This lovely view of Ladybower reservoir was taken from the site of the old vicarage for Derwent Village and looking towards where the village originally stood before the valley was flooded.
It was a lovely spot and the light was fantastic. However this spot appears to be on the flight path for numerous airlines as can be seen from the many vapour trails criss-crossing the sky. There was no chance of getting a shot without them so I decided to make them a feature of the picture.
I loved this view and I took a shot with the water dead calm but as I was moving along the water's edge I stepped in the water making a slight ripple and so I decided to take another shot but one where I deliberately created a ripple and watched it slowly spreading out across the surface of the reservoir. While I really liked the image with the perfect reflection I thought the small rock centre left of this image combined with the ripple extending out from where I stood added extra interest to the image.
Yesterday's picture showed a fantastic reflection on Ladybower reservoir and clear blue skies, bright with winter sun. But it had been at least -4C overnight and in spite of the sun temperatures remained below freezing all day and the shallow edges of the lake still had a thin crust of ice which made a pleasing crackle as I stood on it. I liked the jagged edges of the layer of ice and the patterns of the bubbles trapped beneath and that is what you are looking at in today's shot.
So today I got to go out and play and conditions were perfect.
When I started with my first DSLR my favourite lens was a Sigma 10 - 20mm super wide angle zoom but when I traded up to a full frame camera the Sigma would no longer fit as it used an EF-S mount rather than the EF mount on my current camera body. I have wanted a replacement for some time and having saved a bit of cash I was able to treat myself to a Canon 17 - 40mm f4 L series.
What a lens... It is now my new favourite lens and I am definitely going to get some use out of it.
I went down to the upper Derwent Valley in Derbyshire and took a stroll around the Ladybower reservoir, one of a number of connected reservoirs in the valley and as you can see from today's picture the water was mirror calm and the winter sun (following a very cold clear night) gave a perfect light.
This shot was one of the last of the day although I have a number of good images to share.
Just a word of advice always check the settings on your camera at the start of any shoot, and throughout the day too. Unfortunately I had somehow altered the resolution and didn't realise until it was too late and I have a number of nice but poor quality images that I cannot use. I know I can go back another day but I will be lucky to get such good conditions the next time. Oh well never mind eh! Enjoy this shot and the others that I will share...
