Autumn Waterfalls, 2015 (Part 2)

A continuation of the Autumn Waterfalls theme, following on from my last post a few days ago. Part 1 was by no means a classic as far as waterfalls go. The installment was merely an introduction as to what was about to follow, so without further ado, here is a small selection of picturesque waterfall shots that I enjoyed capturing in a fantastic setting. West Burton is a jewel not to be overlooked. Situated in Upper Wensleydale, which is part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, it is the home of Cauldron Falls, one of the waterfalls drawn by Turner, on his tour of the North of England. 

I parked next to the village green and walked back down to the entrance, basically heading towards the noise of the waterfall. Well, that's one good way of finding it, especially when it's your first ever visit and there's no-one around to ask directions. A narrow opening between the houses leads you into an almost fairy tale scene. With the Olde Worlde village now behind me, it was almost like stepping from one chapter of a book into another, or even onto a period drama film set. The timing of my visit couldn't have been better, as the floor was littered with Autumn leaves of various colours, with many more falling from above as I walked further into the scene. An old stone bridge guards the entrance to the falls and it's about as picturesque as you'll find, with the fast flowing water travelling through its arch an down an incline. A group of photographers stood around the bridge, capturing the dramatic water at speed as I walked past.

An old wooden bench was situated under the trees on the approach to Cauldron Falls. It was here that I took my first shot of the falls, kicking off with a 1 second shutter speed as a test. It was spot on, so I ran with that and an aperture of f11 at 100 ISO for the rest of my exposures during the one hour session. I was tempted to head over the stone bridge to capture a different angle on the falls, but to be perfectly honest, I was more than happy to work from one side of the river as the photo opportunities looked much better, with rocks, water cascades and overhanging autumnal tree's offering everything I was looking for.

Summing up my visit - this really was a one to remember. Up til this point I hadn't taken any Autumn shots in 2015, so there would be no better place to start than Middleton in Teesdale, with an encore at Cauldron Falls, West Burton. It doesn't come any better than this. One place I'll definitely be revisiting in 2016, make no mistake of that.
Back soon...
AC

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