Frosty Morning In Watermead Park

landscape, stock images, sunrises No Responses »
Feb 232011

Frosty Morning In Watermead Park

A shot from the last significantly cold morning so far this year, in late January. It’s seemed so wet and mild for the past few weeks, which no doubt will please many people as it perhaps signals the approach of spring, but I like cold mornings with comparatively late sunrises.

I usually photograph these trees from the other side of the lake but I was looking for something different this morning – the light hitting the frost on the fence and the shadow covering the path caught my eye.

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Posted by Andy at 12:39 am Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Sunrise at Cossington South Lakes

filters, sunrises No Responses »
Oct 312010

Another evening by the water in Cossington

The morning I took this photograph was the first time I’d managed to get over the stumbling block of getting up really early to take photographs. Winter isn’t so bad – getting up at 6:30am in order to be ready for 7:30 sunrise seemed hard at the time, but when your alarm goes off at 3:30 it’s a bit of a shock. This morning though I had a reason to get up – I’d had some Lee Filters on order for nearly 3 months and they had finally arrived so I was keen to try them out.

The old Cokin set I’d used previously weren’t a great deal of use on my new lens – the filter holder was visible right up to 24mm and I’d become too aware of (and fed up of working around) the purple colour cast they produced.

Anyway, luckily for me I was treated to a pretty sunrise that day – if it had been overcast I might never have bothered again, and I would have missed so many relaxing mornings wandering about in the countryside. Now it seems to be an addiction.

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Posted by Andy at 10:21 pm Tagged with: , , ,

Daybreak in Bradgate Park

landscape, sunrises 2 Responses »
Sep 082010

Daybreak in Bradgate Park

Recently I decided I was going to make the effort to get up early a bit more often. I like going out in the evening, but timing my trips out to make the most of the best light was getting increasingly difficult with the needs of the rest of the family to consider.

I had no real idea about where I was going to go, but after looking at Google Maps and checking http://www.gaisma.com/en/ to see where and when the sun was going to rise I decided on Bradgate Park. I have a few shots that I like from here, but I never really felt like I’d seen it in the best light.

I made three trips there in the end, and the conditions were different each time – one morning of low lying mist, one morning clear and one foggy. This was taken on the second morning, which was mostly bright and clear, but for a small amount of mist.

I have taken pictures of this stream (the River Lin) in the past but they were all taken before I really started to learn what I was doing and were dreadful. For that reason I’ve always avoided this part of the park. The day before this was taken though I’d seen mist rising from here as the sun hit the cold water so had made a note to wait for the sunrise here. Conditions were different though and I didn’t get the misty stream, but the light on the water caught my eye so I set up here and waited for a gap in the passing cyclists and early morning dog walkers :)

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Posted by Andy at 5:13 pm Tagged with: , , ,

Castlerigg in early morning sun

landscape, sunrises 1 Response »
Aug 202010

Castlerigg stone circle, Keswick, in early morning sun

This was one type of shot that I’d wanted to try for so long – preferably here, or Swinside – although to be fair any stone circle would have done, but it was so pleasing to get it at my first choice location.

During the day this place can get really busy – it’s still a great stone circle in an awe inspiring location – but at 4:30am in almost total silence, it really was fantastic.

We got up at 4am on Jacqui’s birthday to get here on time. It would have been easier and somewhat cheaper just to buy a postcard, but not as much fun :)

Licence at Getty Images

Posted by Andy at 9:51 pm Tagged with: , , ,

Sunrise Over The Lake

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Jul 062010

Sunrise Over The Lake, Cossington South Lakes

One of the most boring and time consuming tasks that comes with any serious amount of photography seems to be dealing with the large amount of files (and the amount of disc space that they take up). I try to keep two backups of all my images – at the moment I’m finally archiving them all to DVD, chronologically, but I’m also taking the opportunity to get rid of some rubbish and duplicates.

Often I’ll take a couple of shots of something and then notice a distraction in the frame, or I’ll increase the exposure time to get a little more light into a scene. At about 15MB a time all these extra shots add up and despite going against the “never delete your raws” mantra, hanging on to all these extra versions doesn’t really serve any great purpose, other than helping Western Digital stay in business.

The above image is from January 2010 (I’m about 6 months behind with my tidy up at the moment and my progress is constantly hampered by the arrival of new images which I’ll briefly scan for favourites and then ignore for a few months) and was taken on a frosty morning out with John Houghton

This was one of the last shots that I took with my Canon 450D and despite having been back since with my other camera, this was my favourite sunrise shot from this location – mainly due to the good fortune of the cloud picking up the pink glow of the rising sun, which is then also reflected in the ice.

Technical info: ISO100, f/16, 11mm, 1.3s, Cokin ND4 soft grad

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Posted by Andy at 11:03 pm Tagged with: , , , ,

Bradgate Park in Winter

landscape, sunrises, trees No Responses »
Feb 022010

Bradgate Park in Winter

A small amount of snow just before Christmas gave me the ideal excuse to get up nice and early on a Sunday morning to go to Bradgate Park. When I arrived, long before sunrise, there were only two sets of prints leading into the park from the Old John car park – someone taking their dog for a walk.

The sunrise itself was rather uneventful – a cloudless sky, a bit of a glow and then the sun appearing – not really my favourite. Perhaps I could have made more out of it if I’d prepared (or had more imagination) but it was pleasant enough just to be there in the fresh snow.

While the light was still good I headed to one of the places I’ve been meaning to visit at daybreak for sometime and got the shot above. This is just as it was taken – no filters, no post processing, just good old fashioned sunlight.

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Posted by Andy at 7:47 pm Tagged with: , , , ,

Boat on Cropston Reservoir

sunrises, water 2 Responses »
Oct 112009

Boat on Cropston Reservoir

With Cropston Reservoir being the location of my first sunset shot, it seems fitting that it was also the first place I sat with my camera and waited for the sun to rise.

I’m not really very good at getting up in the morning, but with the sun rising a little later now (7:22am on the morning this was taken) I figured now was as good a time as any, before Autumn turns into Winter and it becomes too cold to use the camera without gloves.

I took a few shots before this one, with just the ND4 grad on, but the foreground was too dark – I wanted the sunlight to be casting a night glow on the boat. I popped to my bag to get the rest of my filters but unfortunately I’d left my filter wallet open and they were all covered in condensation. I had a frantic couple of minutes trying to get the ND8 grad dry and smear free before the run rose too high in the sky.

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Technical info : Sigma 18-200 lens at 21mm, 1/20s, f11.0, ISO100, ND4 and ND8 grads

Posted by Andy at 9:37 pm Tagged with: , , , , ,
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