A walk on a stormy day

[Ken Rennie]

Last Thursday my wife was going to a conference in the South of Cumbria and I tagged along to explore an area that I seldom visit. The weather was foul, winds of 50-60mph with frequent strong wind showers and heavy and low clouds, not the perfect photography day. I had seen photographs of a quarry that had a waterfall plunging into it and decided to find it. So fully kitted out for terrible weather I set out climbing into the gloom. It was only about a 2 mile hike up an easy to follow but very muddy track. I could hear the beck plunging over several waterfalls in its own gorge but it was impossible to get into any kind of position to get an image. I finally found the quarry with its waterfall but the 50-60mph winds felt even stronger on the edge of the quarry and trying to get the camera with 100-400mm lens steady was almost impossible, despite my heavy and stable tripod, so it was bursts of fast shots, weeding out the very blurred ones and merging what was left got me this.

A wider view brought this. The thick cloud was only a few hundred feet above my head.

As I was getting the last image I noticed the far hills and I nice bit of recession so back on with the long lens and my favourite image of the day.

The beck downstream from the quarry flowed through the spoil heaps so a bit of exploring got me.

It was about 90 min before sunset but the above image was focus stacked at f5.6, ISO 320 to get the shutter speed as fast as 1/8s which gave me the water texture I wanted. I was using a polariser but no other filters.

This image shows the clear water flowing through the edge of the quarry spoil heaps.

So not a day with good light or weather but I still enjoyed my outing. Ken

 

[AlanLichty]

Lousy weather but some great photos from your wanderings. I love the wide view of the quarry falls in the second image. Very engaging light around the scene.

 

[BlackRockArt]

Last Thursday my wife was going to a conference in the South of Cumbria and I tagged along to explore an area that I seldom visit. The weather was foul, winds of 50-60mph with frequent strong wind showers and heavy and low clouds, not the perfect photography day. I had seen photographs of a quarry that had a waterfall plunging into it and decided to find it. So fully kitted out for terrible weather I set out climbing into the gloom. It was only about a 2 mile hike up an easy to follow but very muddy track. I could hear the beck plunging over several waterfalls in its own gorge but it was impossible to get into any kind of position to get an image. I finally found the quarry with its waterfall but the 50-60mph winds felt even stronger on the edge of the quarry and trying to get the camera with 100-400mm lens steady was almost impossible, despite my heavy and stable tripod, so it was bursts of fast shots, weeding out the very blurred ones and merging what was left got me this.
View attachment 54110
A wider view brought this. The thick cloud was only a few hundred feet above my head.
View attachment 54111
As I was getting the last image I noticed the far hills and I nice bit of recession so back on with the long lens and my favourite image of the day.
View attachment 54112

The beck downstream from the quarry flowed through the spoil heaps so a bit of exploring got me.
View attachment 54113

It was about 90 min before sunset but the above image was focus stacked at f5.6, ISO 320 to get the shutter speed as fast as 1/8s which gave me the water texture I wanted. I was using a polariser but no other filters.

This image shows the clear water flowing through the edge of the quarry spoil heaps.
View attachment 54114

So not a day with good light or weather but I still enjoyed my outing. Ken

Ken, the first & last one convey a gloomy weather nicely.

Oliver

 

[JimFox]

Wow Ken!

Thanks so much for taking us along on your exploration. Your description of how you had to handle the 50-60mph winds will be of great help to others who see and read this, as I think a vast majority of photographers in the same situation wouldn't have even tried, or all of their photos would have come back blurry and soft from camera movement.

I enjoyed each of these.

 

[JimFox]

Congrats on the Daily Featured Photo Ken!

@Ken Rennie

 

[Jameel Hyder]

Another nod to the 2nd image - a nice view of the falls.

 

[Ben Egbert]

Ken, congrats on featured image. The second one is my favorite.

 

[Darcy Grizzle]

I agree, that second one is just pure magic

 

[Ken Rennie]

Thanks for the comments everybody. Ken

 

[Ken Rennie]

Wow Ken!

Thanks so much for taking us along on your exploration. Your description of how you had to handle the 50-60mph winds will be of great help to others who see and read this, as I think a vast majority of photographers in the same situation wouldn't have even tried, or all of their photos would have come back blurry and soft from camera movement.

I enjoyed each of these.

Wow Ken!

Thanks so much for taking us along on your exploration. Your description of how you had to handle the 50-60mph winds will be of great help to others who see and read this, as I think a vast majority of photographers in the same situation wouldn't have even tried, or all of their photos would have come back blurry and soft from camera movement.

I enjoyed each of these.

Thanks Jim here is one of the blurred images @120mm. Taken on a Gitzo Systemic tripod spiked into the ground with the legs splayed so that the camera is approx 1ft above the ground ie everything that can be done to provide a stable platform short of blocking the wind and that would have required hovering in front of the camera. This is 1/15s @ISO 320. Most of my photography outings have coincided with periods of strong winds and I am wondering if this is another consequence of global warming. I now check sharpness on every shoot as I have returned with what I thought were killer shots only to find them less than sharp. Ken

 

[JimFox]

Thanks Jim here is one of the blurred images @120mm. Taken on a Gitzo Systemic tripod spiked into the ground with the legs splayed so that the camera is approx 1ft above the ground ie everything that can be done to provide a stable platform short of blocking the wind and that would have required hovering in front of the camera. This is 1/15s @ISO 320. Most of my photography outings have coincided with periods of strong winds and I am wondering if this is another consequence of global warming. I now check sharpness on every shoot as I have returned with what I thought were killer shots only to find them less than sharp. Ken
View attachment 54129

Wow, yeah, not much else you could have done. I try to remember to check each shot when I am in conditions like that with wind, because I have also gotten back home after shooting and found the images soft, even though at a quick glance on the 3" LCD on the back of the camera they had appeared sharp. I am glad on my Nikon when I review an image, I have a 1 button press to get to 100%, it sure helps to check.

 

[Douglas Sherman]

Last Thursday my wife was going to a conference in the South of Cumbria and I tagged along to explore an area that I seldom visit. The weather was foul, winds of 50-60mph with frequent strong wind showers and heavy and low clouds, not the perfect photography day. I had seen photographs of a quarry that had a waterfall plunging into it and decided to find it. So fully kitted out for terrible weather I set out climbing into the gloom. It was only about a 2 mile hike up an easy to follow but very muddy track. I could hear the beck plunging over several waterfalls in its own gorge but it was impossible to get into any kind of position to get an image. I finally found the quarry with its waterfall but the 50-60mph winds felt even stronger on the edge of the quarry and trying to get the camera with 100-400mm lens steady was almost impossible, despite my heavy and stable tripod, so it was bursts of fast shots, weeding out the very blurred ones and merging what was left got me this.
View attachment 54110
A wider view brought this. The thick cloud was only a few hundred feet above my head.
View attachment 54111
As I was getting the last image I noticed the far hills and I nice bit of recession so back on with the long lens and my favourite image of the day.
View attachment 54112

The beck downstream from the quarry flowed through the spoil heaps so a bit of exploring got me.
View attachment 54113

It was about 90 min before sunset but the above image was focus stacked at f5.6, ISO 320 to get the shutter speed as fast as 1/8s which gave me the water texture I wanted. I was using a polariser but no other filters.

This image shows the clear water flowing through the edge of the quarry spoil heaps.
View attachment 54114

So not a day with good light or weather but I still enjoyed my outing. Ken

Great looking series, Ken.