Monday 9 August 2010

Yorkshire shoot itinerary

If you would like to join me on the lonely, winding road that is the travel photographer's lot, here is my itinerary. I can't promise I'll stick to it, but this is the starting point.

TUES 10th August
Conisbrough Castle
Yorkshire wildlife park


Wed 11th August
The Deep in Hull
Carved figures of musicians in St. Mary’s Church, Beverley
Beverley market
Beverley Minster


Thur 12th August
Bridlington harbour, funfair, donkeys and beaches
Bird watchers at Bempton Cliffs near Flamborough Head
Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough


Fri 13th August
Staintondale
Husky trekking
Heritage coast
Robin Hood’s Bay


Sat 14th August
Whitby Abbey

Sun 15th August
North York Moors

Mon 16th August
Hutton-le-Hole
James Herriot’s house in Thirsk
Laurence Sterne’s house, church and gravestone in Coxwold
Gliding from the Yorkshire Gliding Club, Sutton Bank
Rievaulx


Tues 17th August
Castle Howard

Wed 18th August
National Railway Museum, York
Walking the city walls in York
Jorvik Centre
York Minster
The Shambles


Thur 19th August
Betty’s Tea Rooms in Harrogate
Ripon Cathedral
Fountains Abbey & Studley Water Garden


Fri 20th August
Brewery Visitor Centre, Masham
Via Ferrata at Stean
Richmond Castle


Sat 21st August–Sun 22nd August
Aysgarth Falls
Forbidden Corner, Middleton
Hawes
Dales
Wensleydale cheese
Hardraw Force
Malham Cove rock climbing
White Scar Cave


Mon 23rd August
Salt’s Mill, Saltaire, Bradford
Haworth Parsonage
Sylvia Plath’s grave, Mytholmroyd churchyard, Hebden Bridge
Hebden Bridgee


Tues 24th August
Mountain boarding
Bradford Curry House (eg Mumtaz)


Wed 25th August
Leeds: Arcades, city shops showing atmosphere
Leeds Corn Exchange – Piazza by Anthony


Thur 25th August
Yorkshire Sculpture Park in Wakefield
National Coal Mining Museum, Wakefield


Fri 26th August
Peace Gardens, Sheffield
Magna in Rotherham


Bank Holiday weekend
Avoid holiday making hoards, traffic jams and head back to The Smoke

Friday 6 August 2010

Fourty-eight hours till I head off on shoot so I figure it's about time I resurrected the on-the-road blog.

This summer I'm off to the land of my birth; Yorkshire, and very excited I am too.

Although I grew up elsewhere, I moved back to Yorkshire to do the university thing and I have many happy memories from my time there; daytrips to the dales, weekends in the North York Moors and jaunts to the region's most captivating museums.

My favourite haunts were Otley Chevin Country Park, the National Museum of Film and TV (now the National Media Museum) in Bradford, Whitby Abbey plus I still have a rather vivid memory of a moonlit sky over the craggy wavecut platform rocks at Robin Hood's Bay after the biggest mixed grill any pub has ever provided.

Sadly, none of those places are on my list. One question I get asked a lot is whether it's up to me to decide what to photograph or if it's prescribed. Oh yes, it's very much not up to me and a lot of people have input into the list. First of all, the author comes up with a suggested shot list. The text editor then revises it a little and passes it on to the picture editor whose job it is to turn the picture list into a shot list based on what other sources we have available and what might've been shot before. My picture editor went to great lengths to ensure the list was diverse and useful and I think, despite her Australian roots, she has learned a great deal about Yorkshire in the last few weeks! The list then goes back to the editor who might check a few more things with the author and eventually the list makes its way, via the picture editor to me.

My list consists of sixty shots, most of which are in different locations.I have three weeks so that is roughly three shots a day. That means quite a lot of driving! As anyone who knows me is already more than aware, the current love of my life is my 22-year-old Ford Transit campervan Betsy who will be my rock (and wheels) during this trip. I've already managed to put 2000 miles on her clock since April so I do hope she's got enough in her for another 1500+ in the next few weeks!

Shots I am most looking forward to are Sylvia Plath's grave at Mytholmroyd (if only a good excuse to investigate wallowing in some Plath poetry for a day or so), the Yorkshire Sculpture Park following my new-found appreciation for Henry Moore post-Tate Britain exhibition, a Bradford curry house (especially if I can persuade them to make me some free food!) and Rievaulx abbey (because the foot and mouth crisis of 2001 thwarted my attempts to visit and the gothic anticipation is still with me). There are no shots I am not looking forward to – and I am very glad my picture editor decided to opt for a stock shot of snooker at The Crucible in Sheffield – but I am certainly less keen on the prospect of spending Sunday emailing and/or calling every single place to persuade them to let me in for free and that I am not stealing their souls/livelihoods/children's innocence (as perhaps the Daily Mail might have you believe anyone with a large camera might be up to).

Wish me luck! (But I AM taking you with me......)