first trip to England any recommendations ?

[gary]

As you will be in England and presumably close to London then for Castles I would recommend Arundel Castle in West Sussex which you can get to by train and/or Leeds Castle which which contrary to its name is nowhere near Leeds. Leeds Castle is located in Kent and best visited by car. Both these are still lived in, exceptional to photograph and have great historic significance.
Three places that are in walking distance of each other. As someone mentioned the plague you could visit the Church in Wardour street London W1 where they buried the remains from the plague hence the fact that the grounds sit six feet above the surrounding buildings or the Mall where you can check out Nelsons Fleet or at least hand carved bronze copies which sit at the top of the lamp posts. Nelson is not far away and overlooks the fleet. Finally any one of the Inns of Court, Middle/Inner Temple's on the south side of Fleet Street, Lincoln's Inn behind the High Court off Fleet Street. You will find amazing buildings including the Temple Church and if you can persuade your way into Middle Temple Hall you may see part of Nelsons falgship used in constructing the hall.
While you are there make sure to get 'Timeout' magazine.

Have a great trip

 

[GuyF]

Edinbourough was fun at Tattoo time..

Is that anywhere near Edinburgh? (score extra points with the locals if you pronounce it "Ed-in-burr-uh")

 

[rs]

Also worth considering places like Stonehenge, and for scenery, the lake district or Scotland are great. On the castle front, also consider Windsor Castle and Warwick Castle - although you'll end up with loads of tourists in the shots. Stratford on Avon (Shakespeare's birth place), just around the corner from Warwick Castle is full of interesting old buildings.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=windsor+castle&hl=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=PywqUdPzF-OL0AWNzoH4Bw&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAQ&biw=2560&bih=1377

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=warwick+castle&hl=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=VCwqUd-1PMeb0QXbi4CICg&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAQ&biw=2560&bih=1377

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=stratford+on+avon&hl=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=GCwqUcG6C8bIhAe7_4DYBQ&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAQ&biw=2560&bih=1377

A wide angle such as the 17 TS-E you mentioned would be great for some of these locations.

 

[Alex]

Ovoid North Devon at all cost.. Its cold, wet and windy 364 1/2 days of the year...

 

[AlanF]

Ovoid North Devon at all cost.. Its cold, wet and windy 364 1/2 days of the year...

Devon is not egg shaped.

 

[AdamJ]

With regards travel and declaring nationality, well the accepted norm is UK, so neither British nor English!

The accepted norm when declaring nationality is British.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/britishcitizenship/

 

[AlanF]

With regards travel and declaring nationality, well the accepted norm is UK, so neither British nor English!

The accepted norm when declaring nationality is British.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/britishcitizenship/

True about citizenship, but when entering "Nationality" on filling out forms for entering the USA you should write "United Kingdom" (not British and not abbreviated to UK).

 

[AlanF]

I thought the English were quite nice

First learn the language: if the intonation is one way (stress on the quite), it means not very nice, and the other (stress on the nice) it means very nice. And, I hope your name is not Randy when introducing yourself.

 

[AlanF]

If you are born in England (part of Great Britain) doesn't that also make you British? Wasn't it called the British Empire and not the English Empire? I watched the video...informative and entertaining.

I am a British subject, as are all who are born in the UK,

A "subject" is someone who is under the dominion of a monarch and has no rights. A citizen, on the other hand, does have rights. A British citizen has the right of abode in the UK, but not all British subjects do. Until 1949, nearly everyone with a close connection to the United Kingdom was called a British subject. And all citizens of Commonwealth countries were British subjects until January 1983. Since that date, very few categories of people have qualified as British subjects - see http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/britishcitizenship/othernationality/britishsubjects/

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Hi, Im going on my first trip to England in just over a month and i want to take photos of castles and buildings so i'm taking my 5D mark iii and as far as lenses go I'm thinking i will take my 24-70L ii and 70-200 Lis ii but i want to get a wider lens, so I'm thinking i might go the 17mm tse.

Does anyone have any recommendations on this lens?

I assume that you have a agenda setup. Use google earth to look at each castle / tourist city you are visiting, and plan out the best locations for photos and what lens you will or might use.

While a TS-E lens is really nice for serious photography, if you are at the really crowded places, its likely that a tripod will be banned, so research that as well. There is a amazing amount of information on the Internet.

One uncrowded castle I stayed in was in Peebles, Scotland. We took a bouncy old bus 22 miles through the beautiful countryside to the small town of Peebles, and the castle Venlaw, which sits on a hill above the town. We had a room in the turret overlooking the town. No crowds at all. There was transportation down to the town, but we walked thru the woods down the hillside to the town, which had lots of interesting shops. We then took the bus to Edinburough and took a bus tour of the city as well as walked around spending lots of $$ on woolen blankets, sweaters, etc.

After walking until my feet were sore, it was nice to sit back on the train and enjoy the country we passed thru until our next destination. Although I had been to London a few times, and been out to the country to visit suppliers for our company, when my wife and I planned a vacation, we had a local lady who was from England setup the tour, hotels, etc. I did the air travel through my company, so we got business class for the price of cattle car seats in the back.

I like London, there are years worth of fantastic things to see, but I also fondly remember the small country places and the people where we were not crowded and could take our time. Try to see both the big attractions as well as some that are off the beaten trail.

 

[tomscott]

Cumbria


Ulswater, Cumbria, Winter 2010 by tom_scott88, on Flickr


Ulswater Steamer, Cumbria, Winter 2010 by tom_scott88, on Flickr


Ulswater Steamer, Cumbria, Winter 2010 by tom_scott88, on Flickr


Ulswater, Cumbria, Winter 2010 by tom_scott88, on Flickr


Conison Water Feb 2012 by tom_scott88, on Flickr


Hallin Fell, Ulswater, Cumbria Aug 2012 by tom_scott88, on Flickr


Hallin Fell, Ullswater, Cumbria - Winter snow by tom_scott88, on Flickr


Lowther Castle by tom_scott88, on Flickr


Ulswater Boat House by tom_scott88, on Flickr

 

[markhbfindlay]

If you are visiting the London area / South East, someone's already mentioned Arundel and Leeds Castles (you can visit both by train - a car isn't necessary for these two). You could add to this the wonderful Bodiam Castle (easiest by car) in the middle of a lake. I just looked up the web sight http://www.sussexcastles.com/castles/ and it shows 11 castles in the twin counties (East and West Sussex) alone. Kent has many as well including the best known at Dover, Rochester, Leeds you know about already etc. Going north, not too far from London are Framlingham and Orford castles, both largely intact. West - don't forget Windsor, and in London of course there is the Tower.

Further afield, someone's already mentioned Wales, which has perhaps the largest and most complete castles, mostly built by the English to overlord the rebellious Welsh. Scotland has mainly smaller examples, built in a completely different style.

Essentially, the UK consists of 4 nations (in the case of Ireland, just a part of one), with England dominant because of its size, wealth and history of conquest. In recent years, a limited devolution has taken place, with Scotland and Wales having parliaments, which are still subordinate to the union parliament at Westminster. The subject is huge, with perhaps as many opinions as there are Brits! Most of our large cities are now highly multicultural and diverse. Some of these localities are also highly photogenic, and in London there are several Hindu and Sikh temples, some of which welcome visitors and afford excellent and photo opportunities.

I live in Brighton - the nearest castle is Bramber which has about 2 walls left but is great for picnics. You can get there on a city bus from Brighton (2a, I think, destination Steyning). Also Lewes Castle - Lewes itself is great to wander round and there are nice shops and cafes. There is lots to photograph in Brighton and Hove city including the Pavilion, the colourful Lanes, the North Laine and of course the sea front and pier.

Lens-wise I would take at least one wide-angle. I make do with the 17-40 along with my 24-105 and 70-300 L. As others have said, allow for the weather being variable! If you are going in summer, a light-weight waterproof is advisable, but we do have shops here if you find yourself without! Have a great visit whatever you decide on.

PS I have just seen Tom Scott's images. Beautiful!

On further thoughts, you don't say what time of year you are coming. Spring and autumn are probably the best, but summer and winter have their virtues. I assume you are coming from the US. We are actually a bit further north than pretty much all of the United States (except Alaska) being beyond the 50th parallel, so expect very long days in summer, especially in Scotland; conversely very short in winter. Tom Scott's image are taken in winter (well obviously with snow). In Cumbria (nearly Scotland!) the golden hour in winter would be most of the day. Even here in the South, the sun rises before 5am in June and sunset at around 9.30pm, and in winter daylight is strictly 8 till 4. By the way, feel free to get in touch if you are nearby [email protected] and if it's practical I could show you a few places.

 

[dickgrafixstop]

take lots of cash!

 

[MiceBass]

I recommend the Findus lasagne and Tesco beefburgers, particularly as you can pick them up at very low cost of late.

Go to London. That's where's everything happens. Book a trip up The Shard in advance.

And I was born in England, grew up in England, live in central London and speak perfect BBC / RP English. That makes me British, if not European.

 

[AlanF]

Our voltage is 240, and the plugs are the size of a US compact. So, don't forget the US/UK adaptors. The Canon battery chargers as well as those of laptops etc should work on both voltages. Visit Oxford and Cambridge to see the mediaeval college buildings and the villages in the Cotswolds and Suffolk. It's only 50 minutes by train to the ancient university towns from London. Of my cameras, I would take the 7D with 15-85 and a 10-20/22 for a light package rather than my 5D III and 24-105, which would be the next choice. Tourists here don't carry kilos of cameras and lenses.

 

[Rat]

I can't believe nobody said 'weather sealing' yet - and I don't think any of the TS-E's can handle much rain. Having said that, I'd probably would want to bring a tilt-shift too.

Also, +1 for the Lake District. Then, spend a little research on whether you'd like to visit some stately homes, such as Blenheim Palace (I think Churchill was born there) or Castle Howard (site of tv drama 'Brideshead Revisited'). Not quite castles. To fully appreciate those and the like, you probably want to read Norman Thelwell's 'Some Damn Fool's Signed The Rubens Again'.

 

[jointdoc]

If you are going to be in London you may want to check out Hairy Goat photo tours. I enjoyed the mystery tour where you meet a guide and walk around for a couple of hours and they will point out all sorts of interesting places that you would not normally go. They have a website you can visit and respond to emails promptly.

 

[serendipidy]

A little over a year ago, I went on holiday and spent 11 days in London and 5 days in Bath. Hadn't been to Europe in over 25 years. Absolutely loved it. It's on the other side of the world from Hawaii and was a very long trip. I didn't take my DSLR but only a P&S pocket Canon SX230. Still got some memorable keepsakes. Some places I enjoyed: Tower of London, great museums (such as V&A, British museum of natural history,etc), Portobello Rd market, Kew Botanical Garden, city of Bath and the Cotswold tour. Really want to go back and see more. This time I'll take my DSLR.

Have a wonderful trip and remember: Keep calm...and canon on

PS-a few photos with the SX230.

 

[Creek28]

Im travelling from Australia so when i get there it will be Spring and will be hiring a car and driving most of the time except for when i'm in London. Im not too sure about taking the 70-200mm just because i know it will add a decent amount of weight but i don't want to get there and regret not having it. Unfortunately due to work commitments my time there is limited. Cant wait to get there Australia is too hot.

Thanks everyone for all your advice.

 

[Alex]

Ovoid North Devon at all cost.. Its cold, wet and windy 364 1/2 days of the year...

Devon is not egg shaped.

I really hate autocorrect...