autofantasia's photos with the keyword: landscape

For this week's Sunday Challenge which had the theme of green landscapes . As I've not been able to get out much with the camera this week I took a dip into the archives and came up with this shot, which was taken at Beamish Open Air Museum earlier in the year. The church you see here is, or at least was, St. Helen's the old Parish church of Eston, Middlesbrough, and it dates back to the 12th Century. However, by 1998, with the church having been disused for around 15 years and it having been partially demolished by local vandals it was in a very sorry state. So, despite it being a Grade II listed building, permission was granted for its demolition and it appeared then that its fate was sealed ... that was until Beamish stepped in at the last moment to rescue the church for preservation. They carefully deconstructed it stone by stone so that it could be rebuilt on the Museum site in County Durham next to Pockerley Old Hall, which can be seen behind the church high up on the hill. Some of the bricks still have numbers written on them, which I can only assume have been left to illustrate how the Beamish team were able to reconstruct the church exactly as it had been when it stood in Eston, albeit now fully refurbished and fitted out with replacement fittings including some beautiful Georgian pews. Please view on black for best effect. www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-21108837/church-moved-and-rebuilt-at-beamish-museum www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3315277/Vandalised-medieval-church-rebuilt-brick-brick-40-miles-away.html

For this week's Sunday Challenge , for which we were asked to take a photograph of a place you love . I was torn between RHS Harlow Carr and Fountains Abbey for this particular challenge, but in the end decided to take a shot of the latter if only because we had a trip to there already planned. This is the view as you walk down towards the ruins from the main Visitor Centre and I like it because I think it encapsulates what the place has to offer in addition to the abbey: peace, tranquillity, beautiful scenery, wildlife and a feeling of wellbeing. And in case anyone is wondering if the sheep and the solo bird were added or cloned in I can honestly say they were not, I was just lucky I guess when it came to getting my shot. Please view on black for best effect.

Been wanting to try and get some shots of the oilseed rape that loads of farmers around here seem to be growing at the moment and finally got a chance yesterday. This was a field I came across on whilst exploring some of the small roads near to Kiplin Hall, North Yorkshire. I know many people hate it as a crop as it can play havoc with their hay fever, but is sure adds some colour to the landscape.

Well, it appears that the wait is over as Christophe Ruelle, the President and CEO of Ipernity SA, has finally accepted the IMA proposals as announced in a brief update posted by William Sutherland. The next few days should see further announcements being made on both sides once they have finalised the logistics of the transfer. Got to be honest I'd almost given up hope that a deal could be struck and even today there's still a little voice inside my head saying "I'll believe it when it happens", but this isn't really a day to be negative ... it's a day to celebrate and to try and be as optimistic as we can be about the future. It's also a day to say a big thank you to those involved within the 'inner circle' of the IMA, and not just William although I suspect his part has been significant, for all they've done to get us to this stage. Thanks also to Christophe who it appears has finally showed us all that he does indeed still care about this great platform his team created all those years ago and the community that come to call it home.

The view from Sutton Bank looking west towards Thirsk. Created from 10 separate images stitched together in Photoshop, a technique I'm still experimenting with, but I think this one works okay. For those that may not be familiar with this Yorkshire landmark, Sutton Bank (also known as Roulston Scar) is in the Hambleton District of the North York Moors National Park. The A170 road runs nearby with a maximum gradient of 1 in 4 (25%), and including a hairpin bend. Not surprisingly then vehicles have to keep in low gear whist travelling up or down the bank and caravans are banned from using this section of the road. At the foot of Sutton Bank lies the little village of Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe, which at 27 letters long has (according to Wikipedia) the longest hyphenated place name in England. For the Sight and Sound group, what else, but Dire Straits ... So Far Away So Far Away Please view large on black for best effect.

Okay, here's the last of the 'nearly ran' entries for this week's Sunday Challenge for which the theme was simply May 7th . It's another of my first real attempts at taking panoramas and once again features Fountains Abbey . This one is produced from 6 shots taken on the day and then stitched together in Photoshop. In some way this is my favourite, but again I forgot to shoot it in portrait as opposed to landscape mode. There's a lot crammed into this one so it's perhaps best viewed large on black for best effect. Thanks once again to Graham Chance for all the advice and encouragement he has given me regarding tackling panoramas, both before and since this shoot. I hope I can learn from the experience and go on to produce more effective images of this type in the future.

Another 'nearly ran' for this week's Sunday Challenge for which the theme was simply May 7th . It's another of my first real attempts at taking panoramas and once again features Fountains Abbey , but this time we're on the opposite side of the ruins. This one is produced from 6 shots taken on the day and then stitched together in Photoshop. I like this one, but feel it could have been better and I know I didn't help myself by absentmindedly shooting it in landscape as opposed to portrait mode. Some of the vertical lines are also way off and the highlights in the sky in certain areas are blown ... as the kids might say #stilllearning .

A 'nearly ran' for this week's Sunday Challenge for which the theme was simply May 7th . It's another of my first real attempts at taking panoramas and once again features Fountains Abbey , but this time we're much closer to the ruins. This one was produced from 9 shots taken on the day and then once again stitched together in Photoshop. Please view on black for best effect if you have a minute to spare.

For this week's Sunday Challenge for which the theme was simply May 7th ... either something you did on that day (i.e. yesterday) or something related to that day perhaps in history. At first I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do. I looked online for something that had happened in the past on that day that sparked an idea of an image, but that didn't really produce any inspiration. Then I looked to see if I had any unpublished archive shots that had perhaps been taken on that day in previous years, but again came up with nothing ... oh how I wish I'd undertaken a 365 challenge! However, a meet up with our good friend Gillian for earlier in the week at Fountains Abbey had to be rescheduled and so I decided to use that as an opportunity to take some photos I could perhaps use for the challenge. In addition to taking shots of individual subjects I also had a notion of trying some panorama shots. This is a technique I've long admired, but never tackled before this week. However, Graham Chance was kind enough to offer me some advice and encouraged by what he said I felt I was at least able to give it a go, which is just what I did. I did one through the week of the borders in our back garden just to get a feel for what is involved and I might post it in time if only to show my very first attempt. This particular one is the result of 10 separate images shot at Fountains Abbey yesterday (each one taken in portrait mode) and then stitched together in Photoshop. I was amazed at how easy it was to actually do as Photoshop does most of the initial work for you and the automatically merged image was fairly pleasing, although I did go on to tweak the perspective and do some basic editing. I have another 3 panorama shots from the day so I might also post them in due course. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy seeing this one. It isn't perfect by any stretch, but I feel for my first attempt out in the real world it's not too bad. As for Fountains Abbey itself, it is one of the largest and best preserved ruined Cistercian monasteries in England. It's owned by the National Trust, located approximately 3 miles south-west of Ripon in North Yorkshire, and was founded in 1132. One-of-a-kind, this special place is now recognised as a World Heritage Site. Please hit 'z' on your keyboard to view large on black for best effect.

Taken for this week's Sunday Challenge , which had the theme of ice . Lyke Wake Walk? No, not some weird riddle, but the name given to a forty-mile crossing of the North York Moors. The walk, which stretches between the villages of Osmotherley in the west and Ravenscar near the east coast, basically follows the line of the watershed across the moors at its widest point and at the beginning of the route, only a few yards from Cod Beck Reservoir, stands this impressive stone marker. The hint that there may be something unusual about this walk though comes from the name: lyke means corpse while wake is the act of watching over it . So in effect the Lyke Wake Walk commemorates the practice (long since abandoned) of literally carrying the bodies of the dead from various points of the moor to their final resting places. There is no official route and so those attempting the crossing are apparently at liberty to choose their own way between the start and finish points. The aim of most people undertaking the walk is to complete it within 24 hours so that they then qualify for admission to the Lyke Wake Club . Those that achieve this are then also allowed to declare themselves either a dirger (men) or a witch (women). Oh, and just in case you're wondering, yes some walkers immerse themselves in the traditions and not only dress as undertakers, but some even carry a coffin too albeit an empty one! It was actually the late Bill Cowley who originated the concept of the walk when he published an open challenge in the Dalesman magazine way back in August 1955 to cross the moors on foot from West to East within 24 hours. At noon on 1st October that year, 11 men and 3 women set out to perform a crossing reaching Ravenscar around 10.30 the next day and so the Lyke Wake Club was born. The moors ... they do funny things to you at times!

For this week's Sunday Challenge , which had the theme of diptych . Taken from a series of shots I took last September and combined in Photoshop where I also applied some 'painterly' processing to finish it off. Possibly best viewed large on black.

Whilst we were out looking for a suitable subject for a recent Sunday Challenge I spotted this old donkey out grazing in a field by the side of the road on the outskirts of Topcliffe. It looked so sad and lonely that I thought I'd stop and offer it some company. Sadly it wouldn't come to me, but I did manage to get a few distant shots of it and this is a reworking of one of the better ones. I was happy enough with the original shot, which you can find in the Notes, but I thought he/she deserved some TLC so I've tried to do provide that with some 'painterly' editing. Probably best viewed large on black ... here's hoping you guys like the end result?

A shot from the archives, which I took from the top of Richmond Castle looking down over the market square and the surrounding area. The most appropriate song I could find in my collection to match it with was "High Times" by Del Amitri from the album "Some Other Suckers Parade". Probably best viewed large if you want to enjoy the scene fully.

So here's the last of the 'nearly made it' shots for this week's Sunday Challenge which had the theme of trees . This is one I took last summer not far from Roseberry Topping whilst conducting a reconnaissance mission for my first attempts at shooting sunsets.

And yet another of the 'nearly made it' shots for this week's Sunday Challenge which had the theme of trees . The main subject, the tree on the left, is the same one as appears in my submitted entry: "Last Tree Standing". However, this time I've framed and cropped it to show more of the field and the surrounding trees. I do like this myself very much, but think I may have processed it a little bit too much as the colours are quite strong?

For this week's Sunday Challenge , which has the theme of trees . Although I did go out this week and take a lot of shots with the challenge in mind, this particular one is one I took a while back whilst out cycling and which I hadn't got around to uploading. The field crop had obviously just been harvested and I liked the barren feel not only of the tree, but the surrounding landscape ... a kind of scorched earth scene.

Since visiting the water tower located at Lovesome Hill for a recent shoot, I've discovered that it actually features in a track by Rebekah Findlay: a singer songwriter based in North Yorkshire. The song, not surprisinly, is entitled "Lovesome Hill" and appears on her second album "Improvising Around The Sun". It's a rather sinister tale, which apparently takes its inspiration from a rumour that a murderer did actually live at Lovesome Hill for many years before being caught. I don't know how true this is, but he was apparently known as 'The Mechanic' and it's also claimed his ghost can often be seen stood by or even atop the tower. Not sure I'll go back up there again! Now, if I've not scared you off with that tale and you want to know more ... This creation was produced for The Sunday Challenge and published on 26 October to try and satisfy the theme of Spooky/Halloween . www.ipernity.com/group/305069 Apparently, when Rebekah was recording her first album she would pass this place every time on the way to the studio. The actual song "Lovesome Hill" was written behind the steering wheel developing over a few months of journeys back and forth. www.rebekahfindlay.co.uk The main image of the tower as seen in the shot was taken by me. However, I deleted the grey sky, which surrounded it that day as I wanted something a little more dramatic. I also flipped the tower horizontally and repositioned it somewhat to give me a little more space above. Here's the original image pretty much as it came out the camera. The only changes being that I've resized it and added my watermark and a fine line border. www.ipernity.com/doc/autofantasia/35625607 The lightning background I've used to gve the scene a sense of drama was taken by Mathias Krumbholz. Entitled "Thunderstorm near Pritzerbe (Germany)" it needs to be attributed as: "Lightning Pritzerbe 01 (MK)" by Mathias Krumbholz - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lightning_Pritzerbe_01_(MK).jpg#mediaviewer/File:Lightning_Pritzerbe_01_(MK).jpg You can see more of his work by following the link below: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Photos_by_Leviathan1983 Finally, the rain texture was developed by me from an image I found online entitled "misc rain element png by dbszabo1". Check it out here ... dbszabo1.deviantart.com/art/misc-rain-element-png-309954950 I took his original work and produced a new image using several copies of it merged together, but smaller in size and with another layer produced going in the other direction to give the effect of a blustery night. And there you go, that's how it was done. What's that you say, what about 'The Mechanic' ... well all I can say is he wasn't on the shot when I uploaded it!

Here's another shot of the strange looking water tower located at Lovesome Hill on the outskirts of Northallerton. This was taken for the recent Sunday Challenge , which had the theme of grey , but in the end I opted for a different shot.