I was quite hopeful for a nice sky this particular morning, and it was clear that we were going to get some overnight snowfall around much of the central Lakes - hopefully with a short period of first light from the rising sun before high cloud was due to drift in from the West and smother it.
I set off with a short hike up Loughrigg Fell in mind, and was actually glad I got my butt out of bed in plenty time, because my car windscreen was frozen with frozen snow on top of that, so it took a good 10-15 minutes to get it all cleared up! I almost made a mistake as well in that I hadn't anticipated the roads would be a bit dodgy in some places. I was aiming to park in a small layby beside Loughrigg Tarn and hike up from that side rather than park by White Moss car park and make the longer walk up from Grasmere side.
But, as I turned off into the minor road, which goes uphill, I realised the road wasn't going to be 100% safe, with a mix of slushy snow and ice, so I sort of stopped and gingerly did a 3 point turn to retreat...!
At this point I realised I'd left it too late to be able to now drive all the way around to White Moss and get up that way, but as I was driving on, I realised I could park up in the layby by Fishgarths Wood and get up Loughrigg that way from the Windermere side. That was that sorted, phew.
I hustled up through the woods and there was a full cloud inversion over Windermere as I got up to Todd Crag...but no real sign of mist or inversion over towards Loughrigg Tarn that I could see. Damn. What to do... Shoot over the nice inversion or stick with my original plan. I decided shooting head on into the sunrise wasn't going to be any good, and carried on across the tops of Loughrigg.
The ups and downs of it in the snow meant it took me a bit longer than usual, and time was getting on. As I caught the first glimpse of the tarn down below, I suddenly had the idea to shoot a scene that also incorporated the Langdale Pikes, which are too far to the right when you're shooting the tarn head on. Never tried it before.... I could see a small mounded hill that overlooked some bare winter trees, and it looked like there would just be enough height from that vantage point to still have most of the tarn in the shot, plus the early sunlight was likely to nicely illuminate the trees. Decided to commit to this as the sun was about to rise and I didn't fancy huffing and puffing any more!
The early light came but the sky really ended up a disappointment, with barely any catching colour, and low cloud was also hugging/obscuring the distant fells including the Langdales. I amused myself by practicing flying my drone for a while, and ended up with the below view once the clag had mostly cleared.
And that's about it for this morning, short and sort of sweet. I'm definitely liking this composition that I previously hadn't even considered - the trees work well at the bottom especially highlighted with snow on the branches, and the warm orange early light contrasts well against the blues and whites.
It's a view I'll likely have another go at should the opportunity arise.