Boats on the Ouseburn

Sunday stroll down the Ouseburn

The Cluny, Byker Bridge, Cumberland Arms, Freetrade Inn, the Tyne and the Ouseburn. This is a sort of rough cultural area of Newcastle for the more 'Arty and Cultural types. There are lots of workshops, trendy pubs, cafes parents entertaining small children (as well as themselves). Even our architect has his offices in the old Toffee Factory - not that we ever see him!

I was playing around with an old lens today; a Nikkor 50mm 1:1.12 to be precise. The downside was that it meant that I had no lens metering and had to go completely to manual. The upside was that it meant going back to photography basics and working out rough aperture and shutter speeds, or at least using trial and error and selection later on. A spread of 3 shots with variations seems to work - but there is no substitute for old SLR experience in terms of focal lengths and lighting conditions etc.

This shot of the boats seemed to capture it about right. Old boats are always very colourful to photograph. The other difference was that it was a fixed focal length and you forget that you cannot zoom in and out. Hence a lot more time and movement finding the right angles and distance. What fun!

A successful mission to the old furniture dealer as well to buy an ancient hard wood towel stand; so much better than IKEA..... M also a great 'barterer' to knock the price down.

Weekend nearly over - but at least there is almost a new roof on :)