Peak Sunset (March 2022)

The aim of trip to the Peak District was two-fold: plein-air artwork on Stanage Edge and golden hour photography on Higger Tor. 

The first was achieved, although the results are a work-in-progress. Watercolour painting outdoors is challenging and the Peak District landscape is hard enough to photograph let alone paint! More practice is needed. 

The photography was somewhat hampered by the subdued sunlight particularly towards sunset. There was a haziness which dampened the golden hour light and the resulting photographs. However, right at the end of the day these conditions worked in my favour as the sun turned into a golden globe in the sky and two people standing on Callow Bank added scale to the compositions:

These were some of the shots form earlier in the day:

Also taken were a few intimate landscapes and rock studies. These are part of a long running collection of alternative Peak District photographs, something different to the standard landscape views:

Curbar Fog

Interesting conditions for photography on Curbar Edge in January with a thick fog reducing the visibility to the immediate surroundings. As I walked along the edge different shapes emerged from the gloom, simplified by the lack of background details. Trees stood in isolation, some of their sharpness diffused by the conditions. 

From a photographic point of view it was one of those days without a stand out image, the general dullness prevented this. Collectively though, the results do unify into a themed panel where the sum is perhaps greater than its parts. Either way, I enjoyed the walk, the conditions and a different photographic challenge.

Golden Hour on Curbar Edge

January saw two very different visits to Cubar Edge, one fine sunset and another in a thick mist. The misty shots will be posted shortly but these are a small selection of golden hour scenes including some intimate compositions which contrast the warm colours of the sunlight with the coldness of the gritstone in the shadows:

Peak District (September 2021)

September saw a return to the Peak District, the first visit in more than 18months. It was an opportunity to re-engage with an area that I know well from past photography, a location that I enjoy for the open views, the tall gritstone edges and the rugged moorland:

After a walk along Stanage Edge my attention turned to the main event, golden hour photography on Higger Tor. It is a time when the setting sun paints the landscape with low warming rays, tracing the shapes of the rocks, whilst shadows lengthen and creep towards the night…a landscaper’s delight captured with an enthusiasm that reminded me of my first visits to the Peaks many years ago…