It was a lovely day but mostly basking in shade-less sunlight with the animals and handlers/officials mostly standing in that shade-less sunlight and wearing white coats or black suits, but no-one said it was supposed to be easy! The British Alpaca Society had a running commentary on each of the gradings as well as giving the gathered crowd vast amounts of general information about alpacas, and they had a good crowd, several people deep, gathered all the time. The crowd obviously found the judging process as engaging as I did, the analysis of wool, the comparison between animals, the deliberating as well as explanation of why one was a winner vs coming second all proving to be an easy way to pass the day.

As animals, they are quite different from the sheep I would usually have expected to see, quite fun to look at and with all that wool quite cute and cuddly really. Photography wise I’d never photographed anything like it before, but after a while settled on a location where I could capture the majority of goings-on without delaying the proceedings or getting in the way of too many people who were watching… and without risk of being too close to the alpacas to get a stray kick. I had to keep low as all the wool around their heads typically meant their eyes were not visible enough from a human-standing position to draw you to them.

A very different day from the norm with the camera, but lots of fun and a great way to try something different that was very enjoyable. Here are a set that tell the story of the day.

Meg is a very fit young lady and laps up anything where she can burn off energy. She is very into gymnastics, so with the Seattle gym sectionals that her gym was attending coinciding with my visit I couldn’t resist taking the camera along. As a “family” photographer, I wasn’t allowed anywhere near the matt area where the gymnasts ran through their practice/displays so I was confined to the sidelines but the 70-200mm and 85mm lenses gave a good reach to close-in on the action. As I started to point them towards Meg, I did get some funny looks from the gym owner/trainer; but they got more relaxed when Meg confirmed I was Uncle Michael so I was spared having to have a chat with the local Police or anything! In fact, there were quite a few parents with cameras, and quite a few with 70-200 and hi-spec bodies too.

With so much movement in my subject matter I was pretty much forced to shoot in servo mode, but as a rather exciting experiment I decided to switch to back-button focusing… something that Stewart and Tony have been on at me for ages to try, but something to which I had never really got the hang/feel of. Well, after that experience of using it I’m a convert!

In contrast to Meg, Ali is much more laid back. Relaxed with the world and without the need to cartwheel across the floor or get the high of exercise on a high bar. Thus, she was much happier with impromptu portraits to give grandma an updated image of how she’s getting on and what she looks like now.

We ventured north of Seattle on one of the days, and found a tulip farm (actually in a town called Tulip Town, strange that!). It was an incredible sight to behold, especially with an approaching weather front. Although we were just-visiting and I was just snapping, there were some real pro’s on the scene with fancy lighting setups, reflectors, diffusers, scrims, soft boxes and more, which are just visible in the background of the image with Meg below… but despite that clutter I just love the image, her child-like care-free splish-splashing in the puddles with the backlight sun takes me back there every time I look at it.

With Eurostar now having recovered from it’s pre-Christmas snow foibles, we let the train take the strain and bundled off early on a February morning towards central London. Parenting these days seems to imply a need to take vast amounts of stuff where-ever you go, children requiring even more bits and gadgets than cameras! We were, therefore, very thankful that there was a route via lift from the Tube platforms to the station concourse at St Pancras. Our arrival was, sadly, before the Neuhaus chocolate shop had opened, but that was probably a good thing as I fear we would’ve come away several pounds lighter in pocket and several pounds heavier in weight had we had a pitstop! Instead, we could marvel at the stunning refurbishment of St Pancras station… now as awe inspiring inside as out.

Obviously I had my camera with me, and surprisingly that meant I was stopped going through security for a bag search, thrusting me into unwanted limelight with the security folk. The chap doing the search blamed the lens, informing me that it was the “crystals” in it! I’m not quite so sure about that myself (it’s survived airport check-ins ok) but I wasn’t about to argue.

The Disney Express train was swift and delivered us directly to the station at the Park. We’d booked one of the hotels at the Park and there was even a luggage drop-off in the station, all very civilised. That left us free to head straight to Disneyland itself.

First on my niece’s list of things to do was get a Minnie Mouse balloon. Fortunately we didn’t have to wait long to find a stall, they were in ample supply, and a few Euros later she had a big grin and was clutching it as tightly as she could.

We bagged a few rides before joining the line-up for the closing parade of the day. Up until that point I was just in theme-park mode, but I really quite enjoyed the parade, the child in me rising accordingly with the magic, even if it was artificial and the same day after day. It’s all a bit strange given it’s essentially just a carnival parade, but however Disney do it, the wonder and excitement was there for adults and children alike… It must’ve been something in the air… that or the hypnotic music that I then couldn’t get out of my head for the rest of the day!

The first day set the scene for the rest of the days, cold but bearable for February, busy but not too busy so letting us do most of what we wanted without having to wait for hours in queues, dry with some winter sun poking through the clouds every so often.

My niece was a bit of a trouper and did remarkably well, though was clearly ready to sleep by the end of each day. She wasn’t that fussed about having her photo taken with the characters, being content to barge through any other children and parents to almost rugby tackle the characters to the ground as she dived in to give them a hug, before moving on to the next one and doing the same, but only if they were characters that she liked! The only time she was slower was when some characters appeared in one of the restaurants in the evening, obviously tired out by then.

Anyway, here’s a flavour of it all. Planning for her 6th birthday is already underway, but how can you beat Disney for kids!?

Parking up alongside Derwent Water, for this stroll I took in the atmosphere of the weather front approaching before gaining a little height to Ashness Bridge and onwards to Watendlath. A heavy snow shower added a fresh inch or so to what was already a reasonable covering, adding picture-postcard splendour to the valley and tarn.

Thereafter the cloud thickened beyond good photo conditions so I resolved to just enjoy the stroll. The camera went back into it’s case but in doing so I must have unwittingly loosened my ice axe as somewhere on Grange Fell near King’s How it became dislodged from my rucsac. The snow must have given it a soft landing as I didn’t hear it fall and when I realised it was missing it was too late in the day to be able to see to go back and find it… so if you’ve found it… it’s mine… I would like it back please!!

My route for this walk was to take in the Pike of Blisco, Crinkle Crags and Bow Fell. The forecast was for clear conditions, some blue sky with cloud interest. It started well, with sun skimming the tops of the fells adding warmth to the coldness, but as I increased in altitude the cloud came down to meet me, the snow blew in and a white-out engulfed me.

White-outs are no fun, I can speak from personal experience on that one! Being mid-way round the Crinkles there was no obvious escape route so I had to pick my steps with care, compass in one hand, GPS in the other, taking no chances and hoping that my next step wouldn’t land me in a 1m snow drift! I aborted before Bow Fell, the cloud finally parting again part way down The Band revealing a spectacular view down the valley. But… before all that, I was treated to a haunting moon-rise at dawn broke on the way to Langdale, simply beautiful.

Some of the going was tough in the power snow, and it was definitely a case of both Andy and I getting kitted out in full winter gear… ice axe at the ready! It was actually more slippery lower down where the snow and ice were a little more polished from the melting and refreezing.

We were treated to some lovely light gently lifting some of the snowscapes as well as some other interesting lumps and bumps that only snow can bring to life. Not least of these were duck-like footprints at the highest levels which seemed to defy explanation to start with – surely footprints should be going into the snow, not sticking out!? Evidently mother-nature had some different ideas with these and after previous walkers had compacted snow underfoot, and the wind had blown away surrounding powder snow, these inverted impressions were left as monuments. I have to say, I was quite taken by them.

However, the scenery in the Buttermere-Crummock valley must surely be some of the best, with the high fells rapidly jutting up from the lake shore on all sides. Lots of drama but with two very different lakes a lot of contrast too.

Melbreak is a fell, remarkably, I don’t think I’ve ever climbed so this break was as good a time as any. The stillness of the lower levels with a bit of thawing was a misleading introduction to conditions higher up where icey arctic gales blew the snow around with force and made just standing still to take photos quite a challenge… so please forgive a little camera movement!

In the event, some thicker cloud masked the sunset but there was enough colour in the sky and atmospheric blue and tinge from the snow to make these a few favourites before it got too cold to hang around!

With the forecast of cloud on the tops, I opted for a simple low level walk, and at about 8miles not too long to get my feet used to my winter boots that hadn’t been worn since last winter. Plus, with country roads in Cumbria only passable with a 4×4 at that stage it needed to be something with easy access from the main road. I opted for a stroll up and around St John’s in the Vale; in normal conditions this is a stunning little valley and it lived up to expectations with it’s snow-look.

I hadn’t really thought too much of the church on-route, but as I reached it and came to the education centre happy memories of childhood flooded back as I realised and remembered having a junior school overnight trip there. Nothing seemed to have changed, although the hill down to the farm (where we had to collect milk fresh from the cows, you would never get away with that these days!) was easier in the dry. I then had a mile or so off-track, and some more memories came back… that trudging through drifted snow makes for a very slow walking pace. Fortunately the scenery more than made up for that.

As I write this blog, I realise it’s quite some time since the first one. It’s been full-on since then, the run-up to Christmas, Christmas itself then the start to 2010, including the annual SWPP convention in Hammersmith, London. The convention was wonderful, as always; a great chance to see and hear some of the best names in photography in the Masterclasses, too many ways to spend money in the Tradeshow (!), but best of all the opportunity to meet some familiar and new faces, socialise, chat photography, chat business and share ideas. It was fabulous to see everyone.

Photography wise, the wintery spell throughout the Christmas period provided a transformed landscape for my eyes to feast on. I spent most of it with family and friends, enjoying Cumbria in all it’s white glory.

Some of the conditions were pretty harsh – like most of the UK we wrestled with constant sub-zero temperatures which meant ice was a permanent challenge and, like the carol, snow had fallen snow on snow. I turned back from venturing into the Lake District on my first attempt as fog descended and the road conditions attracted only the fool-hardy, and made-do with a foggy Carlisle instead… but with hindsight that was a smart move, as there were plenty of photo opportunities there too.

I’ve changed the watermarking too, with help from the very cool Mogrify Lightroom Plug-in, I hope you like it as much as me!