Saturday brought a visit from J and J, whose parents sadly both had to work. That gave Sue and me the opportunity to visit ‘Christmas at Dunham Massey’ that folk have been raving about. It comprises an after dark visit to the Winter Garden, where an illuminated route took us an hour to negotiate.
It came up to expectations, starting with a long illuminated archway past puzzled daffodils. I forgot to turn on the flash setting – I still have to learn the camera settings on the S9 phone, but it does seem to perform ok in conditions of low light.
It was hard to capture the ambience, as the colours kept changing.
We have many daylight pictures of the ‘shiny bark’ silver birch trees pictured below.
The route was spiced with numerous interesting lighting effects.
Jacob was required, in order to obtain a badge at the end, to take a selfie with Dasher. All Santa’s reindeer could be found at some point in the garden.
There were some giant reindeer scattered amongst the life-size ones. Below, you can see people passing through the legs of the animal in the middle of the picture.
A bubble machine combined with imaginative lighting provided fun for all.
The large lawn was festooned with lights that changed colour to the sound of Christmas music.
This is Jessica’s ‘selfie’ with Dancer. “Wifi selfie” she said, “… I have an implant.”
The rose garden was nicely lit, with the cash tills of vendors of gourmet marshmallows ringing merrily. There were plenty of toasting coals, and the fare was delicious. If you wanted to, you could bring your own marshmallows.
Returning towards the hall, we passed through an area of dangling baubles that constantly changed colour.
I wonder what the resident swans think of all this?
After exiting the Winter Garden, we passed the front of the hall, where a white bearded gent was frantically distributing some late presents.
The hour in the garden was followed by an hour on some children’s rides. Jacob zipped up and down the Helter Skelter.
They both enjoyed the bucking bronco ride.
At the exit, a waterfall danced to the sound of Christmas music. I have a two minute video of this that I haven’t worked out how to download from the phone. Probably just as well – this posting is quite cheesy enough without that video!
I think everyone enjoyed their evening out – the lighting effects were certainly well up to expectation.
2 comments:
Those photos are impressive from a phone. I am half tempted to use mine more, but I just don't like the ergonomics of the thing as a camera, and it is all too easy to press the wrong buttons.
I do keep pressing the wrong button, Conrad, especially the flash button. But though I still have to learn most of the settings, the Auto setting produces acceptable results. I'm taking my camera with me less often at present. Need to get a stand for the phone to allow self-timed pictures.
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