Here is another view of the Castlerigg stone circle looking across to the snow covered slopes of Helvellyn.
I am drawn back to the images from my recent day in the lake district and especially to this wonderful ancient site.
You can see how this was getting towards the end of the day as the sun was low in the sky (off to the right) and the shadows were forming on the snowy fells. The fading light really adds to the atmosphere of this place and I wonder what might have happened here thousands of years ago when it was first constructed.
Last week I posted some black and white images of the stone circle at Castlerigg. They were taken in the morning, before the sun had broken through the clouds and they are dramatic and powerful images of a truly amazing place.
After I left I went down to Keswick and then drove in a loop taking in the Honister and Whinlatter Passes stopping to get some great landscape shots before heading back to Castlerigg where I was blessed with another chance to photograph this magical and inspiring spot before heading home.
The light in the early afternoon was perfect and the snow covered fells look superb, the sunlight on the stones gives them a warm, almost golden glow in stark contrast to the cold grey of the morning.
When I was a child growing up in the south of England I had seen pictures of the lake district but it seemed so far away and it always seemed unlikely that I would ever get the chance to visit. Now I live just a couple of hours away and so I can visit pretty much whenever I want. Even though it is no longer "out of reach" it still remains a place of wonder and I have lots of great memories from days out walking in the forests and fells or camping trips, memories that I will treasure.
So yesterday's post was a bit on the serious side and I promised that today I would share something a little more upbeat. When I said that I had no idea what I would choose but as things turned out the perfect opportunity came up right at the start of my photo shoot today.
With the promise of clear skies and knowing that there would be plenty of snow on the lakeland fells I decided to head up to Castlerigg in the hope of capturing a beautiful sunrise. I nearly abandoned this plan on the journey up due to really hard driving rain but I was so keen to get some good pictures I carried on.
I arrived at Castlerigg shortly after sunrise but as you can see from these pictures it was grey and overcast with no sign of the sun so I chose to shoot in Black and White as it better captures the mood of this wonderful site.
When I arrived I was greeted by a young couple Ben and Cat who had travelled up from London to see some snow and they had gone to Castlerigg just as I had to experience the sunrise. They were clearly taken by the magical atmosphere of this 5,000 year old stone circle standing in the shadow of the majestic fells and in spite of the damp and cold, and the lack of sun they were happy to sit within the stones and absorb the essence and the history that can be felt here especially when you have the place to yourself.
Ben and Cat were so open and friendly and chatting with them was the perfect start to my day. I promised them that I would dedicate my blog post to them and that is what I have done. Thank you both for such a friendly greeting.
I took a number of shots of the stones from different angles and I have picked two for today. With Ben and Cat in the circle I picked angles that would have them out of the frame but as I was finishing up I noticed that from a certain angle this lovely couple appeared to have become part of the circle and if you look at the second image closely you will see that one of the stones is not a stone but is in fact Ben and Cat.
Later in the day the sun did come out and after spending time elsewhere I returned to Castlerigg for a few more shots which I will share another day.
I was going to call today's post "An exercise in patience". I have often said that one of the qualities any photographer needs to develop in patience and when you are trying to photograph sites like this, the neolithic stone circle at Castlerigg which attract a lot of visitors it is really hard to get the perfect uninterrupted shot.
When I arrived there was one other photographer there with his camera set up on a tripod and as I was setting up he commented that we could be there a while. Of course there will be lots of people enjoying the site and that is fine but with a bit of patience and careful timing it should be possible to get a decent shot as people walk behind the stones. However on this particular day there was one group of people who stood on the far side of the circle talking. They kept looking over at us as we patiently waited to take the shot and it really felt like they were deliberately testing us. They did eventually move off out of shot but only after the couple on the right of this image sat down on one of the stones and unpacked their picnic lunch. Now I thought that was inappropriate just because it didn't seem right in such an ancient site but it was also incredibly annoying as it spoils the shot to some degree.
I know that you will probably be thinking well that's just hard luck and that yes I need to be more patient and that is fine. You may even think that if I want the perfect photo without people getting in the way I should get there early. As it happens that is what I plan to do next time however I also met another photographer that day who had been up at the stone circle at 3.00 am to capture shots of the Milky Way and even then he says there were several people about and so even an early start won't guarantee my patience won't be tested.
Anyway I am sorry, I have moaned for long enough and if you have stuck it this far thank you for your patience. Perhaps you should also take up photography I think you have something of what it takes...
As I said this is a shot of the Neolithic Stone Circle at Castlerigg near Keswick. The snow covered fells in the background are from left to right Clough head, The Dodds, High Rigg, Great How and Helvellyn. Even with the other visitors I really like this shot and I will definitely be going back in the hope of some even better shots.
Camping at Lanefoot Farm in Thornthwaite was quite an experience and the views of the night sky were quite spectacular.
These two shots were taken from the lane in front of the farm. The first shows the snow covered peak of Skiddaw ( Englands 6th highest mountain at 3,054ft). The alien glow to the left of the image is most likely from traffic on the A66.
The second shot is looking towards Helvellyn (Slightly higher at 3,087ft). The orange glow is from the town of Keswick.
Both images were shot using my Canon 17 - 40mm wide angle zoom using a 30 second exposure. This has allowed just enough of the landscape to be visible and to bring out the stars. The long exposure also gives the clouds a soft, fuzzy almost ghostly appearance.
This was quite early in the evening, later on the galactic centre of the Milky Way would have been visible, although from this spot the light pollution would have spoilt the view. I met a guy the next morning who had been up at Castlerigg Stone Circle at 3am getting some stunning images so that maybe a trip I will plan in the future.
