First of all I would like to thank all of you that took time out to read my last post. As always very much appreciated.
Landscape Photography can be challenging at times, as I'm sure many of you reading this is something that you can relate too. The early start, admittedly not too bad at this time of the year compared to the height of summer but getting out of a warm bed on a cold dark morning is still never easy. Driving can be tedious, no matter whether it be a long or short journey, it's probably my least enjoyable part of the day for me, but It's probably safe to say that the weather has got to be the biggest challenge, too dull, too bright, too windy, not enough cloud, too much cloud, well I think you get the picture ( pardon the pun ). I can honestly say that I am a slave to the weather, be it checking my Apps or watching the Tv for the latest updates when I'm planning a trip out with the camera.
One bit of knowledge that I have gained through studying the these Apps and checking the local weather forecast, is to take the information they give with a pinch of salt, they are often wrong, and I sometimes wonder why I actually bother, many a time I've checked and thought I was in for something that would be a bit special, only to be disappointed the following morning after packing all my gear and setting the alarm the evening before.
When I started writing these Blogs my aim was to try and tell the story about what the morning, are evenings out with my camera had produced. Some maybe more eventful than others, but I also think it's also important to document the days that are less fruitful in respect of if I come away with a picture or not.
Maybe this was one of those mornings that I came away with not a lot to show Image wise, but I've always said to myself that it's not about getting that spectacular picture, that's just a bonus, most of the enjoyment is being out, in amongst nature, experiencing those sights and sounds you simply cannot get unless you motivate yourself to get out and about, whether its with friends, are on your own.
Friday evening I had arranged to meet up with Sam Salim Photography the following morning in the carpark at Curbar Gap for sunrise shoot on Baslow Edge .So I set of on the short 25 minute drive with a bit of enthusiasm, the sky was looking good and there was virtually no wind, which was a nice surprise because that's all we seem to have endured around these parts since the start of the year.
Pulling into the carpark at around 6.50am I was surprised to see a few more cars there than usual for that time in the morning. I parked up and sat with a drink and waited for Sam to arrive. The conditions were not like they were when I had set off on my journey, still a slight breeze, but the sky was thick with clouds and I was feeling a little less optimistic about what the morning would bring over the next couple of hours. A few minutes later Sam pulled into the carpark.
After a quick chat we grabbed our gear and walked down the road and up the path, through the gate and made our way onto the edge. It was while we were walking past the so called Anvil Stone, when Sam happened to mention that he had never photographed another feature on the moor called the Eagle Stone, a well known large gritstone boulder that stands out on the moorland and a place popular with climbers, legend has it that back in the day it was a rock that the local young men had to climb to prove there fitness to marry,(might have saved me a bob are two in the past if the ritual was still around).
Approaching the stone and looking over to where the sun was due to rise we noticed that there was a small gap on the horizon and that maybe we had a slim chance of a sunrise, but still we weren't holding out much hope.
We both set up with the Intention of catching a Sunstar, hopefully just as It was appearing on the edge of the rock to the right hand side as we were looking at, well that was the plan anyway, but unfortunately that didn't look like it was going to happen, we still had a gap where the sun could pop through, but looking at it, buy the time it was going to appear where we wanted it too, the cloud was nailed on to be obscuring it, and while stood waiting and doing a bit of pacing around I could see that there was a touch of colour arriving in the sky, not a lot but just enough, plus there was still a chance of a little bit of light.
So we had a couple of minutes to recompose for the scene, which we did and then stood and waited, then not long after the sun broke and started to cast a little bit of light onto the moorland in front of us, while we both started to take our shots.
It soon disappeared, it didn't hang around, the sun had now disappeared behind that big bank of cloud that had been lingering ominously overhead all morning, and looking around it didn't look like it wasn't going to return anytime soon, so we decided to call it a day.
Fujifilm Xh2 10-24 mm
After packing away our gear and before heading back to the car park we took a little walk over and onto the edge to have a look around, scouting for future compositions that we could return to on future visits and I think we found the odd one are two possibilities that could make for decent pictures when the conditions were better than what getting on this particular morning.
This was one of those outings that did not produce that killer shot that Photographers strive to get, but what it did was to give another enjoyable walk in good company, having a laugh and a joke while taking in the beauty of what was around us, to me that is all that matters..
Thanks for reading.
Until next time.
Wayne..
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