12 Significant Images – The Location Scout Continues

The 12 significant images project has been running for about 3 months now. The group of photographers participating continues to rise, its exciting to be part of. Given the UK is in lockdown Chris Sale agreed that the UK based photographers could have a little extra time. So i’m only 1 month in, but I feel the need to get my locations nailed down.

The UK governments road map out of the lockdown reached another milestone this past week and we are now allowed to travel a little further and meet with up to 6 people out doors. Given this partial lifting of movement restrictions I decided this weekend I’d add at least 2 locations to my agreed list. As its turned out I’ve actually added 3 locations to my agreed list. The 3 locations added to my list are “The Millstones on Stanage Edge” along with “Kit Kat Stones” on Higger Tor, and to my surprise “The Stepping Stones” on The River Ribble.

Stanage Edge Millstones

I have walked this area quite a few times but my mind kept coming back to the collection of Millstones just off the main path onto Stanage Edge. There are 5 maybe 6 millstones in this collection, but they are in a good position to show off the wider area.

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I had it in my mind to capture the millstones at sunrise. The best laid plans!! My exertions playing golf the previous day had taken its toll and I was a little tired an achy. I did wake up at 5am, but the bed would not let me escape. The sunrise shoot will be at another time. There were quite of lot of people around as I parked my car on the road that leads down to the big car park at the bottom of the edge. Its a wide open space so I wasn’t worried about being able to distance. Armed with my walk around kit (Sony A6600 with 16 to 55 f2.8 G lens) I set off in search of the millstones. Its not hard to find the stones, but my first approach had to be rethought as a big family group where gathered around the stones. Mobile phone pictures, it’s to be expected.

Its as maybe 1 hour later that I was able to get near the stones without lots of people being around. I had plenty of time to look for the best compositions, and took quite a few handheld images both portrait and landscape. The image above is the best composition I got on the day. This is a decent image but I can and will do better as I visited this location in different conditions and at different times of the day.

The Kit Kat Stones – Higher Tor

As I made my way back towards my car, I could see over towards the Burbage valley and Higger Tor. I’ve walked the whole of the Burbage Valley with friends, as well as exploring Higher Tor itself, but it struck me that the so called “Kit Kat stones” would make an interesting subject. So the decision was made, head over towards Higger Tor. Maybe 15 minutes later I stood on the top of Higger Tor and tried to remember where these stones could be found.

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I’d read about these stones in a photography guide book, and had seen them briefly when I visited previously. Thankfully there were no people sat on the stones, and with a little bit of scrambling I was able to stand near enough to start to think about compositions. The stones themselves have to be prominent in the image and as you can see above they are front and centre of the foreground. In the mid ground is the Roman Fort of Carl Wark. There is a plaque that states this, and a little research confirms this as the best guess of what Carl Wark is. Either way it makes for a good addition to the mid ground of the image. In the back ground you can see the wider Hope Valley, as well as a section of the Upper Burbage rocks. Yes I will get better light, yes i’ll get more appropriate weather, but as a test of the location this is definitely in the 12 locations.

The Stepping Stones – River Ribble

To be honest this is a little bonus. I really didn’t think I’d find a location that I liked, and to be fair I didn’t set off looking for one. Tracey and I decided we needed a walk to clear the cobwebs away, and given we could get out a little further set off for a drive into the Trough of Bowland. It’s a part of the North West that I haven’t really spent much time in apart from attending a wedding at the Inn at Whitewell. Of course the Inn is closed at the min ute but I headed there as I knew it would be possible to park my car and have a good walk on the relative flat.

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I remember when I attended the wedding, we stood at the back of the hotel looking over the Rover Ribble. We all commented that it was a lovely spot, with lots to see. Little did I know that that just around the back of the hotel maybe 300 yards along was a set of stepping stones. Whilst I did have a ND filter in my walk around pack, I decided that a long exposure wasn’t really appropriate as we were out walking and not really undertaking an hour of composition and long exposure images. I took quite a few handheld shots of the river and the stones before I ventured across. Whilst the composition needs work, this one is keeping the first stones square, the rest of the image looks a little lob sided. These are things that I can correct the next time I visit this location. With my full kit I will have the Lee filter kit, and polariser etc. I’m really surprised but very pleased to have stumbled across this location. Whilst this image its self won’t be in the final selection, I have a feeling that the location will be. It has huge potential as a location.