Late Summer Sunrise

Late Summer Sunrise, originally uploaded by KingKobra.

Wow... another early morning for me.

It wasn't at all planned this time. I just happened to wake up just before 6am, and through a gap in the curtains could see a clear blue sky. So, I chucked some clothes on, grabbed the car keys and headed out with camera gear.

First off I headed up into Holymoorside. There is a great view over Chesterfield from up there, and luckilu for me a field full of hay bales. Only on getting the stuff out the car did I realise the tripod was still on the kitchen table, so had to make the best of hand held shots.

When I'd done there, I headed out to Curbar Gap. Still looking for one of those mist in the derwent valley shots, but there was no mist this morning, so carried on through Baslow and into Chatsworth.

There was a nice bit of sunlight falling on the spire of Edensor Church, so I grabbed a few shots of that, and headed into the park itself.

Now, I've always wanted some pictures of the deer in Chatsworth, but for some reason never got round to it, so it was great to see some deer on the road side of the river. I went down the Chatsworth drive a few hundred yards to get some shots. The deer seemed not to be too phased about the car. None of the pictures were brilliant, but not bad for a first unplanned attempt.

I played 'chase the hot air balloon' on the way home, but it was getting further and higher, and by the time I found a suitable place to pullover, it just wasn't a photo anymore.

Not a bad hour and fifteen minutes out, but now I need to go back to bed.

Sunrise in the Hope Valley

Sunrise in the Hope Valley, originally uploaded by KingKobra.

I'm soooo tired....

Getting up at 5am isn't good for the soul, but last night the met office said it would be a clear morning, so I grabbed my gear and went out into the peak to catch the sunrise.

First of all I headed out to Monsal Dale in the hope that there would be some mist sitting in the valley. Unfortunately there wasn't. Can't have everything I suppose.

Next stop, the collapsed road in Castleton. The A625 closed here in the 1970's because landslips were making it difficult to maintain the road. Its a footpath now, with the only vehicles those wanting access to a farm about halfway up the road.

I waited here for about 20 mins, while the sun rose... shivering...

I didn't really plan on going anywhere after that, but I thought I would drive up to Surprise View, just outside Hathersage. By the time I got there, the skies we're clouding over. It looked quite impressive as the cloud was moving at a fair rate in front of the sun, and was casting some cool beams of light in the sky.

I tried to get a few shots, but none of them could convey what was happening at the time.

Then it started drizzling a little. Looking skyward, I held little hope in it improving anytime soon, and indeed even now as I write this, its cloudy outside.

Another sunrise captured, not really as impressive as the first time, but I guess I'll get used to the downside to sunrises eventually.

Youlgreave - This Way

Youlgreave - This Way, originally uploaded by KingKobra.

Well, we didn't actually go to Youlgreave....

Starting from the roadside parking just outside Monyash we headed into Lathkill Dale. I never went into the dale from this direction before, so it was interesting from that point of view.

Its a little treacherous at times having to scramble over slippery limestone boulders, and is pretty muddy in places.

Anyway, we headed down the dale, past the dry Lathkill House Cave, Indeed there was no water in the river until about another kilometre downstream, past where Cales Dale joins Lathkill Dale.

We went down to the waterfall, and rattled off a few shots. I got a few I like, but for some reason I neglected to notice a stray tree branch that managed to get into all the shots and all but ruin them. I'll know for next time.

We headed back upstream to the footbridge, and went up to One Ash Grange Farm, and onto the Limestone Trail back to Monyash. Little in the way of photo-opportunities presented themselves to me. Don't get me wrong, its a lovely place with cool views over the area, but nothing that would make a good photo in my opinion.

Hope Valley,Dove Dale & Bakewell Pudding

Hope Valley from Mam Tor, originally uploaded by KingKobra.

9 o'clock start today and a trip out into the Peak. Headed out to Castleton and Mam Tor for starters. Nothing like a brisk walk up Mam Tor first thing in the morning, and beleive me, this was nothing like a brisk walk. I haven't walked to the summit of Mam Tor for about 25 years, and man could I tell. I'm not in the greatest of shape :)

Rattled off a few shots from the summit, but to be honest its just so difficult to capture the expanse of the landscape. You can see for miles in every direction, and its hard to get a composition that does it justice.

Spent about two hours around Mam Tor, then headed back to the car. Next, a 45 min drive south, through Buxton and down into Dove Dale. Now, I knew there would be a few people there as it was hot and sunny, and the kids are off school, but I wasn't prepared for just how many people would be there. The car park was almost full, and there were people everywhere. Not a situation condusive to taking photographs.

Anyway, I used the time just to wander down the river a little way. Its only the second time in recent years that I've been there, and last time was during the winter so it was nice to see the dale during summer.

Headed back home after a couple of hours, via Bakewell to pick up a Bakewell Pudding, something else I've never experienced.

Bakewell at Twilight

Bakewell at Twilight, originally uploaded by KingKobra.

Had a run out to Bakewell in the heart of the Peak District this evening. I think we got there about 30 mins too late, as the sun was lower than I expected it to be, and wasn't giving the nice evening sunshine I was hoping for.

Nevertheless, Mart S., and I rattled off a few shots of the river, and the 13th century bridge. I also too the opportunity of the low light, and the fast moving river to get a few long exposure shots of the river, but the vegetation around the banks was also moving so those shots were unusable.

We had a wander over to the church, hoping it would be illuminated. It was, but only one side of the clock tower which reduced its potential.

The light was dropping fast, so we headed back to the bridge and got some long exposure shots from the bridge, with car light trails.

Having done in Bakewell, we headed out to Edensor, again hoping the church would be lit. Unfortunately not though. We did have a small stroke of luck though. The Chatsworth estate were testing out different lighting effects on the house for Christmas. The whole west front of the house was illumitated a deep blue. I took some pictures, but none of them had long enough exposure times, and we didn't stay long enough to get better shots.

Finally we headed into Matlock, as Mart S., wanted some pictures of St Giles Church, as we knew that this one was lit at night. The only downside was a somewhat over zealous Neighbourhood Watch scheme, where some lady seemed to take offence at our presence.

The Roaches, Staffordshire

Hen Cloud, originally uploaded by KingKobra.

Mart L. and I went out to the Roaches for the afternoon. Its quite a hefty drive, being on the very western edge of the Peak District, overlooking Tittesworth Reservoir.

This trip was more of a recce trip, just to see where all the good photo opportunities were. Its quite a cool place overall, with better views than any of the other gritstone edges in the park. Today we could far into Cheshire, and even the Welsh mountains very distant in the haze.

Definately some promise there for sunrise/sunset, and some wintertime shoots.

Over Owler Tor, Hathersage Moor

Over Owler Tor, Hathersage Moor, originally uploaded by KingKobra.

Up to Hathersage Moor today. I only really grabbed one decent shot. The light was in that inbetween stage, about an hour before the golden hour, and it was quite cloudy so exposures were a little difficult as I was tending to lose either shadows, or getting a white-out in the sky.

I did three exposures of this view, and combined them in Photoshop to get this HDR image.

Only when I uploaded the shot to Flickr did I realise I had done this shot before.

Early Riser

Summer Sunrise, originally uploaded by KingKobra.

This is a first for me.

I woke up just before 5.30 this morning, and for some reason was compelled to get out of bed and get shooting. So there I was, the first time I had been up and about at that time since doing the paper-round when I was a kid.

I had no idea where to go, but quickly thought somewhere high, with a good view over Chesterfield would be good. I headed out to Spitewinter, and got a few shots with the early morning mist, and the layered effect of the landscape.

I then drove into Beeley and through Chatsworth. The mist was quite heavy here, and I was hoping that if I could get high again, maybe at Curbar or Baslow Edge, then I could get above the mist and get some cracking shots. Anyway, the mist was thinning out again at Curbar, and wasn't anything spectacular, so I headed back home past Leash Fen, and got a few shots there of the cattle in the light of the sunrise.

It maybe the first time that I went out for some sunrise pictures, but I doubt it will be the last.

Linacre, Old Brampton & Baslow Edge

Wellington Monument, Baslow Edge, originally uploaded by KingKobra.

It is the Bakewell Show for the next few days, so there's no way I was heading out in that direction today.

Instead, it was a short trip to Linacre Reservoirs, where Mart L. and I walked up to Old Brampton, and back down to the reservoirs.

After that, it was up to Baslow Edge. We hadn't walked to the very end of the cliffs before, so today was the day that we did it, and found the Wellington Monument.

One discovery we made today was that we have now done Linacre, Curbar Edge and Baslow Edge to death for the summer months. Theres only so many times you can take the same picture of the same view and make it work. We decided to go there again once autumn kicks in.

Any trips to Linacre over the next few weeks will be for wildlife shoots rather than landscapes.