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 

Sunset Images Wirral Beaches

After the Scotland holiday I have been shooting Meols and New Brighton sunsets with dslr and drone, here are a few images...…..

First we have a stunning cloud formation over the docks looking from New Brighton

                                                                     5dsr  17-40L

                           Now for a Phantom 4 pro drone image taken a couple of minutes earlier.

                              Flying back behind the lighthouse to get the entire view in frame .

A multi frame Vertorama , sand patterns are very interesting on this side of the breakwater at low tide, always different.

                     Meols beach for this next series,   the boats make good subjects at low tide.

                   Topdown over the sands near to sunset, the low sun showing all the textures nicely.

                                                                   Fabulous cloud formation .

                                                               9 frame panorama merge

    Perch Rock lighthouse at New Brighton     one of the most dramatic sunsets of the year so far.
                                                                   multi frame merge.

                               Meols beach flying the drone at about  6 - 8 ft to get these  images

              Perch Rock for another cracking sunset , just 2 frames merged for this drone image.

      5dsr with 17-40 L  6 stop nd  and 0.9 soft nd grad for these 2 images from the same evening.

     Two final images from Perch Rock , high tide and superb clouds moving fast in strong wind.

                                    5dsr  17 - 40L   f14   90 seconds 6 stop nd and 0.6 soft nd grad

                              5dsr 17-40L    f14  60 seconds with 6 stop nd and 0.6 soft nd grad

Scotland Holiday day 2 Rannock Moor Glencoe

Monday morning, Day two in Scotland, After staying at Inveruglas over night, a quick walk with the dogs near the visitor centre before we head off up towards Glencoe .  A coachfull of American tourists had just arrived and they all wanted photographs of Chester , I guess spanials are popular in the us.  Mollster was unaware of his fame   haha

          And a short drone flight for this 9 frame panorama, not a breath of wind at the moment but it will not stay this calm for long.

               Stunning scenery here as expected, and the weather forecast if for a warm sunny day .
                                                                 5dsr  100-400mm L

Our next stop will be Rannock Moor, just past the Bridge of Orchy. about 30 miles from here up the A82.   After stopping off at the Green Welly Stop to top up with fuel we are good to get up to the highlands now.     Parked up at the Loch Ba viewpoint, its quite windy now unfortunately but I will risk a short Drone flight.

Here is the view from the drone,  since its windy I am staying fairly low altitude and shooting this nine frame panorama manually .  Fabulous clouds at the moment and still a small amount of snow left on the peaks.

                                                             

I have walked around to find a good composition for an image, the water levels are extremely low, and all the boggy areas are almost completely dry.    I have found this interesting log which makes good foreground interest.

                                                                 60 seconds  f14

And a little further around to the left I have shot this again with a 6o second long exposure to show cloud movement  using the 10 stop nd lee big stopper filter on my 5dsr/17-40L set up.

Next stop will be Glencoe , which is only about 10 minutes up the road.   The Ski centre has a large car park , and as it turns out we can empty the vans waste and fill up with water , with a honest box.  how great is that!      as we drive up towards the centre the Famous  "Black Rock Cottage" is on the right hand side , everyone shoots this and I obviously need to also.  

                                           Jan has taken this image on her phone .

                                                                     My camera image.

                      5 frame drone Vertorama , this scene doesn't look as good from the air imo
                  Lack of sun does not help though in this comparison compared to camera image.

Back at the van , in a near empty car park  we are going for a walk up the track behind the Ski lift, the blue sky has been replaced with cloud now but its still very warm.

                             It is very warm, but the stiff breeze is welcomed up here.

                                                        Chester Standing to attention

That's far enough Jan says ,  no point going any further!   Ok  lets go back down and fill up the water in the van.   The famous Etive waterfall will be the final stop for today , it is only a few minutes down the road under with Stob Dearg directly behind it , part of Buachaille Etive Mor .  We can wildcamp right next to the waterfall , if there is space.  It looks like there is only room for about 4 vehicles on google maps .

Arriving at the waterfall, there are 2 vans and a car in the small car park , so we have to drive past but just over the bridge is a perfect parking spot for one vehicle, level and surrounded by trees.    yay
Dinner time now , while watching the sun slowly set above the mountain opposite us.

After dinner a short walk up the road to take a drone flight , the light is really nice, but without any clouds there is not going to be a sunset tonight.

                            Up in the air , a nine frame panorama , the river looks almost dry!  

                                                                5 frame vertorama

Topdown over the falls, not much water by looks of it so will be difficult to get a decent waterfall image at sunset or sunrise.  our van is in bottom right surrounded by trees.

Down at the river just above the waterfall with very little water , where I am standing is usually the waterfall that everyone shoots with the mountain behind. I am limited in what I can shoot, and with a cloudless sky  it just isn't going to be any good unfortunately.
The sun has sunk below the mountain, so I can try to shoot now.

          B&W conversion is the best option I feel   5dsr, 17-40L  little stopper and 0.9 soft nd grad.

                                                  Colour version taken well after sunset.

That's a disappointing end to a great day , I am going to get up early for sunrise , that will be difficult as I don't do early!