The Day Washington Disappeared (Aerial Video)

Six minutes of AMAZING - right here on Video Hub 3!!! Now, this is why I'm into camera's and all they capture, whether it be in photo or video form, it's all here in the shape of an aerial video I captured on a cold November morning in 2022.

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It was one of those alarm calls that started a new day. One of those moments when you're woken up early doors and lay there for a moment, wondering whether to get of your warm bed, or simply pull the duvet back over your head and go back to sleep. Today, as if by fate, the warm bed lost out and as quick as you can say 'Downstarirs'...that was where I found myself. I was washed, dressed and suddenly preparing a quick cup of coffee. The hard part was out the way. I was up and almost on my way out. Coffee downed, camera bag checked and over my shoulder...car keys in hand, boots on and out the door.

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Within ten minutes I was parked up in Herrington Country Park, waiting for sunrise. The fog was quite thick, as was the frost, but undeterred, I made my way to the waters edge and waited a short time for some colour in the sky. Sunrise kind of came and went, as fog won the day, but at the same time it presented some nice photo opps of the mute swans, as the sun tried desperately to burn through the mist. At this point I had something else in mind, so I took the very short drive up to Penshaw Hill and parked up. I could see the low lying mist across Herrington Park, so I decided to send the drone up to get a 360 degree birds eye view of the surrounding landscape.

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I wasn't prepared for what happened next. As the drone flew up towards Penshaw Monument, I could pick out a scattering of cattle, grazing near the top of the hill. Then, as the aircraft climbed above the monument, I could see on my monitor that the whole of Washington and its surrounding area had dissapeared under a vast carpet of mist. Amazing isn't a word I use lightly, but on this very occasion I will spell it out in large, bold capital letters, as that is exactly what it was...A M A Z I N G !

 

By this time the sun had risen above the fog and mist and some beautiful side light hit Penshaw Monument. This is when I temporarily switched from video to photo mode and captured the best of both worlds. I couldn't believe the scene that had unfolded on my monitor. This was as good as it gets and I can honestly say, in all the years I've been into photography, THIS beats the lot. A photo outing that leaves the rest behind. I've seen lots of photo's and video footage of cloud inversions, mainly in the Lake District, but not with my own eyes, until today. 

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Two weeks passed before I eventually got round to looking at the video footage I captured. It was exciting to get the files into an editing programme on my pc, but the real deal was watching it back on a 60 inch smart TV, via YouTube and rendered in gloroius 4K resolution. After all, this is the end game...the result...and although I've watched the fottage over a dozen times, I'm still in awe of what I actually captured. Yet another reminder of why I love my hobby!

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