There are times when I relish using a very simple camera. I am lucky to have two Olympus Trip 35 cameras, one usually loaded with Agfa Vista 200 (£1 per roll) and the other with HP5+. For last week’s jaunt to Northumberland I decided to take the Trip with colour. Years ago these were very popular ‘family cameras’ but they are capable of capturing images with a certain look and feel and as I was determined to lay off the full blown professional approach outside of my dawn and dusk jaunts this was handy enough to pop in my pocket and blend in with the crowd.

I say blend in, as I’m not sure most people these days would know what it is I am holding to my eye as opposed to holding a viewfinderless camera at arm’s length or smart phone or tablet for that matter. Maybe I am not blending in?

Anyway, these are literally holiday snaps. Even Bailey who advertised and used these cameras said that there are times you just want to capture a moment or something like that and this low maintenance camera is just the ticket for that. All shot on expired Agfa Vista 200. I noticed that in very bright conditions the camera was overexposing by up to 1 stop – easily adjusted in Lightroom. The more muted the scene a slight underexposure of 1/3rd of a stop. The Cragside images do reflect the damp day we spent there.

This view was worth the 6.5 hour drive up to Bamburgh. Absolutely stunning view of Lindesfarne Nature Reserve.

I had to read this sign at Seahouses a few times to try and fill in the gaps but as it stands it appears to be biased against females.

It was grim day the day we visited Berwick-upon-Tweed. I had to grab a shot of this place though.

I love a jaded jade. I am drawn to this colour.

The Trip seems to cope very well in these conditions but Agfa was always good for greens even though this is really Fuji film.

Perhaps my favourite image from Cragside.

The concept of an Overflow Toilet worries me. I’m glad these were not in use on the day.