On the second of my ‘see how far you can get for a tenner by train from Skipton’ days out, I made it to Nottingham.

Nottingham Town Hall

To record my day for posterity, I look for one or two landmarks and then find the most interesting way to capture them. It makes all the difference to use some branches to ‘frame’ your photo, flowers to add colour contrast or as in my case, reflections. This water feature opposite Nottingham Town Hall was great in making the 200 ft high 1920s building look all the more imposing. The usual rules apply of, try to avoid nearby people, bins, traffic and street signs (which usually make for annoying distractions). The one third/two thirds horizon ‘rule’ was ignored on this occasion. It reminds me a bit of the old Thames TV logo using St Paul’s Cathedral.

The famous statue (background not foreground!

You can’t go to Nottingham without having a selfie with the famous Robin Hood Statue! I refuse to use a ‘selfie stick’ as I like the challenge of an old-fashioned extended arm and/or self timer. I always think it’s a shame not to have the photographer on at least one shot!

I didn’t find the city overly photogenic (sorry Nottingham), but no doubt with more rime I would have delved deeper and found more.

Finally and for something different…

Nottingham Castle

Museums often don’t allow you to take photos of paintings, but I got permission in Nottingham Castle Museum. I was lucky; the painting was brightly and evenly lit and even hand-held using a basic compact camera, I got a surprisingly good result. Definitely DON’T use flash. It will reflect on the glass and can even damage an old painting. You’ll need a fairly high ISO to avoid camera shake. Great if you have a tripod or handy table to sit the camera on, but if not, steady yourself against a wall, shoot straight on to avoid distortion (unless you are trying to avoid reflections) and take a deep breath! The lovely old historic painting is of Charles I raising his standard outside the castle during the English Civil War. Painted be Henry Dawson in 1847. There you are, we end with a bit of history!

More Photographer’s Rambles coming soon, whilst the sun shines!