Alex Nichol | Designer, writer and photographer from up North
Gradually migrating old blog content across to this new site... bear with me.
Photography
Raby Castle Deer Park
It was a glorious 25°c outside and I had a Friday afternoon all to myself, so I packed my camera bag and headed down to Raby Castle in North Yorkshire,...
Photography
Inner Farne
For a long time now, I've been meaning to take a boat trip out to Inner Farne National Trust Bird Sanctuary to photograph the puffins there, but had never got...
Photography
Kielder Forest
The sun was beating a glorious 25°c this afternoon and I was at a loose end, so I took the mighty Triumph T120 out for a blast up to Kielder...
Photography
Wasdale Head
We spent a lovely weekend in the Lake District, taking a day out to visit a beautiful picturesque waterfall named Ritson's Force in Wasdale Head. I love this part of...
Photography
Port Mulgrave
Just a short ride from Whitby, at the bottom of a cliff, I found this weird little shanty town of fishermen’s huts. I’d heard tell of it before, and was...
Photography
Brúarfoss
On our last day in Iceland, we discovered the impressive Brúarfoss, only 15 minutes away from our cabin. Of all the waterfalls we visited in Iceland, this was by far...
Photography
Wildlife of High Hauxley
My first attempt at photographing the local wildlife at High Hauxley Nature Reserve in Northumberland didn't go quite as I'd planned. I've never tried bird photography before and found it...
Photography
Manhattan Financial District
On our journey down to the East River to catch our helicopter ride over Manhattan, we took a little time to explore New York's financial district. The highlight for us...
Photography
Central Park
The weather was gorgeous, so we decided to spend the afternoon taking a stroll through Central Park. As expected (and much like the rest of Manhattan) it was packed with...
Photography
Helicopter flight over New York
One of the highlights of our trip was a 30 minute helicopter flight over Manhattan. It's worth taking note of where the flight departs from when you go to book...
Photography
Ground Zero
We inadvertently stumbled across Ground Zero and the Freedom Tower this afternoon. We'd planned to visit the memorial in a couple of days time, but came across it quite by...
Photography
Top of the Rock
The Top of the Rock observation deck was one of the highlights of our trip to New York. There are plenty of tall buildings that offer amazing 360° views of...
Photography
Summit One Vanderbilt
Day four of our city break to New York started out with a visit to Summit, a three-storey observation deck at the top of One Vanderbilt, a 93-storey skyscraper on...
Photography
Manhattan by Night
On day two of our week in Manhattan, we chose to spend the evening on the 86th floor observation deck of the Empire State Building. The view is absolutely spectacular,...
Photography
Bronx Zoo
We took a day out of our hectic schedule to visit the Bronx Zoo, about an hour's train ride North of Midtown Manhattan, where we were staying. The reviews were...
Photography
Liberty & Ellis Island
Our second day in The Big Apple was one of the best, starting out with an early morning cruise to the Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island. It was such...
Photography
Hudson Yards
Day one of our week in New York took us for a leisurely stroll through Hudson Yards, a shiny new development on the banks of the Hudson River, tucked between...
Photography
High Line
The High Line is an elevated urban garden that winds through Manhattan's West Side, following the river from Hudson Yards in the North, through Chelsea to Greenwich Village in the...
Photography
Greenwich Village
After the lustrous glass and chrome facades of Hudson Yards, and the burned brick and rusty patina of the industrial High Line, Greenwich Village was something of a change of...
Photography
Jesmond Dene
Last year, I kicked myself for not having made the effort to get out and photograph the autumn colours as they slowly swallowed up the local woodland, so this year...
Photography
Raby Castle
We took a short trip out to Raby Castle in North Yorkshire, to check out the deer park and test-drive a couple of lenses: the Fujinon XF 90mm f2 R...
Photography
Blue Moon
In case you missed it somehow, we had a Blue Moon this week. Apparently, The name Blue Moon has nothing to do with the colour, rather the number of full...
Photography
Northumberlandia
I've been living just round the corner from Northumberlandia for a long time now, and it occurred to me last weekend that I'd never been to visit. So I packed...
Photography
Simonstone
The weather was beautiful and we were at a loose end, so we hopped on the Bonneville and took off for a weekend away at Simonstone Hall, a cute little...
Photography
London South Bank
I travelled down from Newcastle to the big smoke to catch up with an old friend, taking the opportunity while I was down there to wander along London's South Bank....
Photography
Bioluminescence
We were unbelievably lucky to witness bioluminescent plankton washing up on the shore outside our villa in the Maldives last night. It was a difficult photograph to take, in the...
Photography
Baa Atoll
We enjoyed our first experience of the Maldives so much last year, that we decided to go back a second time. This time, we stayed further North in Baa Atoll....
Photography
Natural History Museum
While staying with family in St. Albans, we took the opportunity to visit the Natural History Museum in London. While there's a lot more to this place than the photographs...
Photography
Capri
One of the highlights of our trip to the Amalfi Coast was the island of Capri in the Bay of Naples, famous for its rocky landscape, turquoise water and high-end...
Photography
Pompeii
We chose the hottest day of the trip to visit the open air museum at Pompeii; probably not our smartest decision in hindsight, but we had no idea just how...