With Frost and Mist forecast, the temptation to get out this particular morning was just to much to resist, so after a quick phone call and chat with my fellow photography buddy Sam Salim Photography it was decided to have a meet up for sunrise and head up to Ramsley Moor and try and get some shots of the old Maple Trees that are scattered around on the moor.
So I was up bright and early, looking out of the window, the windscreen on the car was covered over with a thick coating of frost, also I could see a few high clouds in the sky, the morning had got off to a good start, so it was just a case of having a quick drink and I would soon be on my way.
Driving down the Sheffield road heading towards Baslow the visibility was poor to say the least, I nearly missed my turn off, it was a proper Pea Souper.
It was still dense thick fog as I wound my way up Fox Lane, towards where I wanted to be, but as soon as I had reached Shillito Woods It started to disappear. In fact after reaching my destination a couple of minutes later It had totally gone, so it wasn't looking good for what we had planned.
Minutes later Sam arrived and we had to make a choice, did we hang around in the hope of some fog appearing or should we change our plans. Sam hadn't Photographed the trees on Leash Fen before and with it only being a short few minutes drive away we decided to head on back down the road.
I had only been on the Fen a couple of weeks previous ( please feel free to read my Blog Post Misty Mornings Leash Fen Peak District 10/02/2024.) but it's a place that I don't mind returning to when the conditions are right, this morning was one of them.
After parking up, we made our way through the gate, onto the frosty moorland, the grasses were gleaming, the mist lingered, we started to search for one of the many lone trees that frequent the moor, eventually coming across something that both of us had seen, two lovely Birch Trees that were well spaced apart giving some nice separation between the two as they stood In amongst the frozen grasses.
I soon had my composition sorted, my main tree just to the right of the frame with the other tree slightly to the left, just leaving a slight gap in between the pair to avoid any branches over lapping each other, a nice simple scene.
So it was up with the tripod, then after attaching the camera with my 16-55 lens, plus the Kase Filters 0.9 Soft grad I was ready to go, now it was just a case of waiting around for the light to start to appear in the sky to the left of me.
As we both stood and waited, the mist was wafting around the moorland, in and out of the trees, the sky was beginning to take on a nice bit of colour, with the added bonus of a few wispy clouds starting to appear.
In a matter of minutes the colour was beginning to peak, Blue, Pink, Purple Tones, were the order of the morning, all casting some beautiful reflective light onto the white frosted grasses, it was time to take some pictures and I wasn't disappointed, it all looked good on the back of the camera.
Camera: Fujifilm Xh 1
Lens: XF 16-55mm F2.8 R LM WR.
Tripod: Benro Mach 3. Benro Geared Head.
Kase Filters 0.9 Soft Grad Grad.
ISO 200. 1/13 sec F6/4. @23mm.
White Balance: Cloudy.
I was sensing the opportunity to maybe get a few shots from this wonderful location, so I was soon looking for another possible composition, and I had one in mind, one I had been looking at earlier that morning, a lonesome birch just to the right hand side of the two trees that I had just been shooting.
Quickly setting up the tripod again, positioning the tree in the centre of the frame, this time flipping the camera over to portrait orientation, to include more of the grass in the foreground, I was happy with what I had framed up and started taking a few shots, the vibrant colour had gone from the sky at this point but there were still some nice soft tones around, plus the mist in the distance, behind my subject was now getting a little more dense, so it was obscuring the trees, that were in the background perfectly.
Camera: Fujifilm Xh1.
Lens: XF 16-55mm F2.8 R LM WR.
Tripod: Benro Mach 3. Benro Geared Head.
Kase Filters 0.9 Soft Grad.
ISO 200. 1/100 sec F6/4. @25mm.
White Balance: Cloudy.
Happy with the resulting shots, I then turned my attention to hopefully getting a sunrise shot, after noticing that the clouds on the horizon had started to break a little, as the sun started to rise.
After a little walk around, I came across a nice little scene I was finally happy with, a lovely three trunked birch tree, with a tree either side of it, then finally after a few minutes of trying to get a bit of separation between the trees I was content. I put the main subject, that being the triple trunk tree in the centre of my frame with the other two just to the left and right of it. Now I was playing the waiting game, but fortunately I wasn't hanging around too long
The sun soon made its appearance, the mist in the distance was doing a perfect job of defusing the harsh light as it appeared just above the horizon, giving me some nice backlight behind the tree in the centre.
I took a few shots, again I was happy with the resulting Images, that was it, the sun began to rise higher in the sky and the light was getting a little too harsh so we both made our way back to the cars happy with the morning's outcome.
Camera: Fujifilm Xh1.
Lens: XF 16-55mm F2.8 R LM WR.
Tripod: Benro Mach 3. Benro Geared Head.
Kase Filters 0.9 Soft Grad.
ISO 200. 1/125 sec F6/4. @30mm.
White Balance: Cloudy.
After returning back to our vehicles, and saying goodbye to Sam, I poured myself a coffee and stood looking over the moorland and noticed the the mist and fog had started to get a little thicker, then another photographer who I knew came driving passed and stopped for a quick chat, he told me he had been over into Shillito Wood and that there was still some mist hanging in and around there, so not one to miss a chance of catching some woodland shots I soon jumped back into the car and headed off up the road.
On arrival at the carpark it was soon evident that the mist I was hoping for wasn't there, I was soon thinking about the many trips I had done to this location in the past, only to be disappointed,(was this going to be another fruitless visit?).
Nevertheless I got my gear out of the car and made my way down the path through the small pine woodland.
As I was making my way through the woods I could see a little mist in the distance, Suddenly my hopes were getting up, maybe I could come away with at least one shot.
It didn't take long to reach the end of the path, fortunately the mist was still filtering through the tall pines, so I was soon looking for decent composition that I would be satisfied with ( it was the first time that I had come across these conditions in here and I didn't want to miss out this time).
With this woodland being mainly tall pine trees, trying to get separation is pretty straight forward, it's just a case of moving around a little until you finally get what you're happy with, if your getting trees that are to close together are overlapping each other, just try to hide the tree that's the culprit behind another tree, It takes a bit of time but you eventually get there.
I soon worked out my composition, looking up towards where the sun was backlighting the tall, straight trunks, as it cast its warm glow onto the sparse woodland floor, sticking with my 16-55mm lens, adding the Kase Black Mist Filter, I was happy with the mood I was getting, that warm ethereal look was what I was after and it set the scene nicely, I took two shots one vertical and one horizontal.
Camera: Fujifilm Xh2.
Lens: XF 16-55mm F2.8 R LM WR.
Tripod: Benro Mach 3. Benro Geared Head.
Kase Filters Black Mist.
ISO 200. 1/100 sec F8. @38mm.
White Balance: Cloudy.
Camera: Fujifilm Xh1.
Lens: XF 16-55mm F2.8 R LM WR.
Tripod: Benro Mach 3. Benro Geared Head.
Kase Filters 0.9 Black Mist.
ISO 200. 1/125 sec F8. @18mm.
White Balance: Cloudy.
The one shot that I had been trying to get from this location, had in the past always eluded me, a picture of the old stone cross (apparently as legend goes, was erected there by the monks from Beauchief Abbey, to help travellers on their way during the 13 century) that stood by the side of the path on the entrance to the woods, the conditions had never been right, but on this occasion I was feeling hopeful of at least coming away with one shot that I could be happy with.
So I setup my tripod and looking down the path, positioning the cross on the left hand third of the frame, still with the Black Mist filter attached to my lens, I then waited for the sun to start to filter through the trees, which it soon did, adding some lovely warm light contrasting nicely with the cool blue tones to the mist that was lingering to the right of the frame, also casting some nice light onto the woodland floor in front of me.
Camera: Fujifilm Xh1.
Lens: XF 16-55mm F2.8 R LM WR.
Tripod: Benro Mach 3. Benro Geared Head.
Kase Filters Black Mist.
ISO 200. 1/40 sec F8. @20mm.
White Balance: Cloudy.
Finally I had got a shot that I was happy with from this location after years of trying. I was happy with what the morning had produced.
Thanks For Reading.
Until Next Time.
Wayne..
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