One Morning

As landscape photographers we know that more often than not, we are going to come back home with little to show for our mornings work. Then once in a while we have one of those mornings where everything comes up trumps. I had one of the latter recently in the middle of August which was quite unexpected as summer photography is usually poor in my opinion.

If you like the look of these locations why not join me on one of my upcoming Workshops or on a 1-2-1

Tewet Tarn pre-dawn

ISO50, 20mm, f11, 25 secs

Tewet Tarn was not my intended destination this morning but when I arrived at Castlerigg Stone Circle there was already what seemed like dozens of people, either in the process of setting up or getting out of their cars. So it was a quick three point turn and drive to Tewet followed by a swift climb up the fell. No time for thought as there was a touch of colour already arriving so it was a quick camera setup and wade into the tarn to capture the photo above.

Tewet Tarn Sunrise

ISO50, 18mm, f11, 5 secs

There are days when you seem to get two sunrises and this was one of those, firstly the high level clouds colour pre-dawn which I presume are Cirrus and then the lower level clouds will colour with the sunrise. It's worth hanging around just in case this happens for a few more minutes before moving on.

Low Rigg Rocks I

ISO100, 20mm, f11, 1/6th sec

Next I wanted to catch the early morning light on some rocks that we had scouted out on my previous visit on the lower slopes of Low Rigg. A lot of the reeds/grasses have already started changing colour as autumn approaches. These will take on a golden glow with the gentle light which adds to the scene looking towards the tarn and Blencathra.

Low Rigg Rocks II

ISO100, 20mm, f11, 1/6th sec

Although a similar scene to the previous one it goes to show you what happens if you change your position slightly. From having my tripod low down on the previous shot I've taken a couple of steps back away from the rocks and extended my tripod.

Low Rigg Tree

ISO100, 28mm, f11, 1/40th sec

Although this is far from my favourite image of the morning, I though it was worth including to show the variety that's available in the Tewet Tarn area. I was hoping to catch the early light on the tree with more cloud behind and knew that the berries would be a lovely red in the early light.

Isthmus Bay Jetty I

ISO100, 16mm, f11, 204 secs

From my previous visit to Derwent Water I knew that the water levels were high which brings this rugged jetty in to play as a possible image. The water had dropped around 6" over the previous couple of days which had brought too many of boulders out of the water for my liking. Or so I thought, the image has grown on me since and I now quite like the balance here. I've used a long exposure to calm down the few ripples and also to add some movement into the clouds.

Isthmus Bay Jetty II

ISO100, 19mm, f11, 102 secs

Next I wanted to try and minimise the foreground rocks in the image to give it what I feel is a cleaner look. I must admit I had to clone out a small part of a rock next to the boulder but felt that this was a small compromise. The portrait composition has enabled me to include a larger sky coupled with the LE I think that this improves the image.

Isthmus Bay Jetty III

ISO100, 19mm, f11, 106 secs

While I was there it seemed silly not to take a shot looking straight down the jetty, even though a lot of the earlier nice cloud was now thinning out a touch. I gave this a 5x7 crop to enabled me to cut out some of the blue sky which for me wasn't adding a great deal to the overall image.

Isthmus Bay Jetty IIII

ISO100, 19mm, f11, 108 secs

A slightly earlier shot which I have given the mono treatment here and also left un-cropped.

All in all I had a great few hours of photography from what I believe is a cracking couple of locations both of which I will be visiting on my upcoming Tewet Tarn & Derwent Water Workshops over the next few months. For me Isthmus Bay Jetty II was my favourite image of the day, let me know what your favourite is via the comments box below.