It certainly seems to have been a heck of a long time since I posted a blog entry, the truth being that somehow after those nice few snowy days in the winter just gone, Spring seemed to pass by in a flash without any strong opportunities, summer became a bit of a purposeful break despite having a few shots in mind where the ideal conditions never quite presented, mojo was well and truly lost, and here we are at the peak of the heather season!
Once again I've been keeping a keen eye out for an ideal morning up on one of my favourite locations, Lingmoor Fell, wanting a horizon gap with some dramatic light on a misty morning. Too much to ask I'm sure, but I've been tantalisingly close one or two times. This particular morning was ticking all the boxes potentially, so I made an effort to head straight out on my alarm, rather than re-check the radar and start dithering about leaving a comfortable bed.
Signs were good for an inversion, and when I reached the top of Lingmoor I could certainly see one over Ambleside and Windermere way. More importantly, the forecasted gap in the east on the horizon was there waiting, and I was hopeful. But billowing hill fog rolling across the distant fells was to obscure the very first of the sunlight frustratingly - however it made for some dramatic visuals as beams of sunlight scattered across the inversion.
Shortly after this it was clear the sun might get to play across the sides of Lingmoor. I'd wandered further along the tops to capture the above image, more than I have on past ventures, and stumbled across quite a pleasant composition with some heather in perfect bloom. It was already starting to pass its best in some areas. There was little cloud colour to speak of due to it all being low cloud - medium cloud tends to catch much more readily but this morning the colour only tinged the cloud surrounding the sun.
This shot below was rather too late for the light and conditions I'd have liked. While I like the composition, nothing really stands out, and I felt like I needed more foreground interest.
I decided to try an approach I quite enjoy the results from - purposefully out of focus foreground, to really get that vibrant pink of the heather prominent while adding some depth to the image and tightening the composition using my new Sigma 24-70 at a shallow aperture. I took the camera off the tripod and moved around the area to find a view that I liked.
It's not a shot that's going to win any awards, but after making a print of it, I'm quite happy with the feel of it,
and with a bit more interest in the sky this would have been quite satisfactory. It wasn't long before the sky cleared to blue completely apart from the low cloud clinging to the tops of Crinkle Crags, so this was about the best I managed to get from the morning.