Bamford and Stanage Edges

I'm getting a wee bit behind on these at the moment... after all those weeks without a post I now have a series of them built up - so here is our walk from last week around (as you probably guessed from the title) Bamford and Stanage edges.

Charlotte: Outtakes

Well hello everyone... I'll start this week with an apology for being so quiet of late, I can't even remember how many week's I've left it without blogging - but here is a good one. The main reason was being generally very busy, a lack of Peak trips and a shoot failure, reorganisation and failure again (when I was planning a post on it both weeks...).

CLICK HERE to see the full set of images.

So, after the original model for these photos cancelled twice, with 2 days notice I got in touch with one of my strangers - No.35, who can be seen HERE (or HERE, for non Facebook users) - who kindly agreed to step in with no hesitation. The general idea was to do something autumn themed; very casual with a nice warm feel and luckily for me the day came, and not only did Charlotte turn up with a vast array of clothing but also the sun showed itself for the first time all week. You all (should, by now) know how much I love some backlighting...

You should also all note, this was Charlotte's first ever go at modelling, not that you would ever guess - as confident and full of expressions as they come and very friendly/chatty to boot! So here are some outtakes, the main photos will be uploaded somewhere/500px/Facebook/here in the coming weeks... and will probably include some of these too, as they capture the casual feel we were going for.

Sunrise At Mam Tor

(Remember, any photos here can be bought as prints/downloads/cards/calendars at the various links on the links page, or by contacting me...)

Hello all!

Well, I've had a very busy weekend - as some of you have probably seen - and again I'll not bore you with too many words but I'll shove some lovely pictures up for you! It is just about possible at this time of year to make it into the Peak District in time for sunrise. I took the 6.20 train to Edale, arriving at 6.55 - leaving me about 50 minutes to get up to the top of Mam Tor before sunrise. I actually made it up in 35 minutes, with all my camera gear weight, starting in the dark and making my way through 6inch deep mud, which I am somewhat proud of - so had plenty of time to find a spot. Now, I wasn't expecting it to be dead quiet up there, but upon arriving at the top I found photographer after photographer after photographer. They are a friendly bunch, all polite with each other making sure not to get in each other's shots - but there is certainly a certain amount of vying for the popular spots - but again nobody hogs them for too long.

Before arriving in Edale, I was actually undecided whether to head on up Grindslow Knoll or Mam Tor - and am I glad I chose Mam Tor! Once the sky started to brighten it became very obvious that Kinder and Grindslow Knoll were covered in dense cloud - which clung to it all morning even whilst the rest of the sky was perfectly clear.

After the sun had risen and the others had started drifting off I set off along the ridge to catch the train back from Hope - and it was lovely being up there so early on, before the millions of other walking folk came out - enjoying watching the mist slowly rise out of the surrounding valleys.

A Popular Higger Tor Walk

After a few weekends without escaping into the Peak, we finally got out again for a short(ish) walk around these eastern edges. Starting in Grindleford we headed off up Padley Gorge - whilst still a little early for it to be as spectacularly autumnal as it can be, there were still a few bits of orange visible.

Shades of Autumn (Early Autumn in Sheffield)

This week's post is another with few words but plenty of photos...

Today we went for a lovely sunny walk through some of the nicer parts of Sheffield - down Ecclesall Road and around Endcliffe Park. Whilst it is still a little early for the full autumnal orange and brown colours, there are already some very nice bits of colour if you look for them, especially with warm, low light like today - so here we are:

Golden Light Over Stanage Edge

Over the last week I've given you a million little previews of this blog post, but finally, I have got around to working on the photos and uploading them to bring it all together here...

As has often been the case recently, I'll keep it short on words and let the photos do as much talking as possible. We arrived at Stanage Edge around 6 o'clock (I seem to remember) and even on the short walk up to the top, it was instantly clear that the light was going to be very kind to me...

The approach to Stanage Edge, bathed in beautiful golden light

Lose Hill, Hollins Cross, Kinder Scout and Grindslow Knoll

I have loads more photos for you this week - so again, not too many words but plenty to look at.

What with being limited to public transport, and therefore staying within the rough area of the Hope Valley where the train can drop us off, a lot of these photos are of places you've seen on this blog before - but as always it is nice to try and make something new of the same locations. I hope I have managed to do so, but if not then there are always some new ones toward the end from where we ventured into new territory for us!

I started the day with the 9.20 train to Hope so I could get in an extra couple of hills before Keri joined me later... so I had to rush the first 5 miles into an hour to be on time and what with it being so warm last weekend, the ascent of Lose Hill at almost slow jogging pace nearly killed me. After reaching the top, I had a walk along the ridge over Back Tor and then down at Hollins Cross into Edale to meet Keri - who by that point had already spent an hour enjoying tea and sandwiches at the always-lovely Pennypot Cafe. (They were also kind enough to fill my massive bottle of water up after I drank it all on this first little section!)

View along the ridge to Mam Tor from Lose Hill