Posts in Category: Lake District
9/2/2009
Morning Walk: Carol at the Farmhouse B&B on our last morning.
Our last morning above Kendal at the farmhouse B&B. We moved that day down to Rutland Water in Leicestershire, and the Barnsdale Hall Resort, for a few days at the British Birding Fair (where I was on-duty at the Zeiss booth).
I like the colors and textures and angles of this shot.
Minolta A1 at about 32mm equivalent. F3.5 @ 1/60 @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
Punch and Sharpen landscape presets in Lightroom.
And that is, for now, the last of the shots from our 2005 trip to the Lakes and Dales.
8/29/2009
Along Grasmere
This meadow is maybe 7/8s of the way around the Grasmere-Rydal Water loop, and what I remember vividly is how tired I was by this point. We had to hike down a side path and climb back up to the road (we were off the end of the path and back on roads by then) and at the time I was not sure it had been worth the side-trip. Of course, now, looking at the image, I can say it was worth it.
(As an aside…it was at the end of this circuit that I discovered Apple/Melon J2O for the first time…)
Minolta A1 at 28mm equivalent. F5.6 @ 1/200th @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
Punch and Sharpen landscape presets in Lightroom. Blackpoint slightly to the right, and Recovery for the clouds.
From England 2005.
8/28/2009
Grasmere from a Turner Overlook
The Lake District Painters and Turner in particular are everywhere you go in the Lake District. You have seen these views on museum walls and in art books, and it is constant deja vue all over again. There are plaques. “Turner painted this.”
And little wonder. This view of Grasmere might have been better if the day had allowed a view deeper into the mountains behind the lake. There are higher peaks under the clouds. But it is still atmospheric and all too typical of a summer’s day in England. We actually made it all the way around the lakes without getting wet that day, but it was a close run thing.
Minolta A1 at 28mm equivalent. F5.6 @ 1/250th @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
Punch and Sharpen landscape presets in Lightroom. Blackpoint to the right just slightly. Recovery for the sky.
From England 2005.
8/27/2009
Ruskin's View
John Ruskin, Victorian art critic, philosopher and writer, champion of Lake District painters and J.M.W Turner in particular, claimed that this was the most perfect view in all of England. There are signs all through the town of Kirkby Longsdale directing you to this spot, and a big brass plaque and stone bench to help you enjoy it.
And I suspect it looks today just about as it did in Ruskin’s time. And I suspect this is just such a day as the day on which Ruskin drew his conclusion.
Obligatory photo.
Minolta A1 at 28mm equivalent. F8.0 @ 1/640th @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
Sharpen landscape and Punch presets in Lightroom. Blackpoint to the right. Some Recovery for the clouds.
From England 2005.
8/25/2009
Foot of Rydal Water
We hiked the circuit of Grasmere and Rydal Water, starting from Grasmere and going across the ridge above Rydal past two Wordsworth dwellings and then back on the other side, catching views made famous in hundreds of paintings, Turner’s among them. Totally amazing! One of the best days of my life despite doddgy weather that closed the more distant views of the mountains behind Grasmere, and very tired feet.
This is a shot from the very foot of Rydal Water where the bridge crosses the the stream looking north up the lake.
Minolta A1 at 28mm equivalent. F7.1 @ 1/320th @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
Recovery in Lightroom for the sky. Punch and Landscape sharpen presets. Blackpoint to the right.
From England 2005.
8/21/2009
Kirkby Longsdale
A small village between the Lakes and the Dales, just outside Yorkshire Dales National Park. Home of Ruskin. Lots of famous views and a bridge. We spent a afternoon there with rain threatening the whole time, but glorious light most of the time. This is a view out over the Longsdale River valley.
Minolta A1 at 28mm equivalent. F7.1 @ 1/400th @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
Required heavy Recovery in Lightroom for the sky, a touch of Fill Light, and blackpoint adjustment. Punch and Landscape sharpen presets.
8/19/2009
Hills above Kendal, between the Lakes and the Dales
In honor of being in England (where I will not have access to this blog), I will post some images from a trip my wife and took to the Lake Country and Yorkshire Dales in 2005. They were taken with the Minolta A1, perhaps the worst digital camera I have ever used…it had a great lens: 28 to 140mm equivalent as I remember, but the sensor had very limited dynamic range compared to cameras I have owned since. I eventually bought a little 6mp Sony pocket camera and, when I saw the results it produce, stopped carrying the A1 altogether. Eventually there was a recall on the model when the sensors failed. By then my daughter was using the camera, and the sensor failed right after the Sony Minolta deal when service was in limbo. I never did get it fixed.
This is image, on the other hand, is one of my favorites from the camera and the trip. Our first night at a farm house B&B above Kendal at the edge of the Lake District, between the lakes and the dales, we took a walk in the B&B.
Minolta A1, at 70mm equivalent. F7.1 @ 1/400th @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
In Lightroom I preprocessed all the images in this set (>200) as a batch, applying the Punch preset (added Clarity and Vibrance), and the Landscape sharpen preset. I then opened individual images for additional processing. On this one I applied some Recovery for the sky, a bit of Fill Light, and slid the blackpoint to the right to intensify all the colors.
From England 2005.