Tag Archives: national park

A walk in the woods…

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View from our balcony…

Our early autumn short break brings us back to one of my favourite places on Planet Earth – the Lake District. Specifically we are staying at the Brimstone Hotel, on the Langdale Estate, just outside Ambleside. Its a superb place – just 16 rooms, set aside from the main hotel here, but with full facilities and its own exclusive spa. Best of all is the ‘Reading Room’ – a kind of executive lounge with complimentary tea, coffee, snacks, beer, wine and soft drinks all day. Its a beautifully quiet spot, perfect for relaxing after a walk around the dales.

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Ready to shoot!

So yesterday I ventured out on my own for a couple of hours with my camera gear. The hotel is surrounded by woods, and there is a river (Langdale Beck) just behind. So it wasn’t exactly far to go, and my short stroll through the woods and along the river turned up several beautiful locations for photos. Although it was a fairly bright day, the shade meant using the tripod for most shots and there were opportunities for some nice long exposures of the water.  I didn’t need to use a ND filter at all – just a polariser to cut through some of the reflections.

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The weir at Chapel Stile

With my camera set up on the tripod and ISO set to 100, lens stopped down to f11 or f16, I was good to go. These photos are RAW files pretty much straight from camera, with the shadows lifted a little, and a little bit of ‘punch’ from adding clarity in Lightroom. I’ll probably tweak them a little more when I get them loaded onto my desktop as editing on a tiny 12″ laptop screen is never terribly satisfactory, but it gives me a good idea of how they should turn out.

All in all a very pleasant afternoon out and about, and a few photos I’m happy with. What’s not to like!

Gear used: Sony A7iii with 16-35mm or 24-70mm lens, Formatt-Hitec Firecrest polariser, Gitzo Mountaineer tripod.

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A witch’s tale…

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Blake Mere Pool

Take the A53 north of Leek in Staffordshire, and then the first turning on the right after you pass Ramshaw Rocks and The Roaches, and along the road across Morridge moor you’ll find a small pool with a spooky story…

Officially known as Blake Mere, locally it’s also known as Mermaid’s Pool, and the legend tells of a beautiful young woman who rejected the advances of a local man named Joshua Linnet. Unable to accept the rejection, Joshua accused the woman of being a witch and persuaded the local townsfolk to drown her in Blake Mere Pond. With her final breath however, the young woman muttered a curse against Joshua and three days later his body was found by the pool, his life claimed by the ghost of the woman he wronged, his face covered with claw marks. It is said that her spirit still haunts the pool in the form of a demon mermaid…

The Roaches & Ramshaw Rocks

The Roaches after sunset

If you are not afraid of witches it’s a great spot for a photograph. From the roadside, there’s a clear view of The Roaches and Ramshaw Rocks, and on a still day, the skies above are reflected in the pool. In summer the sun sets directly in front of you, and at the twilight hour casts an eerie glow across the moorland grasses. Just don’t stay around after night falls – you never know when the mermaid will show herself!

For a spot of refreshment, carry on along the road towards Leek, and after a couple of miles you’ll arrive at the welcoming Reform Inn – a great pub with good food.

Lake District Tour….

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This time last year, when I was still a Fujifilm shooter, I booked a Lake District workshop in November 2017 with Fujiholics.  Attracted by the location, a big draw also was that the workshop was to be led by Matt Hart and Paul Sanders, two great guys that I’ve known for some time and been on events with.

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Duke of Sutherland Boathouse, Ullswater

Fast forward 9 months and I had switched from Fujifilm to Olympus, so I joined the course with some trepidation! I needn’t have worried of course – although Paul and Matt are both passionate about their Fujifilm cameras (and are official Fuji ‘X’ Photographers) they were helpful and supportive throughout.

Based at the Premier Inn in Kendal in the south of the National Park (its tricky to find reasonably priced hotels that will take groups of 15, even out of ‘season’) we nevertheless covered all the main parts of the Lake District. 6am starts each day meant that we could get to locations and set up by sunrise.  With the obvious stops for breakfast, lunch and of course CAKE, we carried on right until nightfall each day, by which time we were happy to collapse back in the hotel for a well earned supper and drink or two… A chance also to review photos from the day, and confirm plans for the next morning.

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Kelly Hall Tarn, nr Coniston

We covered quite some ground in those few days – Kelly Hall Tarn, Coniston, Ashness Bridge, Surprise View, Watendllath, Blea Tarn, Bassenthwaite and Crow Park, Derwentwater to mention a few. I, for one, came away with lots of photos I was happy with, and I’m sure the other participants felt the same. It was also an enjoyable few days spent with like minded ‘togs’ and I would definitely recommend the Fujiholics events, whether you are a Fujifilm shooter or not. They may not have the swish marketing that other well-known photo-tour companies have, but they offer a professional and reasonably priced alternative. If you want to improve your photo skills, and get the chance to shoot in great locations, then definitely check out Fujiholics!

See below for a few of my photos from the week – all shot on Olympus E-M1ii or PEN-F cameras, mostly with the Olympus 12-100mm and PanaLeica 8-18mm  lenses and Nisi ND and ND Grad filters.

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