Peak District

Landscape photography is it’s own reward, in as much that it gets you out into the big wide world, breathing in fresh air and discovering new and interesting places over and over again. Invariably you’ll find yourself stomping across the countryside, up hill and down dale, or indeed racing along wet beaches in your wellies trying to get to a specific location before the sun starts rising. (Been there, done that)! Other times you’ll be wading through rivers, ice cold water up to your knees, hands freezing, all your kit damp while you’re dripping wet through, all in the pursuit of that killer shot. The exercise is good though, soaking up the atmosphere while being buffeted by the elements is also exhilarating. In my book, these experiences bring an enormous sense of wellbeing. What of the photography? If you are anything like me you will end up with a whole bunch of images that you will keep forever. Some of which might even make it into the portfolio.

A recent trip to the Peak District was a day such as this. I had left it a bit late, or so I had thought, to go out and get a beautiful autumnal shot in some stunning location or other. The leaves were coming off the trees at a rate of knots. One robust storm would have stripped the trees of their remaining leaves which in turn would have deprived me of the opportunity of getting a shot from this years stunning autumnal backdrop.

My friend and fellow photographer Graham Binns and I headed out to the Peak District along a road that we had travelled on some months before. We had both vowed to come back to this location come autumn time such was its beauty. We got extremely excited when entering the densely wooded area that we had earmarked on a previous trip. The autumn colours this year were literally out of this world. A burning hue, the likes of which I’ve not witnessed before. Apparently such vivid and intense colour is a phenomenon brought about by intensely hot, dry summers. Like the one we have just had. Apparently in brighter, dryer weather, sugars become more concentrated in the leaves and more anthocyanin is produced. Subsequently leaves become a deeper, more vibrant red!

We arrived at the desired location and hurriedly got our kit together and headed off in different directions in search of a composition or two.

The shot below is the first one that I took. From the roadside looking down into the valley, there amassed a dense wooded area that was awash with colour. I was fascinated by how vivid the colours were framed by the blackened bark of the trees. Darkened by the sporadic downfalls of rain that were beleaguering the day. There was still good light in the sky. It was bright but rainy. There was a soft, defused light that’s great for this kind of shot.

Lens EF70-200mm F/4L USM @ 200mm, F11, ISO 100, 1/4 Seconds Exposure, Tripod Mounted.

© Mike Barrett Photography 2018 – All Rights Reserved

This next shot is literally to the right hand side of where I was stood when taking the shot above. I had positioned myself on a muddy verge among the stones of a fallen wall situated on a hair pin bend in this small valley. The road was a 1:4 gradient hill, although it’s hard to tell from the photograph. I was made aware of the incline while walking back up it. The lactic acid build up in my leg muscles let me know all about it. Especially with all my camera kit on my back. This scene of the road just appealed to me, so I grabbed a shot of it before heading down into the valley to find Graham. It wasn’t long after this shot before the heavens opened again and the rain came down in stair rods.

Lens EF17-40mm F/4L USM @ 17mm, F11, ISO 100, 1/4 Seconds Exposure, Tripod Mounted.

I found Graham further down the road looking somewhat waterlogged but enjoying himself none the less. We decided to head back to the car and move on to find another location a bit further into the Peak District. We had been travelling for about ten minutes when we came across a scene that just couldn’t be passed up. It was such a stunning spot that we both jumped out of the car like a couple of excited school kids and headed off into this beautiful wilderness with feverish abandon. The colours and the scenery that lay before us was exactly the type of shot that we had been looking for. Something that depicted the sheer beauty of this years fall in Great Britain. The shots below are from the location that we found. Beautiful to say the very least. We spent  a good couple of hours here taking photographs, doing some filming and soaking up the ambience. The only thing that could have dampened our spirits was the perpetual rainfall. Keeping our kit dry was a bit of a challenge but neither of us cared a jot. We were out doing what we love!

This images below is looking up the river as it cascades down towards a small bridge situated just behind us.

Lens EF17-40mm F/4L USM @ 17mm, F16, ISO 100, 1.0 Seconds Exposure, Tripod Mounted.

This shot below is looking back down the river. Stunning colour!

Lens EF17-40mm F/4L USM @ 17mm, F16, ISO 100, 1.0 Seconds Exposure, Tripod Mounted.

Lens EF17-40mm F/4L USM @ 30mm, F16, ISO 100, 1.0 Seconds Exposure, Tripod Mounted.

Lens EF17-40mm F/4L USM @ 40mm, F16, ISO 100, 1.0 Seconds Exposure, Tripod Mounted.

Having got these shots and a few more besides we decided to call it a day as we were wet through and our kit was getting fairly wet too. Both of us were happy with the shots that we got. Graham had taken some on his Bronica ETRSI as well as digitally. We’re both looking forward to seeing those.