The bank holiday weekend was approaching in England, and I had seen many photos of bluebells during the week, I made a conscious decision to visit a location where the Bluebells could be photographed. The weather forecast for the weekend was looking good, so I done a little research and found that the Bluebells at Rannerdale were not in full bloom now. This got me thinking, if, due to the very dry conditions that we have in the Lake District were delaying the Bluebells from flowering? As we missed this phenomenon last year due to the Coronavirus lock down, I decided to head for Ambleside where I knew of a couple of locations where the Bluebells would be flowering.
I set the alarm for 4 am with the intention of getting into the woods for sunrise to shoot the Bluebells in the soft warm light with the hope of encountering some dawn mist to add atmosphere to the scene.
On my way through the Lake District, I saw glimpses of low mists in the valleys, this got me thinking, should I change my plans to try and find some misty conditions or should I stick to my plans, decision made, stick to the plan.
However, as I passed Thirlmere reservoir the conditions were breath-taking, low mists, mirror like reflections on the lakes surface and the start of pastel colours in the sky. As I drove further along the lakes shore along the A591, I realised that I had to stop and photograph this the views that i could see, Thirlmere has never been a favourite place of mine, as I always seem to struggle to get favourable conditions when I am there, so this opportunity was not going to be missed.
I parked the car and headed down to the water’s edge, noting how cold it was, temperatures of minus 1 to minus 3 Celsius were shown on the temperature gauge in the car, a good job that I had a hat and gloves in my bag.
I found a composition looking down the lake using the valley sides as the leading line towards the end of the lake with the reeds in front of me as the foreground interest. The main aspect of the photo was to be the light and mist within the image, I quickly took a test shot to check for focus, sharpness, and composition, made a couple of minor adjustments then waited for the ideal moment as the sun continued its path over the horizon in the eastern sky.
I took several photos of the scene with a couple of minutes between each shot, by doing this I hoped to get a photo of the optimal conditions.
From this location, I then took a couple of panoramic images, one looking down the lake but including more of the valley walls and mists, another of the fells on the opposite side of the lake as these were bathed in mist at low level and higher up the fells.
Concision of the time, I had been here for about 40 minutes or so, I packed up and headed back to the car with the aim of getting to the Bluebells before the light became too harsh.
Has I dropped into the valley towards Grasmere, the views were amazing, again has I passed by Grasmere lake the mist on the water’s surface and dawn light caused me to again decide what to do, stop or continue on, I decided to continue to the woods, but just around the corner I came to Rydal Water, what a view, ideal conditions to stop and capture the scenes across the lake, mist, light, reflections, just ideal. I again played devil’s advocate with myself, stop, or continue, I did slow down and nearly pulled into a parking place. The final thought was that I have some reasonable photos of Rydal Water, but not many good photos of Bluebells, hence I decide to continue.
I turned into the Langdale valley and kept a look out for my parking place from where I would hike up into the woods to view the Bluebells, then a schoolboy error, I missed the parking place, and soon came to the junction in the road at Skelwith Bridge where I could turn around to retrace my route back to the parking place. For some reason I got thinking of what the conditions would be like on the River Brathay which is only a 10-minute walk from here, the river is a hot spot for misty conditions and at this time of year the rising sun creates some extraordinary conditions. Again, make you mind up time, a no brainier, the car was soon parked, gear sorted and I was on my way along the path alongside the River Brathay towards Elterwater. As I exited the wooded part of the path and came to the open meadow, the conditions that met me were amazing, thick, ice-cold mist which reduced the viewing distance to about 100 meters or so, I knew that has the sun rose over the hills and warmed up the area, the mist would lift a little and hopefully provide some exquisite conditions.
I walked towards a tree on the far bank of the river, the mist and light creating a surreal view, i quickly set up the camera, changed the lens to my 16 - 35 mm and set about getting a photo of it., from here I walked along the footpath towards a point where you can look back along the river bank and a copes of trees which normally catch the light form the sun has it rises over the hills. At this point I saw that there were three other photographers already on location, being conscious of not to encroach into their shots I checked with them, as this was OK I set up for the shots that I wanted. The conditions were the best that I had ever come across here, simply stunning. A moved around the area changing my compositions as I went and trying to pick out some of the smaller detail in the vista in front of me. Time simply whizzed by, and has the last of the mists dissipated and the light became a touch too harsh, I had a brief conversation with the other photographers discussing our plans for the morning, other locations we planned to visit etc.
During this conversation I was told that in a few locations the Bluebells were not quite at their best just yet, probably due to the very dry weather we have had recently. This got me thinking would it be worth the trek up the fell or not. As I was here and I had to drive past the place, I might has well pay a visit to the woods to see what the Bluebells looked like.
I found the parking place that I missed earlier in the morning, and set off up the fell, early indications looked favourable as there were large clusters of Bluebells on view, and I knew that further up the hill was where the main beds of Bluebells were. As I turned the corner towards what i expected to be a sea of blue-coloured flowers, I was disappointing to see that the Bluebells were not at full bloom, yes there were patches of deep blue coloured areas, but it was obvious that it would be another week or two before the flowers would be at full bloom. Not to worry, it is what it is, and if possible, I will return in a week or so, but this may not happen due to pre-arranged plans and family commitments. So, I scoured the area looking for any compositions that interested me, being incredibly careful not to tread on any of the flowers as they are a protected species, and if any are trampled on, they will not re-flower again.
I spent about a hour walking up and down the woods, and would probably have two or three "keepers" from the photos that I took, the harsh bright light of mid-morning was not helping, but this was my own making by diverting the River Brathay earlier on.
Once back at the car, I had a coffee along with a bite to eat before heading for home, from what had been a profitable and rewarding mornings work.
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