Ladybower Reservoir, Peak District
Ladybower Reservoir, Peak District
Before I made this trip in December, I had watched a short interview with Jonathan Chritchley (www.jonathanchritchley.net). Boy, that guy's work is good. And between his work and his workshops he manages to provide, and provide well, for his family all through pursuing his love and his craft of fine art photography. The guy really is an inspiration.
However, not all is quite what it seems. I can guarantee you that behind those lovely 6x6 black and whites is a team of marketing and sales people peddling his wares. What I would give to be able to transport my entire family to a part of the world that perpetually provides such awesome inspiration.
So to Ladybower, I knew from previous trips that there images to be had here. Yet I also knew that the azimuth at which the sun was due to rise was to be far from ideal.
I shot several different compositions before ending up here just as the sun was rising over my shoulder to the right. I used an ND grad to bring the sky into play and then my B&W 10 Stop ND filter to give me a 60 second exposure giving me that lovely calm silky feel to the water. Not a competition winner by any stretch of the imagination, but pretty nonetheless.
Tech specs: D300, ISO 200, F8, 61secs, Tripod (obviously), cable release. Nikkor 17-55mm F2.8 at 17mm.
This is an image straight from camera, shot at 1/30 sec with no filters - you can see the difference the neutral densitys make.