Cym Idwal nov 23 rd 2013

                                                    A day in Snowdonia, but no snow :( 
Today i am taking Jan up to Cym Idwal , a place she has not been before.
Arriving at Idwal cottages the sky was blue, sun lighting up the snow capped Y-Garn  but i don't think it will last all day unfortunately.  we start walking up to the bridge , where i shoot this image

Jan with Chester on the bridge , we are going to take the waterfall path on the left of this image.

Walking up towards Cym Idwal following the stream i always shoot these waterfalls, always different every time i come up here.

Mollster and Chester do some posing for the camera with snow capped Y-Garn in the background, which was Molsters first ever summit climb last year in the snow  :)   HERE

                                Looking back towards Pen-yr-ole -wen in the shade :(

Arriving at Idwal its getting quite gloomy over the devils kitchen , never mind, we are going to climb up the Y-Garn path just to get a little height for a few photos after walking around the lake.

                                                             yes Mol   through the gate

 
                        Posing again Mol  , and then  together :)   yes Jan had a treat for them  lol

its like a mirror today, if only we had got up here half hour earlier when we had blue sky!  Arghhh

               having climbed up the steep path i get the image i wanted of the "Terrible Twosome"

                                                  back down to Idwal now ..............

                                   around the lake we walk , looking at Tryfan over the lake.

 Pen-yr-ole-wen on the left ,  i always spell this wrong   lol    a bit more blue sky appearing again at last

the path splits , we take the low path around the top end of Idwal to join the path coming back down from the "Kitchen"

                      makes a change to have calm conditions up here, very rare occurrence :)

                    cloud has built up again quickly , always changing up here in Snowdonia

the nice path that goes almost right around the lake , it can get very busy up here on a summers day

                                                the path back down to the Idwal cottages

                                                     one last pose for the Mollster :)

                             back down at the bottom, they both jump up on the wall :)

                                          the end of a good day walking in Snowdonia

Buttermere Reflections 4th Nov 2013

Continuing the Buttermere walk, the lakes surface is now like a mirror now the breeze has dropped,  the "lone tree" makes a superb image :)

Walking around the top of the lake to the fence near the stream , gives a good view down Buttermere, the colours are really nice now , the afternoon sun lighting up the far bank trees. its looking like a good afternoon to shoot the reflections

this trees silhouette makes a stark contrast to the sunlit fells behind.

using tree trunks to frame the reflections

Long lens time, to focus on the reflections

looks stunning in late afternoon light

the sun has crept behind the trees now

Fleetwith Pike Reflection

 

and back lit Buttermere Pines

a final shot with Fleetwith Pike lit up by late afternoon light and Dale head over to the left

Autumn in Buttermere nov 4th 2013 pt 1

The weather is looking superb for a day in the Lakes, the Autumn colours are looking good now so a drive up to Buttermere, my favourite lake is decided on.

driving past Derwent water on our way through Borrowdale I stop to shoot this image.

                          
                                        Look  at the cloud hanging on the fell tops

                                love the swirling low cloud down in Honister pass

                                     

              

 Parking up at Gatesgarth car park and walking up the road towards the lake , just past the pines i shoot this image looking back towards  High crag and Haystacks

 

                   walking down the lake side looking back , lovely light on the water

A Glorious view down Buttermere valley

                                                              

                                                             Nice light on the "Pines"

   Molly has been paddling, and scratching at the gravel with her paws sending it all over Chesters

head, so funny!

                               a classic shot of Fleetwith Pike and the famous "Buttermere Pines"

   its really warm in the sun on this side of the lake, a good shot of Mellbreak in the distance reflected in Buttermere.   the breeze is dropping and hopefully will be able to shoot some good reflection images from the opposite side this afternoon.

      I spotted this view through the trees, climbing down to get a good clear shot, love the light and the photographer on the point :)   the breeze has dropped and the lakes surface is like a mirror now

      Walking right around to the top end of the lake, and using a long lens to shoot down to the pines at the Fleetwith pike end

The Lone tree of Buttermere , always wanted to shoot this

                                        continues in part two , afternoon reflections

Windy Fireworks Nov 2nd 2013

Its the firework display at West Kirby marine lake tonight , its blowing a gale and heavy rain forecast ,  I aim to get down about 15 mins before its due to start to , i don't want to get too close as not sure how much air space will be needed in the frame.  having set up the tripod i have found straight away the wind blowing from the sea over the marine lake is going to cause problems  Oooops . Jan is having to hold it to prevent the wind blowing it over!    yes its that strong........
shooting in manual and varying the exposure time from  3-6 seconds and using f8 - f14 these are the ones that actually came out  lol   i have never tried to shoot them before and most turned out blurred due to camera moving in the wind , but the wind blown look is certainly different from normal firework images :D

I nailed this shot :)   more luck I feel

slightly longer exposures are giving more reflected colour in the very rough water surface

raindrops are now causing a problem as its getting heavier and blowing horizontally

the wind is now getting even stronger, look how the fireworks are being blown sideways!

its starting to rain heavy now, think display almost over anyhow, its almost impossible to keep water off lens now

its a  long walk back to the car , the rain is torrential now and I am completely soaked!   arghhhhh