The English Lake District WHS
I'd pretty much given up there being any kind of sunset here today as it was very overcast and raining on/off, just driving about I ended up near to here and decided to shoot the pier on Derwentwater, as I got there over the wall there were already 2 photographers there waiting for a break in the weather so with 3 being more than a crowd I decided scrap that idea and come up here instead hoping there wasn't anyone else about, and just chance waiting it out for just a bit of decent evening light.
Amazingly there wasn't another soul about here, which is pretty rare, and after setting up and waiting for a while I even got a decent break in the weather as well, it usually doesn't work out like that but if you don't try you don't get.... about 10 minutes after this image a huge storm blew over with torrential rain, which I took great pleasure in watching from the comfort of the car :-)
sunrise ish.........
The forecast was for rain, but I decided to work with what I get. Sunlight peaked through a gap in the clouds to the east creating some wonderful colours at sunrise. I was also the only person at this magical place, presumably due to the bad weather forecast.
Castlerigg Stone Circle, Lake District
Slater's Bridge which crosses the River Brathay Little Langdale Lake District
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.
Kelly Hall Tarn, Lake District
Tucked away in the grounds of Rydal Hall and it's huge gardens, right at the bottom is this great little waterfall and viewing building, it's no secret where it is but it does feel like a secret area by the time you've walked through all the sections of the gardens to get to this spot, a nice dry cool morning was the ideal time to visit on this Autumn day and there was hardly anybody about.
I've posted an image from here already stood right below in the water with a really low perspective, I couldn't decide which one I liked better so I thought I'd share this one too taken from a lot higher up on the bridge which runs over the beck.
Bit of waiting involved with this one as I wanted water movement but didn't want the trees blurring through the exposure so I just had to wait for breaks in the breeze, hardly a problem as just sat here on the bridge waiting with this scene in front of me was hardly making me want to rush anything, a truly beautiful place made even more so by the warm Autumn colours.
Finally got my PC sorted out so should be able to comment / upload images again with it shutting down every 2 seconds, came pretty close to getting thrown into a skip.
Anyway another image from Derwentwater around sunrise in very different conditions, and not exactly what I was hoping for, it's not often you make a good image out of a scene with a plain sky but mist certainly helps! with that in mind I've gone for a different image here with the second fence line and tried to keep it as simple and symmetrical as possible.
No matter how many times you visit a place even if the weather isn't eactly what you would have liked, it's great to be able to come away with something different to what you've already got previously.
Bit of a right place, right time moment, well I kind of like it!
Buttermere Mornings, free sauna!
For the second image now in a row there no sky included in the frame at all, which for me is pretty unusual, this place had been on my list to do for ages and with the rain coming down outside it meant it was the perfect time to head underground...
Cathedral Quarry in the Langdales was a mining place for Slate, in particular Green Slate, in the main area of the quarry I couldn't really see any vivible vivid green type of slate (beautiful as it is) I had a good while shooting in there and got some results which I'll post up at some point. It was only on my way out that I inspected this entrance tunnel (that I had earlier walked through a bit hastily) a bit more with the flashlight and with the moisture on the walls there were some really interesting colours to be seen so I decided to shoot inside here for a while with the extreme wide angle to see what could be had.
The exposure inside here was pretty tricky with the light coming in from behind and also the light at the end with the extreme dark bits in the middle, I've used the flashlight on the central areas of the tunnel during the exposure to try and really bring out the detail and colours of the rocks, a smattering of Autumn leaves and the reflections into the still water adding a bit of something else to it as well.
I usually hate the rain, but today it made me come here, and as it was still raining when I was coming to leave it made me stop and take more of a look around me than perhaps I would have otherwise, something I'll try and do a lot more often from now on.
Autumn colours this year will be reduced as the larch trees have been felled to prevent the spread of a larch fungus disease.
A Happy New Year to all my Flickr contacts / followers, hopefully you had a good 2017 and we both have a great 2018.
This is the last one from this shoot I promise! I've just found this one I did at the time but wanted to leave a sufficient gap from the others, it also struck me I hadn't posted up any portrait format images for over 6 months so here you have one.
Wellies time again (love my wellies) and a different viewpoint of the hidden away little gem of a building in the gardens of Rydal Hall. A lament of the Autumnal season now well in the past with fond memories as the Winter is now in full swing with all the stormy weather it brings with it...., as I type this the postbox on my house is banging away in the wind (must fix that), I have just seen a big wheely bin blowing around on the road outside, plus the 70ft tall metal mast across the street is being blown side to side like it is polystyrene!
Time to turn the heating up, enjoy a bit of editing and planning, and of course Flickr, again thanks for all the support in 2017, and all the best for 2018, see you out there.
This was a very impromptu thing, I'd been dithering about where to go for sunset and I'd thought about Castlerigg, I visited a few hours before to try and plan what I'd do but I just cannot for the life of me create something there that I'm happy with so I wanted another location, not on the lake as I'd done that the night before and was happy with the shot.....
So let's go up a bit, Latrigg is a great hill overlooking Keswick in the shadow of Skiddaw to the rear, a good walk up to it with hardly a soul around apart from a few fellrunners you get a great view down over Kewsick, the Lake, and the Mountain range.
The light when I got up here was best described as bloody awful, hazy, no contrast, no detail below it was just grim, I decided to commit though and see what happened, either way it was a nice walk and a good place to chill out for an hour or so, if I didn't get anything then so what, beats being stuck indoors....
The light did come good in the end and it was a great sunset, got a few shots with a really nice sunburst as the sun set inbetween a 'v' shape in the fells - one for another day, the only foreground here to speak of is the bench, which I had been using, the only thing missing from it was someone sat on it.... and with nobody else to ask it was me or nobody... I'll let you decide wether I actually add to or detract from the image, this was my last shot from the day before walking back down, and it was great to sit there and take it all in, and hearing the shutter fire behind me, hoping I'd get something like this, it was a good few minutes before I went back to the camera to look, too often with shooting these scenes you fail to soak it up as you are committed to capturing the image.
A beautiful little secluded rocky waterfall within dense woodland, found this hidden away little place on a walk and decided to set up and have a go at composing a shot, it looked pretty straight forward from the side, in reality it was anything but...
Getting into the water is always tricky but the water levels seemed to vary widly from one inch to the next coupled with the fact there was fallen branches everywhere I had to be really careful.. no sooner had I got into positon and set up I went to begin to set the camera up but in my haste I hadn't secured it with the lock on the tripod ... and off it came! freefalling towards the water.. anyone watching would have got a real treat as after some horrendously slapstick but lucky 'camera juggling' coupled with some fairly loud swearing saw me catch it after about 3 failed attempts about 1 inch above the water..... one of those heart stopping moments closely followed by extreme relief... followed by thinking you idiot...
It wouldn't be me if I didn't have some sort of mishap when I'm out and thankfully this time I lucked out and it didn't end up with a smashed up, wet, ruined camera and lens.
This was taken a while afterwards when the heartbeat had got back down under 200bpm :-)
14mm | ISO 100 | f/11 | 2 seconds
Copyright by Giuseppe Milo http://milo.photography
Explore #3 - 13/12/17
Another visit to the lakes for a few days and another visit to this great spot on Derwentwater, the water level was a lot lower today than last time and a as result had retreated quite a way up the shoreline, I'd got here late this morning due to a malfunctioning toast machine in the hotel, that apparently takes 30 minutes to warm up! (I'd be getting a new one I think...) anyway when I got here I was fifth to arrive, 4 other photographers already set up at the location (good to meet you).
As it happens I didn't end up taking anything for about 20 minutes so waiting for my toast turned out to be the right plan, rather than go hungry.. some nice light this morning, just added a 6 stop to smooth the water right out and a grad to keep the sky and the snowy mountains in check. A classic location and one I cant see myself getting fed up with as it's just beautiful, just need to get that one killer sky!
Chilly morning at Derwent water , but so refreshing to see the snow toped Skiddaw mountain in the Lake District . Shot was taken from Ashness Jetty.
I've been posting some very colourful photos, a number of which I took during a sunny Autumn week in the English Lake District. However, it wasn't always about colour. On my last day there, it was very grey, wet and miserable, and my photos of the Coniston jetty were nothing like I had hoped. So just for the sake of some colour, I added my umbrella!
Editing some older images this morning I came across this one I had already edited but never posted up and it was just languishing away in the folder so I decided to share it on here, and may get a print done while I'm at it.
A gorgeous morning on Derwent Water with a pastel sky and great serenity across the water, the water level being the perfect height to use this fence and get good reflections as sometimes it can be hardly visible.
Catbells to the rear is catching the first of the mornings sunlight.
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
Keswick, Lake District
Keswick rowing boats at sunset
Paid a short visit to the Lake District for a quick scout round, probably a bad idea on a Bank Holiday Monday, no where to park in most places, Wastwater was one of the exceptions!
I was determined this year to make sure I get a good few days up in the Lake District during Autumn as it just didn't work out last year for one reason and another, so it was great to get a few days away here, as usual the weather wasn't the best I could have hoped for but to be honest these days I kind of expect that, and anything else it just a bonus...
This location wasn't really on my to do list on this day I'd planned to shoot the boathouse at Rydal but fot the second day running I found myself in a car park with not enough change for the extortionate ticket machine, knowing how long I take shooting a location and not fancying getting my car clamped or towed off I decided to change location and came here instead.
There are quite a few options for shooting here in terms of where to position yourself, this one seemed appealing and was definitely getting done after I spent a few minutes tumbling down a rather steep, slippy, muddy bank to get to it, grabbing onto a few trees and plants on the way down to stop myself going for an unwanted swim...
Had a good hour or so shooting along this bit of river, which turned out to be really productive. On the way back I decided to wade through the river instead of going back up the bank from hell again, even with wellies on got soaked feet as the water poured over the top in one unseen deep part, I'd like to think it was worth it though, if I don't come home soaked or covered in mud I probably haven't got anything on the camera worth keeping!
Following on from the last image, this was a very impromptu trip out, and it has to be said probably the single most fruitful photography trip I have ever had in such a small amount of time.
While we were here shooting the mist on Brothers Water I kept looking back urther along the Lake, tried various things but there wasn't really any sort of composition I was happy with but I knew there was an image to be had somewhere, as I remarked to Mike at the time. As the sun rose higher and was hitting the mountain tops it started cascading further down from the perfect angle, and for a few moments it lit the entire of the shoreline here illuminating all the reeds and trees while the mountains to the rear were still in shadow and the whole matching contasting scene was reflected perfectly into the still lake....
A quick run up the shoreline ensued and I knew exactly what I wanted to shoot, big lens on and zoomed into the far end of it, it turned out to be a 10 shot vertical panorama of the scene.
Shortly afterwards the scene had changed entirely and the moment was gone, always pays to keep looking around.
Mike's done a Vlog of the trip which you can see here, give it a watch it's really good. -
Another image from the recent Lakeland trip with Mike Muddyboots - <a href="https://www.flickr.com , and Brad Eide over on holiday from America: www.flickr.com/photos/58071954@N08/ and Mike Muddyboots: www.flickr.com/photos/muddybootsuk This was a proper full on day of shooting from start to finish, luckily the heavitly overcast weather was ideal as this allowed us to shoot right through the day, even going for long exposures with no issues with the sun.
This is Hardknott Roman Fort, or rather the ruins of it, built under Hadrian's rule in the 2nd century, tucked away in an unforgiving and remote area of the Lake Distric,t it's really hard to imagine anyone living here let alone the legions of Roman soldiers who would have been stationed here..
We spent quite a while exploring the place and we all spent time shooting it from different angles, it really is a cracking spot with loads of photographic opportunities all over the place, we were really lucky with some of the light breaks too during the overcast weather, the key here was to just spend a good amount of time watching the weather and trying to guess what it was going to do before it did it so you could be ready to shoot, I reckon I got about 4 maybe 5 images from here that I'm really pleased with, which from one location on one visit is a great haul, this being the first one.
Definitely a place to return to with a few more ideas for shooting locations higher up the valley.
A vlog by Mike of our trip can be found here- really worth a watch - www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbghJ2rFhD8&feature=em-upload...
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
Looking downstream on Watendlath Beck shortly after it has drained from Watendlath Tarn.
A beautiful Autumn day in the domain of the fell walkers in the English Lake District. The pubs on the left are were hungry hikers arrive after climbing some of the highest peaks in the area, including Scafell Pike, England's highest mountain. In this view we see Kirk Fell and Great Gable.
Pre dawn at Ullswater, a bit a a break from the Icelandic images, ironically this was a heck of a lot colder than Iceland was!
Last week Myself, Geoff Moore, Mark Waidson, and Mike (Muddyboots) headed off to the Isle of Skye for a few days in what turned out to be a fantastic trip where the weather somehow played ball for us everyday.
On the way up we decided to stop off here for a sunrise shoot, it had been several years since I shot this location and I've never had conditions like this here, it had been down to minus 10 on the way up over Shap and this made for some great ice and frost around the lake giving some different foreground options.
This one was shot pre sunrise, we got some great light when the sun came up over the hills too but I really like the cold, still feeling to this image.
Press "L" followed by F11 to view as intended ........sDSC06656-ed1
One from the back end of last year, another sunrise trip to the Lakes, 0730 in the morning (far better than current sunrise time...) sunrise as such didn't happen but this location was just about perfect weather wise, glow of the first light illuminating the dense fog/mist and seperating the lone tree from its background in the still lake, this was about the last of the Autumn colours. I was there again last week and the tree is looking pretty gnarly and sparse...
You can view my most interesting shots on Flickriver here: www.flickriver.com/photos/pete37038/popular-interesting/
I love this location and had hoped for a decent sunset, I'd arrived almost 1.5 hours before as I wanted to scout out a few more areas and compositions and not be on the last minute for once, I'd even remembered to bring my wading wellies this time too unlike the last visit.
Once I'd got set up and did a bit of 'gardening' (removing bits of rubbish out of the lake) it was just a matter of waiting for some decent light to appear (or not as is usual), there's another part of the stone jetty out in the water here so it makes a great spot to put all your stuff down like a work bench...
Anyway, I'd started watching youtube videos to kill a bit of time with my legs dangling in the water (fur lined wellies a must for this in Feb!) the lake was really peaceful so I was pretty relaxed, the noise of the Keswick Launch Boat broke the silence as it passed by in the distance, I watched it scurry past and carried on watching my program.. now I know it's basics physics but when a boat moves along on water, that water gets displaced and needs to go somewhere.. I'd totally not cottoned on to this and about a minute later was hit with 2 good sized waves that were making their way into the shoreline at a rapid rate of knotts... amazingly the only thing that got soaked was my tousers as my bag protected the camera gear and the camera stood firm on the tripod, remarkably my phone stayed bone dry as well.
You've got to laugh as it's such a daft mistake to make when you look at it! It won't happen again... by the time sunset came the stone jetty had dried off, unlike my trousers, but with the light becoming quite intense I wan't really concerned, and getting a free bath in the lake had been more than worth it.
I've hardly had anytime to shoot landscapes lately due to work and other commitments, the one time I did go out last week the light wasn't the best so it turned into more of a reccy trip, which is ok - it's just nice to get out again, hopefully this will change soon and I'll crack on with planning some more trips, the one good thing about this time of year apart from the sociable sunrise times is that when it goes dark early I can get some editing done knowing I'm not missing anything outdoors....
I've taken my own advice and begun going through unedited raw files sat on the hard drive, culling some, and picking out others to be edited before going to the newer images, this one was one such one I selected to process, I'd posted a shot from here a while back but I like this composition a lot more with the inclusion of the pockets of golden leaves amongst the rocks in the foreground, great evening light at sunset just moments before a gigantic rainstorm hit, made for dramatic conditions before retreating to the car. Not a soul around here tonight, which is pretty rare, probabaly put of by the off and on weather - always worth trying to get something, as if you don't try you definitely won't get anything...!
I'd almost forgotten about this and a couple of other images from this day, it's all too easy to move onto the next trip and the next, and all of a sudden things get left behind, sorting out a few files I came across them again.
I'd came here this morning to shoot the sunrise over Rydal water but on the way up it was pretty clear that the fog was pretty heavy and seemingly in to stay.
When I got to the spot it was still really dark but the moon was unusually really really bright so it was rendering things quite visible even in the dark and the fog so with the aid of the moon I decided to set up and go about framing the tree and see what kind of exposure would be needed to render the scene.
Around 10 seconds gave a great result with the bright moon causing the sky around it to show as blue fading into the dense fog below it, yet allowing the tree and forground to be clear giving a really unusual and somewhat haunting image, I'd never shot just using moonlight before, and luckily the conditions for it and the moons phase was perfect, I always look for opportunity to do it now to try and get something a little different to the norm, setting up in the dark and getting something ike this on the back of your camera is really quite bizarre and well worth the stupidly early start.
An early morning, trying to capture the light a Castlerigg Stone Circle in Cumbria, Lake District. The sun came out for a few minutes and lit up Blencathra Mountain and I considered myself lucky to be there, as the rest of the day turned out to be wet and dismal.
[#8 on explore 15/11/16]
Explore #2
A curious morning weather wise in the Lake District... I had got up early to head for Derwentwater for sunrise, it had all the promise of being really good, as it turned out it was completely naff, got 1 image with I was only half happy with, 20 minutes after sunrise I decided to give it up and go back the 5 miles or so to the hotel for breakfast.
Some time afterwards I set out again and was planning to heading down towards Ambleside, however on a whim something made me go back to Derwentwater again for whatever reason to see what the light was like as it had brightened up somewhat, so glad I did as within about 5 minutes of arriving the light became really good and I was rewarded with a lovely calm lake, far better than at sunrise, a stunning scene looking out towards Catbells. I had about 10 minutes of this nice warm light illuminating the Autumnal colours on the fells and trees, and then once again it was rippled lake and poor light.
Just as I had finished shooting and was walking back to the car I got a phone call off the hotel to say I had left my wash bag in the room (par for the course with me) , as I'd gone North instead of South I'd have to drive back past the hotel anyway so it all worked out nicely for once!
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/
Ahhh this tree, I hate this tree. Or rather I did hate this tree.. purely becuase it's such a great subject and I've found it so difficult to shoot on so many occassions and I have never got any images of it I've liked, until this one.
It sits leaning wildly and is balanced precariously on a steep slope in a slate quarry (Hodge Close) in the Lake District, as soon as I saw it many trips ago it just cried out to be shot but getting an image of it I've found to be a total nightmare, it either blends into the background too much, isn't lit right, or it cuts into the skyline over the mountains, or depending which way you shoot it you end up with distracting white buildings in the scene which take away from the subject, I've shot it with about 4 different lenses and still nothing made me happy.
This day got here and I'd pretty much given up on getting anything with it, I'd tried again with the wide lens as there was some nice light but yet again it seemed to be sticking 2 fingers up at me so I got some shots at other locations nearby, as I was walking back to the car I was quite a way from it, I stopped and looked at it as it was being lit beautifully with the low sun head on, the day had been really moody and the sun had just broken through the heavy clouds picking out all the detail on my nemesis tree.
The conditions looked perfect to get separation in the shot so I got down low and used the 70-200 for this image, which I really like, at last.
Even in the processing stage it proved to be a complete pain in the backside as the Autumn colour in the background I found a little bit distracting so I've gone for black and white which I think suits it a lot better. For such a simple subject it's certainly made me work to get one image.
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.
A fantastic morning on the River Brathay towards Elterwater, the forecast looked good for misty conditions the previous evening so Myself, Brad Eide, and Terry Roberts decided to meet here for sunrise.
The misty conditions were great and the water really still apart from a couple of ducks swimming about feeding, the light really didn't last long at all, as soon as it had got good it chnaged and dissapeared very quickly, just a case of working quickly while you had it there and also checking both directions to see what was happening behind you too.
Definitely worth getting up early, really pleased with some of the results from this morning.
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]
Thanks to all Phoide contributors to The English Lake District WHS!
Most notably Pete Rowbottom, Graham Morris, Adelheid Smitt, AlanHowe, Alan Taylor, Richard Down, Heike Rosenbaum and Dee Eff.