Kyle Wong Photography - Blog

Crook Hall Wedding - Reetta and Jonathon - Highlights

Sat, 02 Jul 2016 00:00:00 GMT

A lovely day for Reetta and Jonathon's wedding at Crook Hall and Durham Town Hall with a few twists:

Cybermen kidnapped Jonathon, and to Reetta's d̶i̶s̶a̶p̶p̶o̶i̶n̶t̶m̶e̶n̶t̶ delight they returned him promptly.
Moomins were spotted flying around (they were tossed instead of bouquets).
A T-Rex crashed the wedding! (no not really, that was added in Photoshop, but it was a lot of fun getting that shot!)

Here are the highlights:

Seal Sands on Teeside

Sun, 27 Mar 2016 17:07:24 GMT

Haven't posted for a while due to concentrating on my dissertation, haven't had any time to go out and take photos... until now, the Easter holidays! :D

Took the time off to visit Seal Sands near Hartlepool / Middlesbrough, and yes, there are actually seals there! (Guide on getting there below)

First visit

It was a slightly overcast day the first time round, didn't see any seals around, so we carried on down the road to North Gare instead.

Quite surreal landscape, feels like a film set from iRobot or something

Feels like a scene from a post-apocalyptic film, the industrial infrastructure survived but not much else

Some birds joined us and landed nearby

A row of Wood Sandpipers as if they were chilling on a telegraph wire

A fluffy juvenile oystercatcher (I think...)

We got a little too close and they didn't like it, so we took the hint and left

Second time's the charm

Went back again a couple of days later when it was sunnier and found the seals! There was a lot more to see at Seal Sands than just seals as well, saw a variety of coastal / water birds whilst waiting for the seals to finish napping and swim back into the sea. Sat by the water for over an hour and it was rather therapeutic :)

A Little Egret fishing (thought it was a "white heron" but there's no such thing?!)

Seals napping on the mud banks!

Reckon they were actually looking at me? I was a good 200 meters away on the other side of the creek

It's all good here, back to sleep zzzz....

Iceland gull flypast when I was waiting for the seals to move from the mud banks

Some Greylag Goose flew past as well, so it wasn't all waiting for the seals and nothing else :)

The sun was beginning to set as I was waiting. See the seals on the other side of the water?

The seals wake up every now and then, shuffles around to get comfy again before going back to sleep ha

A geese or some other bird during take off, love its silhouette and ripples in the water against the setting sun

Suddenly this seal popped up out of the water and headed towards the banks!

This poor seal struggled to get on land aww... (it did manage in the end after lots of splashing around)

More geese

The tide had risen and this seal was sleeping half submerged, and still didn't wake up lol

Waited for over an hour by the water, only one seal had napped enough and decided to go home for dinner...

Beautiful sunset just as I was leaving

Visiting Seal Sands

Good news! Seal Sands is very easy to get to and would recommend for a great half day trip. Come off the A19/A689, onto the A1185 and follow the road east until a roundabout, take the first left onto the A178 (aka Seaton Carew Road or Tees Road). The car park is then only a few minutes drive down the road, on the left, see Google Maps / screenshots below. There is actually a hide overlooking the mud banks now as well.
Click for GoogleMaps directions to the car park
More information on Seal Sands walks on the BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/naturescalendar/autumn/urban/seal_sands/seal_walk.shtml

Red pin is the car park for seals (click to expand)

Exploring Brandon Marsh Nature Reserve

Sun, 29 Nov 2015 16:42:37 GMT

Had the #good #fortune of seeing a #kingfisher on #Sunday at #BrandonMarsh #NatureReserve!! #Warwickshire #Wildlife #Trust #England #UK #wmwildlife #bird #birds #birdsofinstagram #birdstagram #birding #birdwatching #ig_birdwatchers #nature #naturephotography #wildlifephotography #blessed #TelephotoTuesday #Sigma @sigmauk #Canon @canonuk #teamCanon #Canon1DmkIII #MyCanon #EOS
A photo posted by Kyle Wong (@instakylewong) on Aug 4, 2015 at 3:05am PDT

Over the summer I posted this photo of a Kingfisher with with its lunch in its mouth, and then forgot about the rest of the photos from that afternoon until I stumbled on them on my computer today!

Back in August it was a nice sunny day in the Midlands, I had some free time and just wanted to go out to take some photos. A quick search on the internet yielded Brandon Marsh Nature Reserves which was less than 15 minutes drive away. Perfect! And here are the results from a quick visit in an afternoon:

Just reached the main part of the Reserve and saw some Greylag Geese fly off in formation

A Grey Heron came to join the party at one of the ponds

Made my way over to the Kingfisher pool and spotted one surveying the waters!

I moved to the hide to get closer, someone had planted this branch in the side of the marsh for them to perch and dive from, about 20metres from the hide. Thank you good sir/madam!

This little guy is a poser haha

Stretching his wings and sorting his feathers

Their dives are spontaneous (I couldn't see any warnings) and happens so fast! This is the best one of him diving I have....

Calling out for his friends, and there were often answers back. Maybe they are discussing where the best spots for hunting are?

He was fluffing out his feathers, adorable!

I thought he was going to dive again but it was a false alarm, just stretching... Most of the time it was full of suspense, whether he was going to dive or not, and every twitch looked like he was diving!

One of the last shots before he's had enough to eat after three dives and went home. Take care bud!

After spending hours with the Kingfisher I moved on, saw a Grey Heron on the prowl (could it be the same one?)

Very much in his elements there

Was on my way back to the car park at this point, although spotted a Coot chilling by a branch. Liked the reflections in the water so I grabbed this shot

I always wanted to see a Kingfisher and it was my lucky day! So I spent most of the afternoon in the hide, with my finger hovering over the shutter button waiting for the Kingfisher to dive. As a result, I didn't see half of the reserve and unfortunately I couldn't stay any longer when the light was beginning to fade. Will definitely make plans to come back and explore the rest of the Reserve that I didn't get to see!

Would whole heartedly recommend this for a great (family) day-out. The reserve is just off the A45, surprisingly close to Coventry. More information can be found at the official Brandon Marsh Nature Reserve page and the unofficial guide to Brandon Marsh (they have loads of information on bird watching there).

Thanks for reading :)

A wedding in Darlington on a wonderful summer's day

Sat, 18 Jul 2015 22:29:34 GMT

On Rhiann and Adam's big day; the weather cooperated and there was glorious sunshine with only a few clouds in the sky! A heart-warming ceremony, some emotional speeches and a great afternoon of celebrations and joy. Best wishes for many years to come!

Click "Read More" to read on...

Durham Observatory Hill Sunrise (Timelapse Video)

Sun, 12 Jul 2015 18:40:54 GMT

After the ents finished at Mary's Midsummer Ball around 2:30am, I went up to the nearby Observatory Hill and set up for one of the most amazing experiences ever - watching the sun rise form behind Durham Cathedral! We were lucky with the weather, there was a tiny bit of cloud in an otherwise clear sky. I can definitely see the attraction and why so may people come to this spot to watch the sunrise, if you haven't yet, do it! (Wear plenty of warm clothes though, I was there for two hours from "start to finish")

Apologies for the slight flickering at places, and the lens kept fogging up near the end - something to mitigate next time.
(remember to watch in HD!)

Summer 2015 season round up (part 2 of 2)

Mon, 06 Jul 2015 21:44:10 GMT

A mild mishap at Trevelyan College Summer Ball made a great photo

It's been a very busy summer season, here's what I have been up to over the past couple of months. Thank you to everyone involved in organising these events, really enjoyed them and very glad I got to photograph everyone having a great time and help forge memories!

Moondancer - seems a popular ride for balls in Durham, saw it at Hild Bede Summer ball later

This guy had 2 aces to start with, split that into 2 hands, got another ace and split again into 3 hands, ended with a J or Q on each but not a black jack. Then the dealer comes in with a last minute black jack and wins the hand!

Krispy Kreme doughnuts was the most popular event of the night (not surprising really)

Durham University Big Band featured on the stage, with Laura Paul and Will Lavelle singing

Never mind the music in silent disco, some were entertained by just playing with the headsets

Not work related, I went to Observatory Hill in between the last ent and hog roast at Mary's Midsummer Ball to catch what was looking to be a brilliant sunrise (yes that is the moon on the horizon on the right by some natural phenomenon)

Being out in the cold for 2.5 hours paid off!! I took a timelapse of the sunrise, will post that on a separate blog later

(Click here to watch the time lapse)

Head line act at Hild Bede's Summer Ball was The Feeling, they attracted quite a crowd!

Wonder how many people got this snapchat...

The dodgem's they had were lethal. They were very quick and hit very hard! Thank you to my driver who "engaged eagerly" which made interesting photos, like this one

I saw this cute little bunny having breakfast in my backyard one day! He's so cute <3

Durham Opera Ensemble End of Year Dinner

The best photo of the dinner in my opinion

I Photographed the Quidditch UK Summer Cup, hosted by Durham University Quidditch Team

Quidditch is a very exciting sport to watch, there is so much going on at the same time!

This epic dunk didn't actually go in unfortunately. Great sportsmanship from Robbie (the dunker) to admit it wasn't a goal

Had a portraits session with Charles and a Jaguar E-type made a cameo appearance

The Invitations at Fabio's Bar, never seen it so full of people!

And that marks the end of my summer season, it was probably my busiest and most fun one to date, thank you to everyone involved once again! I will post the sunrise timelapse once I have perfected the transitions from dark to light when the sun rose, look out for it :)

Summer 2015 season round up (part 1 of 2)

Sun, 28 Jun 2015 21:44:43 GMT

Kicking off the season with Hild Bede College Day

Lovely table setting at Durham University Women's Rugby Football Club End of Season Dinner

And some lovely food too

A boat party on the Prince Bishop with a barbeque

Delicious burgers

Butler College Boat Club Regatta Ball

They spotted me getting candid shots haha

Itchy Feet Durham hosted their termly party

A beautiful moment that I managed to capture

Durham University Big Band's performance at the Student Union

What a collection of pedals!

I covered Annie & Phil's wedding party

The band organised all the guests to sing for the couple

Love capturing these moments between a couple

Congratulations Annie and Phil, wishing you many happy years together

Durham University Erasmus Ball at the beautiful Lumley Castle

The Great Hall inside the Castle

Some lovely looking food

Stay tuned for part 2 of my summer 2015 season round up :)

Spontaneous photo shoots are the best

Tue, 07 Apr 2015 09:35:50 GMT

I was walking home a couple of nights ago and noticed it was full moon and the clouds were clearing up. So I grabbed my camera and dragged my friends out to one of the highest spots around Durham that I knew - the "mound" at Josephine Butler College.

It was never going to be a night for star's because a full moon is very bright and overpowers most but the brightest of stars. So the night was mostly going to be about the moon! Tested out a new telephoto lens with the moon and attempted a timelapse video as the clouds weren't too thick but there was a bit of wind moving them quite quickly.

In the end the midnight adventure paid off, here are the results:

(Yes we took the same photo with each of us in the shot, posing and lit slightly differently. Now we all have them as our profile/cover photo on Facebook lol)

Love these spontaneous photography outings, never know what I can get and because nothing has been planned, improvising when out there shooting is a lot of fun :)

College Varsity Durham vs York 2015

Mon, 09 Mar 2015 16:42:56 GMT

Last Sunday sports teams from York University Colleges came up to Durham, for the annual College Varsity between the two universities. Fixtures included Lacrosse, Rugby, Badminton, Football, Hockey, Basketball and many more. Thank you to the organisers and everyone involved, what a great day of spectacular performances!

It was very entertaining watching so many different sports played at a high level in the same day. Truth be told, it was very cold (I believe the appropriate scientific term is "bloody freezing") but I had a good time taking photos for the Palatinate (Durham University's student newspaper - http://www.palatinate.org.uk/). Here are my favourites from the day (full album on my Facebook page can be found here ).

hit "Read More" to see the rest:

UPDATE: Very happy to see my photos feature in the latest print of the Palatinate :D
Some online articles here - http://www.palatinate.org.uk/?p=56394 , http://www.palatinate.org.uk/?p=56398 , http://www.palatinate.org.uk/?p=56370 , http://www.palatinate.org.uk/?p=56403 .

Portfolio Update!

Fri, 16 Jan 2015 22:31:51 GMT

Just updated my Events, Nightlife portfolios with loads of new shots, a few in Miscellaneous, Sports and Stage/Theatre portfolios too. Click on the links to check them out!