Gordom's Edge. Peak District 28/01/2024

Saturday evening I had no intention of going out with the camera the following day, but as usually I was up early, and while sat looking out of the window I could see It was a fairly still,  and although there was quite a lot of cloud in the sky it was a dry morning, so It got me thinking, should I make the most of it and venture out are stay at home.

I had not done any Woodland Photography for a while, in fact looking back November was the last time I had been out and amongst the trees with the camera, so my mind was made up, I was due a visit and that would be my plan for the morning.

It didn't take me long to quickly get my backpack sorted and to set off to one of my favourite places, Gardom's Edge which has a great birch woodland along with a rocky outcrop which is a popular spot for climbers, and also a nice sunset location. It also has the benefit of being a place that's not too busy, especially in the early hours of the morning.

I was the only car In the layby when I pulled up which wasn't surprising, it was still dark and would be a good hour before it got light, I had plenty of time to get to where I wanted to be, so I went through my usual ritual of pouring myself a drink and sitting around for ten minutes just watching the world go by.

Eventually I set off walking down the road and to the gate which leads you on to the moorland. When you get through the gate there are two paths, one to the left which takes you up towards Birchen Edge, another great little place to visit, the other path which is straight in front of you leads up to Gardom’s.

Around 10 minutes into my walk I started to see some colour appearing in the sky behind me. It was something that I wasn't expecting, but it was nice to see, and It was looking quite dramatic with the big black clouds moving quickly, silhouetted against the orange and purple tones.

There was an opportunity to try and get a picture that I hadn't planned on getting, I walked a little further and thought about going onto a little outcrop of rocks that stand and overlook the main road which runs down towards Baslow but they didn't inspire me, so I carried on walking.

The entrance to the woods is through a small wooden gate. I had walked through this on many occasions but never photographed it, so now I thought it was time to give it a go.

It didn't take me long to work out what I was aiming for, the gate being the main focal point and a birch tree to the left, plus the rustic coloured winter bracken gave me a touch of foreground interest, so set up the tripod and attached the camera in along with my wide angle lens plus the Kase Filters 0.9 Medium Grad and I was ready, it was just a case of waiting for the colour to peak and start taking a few frames.

Blue hour, the time just before sunrise, and just after sunset, is probably my favourite time of the day to take photographs, there's such a array of colours, whether your looking for those soft pastel tones, blues, pinks, purples, are the more dramatic burning red and oranges this is the time to be out with the camera.

The sky on this occasion was giving me a great mixture of colour, the morning had started off well, I had a picture that I had not planned for, so the morning had got off to a good start.

Fujifilm Xh2  10-24mm Kase Filters 0.9 Medium Grad

I packed away my gear and thought about what I'd originally come out to do, that was to try and get some woodland pictures. So I went about trying to find something that would make me get out the camera again.

Woodland can be difficult. It has its own challenges, It's difficult to try and get a clean scene, the ground can often be overgrown and messy, trees intermingle with each other ,trying to find separation can be frustrating, trying to find that perfect composition can be hard,(you literally can't see the wood from the trees) so to speak.

But one thing you can do is take your time, and after walking around the woods for a while and not being very successful in finding anything that was really catching my eye I decided it was time to sit down and have a coffee, so I found myself sitting on one of the many mossy rocks that are scattered around the wood and having a drink, just taking in the peace and quiet and watching the the many Stonechats that frequent the moorland, hopping on and off the fence posts, no doubt beginning to get a bit territorial as spring will soon be with us once we get February out of the way.

While I was sitting enjoying the morning, the light which had eluded me for the last 30 minutes started to break through the clouds and started to catch the woodland floor in front of me.

Picking up my tripod and backpack I started walking again, in the hope of finding something to point the camera at.

It didn't take me long, I was passing a scene I walked past earlier and scouted, but on this occasion I was satisfied with what I was now seeing, the light was giving a different perspective and it was looking better.

So after having a quick look around and trying my best to get some sort of separation from the birch trees that were overlapping each other, I was finally happy with my composition and set up my gear.

When I'm out shooting woodland I always try to avoid getting as little of the sky in my frame as possible, because the brightest point in the the picture will naturally lead the viewer to that area and away from the trees that are the main interest, this practice is a little easier when  leaves are on the branches, but in winter it can be a lot more difficult when they are stripped bare, so with this in mind I decided to use my longer 50-140mm lens and stand further back, zooming in, and bringing the scene towards me, eliminating the sky as much as I could, I also added my polarising filter just to get rid of the glare from the wet trunks that was prominent when the the light was at it strongest.

After I had set up, and around ten minutes of standing around the sun finally broke through the clouds again and started to give me what I was waiting for, catching the crooked birch trees, whilst illuminating the rocks in the foreground, and in the distance, making the the green moss on the floor pop with colour.

The sun soon disappeared again, but I was happy with what I already got so decided to call it a day and pack away.

Fujifilm Xh2  50-140mm Kase Filters CPL

Whilst walking back through the woods, and on my way to the car I was still looking for something that looked interesting and I came across something that had possibilities, a birch tree with its white tunk standing out against the dark background being caused by the trees that sat on the hillside in the distance.

 I decided to make this my final shot of the morning and set about trying to compose the frame.

After a little bit of walking around and a bit of tweaking here and there, I was eventually happy and was soon set up, leaving on the same lens and polarizer, I settled on having trees at either side, framing the tree in the distance surrounded by the rustic winter bracken. I was trying to eliminate the path from the picture but was finding it hard to do, so I decided to leave it in the shot. We can't always get what we want, especially with woodland, but I was still ok with it. 

Fujifilm Xh2  50-140mm Kase Filters CPL