Wast Water
I always love coming here, whatever time of year, whatever the weather, it never fails to just blow you away with it's grandeur and drama, today was no different. Myself, Mike Muddyboots - www.flickr.com/photos/muddybootsuk/41776893231/in/datepos... , and Brad Eide over on holiday from America www.flickr.com/photos/58071954@N08/ had had a really long (but very fruitful) days photography in the Lakes and this was our last area for the day, the lake wasn't still as we had hoped for but we had superb light and skies so plenty to be going on with.
While the others were shooting I was really struggling to find something to shoot which would be different from my previous images here, the yellow gorse bushes were really glowing in the sun but unfortunately none of them were in a decent position to get any kind of decent composition, so after 30 mins or so of walking around I eventually settled on this spot in the lake with the trusty wellies on :-), and decided to make the image all about the foreground while still getting some nice light on the mountains in the rear of the frame.
Just as we finished up here the light just died, totally flat, and it didn't return for sunset, as we drove off towards the head of the valley to try our luck we saw one lone photographer walking over the hill towards the lake with his tripod, couldn't help but feel sorry for him as he had missed the light totally, but, it would be hard to get fed up about such things in a place like this, still one of my favourite spots in all of the UK, I think Brad was suitably impressed too on his first visit. Brad made a remark to me about me being really lucky only living 1.5 hours drive away from the Lakes, oddly I'd never really thought of it in that way before (as I still considered it a bit of a long way), and I really shouldn't, because it isn't, 1.5 hours is nothing really, I guess living somewhere the size of the USA really makes the UK feel tiny, not something that I had really appreciated before, so thanks Brad!
A vlog by Mike of our trip can be found here- really worth a watch - www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbghJ2rFhD8&feature=em-upload...
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!
Wasdale and Wastwater in late afternoon light whilst a storm passes over Scafell Pike.
Taken from the south western end of Wastwater on long exposure.
More Wastwater in the Lakes
Five shot pano of Wastwater in the Lake District
The wonderful valley of Wasdale in the English Lake District reflected in Wastwater.
My website: Deep Mono Photography
The harsh, rocky hills and the soft, boggy marsh around Wast Water in the Lake District.
The lake is almost 3 miles long (4.6 km) and more than a third of a mile (600 m) wide. It is the deepest lake in England at 258 feet (79 m), and is owned by the National Trust. It is one of the finest examples of a glacially 'over-deepened' valley.
The Wasdale Lady in the Lake, Margaret Hogg, was murdered and her body was disposed of in the lake. She was found after eight years, with her body preserved like wax due to the lack of oxygen in the water.
...but on a lighter note...
In February 2005 it was reported that a "gnome garden" complete with picket fence had been placed in the lake as a point of interest for divers to explore. It was removed from the bottom of Wastwater after three divers died in the late 1990s. It is thought the divers spent too much time too deep searching for the ornaments. Police divers report a rumour that the garden had been replaced at a depth beyond which they were allowed to dive. PC Kenny McMahon, a member of the North West Police Underwater Search Unit, said "Wastwater is quite clear at the bottom, but there's nothing to see. At a depth of about 48m, divers had taken gnomes down and put a picket fence around them. But several years ago there were a number of fatalities and the Lake District National Park Authority asked us to get rid of them. We went down there, put them in bags and removed the lot. But now there's a rumour about a new garden beyond the 50m depth limit. As police divers we can't legally dive any deeper so, if it exists, the new garden could have been purposefully put out of our reach." - Wikipedia
Thanks to all Phoide contributors to Wast Water!
Most notably Damon Finlay, Pete Rowbottom and Alan Taylor.