I have not been out with the camera for over a month due to family commitments, so I planned to make amends to this this weekend, the weather forecast looked good, but I wanted to go somewhere close to home and relatively easy to get too, as my fitness levels still need improving for me to climb any fells. A easy decision really, Derwent Water it is to be.
Arriving on the shores of the lake just before sunrise after a 3.15 am alarm call, the conditions did not look to good, no sunrise to speak of, and despite some cloud cover, little colour in the sky, even the water had a light choppiness to it, despite the forecasted low wind speeds.
I decided to wait and see if anything would materialist, standing about of 20 minutes or so without taking a photo, the sun began to rise over the hills to the east, slowly a lovely warm glow descended on the view in front of me, the early summer foliage being light form the west, this creating contrasting highlights and shadows among the trees, the lake remaining relatively calm as there was little wind to speak of.
I photographed Derwent Island to death, I must have taken 30 images from the position I was in on the shoreline of Crow Park, using the sunken fence as a leading line. Not the most original photograph, but the conditions were such that i could not resist taking them.
From here I moved around to Isthmus Bay, again Derwent Island being the main content of the photographs that i was taking simply because the side light hitting the trees could not be ignored. Again I took a couple of dozen images of the island, moving slightly one way, then the other and adjusting the height of the camera to find the ideal composition. My last location was still on the lake shoreline, but further round towards Isthmus Cottage looking up Borrowdale Valley and using Cat Bells as my background.
After this time the light became harsh as the sun rose higher in the sky, and despite walking around the landings looking for images of the boats, the light was not favourable, simply to harsh.
At this time of year we only have 40 to 50 minutes of usable light before it becomes to harsh, so by 6.50 am I was heading back to the car heading for home and a well earned bacon sandwich and warm cup of tea.
After editing the photos from this mornings shoot, many of these are very similar, which prevents me posting these on my web site or on social media. The small section of differing photos that i have uploaded to my web I am really pleased with, and goes to show that if you hang around sometimes the weather gods deliver conditions that are what us landscape photographers pray for.
A good mornings work which helps me reinvigorate my enthusiasm towards photography.
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