As always, first I would like to thank all of you who took time out to read my last post ,Gordom's Edge. Peak District 28/01/2024 it's very much appreciated.
With not much chance of me getting much of sunrise I thought I would have a morning stroll around Padley Gorge, a place I hadn't been to since back in October last year, so I was overdue a visit, and certainly It had been a good few years since I had been there during the winter months.
Along with Wyming Brook ( which unfortunately is still closed as I write this, due to tree felling being carried out to remove dead are dying trees to combat the spread of Phytophthora ramorum that has been affecting the woodland). Padley is a great place to photograph small waterfalls and cascades that Burbage Brook creates, as it makes its way down over the mossy boulders, surrounded by old twisted oak, beech, and birch trees, this place really has a Tolkienesque feel to it and is well worth a visit, especially if you have been out shooting sunrise earlier in the morning nearby.
I parked up at the top of the B6521 road that leads you down towards the village of Grindleford, there are plenty of spaces for parking on the roadside, but be warned it soon gets busy.
Luckily I was there early. It was still dark and before the crowds arrived, so after a quick coffee I set off on my walk, going through the gate and made my way down the banking and towards the Brook, the last time I was here we had been having a lot of rain over the days previously, and the water was running a lot faster than it was this morning.
This place certainly looks a lot different at this time of year, the twisted, gnarly trees seem to have a more sinister and spooky look to them when they're devoid of leaves on their branches,( oh just give me some mist and fog I was thinking).
Deciding to start on the western side, I crossed the wooden bridge that takes you over the Brook.
At the beginning, and just has the path starts to lead you through the wood there is a nice scene just to the right hand side of you, numerous oak trees that stand close together all with there own character, stretching out their moss laden twisted limbs intertwining with each other, I've taken pictures from here before, and was lucky enough to get some misty conditions on that occasion which helped a great deal with separation.
I had a walk around trying to get a different composition to my last one, and finally settled on something that I thought would work, plus I was looking the opposite way, down into the woodland compared to the last time so was happy to give it a go, so I set up my tripod and camera with the 16-55mm lens, also adding the polarizer just to combat the glare I was getting from the wet rocks in the foreground and also the branches and trunks were giving me the same problem. My thinking was maybe to get in a little tight and zoom in a touch just to eliminate the sky that was creeping into the frame.
So I was ready, now it was just about standing around for a while hoping for some of that early morning light, that would be nicely defused by the clouds that were above.
The light rain that had been predicted was now starting to fall, but fortunately it only lasted a couple of minutes and soon passed, then the soft light I had been waiting for started to filter through, adding a nice little bit of contrast to the scene, just what I was after.
I took a few shots, both in Landscape and Portrait Orientation and settled on the landscape version.
Fujifilm Xh2 16-55 mm Kase Filters CPL
I then decided to walk down the path and further into the woodland, briefly pausing now and again just to take in the beauty of the place and enjoy the peace and quiet, interrupted only by the dawn chorus.
After around 10 minutes, I thought I would venture down towards the brook, in the hope of getting some shots of the cascades. I hadn't done any for a while, so that was my plan and I made my way down.
I was finding It difficult, nothing was really catching my eye while I was walking around in the water. After feeling it entering over the top of my wellie my enthusiasm started to wane so I decided to sit and take a break, and pour another drink, whilst watching a pair of Dippers flying up and down the gorge and stopping occasionally on the boulders bobbing their heads up and down, the pure white chest of these wonderful little birds standing out against the dark background, a beautiful sight indeed, I could have sat all morning watching them.
Time was passing and and the place was starting to get busy so I had another scout around but this time a bit further up the banking and I soon came across something that caught my eye looking up the gorge, a fallen tree I had walked past on my way down was now looking a touch more appealing as it had previously, as It was further away It seemed to had a little interest to the scene, so I set about trying to compose a shot.
Eventually after a bit of faffing around I was setting up my tripod and camera with the same lens and set up as earlier framing up the picture, I was happy, I had managed to get what I wanted, the Brook meandering down, trees on each side and the lovely green mossy boulders in the front and rear of the frame, with the addition of some of the fallen leaves in the foreground just to the left of me.
So it was just a case of waiting for that bit of light to appear and give me a bit more contrast, and hopefully I wouldn't be too long,( my feet were wet ,and starting to get cold).
Luckily I wasn't waiting too long and the soft light came through the bare canopy above, and the moss on the rocks in the distance was catching it, the greens were starting to pop with colour, giving me my chance to fire off a few shots before it retreated back behind the clouds.
Fujifilm Xh2 16-55 mm Kase Filters CPL
I packed up my gear and made my way back up to the path and walked down towards the bridge and crossed over to the other side to to continue my walk back up towards the car, passing the old favourite and well photographed scene of the big old beech tree with its twisted roots exposed to the elements, a single millstone, of which there are many scattered around this place sits on the ground in front of this grand old tree, and makes for great foreground interest, I contemplated taking the shot again but soon changed my mind, the warm car felt a little more appealing on this occasion so I walked on by, but no doubt I shall return in the future.
I thought I would add a picture from this location which was taken in October of last year just before the leaves started to change colour and as the sun started to filter through the trees giving me a nice little Sunstar whilst backlighting the foliage.
Fujifilm Xh2 10-24 mm
Thanks for reading..
Until next time
Wayne..
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