Some photographs ...

Shore Cottage Studio

Thurstaston Beach is two miles down the Wirral Way from our house. A little white cottage was built  on the shore over a hundred years ago and we've always wondered what it would be like to live in a house right on the beach with no road access.

Back in June I got a chance to have a peep into the world of Shore Cottage, as there was an open day at the art studio in their garden. This studio was built exactly one year ago, and featured in the last series of George Clarke's Amazing Spaces on Channel 4. It was an amazing build because all the materials had to come along the beach in one vast delivery - taking into account the tide timetable. Planning permission also included strict observance of the migratory patterns of the visiting bird population. (You can still catch the programme on 4oD)

Well, the studio was indeed amazing and I was inspired there and then to sign up for a two- day photography course, and that's where I was last weekend. I take thousands of photographs with my little Cannon

But this was an opportunity to gain the confidence to switch off the auto mode on our big scary camera, and finally learn to use all the other buttons!

So, early on Saturday morning, I headed down the path from the car park at the top of the cliff ...

 and down the steep steps

 towards the shore

 and through the tall grasses until I came to the little white cottage on the beach.

Each day started with tea and flapjacks, sitting on the comfy leather sofas looking at this view

and then we were eased gently into a world of apertures and shutter speeds, ISOs and white balance and depth of field .... all words I'd heard before but had terrified me. We talked about composition and rule of thirds and contrasting textures. We played with the buttons on our cameras and made lots of mistakes.

As there were only four of us on the course, Laura and her husband Kris were always on hand to help.

We started off in the studio itself,

and then took a step out into the garden. It was a wild and windy weekend and we struggled to keep our subject matter still, but persistence paid off.

Eventually we were brave enough to venture out onto the shore line

and finally up into the country park on the cliffs above the beach.

After a lunch of home made soups, crusty bread and cold platters of meat, cheese and salad we were able to view our photographs, and learn from our mistakes.  Each day ended with more cake and tea,

Finally, on Sunday we had one of our photographs framed to take away, along with a scrapbook to start us off on our new photographic "journey."

So, did I learn anything? I certainly learned to try out things on the camera I'd never used before, and while I wouldn't say I was pleased all the results, I did manage to take some shots that I was happy with, which I'll show in my next post.

I have vowed that I MUST  keep practising with the bigger camera and not just rely on my normal 'point and shoot'. 

I loved the whole experience at the Studio so much I've signed up for a Textile course in October.

Watch this space!

Bodnant Gardens

On a day when it was still summer, before the winds came, we took a drive out to Bodnant Gardens near Conwy in North Wales. I'm afraid I went into camera overdrive and came away with hundreds of photographs.

I'll just show a few of the things that caught my eye.

The house is not open to the public, only the gardens.

It was Hydrangea time, with glorious blooms at every turn. I love the blue shades that grow here. They are pink back home on the Wirral.

Lots of water lilies open too.

The scent from the rose garden was heavenly.

Proof that it was actually warm enough this year to wear sandals. 

Possibly our favourite part of the gardens was down in the dell by the river.

My husband was very impressed with the largest sequoia tree in the U.K.

A cheeky robin came to join us as we sat eating ice cream.

I loved the hot colours in this border.

I can't believe this is the first time I've been here, considering I've known about it since I was a child. We were probably nudged into coming after seeing the recent TV programmes about the gardens. Well, it won't be the last time. I'm already making plans to return in late spring when it will be Azalea time. The best thing is it's only just over an hour from home.

Of course every National Trust property has a wonderful shop, and this place was no exception. We came away with a few plants for our own garden, which is thankfully small enough to manage without a team over over twenty gardeners and forty odd volunteers!