Buttermere Mist And Tree

Despite deciding I had gone through all of my Raw files from last years Lake District  trip I find myself revisiting the files again. I have recently upgraded to using Photoshop CS4 so have decided there are a few images still worth processing from the Lake District; it will give me a chance to try out the new software.

The Photograph was taken in August 2010 early one morning. I used a canon EOS20D and Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 EX Lens. As with 99% of all my images the camera was mounted on a tripod.

Although I was shooting into the light, using camera raw allowed me to capture the photograph using one exposure. I adjusted the foreground and background in Adobe Camera Raw to retain both detail in the shadows and ensure that the highlights were not blown out. To add a little more contrast to the image a levels adjustment was made before final sharpening. As with most of my mono images I have also produced a Sepia toned version.

This year my main “out of area” photography trip has seen a return to my favourite National Park – the Lake District. The 2 weeks provided a range of opportunities, the best came on the first day of the visit. These two images of Buttermere were taken within an hour of each other The misty conditions allowing for many creative experiments, to try and capture the mood.

In some respects it was a little disappointing to find such fantastic conditions on the first day; it made the rest of the trip a little underwhelming. The conditions were never quiet the same again. This is one of the attractions of photographing the  lake district, the permutations and unpredictability in weather and lighting lead to some stunning images, even if capturing them can be  frustrating.

The two weeks continued to provide fresh opportunities and I am still working on the post processing before uploading them to the gallery. I made a promise to myself this year to capture some great images of the Castlerigg Stonecircle. I ended up paying 3 visits to the site – twice early morning and once in the early evening. Early morning proved to be the better choice;  it was devoid of the casual tourist climbing over the stones. The early morning was restricted to the more determined photographers amongst us.  I still did not manage to get what I wanted but the images do justice to the site and my efforts to be there. Guess I will have to try again another year.

I have more images from the trip to work and will post updates as they are added to the gallery.

All of these images and more can viewed and purchased through my online gallery at:
www.bn-images.com/gallery/gallery/album/index.html