More Location Scouting – 12 Significant Images Project

This past few weeks have been mad busy with my work work. My 4 days per week working has morphed into 5 days, and this was to the detriment to my location scouting for my photography. I was determined to get out this last Friday and get some location scouting done, and take some pictures.

On my list of locations for my project was the Cathedral at Tideswell in The Peak District. I’d had two aborted attempts to get to Tideswell over the last month, but this morning no such barriers existed and I was outside the cathedral about 10.15am. I have to say that it is a seriously impressive building and one that befits its location and naming as the Cathedral of the Peaks. However, it didn’t fit what I had in my mind of what I wanted for a set of significant images. It’s hard to be specific about why, but I like to think there is a concession to my locations.

One thing I would say about the walk around Tideswell is that I found a cracking pie shop, and the pork pies where absolutely awesome. More about this later.

Ladybower Reservoir – Ashopton Viaduct

The second location I had in mind for Fridays location scout was at Ladybower Reservoir. There are lots of possible locations in and around Ladybower Reservoir, and what I had in my minds eye was a view from the hills above Ashopton Viaduct on Crook Hill. I drove across country from Tideswell and found some other possible locations, if not for photography but definitely for walks.

• 

I parked my car at Heatherdene Car Park, and set off to walk around to the base of Crook Hill and in search of the path that leads up to the farm. I’m good at reading maps and they are incredibly useful aids but I always worry that I have a vision of what i’m going to find, and sometimes when it doesn’t look right I have a tendency to back off. Thankfully that wasn’t my experience on this occasion. At the spot where it said a sign would be I found the sign and bouyed by this off I went up the hill towards Crook Hill farm. I was kept company by a flock of ducks and a few random sheep as I made my way, slowly, up the hill.

I stopped several times to survey the view, but really I was catching my breath, but each time I decided I needed to get higher up the hill to get a better composition. The image above was two fields up from the road and is on a fall piece of ground, where the tripod sat nicely. I had brought my big kit with me, so Sony A7iii with my FE lenses, 16 to 35, 24 to 105 (both Sony f4 G lenses) and my Tamron 70 to 180 f2.8 lens. As I pulled the camera out of my bag the 16 to 35 lens was on the camera and so that was the lens that was used for the few images. The above image is 31mm at f11 at 1/60 of a second. I have done my basic Lightroom workflow edit along with adding a filter onto the sky and im quite pleased with the results of this image.

• 

During my time on the workshops and 121’s with Chris Sale, he drummed into me that at each location I should take both landscape and portrait shots of each location. So being the diligent student that I am I took both landscape and portrait shots of this location. It’s interesting to see the difference that the two perspectives give on the same location. This image is at 35mm at f11, with 1/20 of a second shutter speed. Again the basic Lightroom edit but the tighter crop that naturally occurs with a portrait image, it does give a bigger sky. I think this image does benefit from the big moody sky.

I am really pleased with these images but I think I will get slightly higher next time to make sure that the big tree doesn’t cut into the reflection of the bridge in the reservoir. I do think I need on where the level sits within the image. Whilst the camera was balanced with the internal level, that means that the lines in the image seem in no way level. so that will be something else to work on the next visit to this location.

• 

I was conscious that the big tree was cutting into the reflections of the viaduct in the reservoir, so I decided I would move position to see if that would give me a better image. This third image was taken from probably about 10 yards to the right of the previous location. This moves the tree off to the left in the image but I do think it loses some of the interest the other two images have in the foreground, namely the gate, the signpost etc etc. This image has been cropped in Lightroom (along with my normal workflow edit) and that has taken a big chunk of the field out, that was effectively dead space, but I think the edit has helped with that. I had changed lens at this point and this image was taken with my Sony 24 to 105 lens, and is at 65mm, at f11 and 1/10 second shutter speed.

I hope you agree that this location has huge potential and is definitely now within my 12 locations that will form part of this project. I do think that getting slightly higher may help and this will be investigated on my next visit. I also think that the different seasons will add to this, along with maybe a sunrise and sunset shot, to change the sky and possibly add mist and frost etc.