Totally Tropical
British summertime. Long days, sunrises too early to get up for (at least for me they are) and endless blue skies (sometimes).
It is arguably the hardest season for landscape photography. Blue sky days may be good for the beer garden and the BBQ but they make for dull images.
I recently visited the Bolton Abbey estate on one of these “perfect” summer days and wandered up the fantastically named Valley Of Desolation - The name stems from the damage caused by a storm in 1826. These days it’s lush, green and far from desolate.
The plan was to capture Posforth Gill Force, a stunning waterfall in a relatively deep ravine. I was breaking another “Rule Of Landscape Photography” again. In theory waterfalls are best captured on overcast days as the flat light helps with longer exposure times, sunny days can cause hotspots in the image and the white water can just become a mess of blown-out highlights. Or so the theory goes.
What we were greeted with on arrival at the falls was a scene more reminiscent of a tropical island, not Yorkshire. The light was just catching one side of the valley and the whole scene was to my eyes incredibly pleasing.
The carpark had been fairly busy for a weekday. The good weather bringing out the tourists. Surprisingly we had the falls to ourselves except for single person who turned up, took the obligatory phone camera snap and disappeared as quickly as they arrived.
Now, what would the scene look like with autumn colour? Better plan a return trip…