Alex Haig's Photo Blog

Freshers' Fair at Essex Uni

I went to Colchester with Mart on the Friday for a night in the pub with our old friends living in and around Wivenhoe. The next day we staggered onto campus for a wander around Freshers' Fair and to see how Rock Soc is doing. It's reassuring to see that Essex Uni has hardly changed!

Around Cambridge With Mart

In the morning we went into Cambridge for some breakfast and found a strange place called The Clowns Café. It’s full of clown memorabilia. There isn’t much more I can say about that. After that we wandered all around Cambridge and ended up at The Granta for a pint of Leffe by the river.

On our way back to my place we went via the American Cemetery and Memorial. It's a sad, but dignified and beautiful place. It was lightly raining and a bit dark, but some photos came out OK. I had a go at a 360 degree panorama, but I forgot to use a fixed exposure and it didn't come out that great.

Out in Baker Street

Kelly and I met Martin in London and then cought up with Kathryn and Gavinder in Baker Street. It was really good to catch up with old friends. Sadly it wasn't a great day for photographs. During the day it was very windy and overcast. In the evening I forgot to get a photo of us all before Kathryn left. I asked someone to take one of the rest of us, but it looks like they didn't actually take any because the battery went. I replaced the batteries and Kelly took one in the street outside the bar.

Subterranean London and the Thames

Kelly, my Mum and I decided to meet in London to celebrate my mother's birthday and to take advantage of a surprisingly warm and sunny autumn day. In the morning we went on a London Walks guided tour of "Subterranean London". We did not go underground, but we were taken all around Whitehall and Westminster and told about underground civil engineering works, the tube, and (previously) secret government and royal tunnels. After lunch and then chocolate cake in the cafe in Foyels Bookshop, we took a boat ride down the Thames to Greenwich via the Thames Barrier. I will resist the opportunity to rant about how we were misled into buying the wrong tickets and had all kinds of trouble, and I'll just say that a pier on the Thames is a great place for a panoramic photo!

Wimpole At War

On Saturday we went to Wimpole Hall & Home Farm to the Wimpole At War event to make the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War 2. There was an exhibition of items and costumes which gave an important glimpse into the lives of the British people behind the war effort. It was also fun wondering around the farm and taking photos of the animals.

Butterfly and Wildlife Park

This is my first post using TypePad. There may be other post dated entries added later, but this is my first attempt!

Today Kelly, her Mum and I went to the Butterfly & Wildlife Park in Long Sutton. There were many great butterflies to photograph as well birds of prey, black headed sheep, bison and many other things. I took nearly 400 photos! I deliberately wanted to capture photos that would be good for use as desktop background images and some of them came out well.

California - Day 8

Highway One and Santa Cruz

On Sunday, our last day of holiday, we decided to go out of San Francisco again and head in the direction of Santa Cruz. I got up early and went to the car rental place. As it was only for one day I went upmarket and got a convertible Ford Mustang and fortunately, as it was a 24 hour rental, I could drive it to the airport in the morning and drop it off there. I picked up the others and we sped off. As cheesy as it sounds, it was awesome to be driving down the coastal Highway One with sun glasses on, the top down and the San Francisco rock station, The Bone, on playing loudly on the radio.

When we got to Santa Cruz we took a walk up the pier and along the front, and enjoyed the sunshine. Eventually we decided we couldn’t have a trip to the beach without going in the sea and, despite not having towels, we went in. On the way back we went via Sunnyvale and Mountain View, just to get a glimpse of Silicone Valley and the Google Campus (Googleplex). Then back to Mart’s for a nice evening in to finish off a great holiday. Thanks for having us Martin!

California - Day 7

Coastal Walking

On Saturday morning, as she was feeling under the weather Kelly decided she would to take it easy back at Mart's, whilst Mart and I went off for a walk around the North West side of the peninsula. We went from the Golden Gate Bridge, along the coast by Fort Point, across China Beach, up to some houses at Sea Cliff, around Lands End and around Lincoln Park. The weather was a little foggy, but not so bad I couldn't get some good photos. Along side beaches, the occasional interesting set of houses, cliffs, forest and ocean, we also saw a pair of Dolphins swimming along the coastline. We ended the walk at the Sutro Baths (some long time disused public baths) and had a great meal at road side diner called Louis'. Then we walked to the west side of Golden Gate Park, took a bus up to the Embarcadero and a boat across to Sausalito where Mart introduced me to an amazing icecream parlour.

California - Day 6

Palace of Fine Arts, Haight St and the Strybing Arboretum

Friday started a little like the day before. Kelly and I took public transport up Market Street and then up to the marina. We wandered along the coast towards the Golden Gate Bridge and ended up at the Palace of Fine Arts. We considered going into the Exploratorium, but decided we'd missed more important things at Golden Gate Park so we went off hunting for a bus. We stopped in Haight for a while to look around the hippy shops. I found a shop that was wall to wall with rock band t-shirts, but surprisingly couldn't find anything I liked, so time for another bus. When we got to the park we strolled around for a while. I happened to see a humming bird, which we chased around the park until I could get a photo of it perched and being still. The we walked past the entrance for the Japanese Tea Garden and decided to go in.

The Japanese Tea Garden

The garden was picturesque, peaceful, yet busy. It was a great place to see and to photograph, but it didn't take long for us to have seen everything. Certainly worth the entrance fee. Next on our list was The Conservatory of Flowers, which was only a short walk across the Park.

The Conservatory of Flowers

Everything in (and around) the conservatory is worth photographing and I managed to take hundreds of photos there. There was so much there, in fact, that we spent most of the afternoon there trying to capture everything. At one point I leaned over a pond of water for one shot and I managed to get my t-shirt and jeans very wet. At least the shot came out OK. Due to the soaking we had to stop at Mart's before we could head off to meet him at a bar near his work for a few drinks in the evening.

California - Day 5 - Evening

Alcatraz

We met Mart with just enough time to get on the boat. We found a starboard place to stand on the side outside as the boat road out for a clockwise spin around the rock before docking there. Upon disembarkation everyone leaving the boat was issued with an audio guide and told that they must be back in time for the one and only boat back that day. We were led inside and the three of us started our guides playing.

We were led from room to room being told the stories of the prison of Alcatraz as we went. We saw where prisoners had overcome guards and grenade blast marks from the siege that followed. We saw the central path down the main cell block called Broadway by the prisoners and we saw D Block where the solitary cells could be seen. We saw the cells where prisoners had painstakingly chiselled out the air vents and made manikins as part of the escape attempt which was dramatised in the Clint Eastward film, Escape From Alcatraz. And we saw the buildings surrounding the prison that formed the small village where the prison staff lived.

The view on the island from outside the prison was quite something and we got out there just as the sun was setting. The skyline went from deep blue through purple and yellow to orange, creating spectacular silhouettes. We had quite a while to look around, but eventually it was time to regroup and head back to San Francisco.