Take some time to sit yourself in the landscape, and wait. Wait and watch. Watch and wait. Take a flask. Maybe some food. Eat, drink, wait and watch. Watch and wait.
This is when you witness magic. The magic of light. The magic of the land and how it takes on diverse and ever changing forms as it reflects the light. From raven blacks to washed out greys. From majestic, dusty edged, alabaster Cumulonimbus reaching to embrace the heavens, to a verdant meadow kissing an azure sky. From searing hot horizons framed by foreboding and shadowy plumes of an imminent storm, to blinding white mists that obscure the panorama, chilling the landscape while removing all discernible detail from view. Where maybe only a slither of form may present some significance, albeit with a washed out and delicate hue.
So much can happen and change when you’re out in the wilderness. The trick is being able to spot the interesting moments as they present themselves and try to record them in the magnificent way in which they appear.
The description above is pretty much the exact array of conditions that presented themselves while I was walking in the Peak District at the weekend. I had visited Froggatts Edge, a gritstone escarpment which sits in the Dark Peak area of the Peak District National Park, in Derbyshire, England. The weather was unbelievably dramatic and incredibly changeable over the course of the day and so presented some interesting vistas to photograph.
These images were taken at different times during my visit. It is amazing how much can change in the landscape if you are willing to spend time in a place and be patient in order to get some interesting shots. I have known photographers get bored and frustrated while being out in the countryside because the light has been bad and the weather has been inclement. I have watched them pack up their kit and called it a day, only for everything to change not ten minutes later and for the same landscape that looked drab, boring and disinteresting to offer up unbelievably beautiful scenery because of a slight change in weather conditions. Patience is a virtue is a saying that we are all familiar with. Where landscape photography is concerned patience pays off more times than not.
Here are some images I took up on Froggatts Edge.
© Mike Barrett Photography 2019 – All Rights Reserved
Lens EF70-200mm F/4L USM @ 109mm, F7.1, ISO 100, 1/250 Seconds Exposure, Manual, Tripod Mounted.
Lens EF17-40mm F/4L USM @ 17mm, F6.3, ISO 250, 1/800 Seconds Exposure, Aperture Priority, Hand Held.
Lens EF70-200mm F/4L USM @ 188mm, F20, ISO 100, 1/6 Seconds Exposure, Manual, Tripod Mounted.
Lens EF17-40mm F/4L USM @ 22mm, F4.5, ISO 250, 1/250 Seconds Exposure, Manual, Tripod Mounted.
Lens EF70-200mm F/4L USM @ 113mm, F13, ISO 250, 1/60 Seconds Exposure, Manual, Tripod Mounted.