The Lakes , Torver and Banishead Quarry 3 rd/4 th Jan 2022

 A New Year, 2022   wonder what will happen with the dreaded Corvid this year.  Our first trip out in the van.  Booked into Church House Inn campsite at Torver on the banks of Coniston.

I have not really been around this area much so will be interesting couple of days .Arriving early afternoon there is just a few hours of daylight to take a walk down to Coniston .

The fells are covered in low cloud and feels like it could rain at any time, we are walking down the old railway track heading to Coniston Hall by the lake. 

There are sheep everywhere so keeping the terrible twosome on the leads.

                                       The Old Man is up there in the clag. previous walk HERE

Paddling in Coniston water, the weather is not very nice and its getting dark!  a fast walk back to the van needed now, it will be completely dark by the time we get back.

Back at the van and Ozzy is snuggling in, its forecast to be around minus 1 tonight and feels really cold already.

I have got up early to hopefully photograph the sunrise,   the van is covered in ice and the ground well frosted.   I am heading to Kelly Hall Tarn, which is about 15 minutes walk down the road on Torver common.  Arriving i can see a large tree has come down in last years storms, and the tarns surface is partially frozen.

As usual I have missed the best of the colour, only about 10 minutes ago it looked really nice!

                                    The frozen surface at least adds interest in the foreground.

The sun has now come up and is illuminating the fells , shooting from the opposite side from the previous images to get this one. 

Time to get the drone up,  a panorama image using the x7 telephoto lens on the Mavic 3 drone.  these mountains are about 3 miles away.

The early morning light is illuminating the ridge behind the tarn and the landscape into the distance, a great aerial view.

Now the view looking down Coniston water with the Langdales covered in snow. The light over the common is fabulous picking out all the contours in the shadows.

Turning the drone around to pick up this unusually green group of fields surrounded by stone walls.  on Ordnance survey maps it just says  "Delicars"  it certainly makes an impact in the image.

That is the end of the good light , it now looks bland and flat in comparison, so back to the van for pancakes before we head out again.

The plan is to head up to Banishead Quarry , a short walk up the main road and then up a track heading towards the Coniston fells.  It is a bit warmer now most of the frost has melted but the ground is quite hard.

                                           Snow up on the tops as the track heads upwards

The Coniston fells open out with I think, Buck Pike and Dow crag in front, the Old Man is further round to the right hidden from view.

                                                              Shooting the Torver Beck 

                                                        Terrible Twosome tied to the bridge.

After Reaching Torver Beck , there is a bridge over the water, just past this point I take this image

using a 6 stop nd filter to smooth out the water.  The quarry is a few hundred meters ahead.

               Drone time , its quite windy up here so will just take a couple images then move on.

                                                                  12 frame panorama 

                                                                          

                                                                            single frame 

Here is the quarry,  the sun is in the wrong direction to shoot any good images , it is fenced off but I believe there is a way down to stand under the waterfall somehow. one day I will try that when the sun is in a better angle.

 Best image of the waterfall shooting into the sun made it very difficult , 5dsr 100-400mm

                            Now for a couple Vertorama images , all 5 frames Mavic 3 

Time to head back now, passing this fallen tree. such a shame, and one of hundreds that came down in the last storm.

The end of first trip of the year ,............................... until the next 

Prague River walks 3/4 th January 2017

It is 6 am and i have got up and walked down to the bridge hoping for a nice sunrise ,   That's something i very rarely shoot as i can never get up   lol
On the bridge there is at least a few breaks in the cloud and i might just get a bit of colour.   Its fairly quiet but a few other photographers are on the bridge already.

                      There is a bit of colour , a long exposure of 140 seconds at f14 for this image.

                     46 seconds for this one , the cloud is building but is still well broken.

 Looking up river and that's were the best colour is unfortunately.     the yellow Penguins really stand out in front of the modern art museum.

                                                      Love the snow covered roofs .

One last bridge shot ,  47 seconds.      a load of photographers are standing still at the end of the bridge so the long exposure hasn't ghosted them out.

                            The colour hasn't reached behind me over the castle ,  never mind.

                      Its 8.32 and i had better get back to the hotel and see if Jan is up yet  haha.

After breakfast of Caramel waffles and hot chocolate we are walking up river past the penguins .

                                                        We are at the Penguins , selfi time

                                                                   Very Strange!

 We have walked up to the next bridge upstream where the mid river island is, and we have gone down on to Strelecky ostrov ( shooters island)
                               A long exposure for this image   43 seconds with little stopper

After a walk around a local christmas market  and through the castle , stopping off for more mulled wine for Jan i have left her at the hotel for a fast walk up to Letna hill to shoot the river after dark.
100-400 mm lens for this image  8 seconds f14

                 And stopping off to shoot the bridge from the swan feeding area on the way back.

    Our last evening in Prague we take a last look around old town square , firstly the Astronomical clock.

We are leaving today , its a bit snowy at moment but forecast is for clearing up , so a walk down the river past Letna to the island and back before we have to leave for the airport.

An hour later and its beautiful , a 30 second exposure looking across river to the castle lit up with sunlight.

                           A lovely walk along the river and onto the island looking for the weir.

                            It has clouded over now so a b&w conversion is best for this image.

The end of a fabulous few days in Prague ,  and after almost getting snowed in at the airport we arrived home safe and sound at 2 am in the morning .