Carpe Diem!....... — Steve Chivers Photography

Sometimes, as creatives, we are guilty of running out of energy as the creative juices seemingly dry up. something akin to writers block.

For me, its that in the South West of England we are prone to some inclement weather (about 365 days a year!) and so there are times, when unless you wish to photograph pouring rain, we are forced to remain indoors. As a photographer I find this somewhat limiting as there is only so much “still life” photography I can undertake.

As a result and when we do get a break in the clouds, and that beautiful light streams through natures soft box, it is definitely time to “Sieze the Day” and make the most of any opportunity to get outside.

This is what happened last weekend. As we peered through the curtains we could see the early morning sun emerging through windswept clouds and so we decided to head out first thing for coffee and breakfast and just see what the day might bring.

Now we could have just walked around to the Barbican Plymouth to one of our local haunts but that particular day, by some form of serendipity, we drove some 15 minutes to Saltram House, a National Trust Property located on the outskirts of Plymouth.

This is a prime example of taking advantage of something that is actually on our doorstep.

The house itself is set in a beautiful Georgian country estate that dates back to the 1700’s. It was actually owned by the Parker Family from 1724 to 1957 until, like many of the landed gentry, the property was transferred to HM Government in lieu of death duties and then passed over to the National Trust.

There is quite a long walk, (about an hour or so) around the perimeter of the estate, including a beautiful stretch which winds along the banks of the River Realm and includes views over wetlands and a bird sanctuary. I can’t wait for that 100-400mm zoom to arrive.

However, today we decided, for the first time, to visit the house itself. As we passed though the entrance we literally set foot in to another world.

As always we had arrived early and had about 40 minutes before we were allowed in to the house and most importantly about an hour before the Chapel Tearoom was opened! So, we decided to walk around the side of the house and through the exquisite inner gardens to find The Castle Folly. Above all dogs are banned from the inner garden so (a) we didn’t have to constantly watch where we were walking and (b) Mrs. C, who is not comfortable around our canine friends could enjoy the whole experience in a relaxed manner.

Already looking promising from a photo perspective

What a promising start to our walk. The garden was a dream and presenting all manner of interesting photo opportunities. Indeed, there are some 1,500 species of plants in the garden and so I felt duty bound to capture at least some of these (albeit in my “artistic” manner).

What better place to take a break than under a 100 year old Rhodidendra!
I was so at peace as we sauntered through the grounds and after about twenty minutes we finally came to The Castle Folly.

Yes I had died and gone to photographers heaven!

Even Mrs. C was willingly participating!

Now Mrs. C has a limited tolerance on the modeling front and so not wishing to push my luck over that particular rubicon I suggested we head back to the Chapel Tearoom for a cup of tea and slice of cake.

The route back was equally as rewarding…

What a grand place to put a deck chair - memo to me for my next visit

Tree-lined avenue back to the Great House

And then our oasis that was the Chapel Tearoom emerged. A pot of Ceylon Tea and slice of Pumpkin cake and I was well and truly in my happy place.

My way of capturing tea and cake at F0.95 using a Georgian manor house as Bokeh

Mrs. C checking the old analogue sat-nav to see if we had missed anything

Suitably refreshed we decided that we should have a quick look around the interior of the Great House. Now we intend to come back again during mid-winter and spend much more time inside this wonderful property which includes a Robert Adams neoclassical Saloon, original Chinese wallpapers, beautiful ceramics and a remarkable collection of paintings including many by Sir Joshua Reynolds and Angelica Kaufman.

For this visit I settled on trying to record and show you what we experienced before an in-depth blog later in the year.

Well that should boil a kettle in no time

No doubt the maid had plenty of polishing duties

Chinese silks in the bedroom where King George allegedly spent the night.

Back to the car via the Stables and the obligatory National Trust shop

What a day we had. It started out with a decision to go out for a cup of tea and ended up with a wonderful day out and my shutter finger fully exercised.

Now you didn’t think I had forgotten did you? As usual lets end this blog with the Bench of Contemplation. Actually, I am breaking with tradition and ending with the Benches of Contemplation as there we two images I liked so I am showing you both!

So the motto of this story…..Carpe Diem!

See you next time and warmest regards from Plymouth.