Buttermere

Press "L" followed by F11 to view as intended ........sDSC06656-ed1

Buttermere

I was planning on taking a posting break for November however last weeks news from the cock wombles at SmugFlickr have roused me a little....... When Smugcup bought Flickr I remember thinking this is only going one way.....£$£$£$£$.....and so with last weeks news this is indeed the case. I started using Flickr primarily as a back up, I mean 1TB is a huge amount of free space, up until today I had over 9500 photos and was using 5% of my space. The reduction to 1000 photos is in my estimation 10-20GB, not bad for free but still a huge reduction. For my personal use 50GB would probably be fine so Smuggits claim of being cheaper than others is already starting to wear thin (apple £0.79pm , Smugtheif £5.99 pm) Now on the face of it I can understand their dilemma, it costs to host and I can't see them making a huge amount from advertising. I don't mind paying for a service, but, and it's a huge but, lets face it Flickr has been utter crap for the last few months, I mean why on earth don't they fix the thing then introduce the charge? It absolutely beggars belief. That's not what winds me up though, up until yesterday I was edging towards grabbing the 30% discount and giving it a try for a year, then I read the bit "oh and by the way if you pay you're more likely to get in Explore........" WTF, are they serious? Oh yes they are! Look SmugFlickr thats the main problem, people are fed up of multiple entires from the same user, 20 pictures of the 38 Stagecoach to West Kirby and bloody photos of Lego Batman eating bloody Lego ice cream dressed in Harry Potters cape. Lets not even start on bin lorries, I know that's an emotive one for some people.

Anyway I'll crawl back into hibernation for the rest of the month, sorry for the rant. I'd just like to say to all that follow me and comment, I really appreciate your time and thoughts, I know I don't comment a huge amount (that's generally because your photos are way better than mine and I don't know what to say half the time!) but I do always enjoy your work and indeed take inspiration from you.

I'll sign off with a song (Idea shamelessly nicked from Mark D) New Day Rising - Bob Mould/Dave Grohl youtu.be/XHjHBojMsRs

Sunrise

Following on from the last image inside the bothy on the fell side....

It's not often you actually want iclement wet weather on a shoot, infact I think this is the only time I have welcomed it, ever. But for what I wanted it was pretty much perfect, I'd like to shoot this in different conditions too, but to show a weather shelter doing it's job ideally it needs to be during adverse weather conditions, no amazing golden light today, just rainclouds, fog, rain, and plenty of it...

The problem with this is though unless it actually stops at some point it's more or less impossible to shoot in.... unless you're inside, like the last image.

The other photographer from Durham had gone out in the rain and got a shot and had gone back down the hill, the sky had been really featuresless though so I decided to wait it out up here for a bit to see if there was a bit more drama to be had before going out and setting up.

Not long afterwards although it was still raining there were a few breaks in the clouds and the mountains to the rear became visible once more, just remained a case of getting set up and keep wiping the lens to make sure there was a nice sharp image with no rain spots on it, thankfully didn't take too long as no filters needed to be added on a day like this.

We wondered wether to wait around a while longer but to honest I was happy with the image and probably wouldn't get anything better so we headed down, great that we did and it just got worse and worse visibility wise, and would actually rain non stop for the next 20 hours... guess I should be careful what I wish for ...

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The last shot I posted from here attracted a quite interesting comment of 'I would like to see it wider' , a curious one as it was shot at 16mm... so here you go... A wider shot than the last one, all 14mm of it from Warnscale Bothy showing a lot more of the srroundings, sky, and Haystacks ridge line, with less foreground, all thought welcomed I honestly don't don't which I prefer ?

As you can see the weather was providing a lot of drama in the scene here, showing exactly what the old bothy is used for, and what we had used it for until we got a break in the rain where it wasn't so heavy. The wet weather here really brings out the contrast in the landscape and the slate roof of the bothy especially.

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A view of the famous Buttermere pines on a clear morning in October before the wind comes and destroyes the reflection.

[#3 on explore 21/10/17]

While I've got quite a lot of new images to post up from recent trips I thought I'll keep those back after finding several from previous trips while transferring files around, numerous ones unprocessed including this from Buttermere at dawn, it seemed a bit criminal to keep this gathering dust at the expense of new stuff.

I remember this was a particularly good morning, not only for light but for the lake being perfect for reflections long enough to take your images, it can be a massive pain when you start a sequence here only to get ripples appearing half way through, then it's delete, and back to the start again to wait for hopefully another calm spell, which may never appear, or if it does the light may be flat...

This one was shot a good while after sunrise with the light hitting Fleetwith Pike high up before cascading down illuminating Haystacks and onto the sides of Red Pike which form an arrow leading down the lonely Char Hut (fishing hut) on the shoreline, I always get a bit fed up when you get plain skies in the lakes but it totally makes up for it when you can get totally flat water with nice light, and thus you can create a nice wide symmetrical image, sends your eyes a bit squiffy if you look at the horizon line...

I couldn't think of an image title so just I've just nicked one of the lyrics off the last track on Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd, which just happened to be on.

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Over the last week or so I've actually managed to get some new material to post up here but seeing as this one has been sat there waiting a lot longer I've decided to post this instead so it doesn't get passed by again...

A fab morning on Buttermere with Terry Roberts where we were rewarded with just incredible conditions, I think we spent about 3 or so hours here from before Sunrise to well afterwards, photographers came and went but we just stayed shooting the altering conditions amidst the most brilliant light.

The bright band along the shoreline is actually the last remnants of an enourmous load of mist that had been hovering over the Lake, it had slowly been burned away by the appearing sunlight over the tops of the fells, leaving just a small band of it around the shoreline.

Probably the best single morning I've had here.

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One from my last trip up to the lakes before Christmas, it had been snowing on and off so I wanted a go at this image with the snow coming down the slopes of the Mountains to the rear, initially I was a bit miffed as there wssn't as much snow I would have liked, but standing theere looking at the fact thewre was less also allows the lonely fishing hut to stand out far more against the background with the colours on the mountainside being able to come through as well.

The lonely little fishing hut is completely dwarfed by it's surroundings, it must be a great place to get away from it all, I'm no fisherman but if I was I'd be heading here.

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sDSC06621-ed2 LPOY

Firstly a very Merry Christmas to all my Flickr friends and contacts, it's been a great year and your support has been very much appreciated throughout 2017, I hope you all have a great Christmas !

Staying for a few nights in nearby Borrowdale this location was probably always going to get done again at some point for sunrise and so it transpired on the first morning, the difficulty was the weather as loads of roads had been shut the previous evening due to ice and snow and the drive here meant going via the rather steep Honister Pass.... as I set off to here in decent time in the dark (no hotel toaster issues this morning...) it didn't seem too bad, until you actually got onto the open moorland section before the pass (which hadn't been gritted), which resulted in 5mph and sliding all over the place.. thankfully that cleared and the pass had been gritted but you still needed to drive at the speed of a milk float to stop the car ending up down a ravine...

Arriving safely it was still pretty dark by the time I got down to the shoreline, the moon still being out over Red Pike which was gorgeous, I had one more local photographer for company and we had a bit of a chat while I was getting set up (good to meet you)

Some nice light finally arrived after a (very) brief burst of pre dawn pink that looked like it was about to go crazy then instantly vanished as soon as it had came, always happens to me that!

Had about 2 hours down here and had to leave as my feet were frozen, this was shortly before leaving with the sun just cresting above the flanks of Fleetwith Pike and starting to hit the lake below and the line of Pine Trees, creeping across the sky from left to right giving this curious image of almost 2 halves, by the time I'd walked back to the car on the icy path it was too bright to shoot towards the sun and the lake was covered in ripples.

Definitely time for a coffee or 3 by a hot radiator :-)

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Buttermere Mornings, free sauna!

When Derwentwater is cloaked in fog leg it to Buttermere, carefully

Bet it looks nice in the snow at the mo!

After a complete non starter in the morning, getting up at 0330 and driving to Rydal, where the sunrise just didn't happen and was about as flat as it could be, I had a few results during the morning that followed but nothing of note really, after scouting a few locations for the following mornings sunrise I decided to climb Fleetwith Pike and try for a possible sunset looking down the valley over Buttermere.

I got to the summit about 1830 and just waited it out with a beer, taking a few images as the sun dropped including some stuff over to Dale Head as that was nicely illuminated, at 2030 the sun still hadn't gone down and it was getting pretty cold.

This was the last bit of sun just before dipping behind the hills casting its rays down though the valley below, a truly beautiful place, and a fantastic place to watch the sun set. After packing up I managed to get a good move on and got back down to the car in Honister in about 30 minutes before it was fully dark.

You can view my most interesting shots on Flickriver here: www.flickriver.com/photos/pete37038/popular-interesting/.

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With all the poor weather of late I decided to revisit some unprocessed images from days where I actually got some decent light, I was actually surprised how much stuff I had that was still untouched, so I'mandscaspe trying to work back through now so as not to miss anything with potential, really happy with this one for me it's better than the last ones I posted at the time.

Sunset on top of Fleetwith Pike looking down over Buttermere, a truly gorgeous sunset this evening with the lone cloud formation above catching the lightshow from below, and the hills bathed in golden light, a really beautiful evening to be up there shooting and taking it all in, I took a beer up there with me and sat drinking it while I watched the sun go down, magic. Almost forgotten what sunlight is this Summer!

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The very last of the sunlight hits the mountainsides and lake below, as the drops behind the mountains for another day leaving a warm glow in its wake. It had gone really cold by this point as it was getting on for 9pm, with the high vantage point on top of Fleetwith Pike the sun seemed to take forever to go down, which is kinda fantastic to watch, but it does get very cold and when you want your cooked meal in the Hostel in Honister it starts to wain a little !

You can view my most interesting shots on Flickriver here: www.flickriver.com/photos/pete37038/popular-interesting/

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Press "L" followed by F11 to view as intended....sDSC06555-ed2

Explore #1 14/10/2017

Pines at dawn - The Buttermere pines at dawn, with light spilling over Fleetwith Pike and onto the eastern shoreline of the...

One from few weekends ago . Canon 5D mk4 Canon 16-35 f4 kase wolverine filters kase k8 filter holder Circular Polariser 0.9 Soft Grad

sDSC06666-ed2

Explore #3 - 16/05/16

Another panoramic image from Buttermere at dawn with a wider view than the last one, this one was taken a little earlier than the previous image with the attractive house on left included, the warm light was less intense but still it was nicely warming the hills and trees.

It took a few attempts at getting these as numerous times in the middle of the sequence of shots the water started to ripple and ruined the image, so it was back to square one again, and hope for it to fall flat once more before getting another base exposure reading then starting another sequence. Thankfully it did fall flat again which just meant working quickly while it was still dormant.

You can see how much the light changed in the scene in the space of just 7 minutes here - www.flickr.com/photos/pete37038/26647769856/in/photostream/

You can view my most interesting shots on Flickriver here: www.flickriver.com/photos/pete37038/popular-interesting/

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Seems I've really been neglecting my Flickr stream of late but I've really not had much time at all, so apologies for contacts photos I've missed these last few weeks.

A cracking morning on Buttermere with Yorkshire Mountain Goat, Terry Roberts.

With the conditions looking really favourable I'd planned to go up and shoot sunrise in the Lakes this morning, I would probably have gone further South but Terry suggested Buttermere and I'd not shot here for quite some time so I readily agreed, it's about another 40 minutes on the drive time to get here in a morning so I only usually shoot it if I'm stopping up here.

The conditions didn't disappoint, with absolutely loads of rolling mist over the lake and some good spells of totally calm water.

Considering the sky was 100% cloudless I've got about 3 or 4 from this morning that I'm really happy with, this is one of the locations you can shoot without being reliant on a dramatic sky with the amount of options on offer. This was the first shot I took shortly after arriving with the sun not yet risen, I'd never bothered using this fence here before either so thought I'd include it in this one.

Nikon D850 Nikon 16-35 f/4 @ 24mm Fotopro T-74C tripod Fotopro LG-9R ballhead No filters

1S064 f/11 0.6 seconds

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Explore #10 April 20 2016.

Sunrise at Buttermere, 0527 AM, golden light hitting the mountains and trees and refelcted into the still waters. A truly gorgeous morning well worth the alarm clock going off at a silly time yet again. The little fishing hut would be a great place to live ! The pair of swans basking in the sunlight, sitting nice and still, were an added bonus, they flew off across the lake almost immediately after I'd finished this series of shots.

You can view my most interesting shots on Flickriver here: www.flickriver.com/photos/pete37038/popular-interesting/

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A fab morning out on Buttermere with Terry Roberts, I think we spent just shy of 3 hours down here waiting for little windows of the 'right' conditions, a few people came and went in that time.

The lake was rippling over quite a lot at times and we just had to wait and hope for light and mist to be present when it cleared again, I think in all I've come away with 4 maybe 5 shots from this morning that I'm really pleased with which is more than 1 an hour so I really can't grumble at that ratio !

It was still really gorgeous as we left but I think we had both got what we wanted so decided that a change of location was on the cards, seriously hard to tear yourself away from this place though...

Nikon D850 Nikon 70-200 f/4 ISO 50 f/11 1/15

NiSi landscape Cpl Fotopro T-74C tripod Fotopro LG-9R ballhead

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Ok ok, I know what you're thinking...Yes it's been done before, done to death etc etc. I've even got 2 different Panoramic versions of this scene printed huge in my house, so why would I want to shoot it again? quite simply because in the right light it's absolutely stunning and I love it. I might even go for the 'hat-trick' and get this printed to put with the other 2.

So that's that out the way :-) This one was at the end of a rather long morning on the shore here (around 3 hours) with Terry Roberts. We saw people (photographers) come, and go and apart from the earlier 'mist festival' that kicked off this was undoubtably some of the best light of the entire morning, and there was only us here for it.

I couldn't resist a pano of this scene with the light streaming down the side of Fleetwith Pike lighting up the Autumn colours with the Lake lovely and calm, still a little mist hanging around too to finish the scene off. To be able to spend 3 hours in one spot it has to be pretty special, and to me this is one of my favourite spots in the UK, I don't go often, but when I do I always enjoy it just as much.

Fotopro 74C tripod Fotopro LGNikon D810 Nikon 70-200 f/4 @ 100mm Fotopro T--9R ballhead NiSi 100mm Landscape Cpl Nisi 100mm 3 stop ND

ISO 64 f/11 1/20 second

9 Image vertical stitch - My PC almost died doing it, 9 x D850 RAW files in a pano :-0... need a new PC I think.

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A shot from back in April this year, I had been meaning to post this at the time but as usual you take other things and then they become the priority and so on and so on and things get lost to hopefully be found later. Earlier this week I had the good fortune to be included in Flickrs choice top UK shots for 2016 -

www.flickr.com/photos/flickrdata/galleries/72157675054178...

The image they chose was a panoramic from that very same morning and made me revisit the original files where I found this one again...

The lone fishing or 'char hut' on the banks of Buttermere in the Lake District at about 5 in the morning, the first direct light hitting the tops of the mountains and illuminating the craggy rock formations, I wanted to try and get one concentrating on the lone hut and reflections before the waters started to move, the little stopper sorting that out nicely in any event, giving me 13 seconds and an almost painted look to the reflections in the lake.

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One more photo from my recent trip to the English Lake District. The sun coming through the pines at Buttermere, is a favourite photo object, especially in the morning when the water is still calm. I was standing there with quite a few other photographers on this beautiful Autumn day.

[#5 on explore 25/11/16]