The more regular readers will know that I have been on two other photography workshops in the Lake District and that I had booked onto a third. All of these have been with Chris Sale the wonderful landscape photography professional based in the Lake District.
In the pre workshop (and 121) planning I had agreed with Chris that we should focus on how I can develop a good composition in new locations. Locations that are not easy to get good images from, this would stretch me and at the same time allow me to continue to develop the craft of composition.
Chris and I had tentatively agreed that Chris may film the 121 session on the Friday, but that was dependent on the weather. The 121 session would take place around Beacon Tarn and on Beacon Fell, there would be a hike but lots of scope for good compositions as well as some tougher locations on the fell that would stretch my skills.
The Saturday morning workshop would be at Blea Tarn, which is in the Langdale valley and would allow me to shoot some of the iconic classics as well as some more fell images. The workshop would be with another participant.
I headed to the Lake District with excitement for what would turn out to be a fabulous weekend of photography.
Beacon Tarn and Beacon Fell
I had to consult my OS map to find where Beacon Tarn was situated, as it’s not one of the high profile fells. This was perfect for me and my desire to be away from the crowds. The tarn and fell are situated at the south end of Coniston water, about 35 minutes from my hotel in Rydal.
As we hiked the weather was rather good and we could see that there was going to be some light. Whether this was in the right place at the right time would remain to be seen. The hike was about 1 mile, some ups and downs but nothing significant. I’m not sure of exactly how big the tarn is but it wasn’t so huge as to not be able to see the whole thing from the bank where we first stood.
When photographing water previously I had a tendency to end up with an image that was nearly 75% water, so Chris and I discussed the best approach to finding a composition on the shoreline, without ending up with 75% of the image as water. As I stood on a small bump on the land I could see a line appearing, the shoreline, a small outcrop, more shoreline and then a path running off towards the fells off in the distance.
The water wasn’t still on the surface of the tarn so I decided that a ND filter would be a good idea. This slows the shutter speed down and effectively smooths the surface of the water. In reality is smooths anything that is moving for the length of time the shutter is open. I was pleased with this first group of images I’d taken.
For the next group of images Chris suggested that we gain some height, and effectively look down on the tarn and across to the fell. Following the path that two idiot motorbike scramblers had come down 30 minutes previously, cutting up the already sodden path. The vantage point Chris took me to was spectacular. Views of the tarn, the fell and with a back drop of the higher fells off into the distance, a great viewpoint.
As I framed up the first shot it became apparent that we would indeed get some nice light illuminating the scene in front of me. The art of composition was starting to take shape in my minds eye as I looked at the liveview on the back of my camera. A few tweaks and a few adjustments and I was ready to start to take the images of this wonderful scene. I think you’ll agree that this is a cracking view.
One virtue that a landscape photographer needs is patience. Conditions change very quickly, light comes and goes, rain comes and goes (as I would discover the following morning). With several versions of this image bagged Chris suggested I look for some alternative shots but this time with the camera hand held rather than on the tripod. This allows the camera to get into allsorts of places that a tripod maybe would take too long to achieve. With the camera in portrait orientation this would allow me to include some of the lovely sky that was above the scene.
We set off on the short hike over to Beacon Fell, and as we got higher on the fell side you could feel the wind getting up and the storm clouds start to gather. I’m learning quickly that there is usually a circuitous route to get to the summit of a fell. This is for good reason, and usually makes the ascent easier than would otherwise be the case if the direct upward route was taken. Eventually we reached cairn on the summit. From here we could see a good way up Coniston Water, another glorious scene.
I love the construction of the cairns on the fells, they look very haphazard, but I’m sure there is a good method of construction. Afterall they do have to withstand the rigours of the weather.
On the summit along with the rocks was lots of heather. I have to say it didn’t look particularly good, which it usually does. Undeterred, we searched for compositions that would include all the main elements, the cairn, the heather, Coniston and the sky. I did take quite a good number of alternative shots but I am pleased with this image that I think captures the essence of my time on the summit of Beacon Fell.
Blea Tarn and Side Pike Workshop
It was an early start on Saturday morning with me getting out of bed at 4.45am. Some landscape photographers would say that is a late start, but I’ll not split hairs on this. My quick look at Apple maps showed me that part of the journey to Blea Tarn was along the same roads I’d driven the night before.
As a city dweller I’m always used to light, even in the middle of the night. It was a good job I had my head torch with me as I needed it to find my car as it was pitch black outside the hotel, no light at all. Once I turned off the main “A” roads again I was faced with complete darkness. I just followed the satnav until it said “you have reached your destination”. Well I couldn’t see the car park so I carried on. Instinct told me I must have gone to far when I reached a cattle grid. I got out of the car looking for somewhere to turn around, thankfully the road was wide enough. As I dropped back down the road I came face to face with Chris’s car, who pulled in front of me into the National Trust carpark.
It was fair to say I could not see Blea Tarn or Side Pike but I could feel rain. The other workshop attendee arrived and we all gathered our gear and we set off down to the tarn. To my amazement the tarn was about 200 yards from the car park. As the light started to arrive I could see the Langdale Pikes, what a fabulous scene it was. I was excited for the shoot ahead.
Blea Tarn has its share of iconic shots, but iconic shots are that for a reason. They are usually bloody good locations, and this definitely was. This first image was born out of a desire to keep a little dry. There are trees just behind where the camera is stood, and we sheltered and waited for the rain to stop or ease. The key to this shot is trying to get the foreground right, and whilst I’m pleased overall with the image, I feel the bottom right of the image is a little messy, but hey it was raining hard!
We decided to look around for compositions but trying to stay dry under the canopy of the trees. I took several shots of several different compositions. The next image shows how the weather can change so quickly. You can see in this image some glorious light on the summit of Side Pike. One of the lessons I learned was that sometimes you have to act fast, the light and weather opens up and you have to get the shot. Again the only element of this image that I’m unhappy about is the bottom right hand corner, again too messy. Lessons learned!
At this point Joe, Chris and I had walked up to the road that marked the start of path up onto Side Pike. I’m not sure why but all of a sudden my hesitation about scaling Side Pike vanished, and off we went. Maybe it was the desire to not appear a “scardy cat” in front of Joe who at this point had told us he was a Captain in the Army bomb disposal unit. New found confidence was another lesson learned. Previously I would have stayed in and around the tarn whilst the weather was rubbish.
Whilst we didn’t go all the way to the top of Side Pike we did get to the places where we had the best views. The path soon became a scramble and as I moved up the scramble I became more confident in my ability and less nervous. I was pleased when we reached the viewing points, I’d made it easier than I thought I would and the views where spectacular.
We stood at the viewing point for what seemed like ages but all of a sudden the rain eased and we were able to get the cameras out. This next image I’m particularly pleased with as it’s a good composition of a good scene, and my post processing skills have resulted in a decent image.
After basking in the glory of bagging a good shot, I turned 180 degrees and realised that the wind had eased as well as the rain and we had a bloody good view of the Langdale Pikes up close and almost personal (ish).
The trick with this next image is all about what to include and what not to include. It’s such a big vista and it’s easy to get seduced into including everything. Time and the weather was moving on so I framed up my shot and took the image. There are 3 or maybe 4 of this shot, before I tightened up the focal length, as well as moving slightly to the right. Eventually I decided I had enough shots and Joe and I swapped places.
As we stood on the view point the rain and sun converged to form a rainbow, but my gear was already packed away, so I didn’t manage to get a shot with my Sony A7 iii. However, what I did get was a shot of the rainbow on my iPhone 11 Pro Max, and this is the next image.
At this point we decided that it was time to head back down off Side Pike and make our way back to the cars. We picked our way slowly back down (almost) the same way that we had gone up. A couple of slips and slides later and we were back on the path to Blea Tarn. The weather was ok at this point so we took the opportunity to go back onto the beach at Blea Tarn and get some more images. This last image is of Side Pike in Portrait orientation using what available foreground interest there was, namely lumps of rock in the water. I was really pleased again with this image on the back of the camera and I think it’s turned out fine after post processing.
It’s fair to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop. It’s pot luck about who the other participants are but I have to say that I couldn’t have wished for a nicer person to be with us on the workshop. As am Army Captain he has experienced a significant amount in his 29 years (yes I felt old when he told me that). He was a smashing fella, and thanks Joe if you ever read this blog!
I always think of myself as a confident guy and didn’t think I would learn anything about personal confidence on this workshop, but I did. Thanks to Chris’s calm and measured approach we ended up completing the workshop as planned, despite the weather. We got some great shots but above all we had a bloody good time the 3 of us for those 5 hours that we were together. A huge thanks to Chris, you are a star and a top bloke. I will definitely be back for more in the future.