I hadn’t planned on being out this weekend gone., but as it turned out a walk on Holcombe Hill gave me the opportunity to take my camera out with me. This is a walk that I’d done before but I thought I might be able to get some alternative compositions from those I’ve had before. There are some great views from the top, not just the Peel Tower but of the surrounding countryside. A wise man once said “a good view doesn’t always mean a good photograph”. That is so true and this is the case looking out over the wide vistas from the top of Holcombe Hill.
The problem with a walk on a nice sunny day in a very popular area is that lots of other folk have exactly the same idea. When we got up the track to within a decent range of the tower, we were surrounded by lots of other folk. This meant that I had to think about alternative compositions of the tower. This first image is totally dominated by the tower, I’d not really studied the brick work previously, but when I looked the twitter is constructed of old stone, of various shapes and sizes. maybe thats done for effect maybe its done out of necessity, either way its an impressive construction. It’s a shame that its not used for anything anymore, but it attracts many a walker onto the moor.
The best way to avoid people is to head to the spaces were they aren’t. In all honesty this is the track that leads, eventually, back down to Holcombe Village. This composition caught my eye, with the multiple lines all leading back towards the tower in the distance. The path, the wall and even the grass verge all head towards the tower. Clearly some nicer sky would add to this image but I do like composition.I think this maybe a candidate for a four seasons image, to show the changing weather and how it impacts on the image each time. Something to ponder.
The Sony 24 to 70 GM lens is F2.8 aperture, and so this allows for some blurry background shots. This is not something I’ve done lots of. I literally stumbled over this location, and saw the potential for this type of image. When I say stumble, I really mean it, as I came over the wall from the path you can see in the last image the land goes steeply downhill, and is a field for cattle to graze. all of which makes for uneven ground, hence the stumble. I really do like dry stone walls and the gap in this one seemed perfectly made to frame the Peel Tower off in the distance. Maybe there’s to much blurred background here and maybe an aperture of say f4, might have been better. This may have given me greater definition to the tower but still giving some blurriness. It’s all practise I guess.
These images will never be portfolio worthy but all provide me with the opportunity to practise different aspects of my photography. I didn’t take my tripod with me, as I wanted to travel light, so all these images are hand held. As they say practise makes perfect!!