Pendle Hill bathed in molten gold
I had a visitor to my stall the other day ask me if I had any shots of Pendle Hill. This shot is the only one I have and I didn’t have it with me at the time. I promised I’d put it up on the blog so she could see it. I also thought I’d tell the story of it, to make a more interesting post.
I’ve written before about being in the right place, at the right time, in the right weather. This was one of those days. I think maybe only one photography trip in five leaves me with top quality shots. From the other four I’ll have pictures to show on the blog but not my best. But that fifth trip makes it worthwhile. That’s the day when the place and the weather and the light come together. Then you’ll come away with treasure.
The picture below is currently my best selling scene. It was taken in the morning of the same day I took the Pendle Hill shot.
The place is a track that leads from the minor road at Howgill, in lower Wharfedale, up to Simon’s Seat. The weather was perfect, cold and still, with frost still on the ground where the sun hadn’t yet touched it.
I went on to take a number of really good shots that day. One of the final ones was this one, below. I still remember I had to stand around for some time in the freezing cold waiting for the sun to go down. My patience was rewarded and the moorland grass was lit up with golden light.
But the very final shot of the day was Pendle Hill. As the sun neared the horizon the sky in that area turned burning orange. I used the longest lens I had, a 70-200mm, to zoom in to Pendle Hill, narrowing the view to just the orangest part of the scene.
There are many other examples in my portfolios of groups of pictures all taken on the same day, when everything comes together.
And if you’re wondering why I didn’t have this shot with me at the stall when I was asked for it – I just forgot! It used to be a popular picture but I think after the last time I sold a copy I just forgot to make another.