An evening trip to The Duddo Stones, Northumberland.
These days I find opportunities for landscape photography are rare. Let’s face it, it’s essentially an anti-social pursuit, often involving early starts and long distances. No matter how understanding your loved ones are, there can be a limit to their patience as they stand shivering behind you in the gloaming as you compose ‘the shot‘ and then click the shutter more than a dozen times. Nothing is more likely to provoke withering looks than the dreaded words “Just one more, then I promise we can go home.”
Having learned this valuable relationship lesson the hard way, landscape photography now fits in around the rest of my life, rather than the other way round, so when I knew I would be working in Berwick last week, I packed my camera so that if an opportunity came up, I wouldn’t kick myself later.
There’s no shortage of opportunities for photography around North Northumberland. Berwick’s historic walls and bridges over the Tweed; the Holy Island of Lindisfarne are obvious choices, but I decided to visit a location I’ve been to before: the Duddo Stones.
The tiny village of Duddo is just 8 miles south-west of Berwick and a permissive path to the Stones leads away from a narrow lane beyond the entrance to Duddo Farm. The walk to the stones takes about half an hour and they come into view on the horizon not long after you set off.
Sitting on a small rise in the centre of a field, the stones not only look great, but they’re also an excellent place to view the surrounding landscape.
After a busy week it was great to decompress for a while in such a peaceful spot. It was well worth packing the camera and a pair of boots to have that option. Eventually the sun sank behind a bank of cloud in the west.
I watched the light change and dusk settle before heading back to the car and the drive home.
Equipment Used:
Canon EOS 7D DSLR, Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L USM’, Canon EF 70-200 f/4 L USM
Adobe Lightroom Classic, Adobe Photoshop CC 2018
Where do you go to escape? Let me know – I’d love to hear about it.
All Images © Simon Lowe Photography – All Rights Reserved.
