I have been struggling for a couple of weeks to get out with the camera with lots of things going on and to be honest a total lack of enthusiasm to go out. We have all been there I’m sure when you feel tired, fed up and everything feels like so much effort. You probably have something that helps you out of the mood too, for example, a pet, a loved one, an activity, etc. I was in a bit of a catch 22 though as one of the things that usually helps me is photography, getting outside and taking in the scenery.
On the August bank holiday, I started the day by getting up early (quite a bit zombie-like) to take our dog for a walk and while we were out I noticed that there was low cloud, some mist and fog forming. Thoughts of how nice it looked and how I should’ve got up earlier to go out with the camera came to mind. After battling with the urge to just go back to bed for an hour, I grabbed my camera gear and headed for high ground.
This was potentially an opportunity to witness my second ever cloud inversion. After I witnessed the first one from the top of Latrigg, I’ve had this idea in my head of how nice it would look from Surprise View. Plus after failing to get a sunset shot there a couple of months ago I’ve been keeping a lookout for any conditions that might work. It was difficult getting to Surprise View, not because of traffic or anything like that, but because of all the potential images I could see on the way there. I was tempted to stop so many times.
Finally, I got to Surprise View and was greeted with one of the best scenes I have witnessed from that location. A cloud inversion, reflections in the lake and beautiful sunrise colours above the clouds. It was stunning. Surprise View is a location I find difficult to photograph. As a viewpoint it is fantastic, you are high up and with the right conditions can see for miles. You will be able to see all of Derwentwater, Cat Bells, Dodd, Bassenthwaite Lake, and many others. It is no surprise (no pun intended) that it is popular with tourists, especially as it is so easy to get to. But taking photographs of it rarely does it justice. However, with these conditions, I had to give it a go.
Surprise View
Even though you could watch the world go by all day with a view like that, I didn’t want to miss out on the misty conditions on lower ground. A quick drive back down the hill to the next location, a recently rebuilt Ashness Gate Jetty. The jetty still has that fresh new look and doesn’t quite have the same character as the old one, however it does feel a lot safer to stand on. The mist was constantly moving (albeit slowly) making the scene look different every 10 minutes or so. I have one image where you can see bits of the sky through the mist and another where the mist is so thick you can’t see much past the end of the jetty.
Up until now, I had not seen another soul, then appeared Stuart McGlennon. Stuart is a professional landscape photographer who owns Lens District Gallery in Keswick. If you are in the area I highly recommend you pop into the gallery and take a look at his work. Or you could take a look at his website lensdistrict.com. It was great catching up with Stuart and having a good chat about photography. Just as Stuart was setting up his shot, a couple turned up with their dog and decided to go for a swim disrupting the perfectly still water. Luckily he had a 6 stop filter which was enough to smooth out the ripples.
As we were finishing up at Ashness Gate Jetty, about to move onto the next location, I was introduced to photographer Tom Green (check out his Instagram @tom.w.green). We all went our separate ways and then I ended up seeing Tom again at the next location, lakeside opposite the Great Wood National Trust Car Park. I was heading for the Millennium Stone but I got sidetracked by the view towards Cat Bells. I’m not sure my images do it justice, the morning was gorgeous. I think you could have gone anywhere in the Lakes (possibly the UK based on the images I’ve seen on social media) that morning and you would have had amazing conditions.
Cat Bells in the Mist
Unfortunately, it wasn’t all good that morning. When Tom and I were walking back to the car park I noticed one of the feet off my tripod was missing. Winston was injured. I quickly headed back to the shore to find it but it was not there. I remembered it being there at the other locations so it had to have been at the last one. I went home to get re-enforcements, my kids, and we went back to each spot I had used my tripod that morning. We searched and searched and none of us could find it, although my helpers did get distracted with playing in the water. I ended up going home and contacted 3 Legged Thing, and their awesome support team helped me sort out a replacement.
What did you get up to over the bank holiday weekend? Did you manage to get any misty shots? Let me know in the comments.
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