A Visit to the Tulip Fields at Brocksbush Farm, Northumberland
The tulip fields were exquisite in their splendour, with a myriad of colours and flower shapes. Some of the tulips had the stereotypical bowl shape, while others had much wider, more ornate designs in their petals. The vibrancy of colour was a delight. I am sure the growers had a great deal to think about when planting so the colours would complement each other and provide the best display for us, the customers. Well done Brocksbush!
Points of Learning: Each photo in this section, from my visit to Brocksbush Farm, has been enhanced by AI. Why? You may ask. I had been very much looking forward to this excursion and the opportunity to take along my camera and take some shots of the colourful arrangements of the tulips. To use my camera to capture the details of the variety of flowers on display, I had been blessed with the most gorgeous days of sunshine for a long while, so everything was in my favour.
I enjoyed my walk through the field of tulips and took many photos that, through the camera's viewfinder, looked great. I couldn't wait to get home, download them to my computer, and see what I had managed to capture.
After downloading them, I was devastated to see the results; every single photo was way over-exposed. The photos looked awful. What had happened?
I had made the inexcusable errors of:
a. not checking my camera settings before starting to shoot. My mode setting was to "AV", and the shutter speed was too slow.
b. not checking the image that I had taken on the viewing screen after each shot. Had I done this, I would have seen the excessive light on the image and been able to correct the settings and re-take the photo.
Had the day been a complete waste of time? No, I did after all have some images, it was just that they were not what I had expected. I decided to give AI a try at fixing things for me. Using Microsoft Copilot, I asked the AI to help me fix the photos and one by one, managed to get acceptable images for all my photos.
I copied an image into the chat bar of the AI and asked it to "fix my image". The AI tool was amazing and prompted me with certain questions about the style of finish I wanted, the type of lighting I wanted in the photo, warmth and brightness, etc. I was very impressed. After the first photo had been restored, I asked the AI what actions it had taken to fix my photo. The response was very detailed and provided another learning exercise for me in understanding photography.
I thought that while I was on an educational role, I would try one more thing. I told AI which photo-editing software I had and asked it to help me learn how to correct photos myself. The result was again amazing. AI asked me if I wanted it to draft a full tutorial of what it had done, but using my software package, of course, I said yes. The resulting tutorial was very detailed and very specific. I have tried it, but from my extremely basic level of understanding, it will take me some time to master it. I have therefore used AI to correct all of the photos from my day at Brocksbush.
My final learning point of the day, is that when using AI, try not to let it do all the work for you, and achieve some self-learning too. Ask AI to help you to learn to do things for yourself.
I have included some of the originals, along with the changed images in my "Information Technology" section, which is accessible from the top navigation bar. See what you think.
River Wear North Bank Riverside Pathway: The photos here were taken this morning just after sunrise, the sky was quite cloudy lighting was a bit dull to start with but then brightened up a little. As a beginner I tried to take shots that appealed to me, and in some cases I was looking for a photo that would be good to edit and would give me chance to see that difference between raw photos and finished photos. I will share my editing projects as I get round to them so that you can compare the difference and I intend to share how the editing process went and what my aims were.
Along this section of the path I found some really intriguing objects from obscure doors to reminders of Sunderland's ship building heritage to some of the more modern city developments.
There is the statue of Molly, the female shipyard welder who helped out for the war efforts of WW1 & WW2. The sculpture is by Ron Lawson.
Scenes from Roker Park: Taking a walk through Roker Park this morning around 10am, the council guys were test running the fountains in the boating lake which made a nice change from the flat calm waters and added a spectacular bonus for me with my camera. The bird life seemed pretty non-plussed by the whole affair and just got on with paddling around in the sun. It was nice to see that some of the first seasonal flowers were starting to show off, Snowdrops and Crocuses. the bowling green looked in pretty good shape for the time of year. All in all, a very enjoyable walk.
SEABURN BEACH: These photos were all taken using my mobile phone (Samsung S10) camera, at various dates while out walking along Seaburn beach.
This is one of my favourite places as I feel a connection with the sea and strongly believe that my genes make me feel that way. My family history going back hundreds of years have relatives that have been associated with the sea in some way; mariner, sailor, seaman, fisherman and lifeboat-man. I myself spent many years at sea too.
This is definitely my go to place, and with scenes such as these who can argue against it.
Sunrise is particularly special to me.
CRAGSIDE HOUSE: The middle of November last year (2024) I took a little jaunt up to Northumberland to visit one of our favourite National Trust places, Cragside, a place with a wealth of interesting history and situation not too far away, just before you get to the Scottish border. The pictures here were all taken with my newest camera, Canon EOS R50.
The day out represented my first dedicated time to trying to use my camera which is why there is a variety of subject matter and my first efforts of getting to grips with light and shade, reflections and silhouettes as well as structure.
The time of year was also significant as the colours are so much more defined whereas in the summer for instance I will expect much more melding of greens etc.
I intend to visit again in time for the flush of the Rhododendrons which is spectacular and I am looking forward to being able to capture the view in all it's splendour.
