January 2008
Higger Tor
27/01/08 22:52
It felt like an enormous release! Today was the first day this year that I managed to get out onto the hills for a good walk in the sunshine. Not the usual grey damp weather there has been so much of recently. Wonderful, and the strong wind certainly helped to blow away any cobwebs! I spent some time around Burbage rocks and walked up and around Higger Tor, a fabulous hill with a fascinating collection of rocks to explore. The views from there along Stanage Edge are simply wonderful, beautifully enhanced today by the low glowing light of a late winter afternoon sunset.
The wind of course makes it difficult to get steady photographs, and I did not want to carry my large tripod about with me which would probably have been ineffective given the strength of the wind. So I took several consecutive shots of each scene in the hope that one or two might have no shake in them. This largely worked, more by luck than judgement I guess, but I'm pleased with a few photographs I took today, two of which are below.
(2008-0434) Looking to Win Hill and the Great Ridge from Higger Tor
(2008-0506) Higger Tor
Both were taken with a Canon 1DsMk3, 24-105mm f4 L IS lens, ISO 200 and polarising filter. Handheld.
Stanton Moor (2)
10/01/08 23:44
The last post about Stanton Moor reminds me of two pictures I am rather like, both of which were taken last year on Stanton Moor of a single tree. Taken with two different cameras and exactly a month apart.
(2007-4514) Stanton Moor, 19th April 2007
(2007-1000540) Stanton Moor, 19th May 2007
It had always struck me as a wise old man of a tree, if only trees could communicate with us. Clearly aged by the weather, its bark is now split and its trunk bent over with the wind. But its roots appear to be hanging on and extending their reach to grip onto the ground nearby. How old is this tree and is it a descendent of another nearby tree? Who has it seen pass by over the years given the historic nature of the area? What stories can it tell? Clearly we will never know, but just outside the picture are the stumps of a few trees that never lived long enough to tell those tales.
These two images also provide a graphic illustration of how a single, simple scene can look in different lighting and conditions. The first image, taken on 19th April 2007 at 2pm, was taken using a Canon 5D and 24-105mm f4 lens set at 32mm. The second image was taken on 19th May 2007 at 8.30pm with a Leica M8 and 28mm f2 Summicron lens.
I guess I'm now duty bound to visit again, soon, but with yet another camera and lens!
Stanton Moor
10/01/08 23:10
During the first weekend of 2008 we saw a small bit of good weather so took the opportunity to get outside and went for a walk across the nearby Stanton Moor. This area is a bit of a Derbyshire Peak District anomaly, particularly from a geological perspective in that it is an island of millstone grit almost completely surrounded by the limestone of the the White Peak area. It is also an area of historic importance - it sports a Bronze Age stone circle and a monumental tower built in the 1830s by Earl Charles Grey. There are many tumuli, old quarry workings, a birch wood and lots of heather!
(2008-0382) Children studying camera LCDs, Stanton Moor
The first image is of two of my children reviewing images taken on their own cameras. I took this during a short rest stop - they looked at pictures while I continued to shoot!
(2008-0384) Birch wood, Stanton Moor
The second image was taken with the sun quite low in the sky (about 3pm). Not a particularly worthy image, but I like the feel of how the trees in the background lean and turn rather inconsistently.
Both images were taken with a Canon 1DsMk3, 24-105mm f4 IS L lens, ISO200.
Crysanthemum
10/01/08 22:59
The dull, grey weather can I am sure be used to capture interesting images, but I'm afraid it's that sort of weather that makes me want to curl up in front of a good fire. But I still want to do some photography so I spend a couple of hours the other evening examining a vase of crysanthemums with my macro lens.
(2008-0362) Crysanthemum
This flower head was one of a bunch bought at the local supermarket and was sitting in a vase on the dining table. Nothing special in the selection of the flower, just the result of gazing through the viewfinder with a 180mm macro lens attached, rotating the vase and fiddling with aperture to get only a small amount of the flower head in focus.
(2008-0337) Crysanthemum
Picture a Day
10/01/08 22:37
I have failed miserably to get out and do much photography given the recent weather in this part of the UK. It has largely remained grey, dull and often raining since Christmas. The times it has been better I have been at work! I was in Scotland earlier in the week and could see snow on the mountains. Alas, I had to be in an office...
Other photographers have however managed to do some photography and a group of users on the Martin Bailey Photography forum have set up a site to show their attempts at a photo a day. A great idea and one I would love to join if it wasn't for other commitments! Well worth looking at.
Walk in the Woods
02/01/08 00:11
(2005-3306) Bottom Moor, Matlock
I'm hoping we will get some interesting weather soon. For the last few weeks we have had dull, overcast skies with little to make things interesting. Yes, I know photographs can be taken in poor light, but I want good light! The forecast for the next few days is getting colder and the prospect of some snow. I really hope to get out onto the higher parts of the Derbyshire Peak District and do a bit of walking; with any luck it will be cold, sunny and covered in a layer of snow.
This picture was taken 3 years ago to the day - on 2nd January 2005. It was a bitterly cold morning and there was a fantastic frost covering everything. There was also the freezing fog, snow from a few days before and the prospect of more. Wonderful!
This photo also reminds me of my first digital SLR, the Canon EOS 300D which I used to take this picture. I used that camera for about 6 months before I realised that taking photos in RAW format meant I could keep much more of the photograph than JPEG. Oh how things evolve...!