Win Hill - Photography Week 11 (2017)

Win Hill in the Peak District has fantastic 360 degree views of the Dark Peak area. It can be accessed by crossing the dam wall at Ladybower Reservoir and taking the shorter but steeper route up Parkin Clough or the more gentle climb on the paths around Winhill Barn.

On the summit, there are many landscape opportunities, however, the sun's angle can be restrictive. At this time of year sun sets broadly in line with the Edale Valley which makes it hard to get shadows of the tripod legs (and the photographer) out of the camera's field of vision for many of the compositions, particularly when using a wide angle lens (1).

Narrowing the camera's field of vision with a longer lens (or focal length) is an obvious solution, switching from a landscape to portrait format is another, and the option I often employ; waiting for the sun to drop low enough in the sky to hide the tripod in the natural shadows that form at this time of day.

With plenty of time, clear skies, and little chance of losing the light early, I used a combination of those options. These were some of the wide angle compositions both landscape and portrait:

Whilst waiting for the sun to drop, I did switch to a longer lens picking out some of the landmarks around Win Hill including the Ladybower Viaduct and smoke from controlled moorland burning on the hill above. Zooming in it was possible to see the areas that have been burned as part of moorland management:

The following image shows Bamford Edge on the opposite side of the valley and a distant view of Stanage Edge and Higger Tor.

Two images zooming right in on Stanage Edge (not critically sharp) and across to Bamford Moor and High Neb (including more patches of burned moorland):

On top of Win Hill is a trig point with a view of Bamford and the Hope Valley:

Looking into the light is Lose Hill with Kinder Scout in the background:

In a northerly direction is Ladybower reservoir and the Derwent Aqueduct:

There is also a view of Crook Hill and the path up to the Wheel Stones on Derwent Edge (2) :

Completing the 360 is another view of the Ladybower Viaduct:

(1) With experience of the terrain it is possible to use tools like The Photographer's Ephemeris to plan the best time of year to visit locations like Win Hill. For example, the sunsets at approximately 268 degrees in mid-March and 313 degrees by the Summer solstice. I would guess that late May or June would be a better time to capture a side-lighting angle for many of the compositions in this post.

(2) Photographs from the path leading to the Wheel Stones and the Salt Cellar on Derwent Edge can be seen in a post from last year

The Salt Cellar - Photography Week 21 (2016)

For the first time in a number of years I made a trip up to Derwent Edge with the aim of getting as far as a rock known as the Salt Cellar.

Derwent Edge runs across Derwent Moor on a footpath maintained by the National Trust. It can be accessed at one end from Ladybower Reservoir or from the car park at Fairholmes (near the Derwent Dam). To provide context, the following set of images shows the path along the edge looking down to Ladybower, Ashopton viaduct, and the Derwent aqueduct:

The last time I was on the Derwent Edge I got as far as Whinstone Lee Tor and I repeated one of the compositions looking towards Fairholmes:

In the other direction there is a panoramic view across Moscar Moor to the distant Stanage Edge. In the mid-distance is the summit of Bamford Moor and Bamford Edge:

The next stop was the Wheel Stones, also known as the Coach and Horses. Apparently the stones resemble a coach and horses when viewed in profile (see the second image below):

The name wheel stones presumably relates to the round layered nature of the rocks. This type of gritstone formation is common in this part of the Peak District. The abbreviated explanation for these layers starts 300 million years ago when the area was under the sea. Successive tides or floods deposited sand which was buried and turned into rock through pressure and chemical change. The forces of erosion have then left some wonderfully shaped exposures of gritstone including the one known as the Salt Cellar:

Getting lucky with the conditions is all part of landscape photography and sun combined with a heavy sky produced the best shot of the day:

Odd moments of sunlight gave opportunities to pick out some details in the valley below the Salt Cellar: