Lake District - The Final Word

The Lake District is a truly beautiful part of the world. I can see why so many professional photographers choose to live there and by the time our week there was up I was very sorry to be leaving. It's the sort of place where, if photography is your thing, then you really can't afford to leave the house without your camera. There were several occasions where we would be driving along and spot an amazing view of a lake or a distant, jagged peak and just have to stop and stare in awe. I think having grown up amongst the flat isolation of the Fenlands has left me with an ever present wonder of mountains; and travelling up the length of the Andes in South America only served to reinforce this. It always leaves me minded of the sheer power of the forces that created these landscapes over the aeons. It has been a long standing ambition of mine to get to base camp at Mount Everest, but while Everest is ten times higher than our own top most peak, they each have their own character and allure. Years later I'm still able to pick out mountains in magazines and TV shows from the Andes; they left an indelible mark on me and I would dearly love to return one day.

I think a lot of people don't realise what we have in this country and how lucky we are to have it. We have snow-capped mountains, vast lakes that stretch further than you can see, golden beaches that meet the horizon in both directions and, generally, the weather to enjoy all of this. Yes, there's never a time when you can guarantee it won't rain, but I've seen enough of the worlds deserts to know how fortunate this makes us.

Perversely, it is often cheaper to fly somewhere far flung and be waited on hand and foot than it is to catch a train within our own country and cook your own dinners; and, whilst I have made a point of getting to as many of the worlds beauty spots as I can humanly afford, I believe it is vital for us to remember that we have many of those places right here at home and we can be proud of that.

For those interested in seeing more of our fair land photographed by someone who actually knows what they're doing then I can highly recommend Joe Cornish (not Adam and Joe) and Charlie Waite.

Scafell Pike: Take Two

As the name of this post suggests, this wasn't my first attempt at the summit of Englands highest mountain. I had gone there a few years earlier with a big group of friends with the sole purpose of getting to the top. We were camping in nearby Wasdale Head and the weather was against us from the start. Torrential rain that never stopped ensured that not only did not all the group make it to the top but that there was nothing to see in exchange for the labours of those that did. Knowing I would be a regular visitor to the Lake District, on that occasion I was happy to return having gone halfway up.

The view back down to Wasdale Head

This time I was more confident. It was a cloudy start to the day but there was a strong wind coming in from the coast that was due to blow all that away by lunchtime. My only worry was that at nearly a kilometre of height the clouds might be a bit more stubborn. I needn't have worried, however, there was still bits and pieces of cloud here and there but more often than not they served more to give the sky depth than to obscure the view.

Our lunch spot

We planned to do a circular route from Wasdale Head essentially walking clockwise around Lingmell, a total distance of about 15km and an estimated time of 6 hours or so, which turned out to be about right. For most of the journey it was t-shirts only weather with waterproofs firmly stowed away at the bottom of the bag. Only in the last couple of hundred metres of ascent did it get uncomfortably cold as we became less and less protected from the Atlantic wind; there were still a few patches of snow dotted around on the leeward slopes. The summit itself was very changeable. For thirty seconds you would have a glimpse to the north of Derwent water and then find yourself shrouded in cloud only for it to quickly break and reveal a beautiful vista of the coast of the Irish Sea away to the east. I didn't get a full 360 degree panorama but was very pleased with what I did get and, of course, it still leaves me something to aim for on my next visit.

Snowdon and Scafell Pike down; Ben Nevis and Slieve Donard to do.

Lingmell from thr final ascent to Scafell Pike

Wast water

Aira Force - a waterfall to you and me

Force appears to be another one of those words that Cumbrians have hi-jacked and given their own meaning to; in this case force means waterfall, and Aire Force is a 70 foot example of this. Set about half a mile upstream from the west coast of Ullswater it is the largest of several falls on the Aire Beck - another word they've made up, meaning stream.

The day was rather overcast and there was a lot of tree cover over hanging the often ravine like course of the river, this meant there wasn't the light to get the pin sharp, freeze-frame shots of the falls that I had hoped for. Thinking on my feet, though, it did mean that the conditions were right to play around with very long exposures that flowing water so lends itself to. This smooths out the ripples and splashes giving calmer water a glassy look and rougher water the appearance of candy floss.

This was the first time I'd had the opportunity to try this particular technique out and I rather enjoyed it. Lacking a tripod until recently meant that any exposure over about 1/4 of a second would be blurred, especially with my shaky hands, and for this style to work you really need exposures of at least a second or two. Of course, once I realised I could do it I started getting more cocky and adventurous which began with the thought, "If I can just get the tripod set up down there....." and inevitably led to cursing and splashing and wet ankles. Still; I had fun.

My attempt at the classic shot of this particular waterfall wasn't great, the spray was getting on the lens to the extent that it was ruining most of the photos. Some heavy cropping resulted in this effort:

New Mobile Website

This week saw the launch of the mobile version of my site. It's quite basic; it has fewer photos and a different look to my main site, but most importantly it actually works if you want to see the site on the move. I'll be looking to expand this and ultimately bring it more in line with the main site over the course of this year.

Tarn How, Lake District

Wanting to make the most of our week in the Lake District, as soon as we'd dumped our baggage we headed off to explore. The guide book reliably ensured us that one of the most beautiful areas in the whole region was Tarn How, and it didn't disappoint.

HDR image of Tarn How

Tarn appears to be the Cumbrian word for lake, which can sometimes be confusing, especially when you throw in some of the other local words like beck, force and mell; all of which are used to describe water features.

As beautiful as the tarn is, it's actually completely artificial. Bought by children's author Beatrix Potter in the 1930's, she sold half to the National Trust and bequeathed the second half to them in her will. But before it became available for the general public to enjoy it had undergone substantial works. Originally it was two naturally occurring lakes that were subsequently turned in to one. Most of the trees in the area are man made plantations too. It may not be natural then, but whoever designed the current layout certainly had an eye for landscaping.

Amongst the trees

The tarn was so impressive that we actually went back for a second visit later in the week. It wasn't quite as bright as our first excursion but the water was exceptionally still which leant the surface a wonderful mirror-like quality.

It only takes a bit over an hour to get round the tarn so for those who don't want to spend all day walking, or can't face the relentlessly steep inclines of a local mountain, then this makes a great afternoons outing.