I have been struggling recently to find the motivation to get out with the camera especially so early in the morning for sunrise. As you know sunrise during the summer months is very early. But I did it. I finally found the motivation to get myself up at 4:30am to head up to the top of Dodd Summit.
I knew I would have to be quick to get to the top of Dodd Summit in time for sunrise, as the last time I went up there it took me roughly 2 hours. Getting to Dodd Wood car park at 5am I was already running behind schedule with sunrise due at 6:30am. As I am getting my gear from the car I realise I have forgotten my head torch. Great. A very dark lonely walk ahead. Luckily my car has a torch in the boot for when you break down. The million dollar question is how long will the batteries last?
The torch wasn’t very powerful but it was better than nothing. Didn’t stop me taking a wrong turn though where I ended up taking a slightly longer route than I needed to. Once I got back on track, I was wondering through a particularly dark part of the woodland convinced I could hear something moving around. I thought it’s ok there is nothing there, you’re tired and it’s just your mind playing tricks on you. This time though my mind was right. I pointed the torch into the trees and there it was, a tent with someone sleeping in it. I quickly shone the torch back on the path and quietly moved on so I didn’t wake anyone.
About two thirds of the way up, just as it was starting to get a bit lighter, the torch gave up. Good timing? Maybe.
The fact I could see the stars on the way up and any clouds I saw were quite low, it was looking promising the weather forecast of fog was going to be right. Unfortunately when I got to the top it turned out to be half right. I could see fog in the distance, in the valley the other side of Latrigg but none to be found over Keswick, Derwentwater or Bassenthwaite Lake.
It still looked gorgeous though, and it was a great feeling to be up there. Found a couple of great spots to just sit and watch the world wake up.
I have seen loads of photographer’s images that had heather in them and a couple of posts saying the season was over. To my surprise there was still some very colourful clumps of heather all around the top of Dodd. I spent a while looking for a composition or two and came away with a few images I quite like. There is always room for improvement but considering I hadn’t been out much and hadn’t been very creative lately, I was quite pleased.
Have a look at the images below and see what you think.
On the way back down I found a few more compositions that caught my eye. However some of them do not look good on a larger screen. Not sure what I was thinking, lol.
I did however manage to capture a couple of shots of the elusive Red Squirrel. I have lived in the area for over 3 years now and for the first year or so I would see signs saying there are red squirrels in the area but never saw any. It then progressed to seeing a couple but but never got an image of them. Typical situation of not being ready with the camera still in the bag. By the time I got the camera out of the bag they would have made a laughing sound and ran off. Almost as if they were mocking me.
This time was a little different. It started off the same and the first couple of squirrels ran off, then another one turned up quite happy for me to take pictures of it. Even came down to ground level to pose for me.
Here are some images captured on the way down.
I’m so pleased I pushed myself to get back out with the camera for sunrise. It was just what I needed. To be outside in the fresh air admiring nature.
Have you had trouble finding motivation to do something you love to do? How did you get back into it?
Let me know what you think in the comments.