Colorado

We arrived in Colorado on Thursday night from Washington a bit later than planned.

Most of the snow that fell last week has gone or turned to ice here in Boulder. It's mild and windy.

Just had treatment on my back and neck by Amanda to loosen it before we start our road trip tomorrow.

Walked in the foothills of the Rockies yesterday with good views of the Flatirons and surrounding peaks. Didn't go far, just 6 miles, as I picked up a chest infection on the flight over on Tuesday and combined with the 5200 feet of altitude and my asthma breathing is a little tricky.

Stopped at the Southern Sun on way back for a Java Porter, one of my all-time favourite beers.

I changed my HTC Chacha for a Samsung Galaxy S2 last week. The old phone ran out of internal memory and no easy fix so Vodafone did a swap to get me going again.

Just discovered it has an 8mp camera so tried it out on walk with pictures of Flatirons and surrounding peaks. Also photographed my first pint in Boulder!

Tomorrow we drive to Laramie en route to Grand Tetons. Before that I have a New Years Eve party to go to with our friends Rob and Annie!

Washington DC Photos and Breweries

Just waiting at hotel for shuttle to airport.

Have taken 12 rolls / 120 negatives in Washington DC. Managed to avoid arrest taking photos of the White House but stopped from using tripod. Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson and several other monuments and statues. The reflecting pool was a building site.

Cold and windy yesterday, my main day for photographs. The flags were impressive in such strong wind.

Also walked around Georgetown, very stylish old buildings and an old canal.

Quite a few night shots, they also hid the mess from lots of building works going on. Reminded me of London!

As luck would have it we also found 2 brew pubs. The Capital City Brewing Co. had a very tasty porter but the food could have been better.

The Chophouse Brewery had 2 good Stouts, an oatmeal and a bourbon one. I stuck to the oatmeal one so that I was capable of walking back to the hotel. The food was good here.

Fly to Denver for the ski and snowshoe part in a couple of hours. Looking forward to seeing our best friends Rob and Annie again in Boulder. Hope they have built up to spending 3 weeks with us!

Heathrow Virgin

We are sitting in the Virgin lounge at Heathrow waiting for our flight to Washington DC. This is the first leg of our photo trip to the USA. About 30 minutes until we board. Photos in Washington DC later. Hope it's brighter than here. Night shots later too.

As usual Heathrow refused to do hand search on my film so had to put through x-ray machine. Hope the US airports give hand searches as the effects are cumulative and we pass 4 scanners in total. I have seen x-ray damage to my films after just 3 passes in the past.

Christmas Travels Begin

That's it, my last Christmas order for framed photos has been delivered at a rendezvous with customer at the A50 services south of Derby. Now driving down M1 to spend Christmas with Jan's family in Harpenden.

Tuesday we fly from London Heathrow to Washington DC. The first stop on this years winter photo trip. Colorado, Wyoming and Utah follow for skiing and snowshoeing. Really looking forward to the break, it's been pretty full on through last 3 months. Lots of photography planned too, as you would expect, as well as the odd visit to a brew pub or two!

Happy Christmas and prosperous New Year to one and all.

Berwick upon Tweed in Winter

We came up to Berwick yesterday in the snow and ice. Took 6 hours instead of 4 because of difficulty getting out of Peak District (snow storms and sheet ice on roads), big detour and traffic jams.

We are here planning the landscape photography course that we are running here in April 2012. It will be 1 day around Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh castles, 1 day in Berwick, Eyemouth and St Abbs, and 1 day in the Cheviot or Lammermuir hills.

Good day today, cold and clear. Big waves on the coast at Eyemouth and St Abbs, good for pics. Light went early though, by 3.30pm it was the start of night photography! Main bridge in Berwick looks great with Christmas lights and It's a full mooooon.

Tomorrow we're in the hills, hopefully. They are snow covered so should be good if clear. Will return home via Newcastle for some night shots; I have had a few requests at recent shows for shots from here.

As luck would have it, we found a Wetherspoons pub in Berwick. Just finished dinner and on to 2nd pint. Ruddles bitter and this one, Goodwill Bitter, were both cloudy but tasted fine. Looks like they're rushing them through!

Off to take more night shots soon then back to Travelodge on the north side of Berwick. Jan dozing after large Merlot, will have to wake her carefully!

First Snowy Walk this Winter

I walked to the Gallery in the Gardens in Buxton this morning. Good covering of snow everywhere, up to 6 inches on the tops but mostly just 2 or 3 inches of wet snow. Bit of a blizzard on the most exposed section, typical!

Jolly quiet in the Gallery today. I wonder why?

Didn't bring the camera as Pauline, who should be helping this morning, is ill. Can't sneak out as on my own. Nice light now and snow plastered on the tree trunks. Am sure it won't last, they forecast gales and more snow for later.

The snow will make it a bit lighter walking home tonight in the dark, should be home by 7pm, maybe earlier if Pavilion Gardens closes early because of the weather.

Artist & Designer's Fair, Buxton

We are doing our 15th and last show of 2011 this weekend. This is the Artist & Designer's Fair in Buxton Pavilion Gardens, 10am to 4.30pm, free entry.

We have lots of original prints at half-price as well as posters from £5, books at £5 plus lots of other prints from £15 to £180.

If you are interested in a course for next year why not come along for a chat about our new locations in Northumberland (April) and Glen Coe (September) as well as the old favourites of the Peak District, Lake District and Yorkshire Dales around Grassington.