Langdale, The Lake District

Too often you hear of walkers who set off based upon the conditions in the Valley, unprepared and unskilled for what lies in wait above. If walking in winter is something that interests you then I’d really recommend taking a winter walking course. There’s plenty around and afterwards you’ll be able to enjoy yourself and tackle routes safely.

In this blog I’ll hopefully give you an idea of the conditions you can encounter and the experiences that they can bring.

From a photography perspective, winter walking adds an extra dimension – with a rucksack already loaded with extra kit (crampons, ice axe, extra clothing, extra food, ski googles and an emergency shelter), carrying a huge weight of camera kit is only for the extremely committed. Perfect conditions for the Fuji-X Pro2 though – lightweight, weather sealed, a great selection of lenses and superb image quality. All the boxes you’re looking to tick for a grand day out.

Pike of Stickle in Winter, Langdale

I’d chosen to climb Bowfell in Langdale via The Band – a route that I’m familiar with from past trips and one that I know has some great views. Keeping my camera kit lightweight I was travelling with just the X-Pro2 and the 18-55mm lens. A versatile zoom range, great quality and image stabilisation makes this a favourite lens of mine for lightweight trips. It’s not weather sealed, but with snow rather than rain on the forecast I was pretty relaxed in my choice.

How to best to carry your gear is an eternal question for photographers. I’m sure I’m not alone in having a number of different rucksacks and bags. My preferred choice for this sort of day is without doubt the Mindshift Rotation 180 Horizon. This is the 34l bag in a series of bags that has a unique swivelling compartment at the bottom of the rucksack.

Without having to remove your ruckscake this can be released and swung around to the front of your body for instant access to your camera. It works brilliantly in action, and is perfect for days when the weather or the walk means that you don’t want the camera hung around your neck all day.

Mindshift Rotation 180 Horizon (Image from Mindshift)

The Horizon backback also has plenty of storage for the rest of your kit, external pockets, attachment points for tripods and ice axes and space for water. It’s just a great bag that makes combining walking and photography so much easier. Highly recommended!

My initial climb up The Band soon put me above the snow-line, with some lovely views across to Pike of Blisco, with the Coniston Range in the background.

Pike of Blisco, Langdale

I’d set off pretty early from the car park, so was surprised to meet a fellow walker already on his descent. ‘What’s it like on top?’ I asked.

The response was short and to the point: ‘Horrific’.

Perhaps not the ideal answer most folk are looking for, but actually one that made me smile. For me the whole point of walking in winter on the fells and mountains is to challenge myself. A routine walk to the top would be great, but in truth I always have much more fun when I feel I’ve been challenged by the elements and come out on top.

Those are the days that get remembered and often the ones where I feel I capture images that convey a better sense of emotion.

It soon became apparent that the weather was indeed deteriorating. Pretty quickly I was up to the col at Three Tarns, entering cloud and encountering vicious wind, deep powder and spindrift that stung the face.

Donning ski googles I began my ascent towards the summit of Bowfell. Visibility was not much above 10m by this point, and it was only my prior knowledge of the route that was giving me the confidence to continue. Slogging through loose snow, that was sometimes over 1m deep, was really tiring on the legs and after the steepest section was over I decided to stop for the first half of my lunch.

Sharing Lunch with a Raven

Above the howl of the wind I heard the deeper, guttural call of a Raven – from nowhere a black shadow appeared through the mist and settled on the snow next to me. In such weather it would have been cold-hearted not to share some food, and so we sat cautiously near each other sharing some crisps and a sandwich. Comrades on the mountain in the depths of winter.

With fresh energy in my legs I set off in what I knew was the approximate direction of the summit. Hopes for much more photography had dwindled by this point, and indeed when I arrived at the summit rocks there wasn’t much more to do than hunker down from the wind and acknowledge the moment.

But then I began to sense a small change. Not much at first, but slowly visibility began to improve. Where once there was only grey, a hint of colour and tone began to appear. Pulling my spare jacket from my rucksack I decided to hang around a while longer and see what happened.

Summit Rocks, Bowfell

With little warning the weather suddenly began to lift from the summit. A sliver of sunlight pierced through the cloud illuminating the rocks that had been sheltering me.

A while later, and with a spring in my step I then began my descent back the way I had come. Where there had once only been a veil of snow and wind there was now a world beyond. This is what defines winter walking for me – those moments when beauty emerges from nothing, revealing a world of inspiration and light.

View to Eskdale, From Bowfell

Much as I love shooting with primes, and have previously spent several years shooting only with a Fuji X100T, the versatility of a zoom can be really useful in these conditions. Changing lenses in spindrift isn’t really the sensible thing to do, and having some flexibility of focal length in such changing conditions is worth the small drop in ultimate image quality.

Descending to Three Tarns, Bowfell

Although the cloud was now beginning to lift, the persistent wind remained, and I was able to capture some images of the snow being lifted from the surface of the fells and propelled into the void of the valley beyond.

Descent from Bowfell, Lake District

Taking photo in tricky conditions is always about compromises. Obviously there’s an ideal combination of shutter speed, aperture and ISO for any given shot, but you’re not always going to be able to meet all three. The performance of the sensor on the FujiX camera (and most modern cameras), is such that my general rule is to compromise ISO first, then aperture, and finally shutter speed.

An unintentionally blurry photo is never going to work, whereas a photo that is sharp, but perhaps a little noisier or with a reduced depth of field still has good potential. I really like the XTransII sensor in this regard, as any noise as such a natural feel to it.

Spindrift, Bowfell

Returning back down The Band and into the valleys below felt like returning from another world, but there were still views to be had.

With the summits now clear, and seemingly benign, I could look back at them – knowing that they would still be there when I returned again; a fresh adventure to be had, and fresh memories to be made.

Fields in Langdale, The Lake District

The Langdale Pikes in Winter, Lake District

Thanks for reading, and I hope this give a bit of insight into why walking the fells in winter is such a soul cleansing experience – a break from modern life that leaves you refreshed and re-energised.

Andrew.

Some photos below from a stunning evening of photography on the night of the Harvest Moon. In truth I almost gave up and went home when I got to Lytham – but so glad I didn’t! Fortune favours the brave as they say!

These will all be available for prints shortly.

Harvest Moon Rising Over Lytham Windmill

Lytham Windmill Night Photo

Lytham Windmill and the Setting Sun

Lytham Yacht Club Sunset

Thanks for looking,

Andrew.

There have also been a few other minor tweaks to the website over the last few weeks – some that will help improve the appearance and the flow, but also some background tweaks to update plugins and improve the SEO for parts of the site.

There will be some new prints available for Lake District in the next few weeks as well – look out for a blog post when they’re up and online.

The new photos are shown below – click through each photo if you’re interested in finding out more or purchasing.

Lytham Jetty At Sunset in Lancashire

Fairhaven Lake, Lytham St Annes

Lytham Windmill, Lancashire

St Annes Beach Huts

St Annes Pier Black And White

End of St Annes Pier

Thanks for looking,

Andrew.

My fine art prints are currently done by myself in-house, and this isn’t something I intend to change. Having the ultimate control over the process remains of crucial importance to me for these prints. However customers are often interested in other print mediums, such as acrylic, Alu-Dibond, foam-board etc. These aren’t something I can do myself, so this was an ideal opportunity to look at Saal Digital’s options, with the possibility of then adding to my offering.

Earlier in the year I had picked up a sample pack from Saal Digital showing the different wall décor products they offer. Each has a slightly different look and feel, as you would expect.

Saal Digital Wall Decor Options

After some deliberation I decided to go for the Alu-Dibond finish at 60cm x 40cm. In main because this wasn’t something I’d really looked at closely before, and I was interested to see how the matte finish helped minimise reflections from window light. In terms of the photo I selected the image below, taken in St Annes in Lancashire. This wooden structure on the beach used to form part of the old pier, which was damaged by fire in 1976. It makes a great photographic subject, this image being taken with the Fuji X-Pro2 and 14mm lens, combined with a Lee Filters Big Stopper.

St Annes Pier Structure, Lancashire

I’ll caveat this review from the start – Saal Digital kindly provided me with an online voucher to use in return for this write-up. However, I remain free to voice my own opinions in this review.

There are so many online print services around now and for me it’s not just about the final product, but the rest of the process as well – from preparing your file, uploading and selecting print options, though to delivery. This review is therefore split into sections covering each part of that process.

Image Preparation

It’s true that many people will simply upload a jpeg straight from a memory card and be happy with whatever they get. However, for the discerning amongst us there’s much more to do; processing the raw file, soft-proofing against a known profile and then sizing the output file appropriately, knowing which areas of the image could be lost due to bleed.

Saal Digital really excel here – from the website you can download ICC profiles for all of their products and you even get a table telling you which rendering intent you should use when soft-proofing and whether you should use black-point compensation and paper simulation. Having this information really helps to ensure that the colours you see on the screen will match your end print. I run with a calibrated monitor, and I have to say the end result matched as accurately as I could hope with my soft-proof.

You also get superb information to help you size the output file. The website offers a ‘professional zone‘ which lists exact image dimensions for each of their output sizes together with the expected bleed. Another big thumbs up here, helping ensure any important detail at the edges of your image doesn’t go missing.

File Upload

Saal-Digital provide two options for getting your image to them – you can either download their Windows software or you can upload your files directly. I can’t comment on the software, as I opted for the 2nd solution and uploaded my file directly. This went very smoothly and I was guided through the process step-by-step until I was ready to submit my order. Shipping prices didn’t get added until pretty near the end, which could cause an unexpected surprise, but about £6 for UK shipping seems reasonable. When I looked again the shipping costs are also available on the pricing page, but in my case had scrolled off the bottom of the screen.

Delivery

Not much to say here! Delivery was via DHL and came with a tracking number. Shipping started the day after my order, and coming from their processing centre in Germany took 4 days to arrive. Packaging was very robust and sufficient to ensure that damage was very unlikely to occur during transit.

The Final Product

From the above, it’s obvious that Saal Digital are doing a good job on their website and ordering process, but what about the final quality?

I have to say I was delighted. Even with close inspection I couldn’t find a single flaw in either the print or the Alu-Dibond backing. Colours were also very close to what I was expecting from the soft-proof. I will say that the matte finish of the Alu-Dibond product isn’t as vivid and contrasty as something like Acrylic Glass but I already knew this from the soft-proof and this is something that is just inherent in the finish.

I opted for the standard mounting set, which consists of 2 aluminium mounting plates with a secure self-adhesive backing. The mounting set also comes with two self-adhesive rubber spacers to help ensure the picture hangs parallel to the wall.

Rubber Spacers Providing Straight Finish

The finish and the mounting combined to give an excellent result, which looks every inch a professional high-quality product.

Conclusions

You’ll realise from the above that I’ve been more than happy with both the service and the final product, but the real question is would I use them again? Well to that the answer is almost certainly a resounding yes. Saal Digital are competitively priced against similar competition and certainly for the product I chose are offering a high quality product.

If you’re a photographer selling on to your own customers then Saal Digital also offer a 10% discount, which rises as your turnover with them increases. Can’t ask for more than that, and over the coming months I’ll be seriously thinking about adding them to the product offering on my site – so watch this space!

Thanks for reading, Andrew.

To be clear from the start – this is not the ideal combination for close-ups of planes zooming across the sky. Nothing wrong with the camera or the lens – they’re both stunning – but the inescapable fact is that 90mm is simply not long enough for close-ups of planes flying in the distance. If you’re looking for shots like that then really something like the 100-400mm would be ideal.

Seagull, Blackpool

As the crowds gathered at Blackpool (and gather they do on a sunny day!) , I was quite happy testing the auto-focus tracking on obliging gulls and looking back towards the Pleasure Beach and its imposing roller coaster.

Blackpool Seafront and Pleasure Beach

In hindsight I hadn’t really thought too much about the limitations which a 90mm focal length would present, and within a few minutes of the display starting I was feeling a bit disappointed. Reviewing my images everything looked a little static, lacking any feeling of the amazing maneuvers the planes were performing. Altogether they were underwhelming. I should really have kept some of them as an example, but a lot of them I deleted on the spot – something I hardly ever do and wouldn’t recommend.

It was time to mix things up a bit, and so I decided to switch from the excellent EVF to the OVF and see what I could come up with.

With a 90mm lens this might seem like madness – the frame covering less than 1/3rd of the optical window – but in fact it was a revelation.

With the increased field-of-view I could now see and anticipate the balletic dance of the planes in the sky. As they twisted and turned through their routine, smoke streaming behind, I was able to compose wider shots that captured the grace of their displays.

My 90mm lens was now working with me instead of against.

Aerial Ballet, Blackpool Airshow

This is actually one of the reasons I love prime lenses – they force you to think creatively and come up with solutions to make your shots work. Often with a zoom I find my photography can get a little bit lazy, whereas with a prime there is no hiding place. It’s also one of the reasons I love the form factor of the X-Pro2 (and the X100 series). The rangefinder styling seems to shift me into a different mindset and encourage me to think more before shooting.

Jet Provost, Blackpool Airshow

Relaxed in my new found approach I had a thoroughly enjoyable few hours shooting the various displays. The Typhoon display proved a bit of a challenge, as without any smoke trail it was difficult to find a composition that worked. Fortunately an airliner contrail appeared high up in the distance to provide a bit of added interest to the gleaming metal of Typhoon.

Typhoon, Blackpool Airshow

The pace slowed won a little with the amazing Breitling Wing Walkers display, with a few close approaches to the sea front allowing for a closer in shot, even with the 90mm lens.

Breitling Wingwalkers

A quick word on the 90mm lens – it’s phenomenal.

Even at F2 it is incredibly sharp into the corners of the frame and it doesn’t let up until diffraction starts to take over at higher f-stops. It may lack the focal length flexibility of a zoom, but its relatively lightweight combined with the incredible image quality make it a real winner.

Breitling Wingwalkers

The auto-focus of the X-Pro2 didn’t disappoint either. I used the continuous focus mode with zone focusing. To be honest I would have been surprised if it had struggled though – it was a bright day and the aircraft provided an easy point of contrast against the sky. Seeing the little focus squares shifting around in the OVF was actually quite mesmerising, but in hindsight I could just have easily shot with manual focus. On such a sunny day I was able to shoot at low iso and fast shutter speed with an aperture typically around f5.6. Hyperfocal distance works out somewhere between 50m and 100m, so with the planes at least a few hundred metres away it wouldn’t have been a problem.

Twister Aerobatics Team

As with most UK airshows the Red Arrows provided the finale to the afternoon.

Red Arrows, Apollo Formation

The precision with which they’re able to place their planes in the sky is second to none and gave plenty of further opportunity to anticipate the action with the extended view of the OVF.

Red Arrows, Feathered Arrow Formation

I now carry out all my post-production work in Capture One. Lightroom still has some advantages when it comes to catalog management, with features like Publish Services, but overall I’m preferring the workflow and image quality that I get out of Capture One – particularly with XTrans files from the FujiX cameras. The geography and timing of Blackpool Airshow means that you’re normally working in a strongly back-lit situation. Colours were therefore somewhat muted and so I decided to convert to Black and White. It’s not something that I do that often, but with this series of images I felt it complemented them quite well.

Red Arrows Split

My take-away from the day would be that you shouldn’t ever feel limited by the kit you have with you. If something isn’t working for you then put your thinking cap on and look for a different approach. Not only will you come away more satisfied, but you’ll probably get some images a little different to the norm – and in today’s age where everyone carries a smartphone camera in their pocket that’s no bad thing.

Thanks for reading, and if you have any questions or queries feel free to ask via the comments below.

Andrew.

The Walk

We chose Patterdale as our starting point and set off in an anti-clockwise direction around the lake. Beautiful summer flowers carpeted the meadows of the valley, and in truth it would have been easy to spend several hours taking photographs around here – but with 20 miles still to go this wasn’t an option!

Summer Meadows

The route then makes it way along the eastern shore of the lake, winding in and out of beautiful silver birch woodland. This was a section of path that I am familiar with from past trail runs, but it was nice to be able to take it in at a gentler pace. You get some great views back across the lake towards Glenridding and at this time of year foxgloves were prominent within the bracken.

Looking Across to Glenridding

Silver Birch

Foxgloves

After around 6 miles you reach Howtown, where we had a well deserved rest and snack before heading onward towards the top end of the lake and Pooley Bridge.

This next section of the path climbs gradually upward towards an area known as ‘The Cockpit’ before following an easy track down into Pooley Bridge.

Looking Down the Lake

This is a beautiful section of the route where we were treated to an abundance of wildlife – including 2 Peregrine Falcon circling the crags above, Wheatear, Redstarts, Treecreepers and Sand Martin. You also get some lovely views looking back down towards the southern end of Ullswater.

Fledgling Wheatear

Pooley Bridge makes an ideal place to stop for lunch, and it was an easy decision to treat ourselves to a pint in The Sun inn for good measure. A great beer garden in which to rest weary legs.

One of the great things about the Ullswater Way is that it’s easy to just do part of the route and pick-up an Ullswater Steamer back to your starting point. This makes it great for people who aren’t sure about the whole 20 miles, mixed parties where some only want to do part of the walk or even multi-day adventures. Probably fairly unique for a walk of this distance and a distinct advantage over many other long distance walks.

Sailing Regatta on Ullswater

Getting the steamer back to Glenridding wasn’t for us though, and resisting the temptation of a 2nd pint it was time to get our packs back on.

Crossing the newly installed bridge across the River Eamont, the Ullswater Way then picks up some new paths to initially head slightly away from the lake and towards the hamlet of Bennethead.

This provides a change of scenery as the footpaths wind across fields and farmland, presenting some more distant views of Ullswater and a chance to get close to some sheep and cows.

A More Distant View of Ullswater

A Friendly Sheep

Some Friendly Cows!

After Bennethead the route then picks up a path that heads back towards the lake and the incentive of reaching Aira Force. Winding through forestry en-route you are treated to more fantastic views across Ullswater, although the sight of the steamer making its way serenely across the lake may make you wish that you were sat on-board!

Looking Back Down Ullswater

The Ullswater Steamer

Reaching Aira Force is definitely one of the highlights of the route as the water crashes down the rocks into the river below. I’d carried a tripod all the way around the walk specifically to take a long-exposure shot at Aira Force – an extra weight on my back, but one that I was glad I’d put up with.

Long Exposure of Aira Force

Looking Down on Aira Force

The paths around the falls are well maintained by the National Trust and there is a decent car park and visitor center/cafe. If you’re in the Ullswater area but not able to walk around the lake then this is one location that is easy to visit.

Wishing Tree at Aira Force

We were now on the homeward leg, and the stretch between Aira Force and Patterdale is without doubt the easiest section of the walk – following well surfaced footpaths and a very small section of road walking. As Glenridding came into sight we knew were as good as back. A celebratory pint in the White Lion before walking back to the car.

Glenridding Back in Sight!

Overall the Ullswater Way makes a fantastic day out. The scenery is beautiful, the paths are well way-marked and their are numerous pubs and tea-rooms to provide refreshment en-route. With the option of doing part of the route and then taking the steamer back across the lake it is open to all abilities. What more could you want!

Prints of some of the images above will soon be available from within my galleries, but in the meantime please get in touch if you’re interested.

If you want more information then feel free to comment, and I’d also highly recommend visiting the dedicated website at http://www.ullswater.com/the-ullswater-way/

Equipment

I’ve had a few queries regarding equipment that I’ve used for the photos on this walk. I’ll provide a few pointers below…

I’ve recently switched to a Fuji XPro2, having previously been using exclusively an X100T. I love the X100T, but after a year or so with a fixed focal length I decided it was time to give myself some more lens options again. The Xpro2 deliveres fantastic image quality in a small discrete package. For this walk I took along the 18-55m, 90mm and the 14mm. As it happened all the images on this blog are with either the 18-55mm or the 90mm.

The 14mm is a truly outstanding lens, but it just wasn’t a focal length I happened to use this time around.

I also took along a tripod and some Lee Filters – a couple of grads and the Big Stopper.

I don’t think I’m alone in having more than one camera bag to carry my stuff in! But for hiking I’ve recently picked up a Mindshift Horizon 34L Rucksack. This has been a complete revelation for me, with it’s unique design allowing you to access the camera compartment on the move. As well as making life easier for me, my walking companions also appreciate this – as it significantly reduces the time I’d normally spend faffing around in my bag! With room for plenty for hiking kit as well as camera kit it’s my favourite bag at the moment.

Most of the images above were taken as grab-shots on the go. I’d have loved to have spent 20 minutes setting up every shot, but with 20 miles to cover and 2 walking companions this simply wasn’t going to happen. A compromise I was happy to make in the circumstances.

In terms of processing all the above images have been processed in Capture One. Lightroom is obviously the most popular choice nowadays, but when push comes to shove Capture One, in my opinion, simply delivers a better quality file – particularly with the XTrans sensor.

Any other equipment questions, then feel free to ask via the comments or social media!

Thanks for reading,

Andrew.

Duckling, Martin Mere

Although I’ve taken a fair few close-up wildlife shots at Martin Mere, it’s still not really ‘my thing’ and instead I have always wandered the reserve looking for opportunities to shoot landscapes and wildlife in context. What follow in this blog are some my favourite captures over the years, with some associated discussion.

In Autumn and Winter one of the things you can never escape from is the sheer abundance of wildlife. The arrival of the pink-footed geese and whooper and bewick swans fill the mere with waterfowl, and looking out of the hides provides quite a sight. Shooting at wide to moderate focal lengths with stopped down aperture fills the frame with wildlife and detail.

A Feast of Wildlife, Martin Mere

Across The Mere, Martin Mere

On snowy and icy days it’s well worth spending some time looking for details on the ground – patterns in the frozen ice and the footprints of the waterfowl give some good opportunities for more abstract shots and compositions.

Footprints in Snow, Martin Mere

Ice Patterns, Martin Mere

Tracks, Martin Mere

Autumn at Martin Mere provides a rich tapestry of warm colours and the opportunity to look for details in woodland areas of the reserve. When working close to your subject in the undergrowth you need to be prepared to either throw the background out of focus or use a tripod to give enough stability to stop the aperture right down and maintain depth of field.

My visits over the last few years have typically been with my young family, and carrying a tripod together with the paraphernalia required to look after toddlers hasn’t really appealed, so in both of the examples below I was happy to exploit a narrow depth of field.

Autumn Leaves, Martin Mere

Woodland Fungi, Martin Mere

The reserve is scattered with various hides, and whilst they are excellent for watching the wildlife they also make for good photographic subjects themselves. As with all things photographic it’s a case of looking for the good light and then using it appropriately. The Harrier Hide is an excellent subject, with some intentional use of lens-flare being used below to add some rich colour. The 2nd shot shows the United Utilities Hide silhouetted against the sky.

Harrier Hide, Martin Mere

Across The Reeds, Martin Mere

If you’re not into long-lens photography then within the reserve there are still some good opportunities for shooting wildlife in context with their surroundings. The flamingos always make a good subject, and even the local flock of pigeons are worth looking for.

Flamingos, Martin Mere

Pigeon Tree, Martin Mere

When the geese and swans leave spring time slowly arrives at Martin Mere. Blossom flowers and hints of new leaves begin to appear across the reserve. The excellent canoe safari normally opens up around Easter and also offers electric boat tours for those not wishing to paddle themselves. Well worth the small fee, a trip out on the water can provide a few alternative view points of the landscape.

Spring Time Blossom, Martin Mere

View from Canoe Safari,. Martin Mere

Reed Beds, Martin Mere

I still look for new opportunities each time we visit, and putting together this blog post has made me realise that we haven’t tended to visit much of the summer – something to rectify this year, with the chance to capture some summer sun. Of course one thing you do have to remember is that Martin Mere is in Lancashire – and that means that despite best endeavours the rain will sometimes thwart your trip – the perfect excuse to head into the cafe for some coffee and cake.

Lancashire Rain, Martin Mere

Thanks for reading,

Andrew.

As you might well expect from the name, the route takes you past many waterfalls – including the impressive Thornton Force. For a photographer it’s a great way to spend a day or an afternoon, with best enjoyment coming from taking along a tripod and some neutral density filters to slow down the shutter speed.

Peeca Force, Ingleton

This first shot was taken at Pecca Force, which is reached not far along the walk. The paths alongside are well maintained with wooden fences, that can help make for a sturdy resting place for a tripod. I was shooting with my trusty Fuji X100T with WCL adaptor attached. The X100T has a useful 3-stop ND built-in, which was activated to help slow down the shutter speed. The log seems to be a relatively new addition to the scene – at least it wasn’t there on my last visit!

Wide View of Thornton Force

Following the well maintained path leads past other waterfalls before eventually bringing you out in front of Thornton Force. At this point I decided to scramble up the hill-side to look for a wider viewpoint of the scene. I like this image, but I think it would look better a bit later in the year with some fresh shoots on the trees and some better light. It’s gone into my notebook as a shot to return to another time!

Thornton Force, Ingleton

Scrambling down to the water’s edge itself I then looked to set myself up for the shot above. Compositionally I was looking to balance the falls with some foreground interest, but also manage the large block on the left of the image which can unbalance images shot from this location if you’re not careful. Technically it was fairly standard tripod procedure – manual focus with stopped down aperture to give sharpness through the scene; low iso for both image quality and also slower shutter speed; remote release to avoid any vibration; and the built in 3-stop ND filter to further reduce the shutter speed.

As always the XTrans sensor on the X100T produced a great RAW file to work with. On the unprocessed scene I felt the eye was being drawn to easily out of the frame, so some vignetting has been added to help prevent this. I’ll revisit the photo again with fresh eyes in a few weeks and tweak further before printing, bnut I think the base idea will remain the same.

Ingleborough, Yorkshire

Not long after Thornton Force the walk takes you out of the valley and across a small section of fields. Ingleborough looked menacing on the horizon, with just a dusting of snow to tempt the walkers. Our route took us back down into the valley of the River Doe, where further waterfalls awaited.

Waterfall and Swirls, Ingleton

The falls in this section half of the walk are just as numerous, but perhaps harder to gain access to from a photographic point of view. I experimented with a few long exposures of the small falls above, trying to work with the swirling foam in the foreground to create a sense of movement to the scene.

All in all it was a great afternoon out. It the first time I’ve been for a few years and hopefully the gap until my next visit won’t be as long.

Thanks for reading,

Andrew.

On this day I’d decided to go up Bowfell in Langdale via the Band. The conditions, and the fact that I walking on my own, meant that my pack was fairly heavy before any camera gear – food, drink, spare warm layers, hats, gloves, crampons and ice axes all add to the weight, so I was pleased to be carrying my lightweight Fuji X100T, with the Wide Angle Adaptor and a few filters.

As I made my way up and out of the valley the views were OK, but not really that spectacular. Fairly even cloud cover rendered everything a monotonous tone of grey, and as I got to the top of the Band things didn’t really look much more promising. The top of Bowfell looked covered in cloud, and another lone walker headed off the main path and off into the cloud.

Lone Walker, Bowfell

Reaching the col between Bowfell and Crinkle Crags I was actually in two minds as to weather to bother heading into the cloud and to the summit. It looked for all the world that it would simply be a dreary walk to the top, lunch in the mist, and then back down again. How wrong I was…

Not far before the summit everything began to change, and I entered what could have been a different world. The previously solid cloud began to break and let some sunshine through, and a temperature drop of a few degree meant that the surrounding rocks were suddenly plastered in beautiful rime ice. Opting for a simple composition I looked to capture my new world and its stunning beauty.

The World of Winter, Bowfell

Reaching the summit itself I found myself above the cloud, with beautiful winter views stretching out to the west and the south. A solitary Raven joined me for my lunch as I sat contemplating my surroundings.

Solitary Raven, Bowfell

The body heat I generated from the ascent was wearing off by now, so donning a few extra layers I began to explore the summit for some more photos. The photos below are a selection of my favourite images, and I hope they go some way to conveying the dramatic and beautiful scenery around me.

Scafell and Scafell Pike, From Bowfell

Rime Ice on Bowfell

Looking South From Bowfell

From a technical perspective the XTrans sensor on the X100T continues to impress me. It packs a fantastic punch of image quality in a small package and provides raw files that are really malleable in tricky light conditions. These images were all processed in Capture One, which I’ve recently moved to from Lightroom. So far I’m loving the control it provides over both colour and image quality.

Eventually it was time to make my way back down into the cloud and through the monotonous grey, before a well earned cup of tea and cake in the pub. A day well spent, and proof that fortune favours the brave.

If you’re someone who has so far restricted your walking to the summer months, then you owe it to yourself to get the right kit and skills and venture out in winter. It such a different experience and one that all keen walkers should take on.

Thanks for looking,

Andrew.

It was also a great opportunity to test out the X100T for some long exposure landscape photography. The X-T1 gets most of the attention as a landscape camera in the FujiX series, and there’s no doubt that it’s a great camera for this task. However, if you’re happy with the focal lengths that the X100T can offer (approx 28mm, 35mm and 50mm with the WCL and TCL converters), and don’t mind the lack of weather sealing, then the X100T is just as capable.

After all it shares the same sensor as the X-T1, and with a fixed lens, optimised for the body, it delivers incredibly sharp images. The print output at 24″x16″ is fantastic, and if you’re willing to accept the natural increase in viewing distance then you can print much much larger if desired.

We were staying for a week at the delightful Cory Farm , just north of Bude on the North Cornwall coast. The farm is situated a short walk away from the Marsland Valley, as Site of Special Scientific Interest that lead down to the rocky beach of Marsland Mouth itself. Rock beaches are full of photographic potential, but the trick is always finding the right shots. Too often it is easy for compositions to become cluttered with rocks that leave the eye wandering around the composition without finding anything to settle on, and after arriving on the beach it took a good while to find some compositions that I thought would work.

This first shot was taken from the easterly end of the beach, where a larger channel between rocks formed a nice lead-in to the composition, with the distinctive Gull Rock at the end of the headland on the horizon. As with all the shots in this series I was set-up on a tripod with a remote release, using a 2-stop Lee ND Grad together with the 10-Stop Lee Big Stopper. This combination allowed me to tame the bright sky and add some calmness to the photos by blurring out the waves and water.

My X100T was fitted with the WCL, giving an effective focal length of around 28mm. An exposure of 28sec gave the image below, and although there is always a little bit of guess work in judging the exposure length, I only required a slight bump in exposure in post production in Lightroom.

Marsland Mouth at Sunset – 1

Moving on from my first shot I wanted to find something that took advantage of the slanted rocks further towards the middle of the beach. After trying a few positions I eventually settled on the composition below, where the curved rocks lead nicely to Gull Rock beyond. The rocks sloping towards the sun also added a bit of warmth to the foreground, to help balance the distinctively warm cliffs beyond. Before the shoot I was a bit worried that 28mm wouldn’t be wide enough, but I actually enjoyed the challenge of finding compositions that worked with the lens and the landscape before me.

With the sun now dropping towards the horizon, exposure time was increased to 52sec for this image, which proved pretty much spot on.

Marsland Mouth at Sunset – 2

This next image now has a distinctly cooler feel, with the cliffs themselves now falling into shadows. Some curved and slanted rocks again provided good foreground material, with some deeper pools adding some balance to the larger area of sky in the top right of the image. Exposure time was now up around 2 minutes and with noise reduction coming into play above 60 seconds, I was waiting around 4 minutes between shots; enough time for the lighting conditions to change during the exposure.

Marsland Mouth at Sunset – 3

For a final shot I wanted something that captured the main exit point of the river Marsland Water. I struggled a little with composition, but came away fairly happy with the below. Some vignetting was applied in post-production to help with the mood of this image. The longer exposure times were now producing more noticible streaking in the clouds, although I quite like the way they lead the eye to the remains of the days sunlight.

Marsland Mouth at Sunset – 4

All post-production of these images was carried out inside Lightroom. It still gets some ‘stick’ on the internet in terms of its XTrans support, but it’s getting better and with the right settings I’m happy with the detail it provides. Certainly colour rendition itself isn’t a problem, with good support for the Fuji film presets. The ease of workflow with Lightroom still makes it my tool of choice, and I can’t see myself shifting anytime soon.

Overall the shoot helped to confirm to me that the X100T is an extremely capable camera that can deliver fantastic output. The days before and after this shoot it was happily slung over my shoulder as I gave piggy backs to the kids, with a rucksack full of wet-wipes, changes of clothes and tasty snacks. A great camera to have on holiday when you want to be able to switch between holiday mode and serious landscape photography!

Thanks for reading and looking. As ever if you have any queries or questions let me know via the comments.

Andrew.