Buttermere Rain - Again

OK, so it rained all day yesterday, through the night and it was still going strong when I left today. In fact the rain only stopped once I reached Lancaster and I thought that was the wettest town in England!  Of course now I am back in Bristol the sun is shining and we have blue skies!  Ho, hum.

Another trip to the Lakes is already in the planning but it will be once the weather has dried somewhat.

On the television news this evening it was announced that April was the wettest on record! O, and that the drought order in Yorkshire and Western England is to be lifted as the reservoirs now have water again…

Buttermere Rain

The UK is officially in drought at the moment although you would never know it looking at the weather in the Lakes today.  The hills have almost completely disappeared behind a smothering blanket of rain.  White lines formed by raging streams scar the hills and are causing flooding when they reach the valley floor.

Brave folk abound though.  A quick excursion from the hotel this afternoon to the slate mine at Honister saw several people walking and cycling – I guess you can only get so wet!  But its not weather for photography – stunning light there is not.

As a result of the dark and wet conditions outdoor photography has been replaced today with Peroni from the hotel bar.

Buttermere Dawn

The alarm went off at 06:00 hrs today as it has the last few days, but today the sky was pretty clear and after a quick peek through the curtains it was obvious there would be some nice light.  Buttermere is about 5 minutes drive from the hotel, so it made the perfect location.   I’ve been to Buttermere several times across the seasons and each time good images have been obtained.  Today was no exception.  Each time I visit there is a large tree branch lying on the beach pointing at the opposite bank.  Coincidence?  Not sure, but I’m a little suspicious!  Perhaps its done just to please photographers!  Anyhow, that branch makes the image in today’s post.

Whilst scouting photography locations over the last couple of days it has become obvious that lambs are much younger here than their Southern kin.  So, for a short time today I got distracted by bouncy ‘skippies’.  They are wonderfully cute, jumping and playing with each other.  How they turn into slow, clumsy sheep I do not know.

But by early afternoon the light was starting to fail as grey clouds gradually built in from the South forcing a premature end to the photography.   Tomorrow the forecast is for rain.  We shall see.

Buttermere Sunset

OK, so today the weather did not do quite what was forecast!  Lots of heavy rain showers separated with fleeting sunshine.  It was a day that started in Buttermere, included travel over the Hardknott and Wrynose Pass then through the Langdales, Keswick and back to Buttermere!

All that travel did result in some reasonable spells of sunshine from, of course, wonderful photogenic locations and some nice images.  On  arriving back at the hotel the sun was shining and there was blue sky!

After dinner I went to the Southern end of Crummock Water hoping to get some eveing light but a thick patch of cloud sat in-front of the sun and showed little signs of moving.  After sunset and on the way back to the hotel I thought I would just try the Eastern end of Buttermere.  This turned out to be an excellent idea as the setting sun turned the sky a wonderful shade of pink/orange.

Weather forecast for tomorrow morning is OK but the late afternoon/evening will bring heavy rain.  O’dear…

Buttermere

So, this post is a day late but last night the weather was nice and it would have been wrong to sit in the hotel writing this blog.
 
This picture was taken at Buttermere, a lake that I’ve visited maybe twice before and each time come away with some great images.  By the time I arrived the shadows were getting pretty long and the sun was lighting only one side of the hills.  Keeping my shadow out of the image was fun and for the most part accomplished successfully.  However, look closely and you will see something that is not quite right!  Note to self:    Arrive early…

Jaunty Tree near Keskadale Beck

Some of the best weather experienced in England during 2010 and 2011 occured during the month of May.  Hopeful that this would be the case in 2012 I’ve come to the English Lake District.  So far though its been a bit damp but the weather forecast is for better weather over the next few days.

This tree, leaning at a jaunty angle, was near Keskadale Beck.  The small image does not really do justice to the the scence but the colours were great.

Hoping for better light tomorrow….

Andrew

Unfortunetly I know nothing about the photographer or the image but have no reason to think its been ‘modified’.  It is well constructed, framed and certainly captures a moment when mother nature was having a wild day!  Images such as this certainly contain what I look for in an image – the Wow factor.

Click Here and be amazed!

Andrew

Elan Valley, Wales

Since February I had a plan to visit one of the prettiest places in the UK. The Elan Valley is situated approximetly six kilometers West of Rhayader in mid Wales.

Towards the end of Queen Victoria’s reign, five large reservoir’s were constructed in the valley to provide water to the English city of Birmingham.  Today, the unspoilt hills surrounding the area make a magnificent backdrop to the the reservoirs.

Coinciding with my visit was a gloriously warm sunny time which made exploring the area very enjoyable.  It also meant there was no need to rush photography as conditions were very stable.  A little dissapointing was the amount of haze which resulted in a loss of detail and greyness in the big landscape images.  (See above).

Having just aquired a Carl Zeiss 21mm Distagon I was keen to see how it performed.  The image above and practically all images were taken used the Zeiss and it seems to be very good.  Time will tell, as I process the images over the coming days.

Uphill Sunset

This weekend I’ve been testing my new Carl Zeiss 21mm T* Distagon lens and it’s been an interesting experience.

Focusing accurately is very hard using the focusing screen supplied as standard with the EOS 5D MK II.  So hard in fact, switching to Liveview, zooming into the area selected for focus and then adjusting the lens is about the most reliable method.

Another method giving comparable results to Liveview is to use camera assisted focusing and let the camera ‘beep’ and show its little green ball when it thinks focus is achieved. The trick with my camera is to adjust focus in the direction from closest to infinity and when the camera signals focus, adjust the focus in the other direction a small amount to the point just before the camera signals loss of focus.  Its then in focus!

So, precise manual focusing is difficult, but fortunately I won’t need to be that accurate shooting landscapes.  Of course, using a smaller aperture helps a lot too

This afternoon the weather cleared and I decided to head over to the coast and capture a few images using the new lens.  After a quick look I’m pretty impressed, they are certainly sharp and the colours seem natural.  There does, however, appear to be some distortion an example of which is the church tower.  Its right-hand side should be vertical but appears to lean to the right a little.

Over the coming week I should get a chance to look at the image set captured in more detail.

Andrew