirts of Manchester – which made the stone of the buildings look a little subdued. Stone buildings with grey skies are a touch trickier to work with. However, sometimes excluding the sky is the way to go to try and make the building stand out more. Nice looking place and worth a visit if you are in the area.

Korean 747-8 Again

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I nearly got myself late for an arrival when waiting for a Korean 747-8 a while back as I mentioned in this post. I thought at the time that it was silly to focus on the Korean jet since it would be showing up on a regular basis. Sure enough, I have seen them again since. This one I got at Coyote Point with some nice early morning light. The low light angle meant the underside of the jet got a lot of light and the plane seemed to glow to me as I was shooting it. A nice way to get this type again.

Chatsworth House

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As country estates go, Chatsworth House is probably up there as one of the more grand ones. Seat of the Duke of Devonshire, the estate is substantial and the house and grounds are quite something. We have visited on a number of occasions including touring the interior. While I don’t normally bother with the insides of these places, Chatsworth is certainly one that should be experienced. Some parts of the interior are quite stunning. This is not a collection of musty furniture that some long deceased monarch once slept on. This is a grandiose place.

This trip did not include an interior tour though. This was part of a hike that took us in to the grounds. It is fair to say that the distance we walked inside the grounds was actually longer than the rest of the hike but that is an example of how extensive they are. I will post separately about some aspects of the grounds as there are many different places that might fill up a single post. We had never explored the grounds so extensively before so some of these parts were new to us.

The house itself is a very grand structure. Located along the river with an attractive bridge leading you there, the setting is very impressive. Much of the surrounding countryside is elevated relative to the house so wherever you are, you get a view down to it. The effect is to remind you regularly of just how grand it is!

It’s Cold Up High

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One element of shooting at Coyote Point that I particularly like is the way you can get a good view of the undersides of the jets as they come in. The long haul flights often have an added feature. The wing fuel is mostly burnt down by the time they land but there are reserves still in the tanks to cover unforeseen events. Many hours at altitude has chilled the fuel down nicely so, as the plane descends into the moist air over the bay, a nice frost forms on the underside of the wings where the fuel is still sitting.

I have seen this on various jets over the years so this post is a compilation. Some of these shots are recent and some are from older shoots. Rather than show the whole plane, these are focused on the areas where the frost forms. They give you a good idea of the internal structure of the various types involved.

Cartmel Priory

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While Cartmel now seems like a pretty sleepy town, it once was a bustling center of commerce. The Priory was the heart of a local agricultural economy. While that might have changed a lot, the Priory itself is still an impressive structure and reminder of how things had once been very different. While not as grandiose as some of the UK’s cathedrals, it is still a pretty grand building to come across in an otherwise small town.

Early Morning Light at Coyote Point

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Early morning is not usually a good time to shoot anything at SFO. The sun is behind the planes as they come in so you don’t get a particularly appealing light angle. However, the middle of winter means the sun rises a long way south so, while it still starts out a bit behind things, it quickly moves to an angle that starts to work well. The planes end up with good lighting as they pass and the light on them as they head away can be very conducive to nice shots.

I was continuing my program of testing the 100-400 post the repairs it received at Canon. Coyote Point was a good place to start the day since it has better possibilities this early and it also allows for shooting down the approach path as the planes head to the runway. I also wanted to have a further go at multiple exposures to stack the images of the planes to make a composite of their flightpath. The early morning is also good because the relative humidity levels are up and the planes can trail some nice vortices.

As the light angle comes around, it is still quite low in the sky. The result is some nice lighting on the underside of the airframe – something that is not normally something that you get. Rather than the warm glow you get with a setting sun, the light seemed a lot crisper and cleaner and I really liked the way the planes looked.

Ullswater

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Ullswater is gorgeous. Not a lot more to say to be honest. A large lake surrounded by impressive hills. Add a sunny day and what more could you want. This place is lovely and, since it is not on a main thoroughfare, once you are out of the main tourist season, it is not terribly busy. What more could you ask for?

Formation of United Jets

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The parallel approaches at SFO are well enough known. I have blogged about them myself here and here. Getting two planes in the same shot is a cool result but it isn’t often that you get three and all of them from the same airline. I was out with Hayman and Roger when a pair of jets came down the approach almost perfectly together. We all got shots of them as they came in. I didn’t notice anything further until I was looking through the shots back at home. Apparently, a United jet was departing prior to the arrival of this pair and it happened to fly out on a path that aligned with my view of the pair. Three jets in one shot!