Autumn Waterfalls, 2015 (Part 1)

Hello again!
Yes, it really is a new blog entry, so don't adjust your screens. Well overdue, it has to be said, and although I continually promise to update my blog on a more regular basis, I really must deliver that promise instead of going AWOL. No excuse, to be honest, but other commitments have taken priority, such as my main website at ashleycorr.com, my Facebook photography page, plus the small matter of fulfilling orders for my work in print. Anyway, less of that and more of this. Welcome back folks - normal service shall now be resumed...

Haway then, let me take you on a wander through Autumn countryside, from Middleton in Teesdale to West Burton - a small quaint hamlet in Wensleydale. The plan was to shoot waterfalls, with a backdrop of Autumn colours to boot. Sounds good, but would the plan come together? It was a fine, sunny day, which wasn't the ideal weather for shooting waterfalls, to be honest. Overcast days are better conditions, but you can only run with what is front of you, so let's see what today brings.

The first port of call was Summerhill Force, in Middleton in Teesdale, also known as Gibson's Cave. As we walked through the wooded area towards the falls, the leaves were falling rapidly and we really did get a sense that Autumn was well and truly in full flow. As the sun shone on the golden leaves, it was a sight to behold. The floor was littered with them, as was the rocks in the stream on the approach to the falls. A couple of photographers were in position along the waters edge, capturing Autumn in its pomp as they pulled in those colourful shots. As we reached Summerhill Force, the focal point of our visit, the sun shone directly through the break in the trees and onto the waterfall. Not ideal, although it did bring the best out of the surrounding tress in all their Autumn colours. The shots featured here are from the approach to the falls. Here they are, followed by Part 2 of 'Autumn Waterfalls' which will be my next blog installment, concentrating on West Burton Falls. Until then...

Cheers, Ash

Gibson's Cave, Middleton-In-Teesdale

A Tutorial.

A day without colour, a day without sky, and a day to forget in photography terms. Well, not quite. A miserable day with very a flat overcast sky killed any opportunity of some decent landscape photography, but these conditions are favourable when shooting waterfalls, so why not have a bash. I had an accomplice today, Mr Billy Short, latest member of the Canon Club, who was after an introductory crash course on his new hobby. So off we went, into the heart of Teesdale to a location known as Bowes Lees, home of the picturesque Gibson's Cave. On the road for just under an hour, before reaching our destination, we were greeted with a fair amount of snow, which was absent at home, but we were well prepared for the accompanying chill and wrapped up accordingly. Off we tootled, through the wooded area where we eventually found our first waterfall. Nothing special, in all honesty, but this offered a first opportunity to show Billy the ropes, so he set his gear up and I walked him through the necessary settings to achieve the shots he wanted. It was the classic 'Milky effect' waterfall that we were after, so as a starting point we set a shutter speed of 1/10th of a second, working slightly either side and cherry picking the best shot so we could determine which shutter speed we were going to run with for the rest of the session. We covered the broad range of camera settings, dialing in a preferred choice throughout, before composing and eventually tripping the slow shutter. Billy was more than happy with the results on his Canon 1100d, which was also pleasing from my point of view, so the first tutorial went carefully to plan. Mr Short was even happier when he saw his mentor fall flat on his arse in the slippery snow. I was up on my feet in no time, especially as his camera was primed and pointing squarely in my direction - we'll have no Facebook exposure here, Mr Bootleg (Long story). 

Gibson's Cave was adorned with icicles, many of which were at least 3 metres long. The waterfall, Summerhill Force,  took centre stage as usual, and who would deny its glory. As the sun shone briefly I was almost hit by icicles, melting and falling from the rocks above me. You got a real sense of danger when these things hit the floor nearby with a very noticeable racket, so I wasn't gonna 'Hang around' for long (pun intentional). We crossed the water to the other side of the cave, hoping to grab more shots from another angle, which we did. Billy was off an running by this time, getting to grips with his new toy and firing away as if he'd been at it for years. He pulled in some nice close-ups of the ice formations too. As the sun shone brightly it hampered our task somewhat, throwing far too much light into the camera, so we tinkered with a cheap set of ND filters (Screw on) to block some of that light out, which gave us our required shutter speed back. Thank you.
We photographed Gibson's Cave for a good 45 minutes or so before heading back to the car, stopping briefly so I could pull a falling icicle from my skull (shown here). And that was it, lesson over. Until the next one...

Ash