Dave Johnson's Photography

May 17, 2012
by DaveJ Leave a comment

Hive Beach, Dorset

Last weekend, myself and the family took a trip down to Symondsbury, Dorset. The occasion was the marriage of my sister-in-law which was to be held in Symondsbury Manor on Saturday 12th May. The drive down was terrible with rain and wind for the whole journey. This coupled with the unseasonably low temperatures made us question whether or not we should have brought full winter attire. However, it would appear that the weather gods were being kind to us and from the Friday through to Sunday evening we were blessed with glorious sunshine and temperatures even topping the high teens (centigrade to any American readers!).

The day after the wedding we took a trip down to Hive Beach which is about a 15 minute drive from the village of Symondsbury. The beach is unusual in that there is little to no sand, only very smooth and small pebbles. I came to the conclusion that stones of this size we much more difficult to walk on than sand – finding this out as I took a stroll down the beach to check out the photo ops.

The children really enjoyed themselves, although Mia was uncertain about going for a paddle – despite Lou’s best efforts!

The pictures below were taken with a Canon 7D with a 70-200mm f/2.8 IS USM MkII lens. The lens was hired for the purpose of taking the wedding photos (some of which will be uploaded once the bride and groom have vetted them!) but was an ideal lens for photographing children playing; allowing me to get close ups without having to intrude on their personal space.

I’ve only included a few photos to showcase the set that is posted on Flickr.

May 3, 2012
by DaveJ Leave a comment

Mia is 2!!

Today is Mia’s 2nd birthday – how time flies when you’re having fun!!

I think she enjoyed the rainbow cake that Mummy made for her judging by how quickly she stuffed it into her little mouth – so much so that I think the sponge sucked every last drop of saliva out of her mouth and she had to spit some back out. Aren’t children great?!

May 2, 2012
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Is spring finally here?

The last week or so has been particularly bad weather wise in the UK. We’ve gone from having warm(ish) days with endless sunshine to torrential rain and floods! Traditionally, well in my sense, this time of year has always been nice as it has coincided with the birth of my daughter – incidentally, she is 2 tomorrow! So given on Sunday we had torrential rain all day and night (see picture representing how miserable it was) the weather now seems to be picking up again. Today was glorious with clear blue skies and temperatures topping out at 17C. Despite the rain putting stop to any outdoor activities we had planned for the weekend one beneficiary has been the garden. It is now starting to look very green with flowers starting to bloom and lots of birds and insects around…is it to early to say Spring is finally here?

I have for one will be keeping my fingers crossed that this fine weather continues for at least another week or so as next Wednesday myself and the family are off down to Dorset for Carol Cakes wedding. We are all extremely excited, especially the children as they are getting dressed up in the glad rags and are part of the wedding party! The weekend is also going to be pretty exciting for me also as I am taking the pictures for what will be the new Mr and Mrs Cakes! One amazing thing to look forward to is the arrival of a lens ordered in just to shoot the wedding – the amazingly awesome Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 MkII IS USM!!!!!! AWESOMENESSS

In time I am sure you will see some pictures from the wedding. Until then here are a few shots that sum up the change in weather from Sunday until today…

April 26, 2012
by DaveJ Leave a comment

Barry Trotters Train!

The North Yorkshire Moors railway runs between Whitby on the east coast of England, to a market town called Pickering, approximately 20 miles inland. The station of Grosmont is, give or take a few miles, half way between the two. Grosmont is one of the key stations on the line serving as the starting point for many of the scheduled services, as well as for the specials that run throughout the season. Growing up not far from Grosmont, I have fond childhood memories of being taken to see the trains by my Nanna, who incidentally was born and raised in the town. Now that I have children of my own, I am reigniting those memories by taking them to see the steam and diesel trains.

As well as providing a fantastic opportunity to take pictures of steam trains, the surrounding countryside, in my opinion, is some of the most stunning in the world. To add weight to support this outrageous statement, is the little fact that some of the scenes from the Harry Potter movies were filmed on location on the NYMR!

To clarify why I’ve chosen an unusual post title. Well, for some reason whenever my son asked to watch Harry Trotter I would respond with ‘Barry Trotter’ in a fake mockney accent. Needless to say he didn’t find it very funny…but I still do it anyway. What else are Dads for apart from to be annoying?!