During a very grey and largely wet Christmas week staying in the Lake District we did have one beautiful day which just happened to be Christmas day. Instead of opening presents and pigging out on chocolates and roast dinner we got up early and did a wonderful walk up Coniston Old Man and around to Dow Crag. As well as being a lovely mountain walk I had some good winter light to get some nice shots. We took the main path in ascent, which despite being a constructed stone path

This is positively the last set of shots currently in my catalogue from Holme Fell. It was such a beautiful autumn afternoon that I couldn’t resist. Setting the white balance of the pictures is interesting when the light is like this. The sunset was very purple/orange and you’d think we would try and keep that colour in the shot – that’s why we shoot at sunset, isn’t it? But I find that a very strong sunset colour cast can flatten the picture. You can see this effect yourself

Finally deciding it was time to move on from my obsession with Holme Fell I tried a new area for the first time. Driving north alongside Coniston Water in the Lake District I had several times thought it was worth a look and today was the day. Just to have a look. The weather wasn’t promising and I didn’t know the area well. Initially I wasn’t hooked and the day was very grey. I put the camera (the Olympus, with its electronic viewfinder) into one of its art/scene modes – “Ge

Langdale Pikes This was the first day’s shooting with my new Panasonic lens for my Olympus OMD-EM10 and I was excited by it. Also the first time I’ve been able to try using my Lee neutral density graduated filters with the Olympus and I was interested to see how that would work ( here’s how it worked) . The weather turned out fantastically well and I went back to my current-favourite place – Holme Fell again. I hope you’re not bored with shots of the Langdale Pikes and Fairfi

Here are a few more shots from Holme Fell, the location I’ve been visiting so much recently. I’ve been asked to give a talk to a local natural history society (they’re booking well in advance – this is scheduled for February 2021!). For my subject I’ve decided to talk about how our supposedly natural landscapes are actually man-made. This was prompted by a TV programme I saw recently about some part of the countryside where a woman was asked why she helped out with the local

I’m still catching up processing the shots of Holme Fell I’ve been taking over the last few weeks. The autumn colour is now largely gone and we’re getting into winter scenery but in these shots there is still plenty of orange and gold. On this trip I started at the quarry. There is a lookout on the edge of all things with a great view of the Langdale Pikes, those hills of unmistakable shape. Then I explored upwards, going out onto the open fell for more spectacular views. Thi

In Holme Fell part one I wrote about finding this fantastic location between Ambleside and Coniston. Two days after that visit I went again, drawn by the fantastic autumn colours and beautiful views. I wasn’t disappointed. There is a huge quarry there worked for two hundred years for slate. Long abandoned, the quarry is now being taken over by nature and is a paradise of wonderful trees. The exposed rock and, strangely, the old slate spoil heaps add a really nice contrast of

Lingmoor Fell and Bowfell I’ve been all around this area of the Lake District for many years and thought I knew it well but there is a square mile in the middle that I’ve overlooked and turns out to contain treasure. The only other time I visited Holme Fell was in summer some years ago and it was a wilderness of ankle-breaking rocks and chest high bracken. The weather and light weren’t encouraging that day and I never went back. I’ve seen a number of shots from other photogra

Tarn Hows is one of the most beautiful lakes in an area renowned for beautiful lakes – the Lake District. In the Lake District there are Lakes (e.g. Bassenthwaite Lake), Waters (e.g. Coniston Water) and Tarns (e.g. Angle Tarn, Sprinkling Tarn). Tarn Hows is, presumably then, a tarn – don’t ask me the difference. From the small knoll at its side you can see Wetherlam, the Langdale Pikes and the Fairfield/Helvellyn range. It is also surrounded by very colourful trees, making it

I wrote last week about my overnight wild camp to Eskdale and the wonderful viewpoint of Border End. The evening before had been good but with the sun setting behind the Scafell range leaving it in dark shadow I had been really looking forward to a good sunrise. The south-eastern face of the Scafells looking over upper Eskdale is a magnificent sight of rocky crags. I really wanted to get some shots of this view in good light. Getting up out of my bag at 4am I hoped for a good

A mountain wild camp made easy. An overnight trip sleeping out on top of Border End in the Lake District with magnificent views of Eskdale, the Scafells and the Duddon Valley but with little in the way of effort – apart from negotiating traffic on the switchbacks of Hardknott pass. The best views of Scafell are to be had from lower Eskdale. This has the big advantage of letting you park several hundred metres above sea level and saving a lot of leg work to get to your chosen

From Kings How looking south I did my first wild camp of the year a few days ago, in the Lake District. The intention was to camp on one of the hill tops above Honister Pass, where I hoped to get a great view of both Derwentwater and Buttermere as well as a grand panorama of big hills. The weather intervened and a gale on my chosen hill meant I could barely stand up and I certainly wouldn’t be staying the night there. I walked back to the car and down the valley towards Rosth

I had a washed out day yesterday in the Lake District. I expected some light drizzle but it was just too much. You should never give up hope though and and never presuppose where the scenes will appear. I saw this shot as I was nearing the car, wet and muddy. I could barely see through the viewfinder because it was misted up so I’m happy with the composition. #cumbria #landscape #photography

I did a walk on wednesday starting at Castlerigg Stone Circle, near Keswick in the Lake District. The weather was perfect for walking – blue skies and sunshine – but completely uninspiring for photography, especially with hazy air. I gave up any idea of taking good shots so thought I’d try something different. I set the camera to record JPEG only and tried a variety of art effects that the Olympus provides. The idea was to constrain my choices and live with the results, good

Visiting the northern Lake District I’d intended to walk round the bottom end of Derwentwater but the lake had other ideas. Heavy rain had raised the level and the paths and fields were now under water. So I tried the other way and walked to the top of the classic climbing crag of Shepherd’s Crag. There I found both fantastic views and beautifully photogenic birch trees. There is a famous beauty spot barely a mile away, known as Surprise View. This has good views over the lak

This is a classic circuit of the hills above Coniston. Up to the Old Man of Coniston, around the head of the valley to Dow Crag, along the ridge and back along the Walna Scar road. A change in character from last week’s route, the snow was nearly all gone and replaced by ice and frozen turf. www.plotaroute.com/route/755122 7 miles, 800 metres ascent, 6 hours Another perfect weather forecast, sunny, cold and only a light wind. You can cut a big chunk of ascent from this route

The High Street range from St Sunday Crag Nowadays it isn’t often that you get so much snow in the Lake District. Add in clear blue sky and no wind and you have a perfect mountain day. View route on plotaroute.com 7.4 miles, 730 metres ascent, 6 hours. I did a circuit from the Brotherswater car park along Deepdale and then up what could be called St. Sunday Crag’s east ridge. This goes steeply up until the minor top of Gavel Pike and then easily for a few hundred metres to St

I made this trip nearly three years ago but the shots have languished in the catalogue ever since, untouched and unloved. The day was far too bright and in colour the shots just didn’t work. I found them again and realised that black and white would work much better, so here are the results. The location is the southern end of Coniston Water, in the Lake District. Most of the views are towards Dow Crag and the Old Man of Coniston, with the Fairfield range in the far distance

Duddon Valley Ulpha is a small Cumbrian village in the heart of the Duddon Valley. This is a little-explored part of the Lake District. Far from the major centres and without any major peaks but it’s one of my favourite places, full of scenic beauty. On a fine day you can see many major summits in the distance. This wasn’t a fine day but occasional gaps in the clouds showed some fine pointed hills. You can walk here all day without seeing any other walkers. The hills on the e

Grey Christmas We spent the Christmas week this year in Cumbria, in a rented cottage in a little village called Brigsteer. This is near Kendal but outside the national park boundary so much quieter than the honeypots. Apart from Christmas Eve the whole week was very grey and misty. We counted ourselves lucky. Cumbria in December could quite easily bucket with rain all week. As it was we were able to walk every day. The greyness, not surprisingly, made me think of black and wh