Enjoying a brief Indian summer on a beach at the side of a Pennine reservoir. We started the summer with a heatwave; and despite a lot of rain in the last month, water levels are still significantly lower than they should be, exposing sandy foreshores and hitherto hidden features such as walls and gateposts.
This is Baitings reservoir near Ripponden: I’ve previously photographed this place as I love the sheltered, glassy surface of this stretch of water. This evening was truly glorious though, loved the light, and caught the sun just as it started to dip over the skyline. Shot as a 9 exposure HDR, which captured the full range of the sun’s colour and warmth.
Click below for a full screen 360° view of the scene with Flash, to see the location in Google Earth, or to view an iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch compatible version.
Categories: landscapes, panorama, personal Tags: 360°, baitings, calderdale, evening, HDR, panorama, pennines, reflection, reservoir, ripponden, summer, sunset, water, west yorkshire, yorkshire
Another view of Widdop Reservoir and the dam on a beautiful summer’s evening. I’d come here to carry out another photoshoot for a friend, but this vista (one of my favourites in the Pennines) was too good to leave with capturing in in 360°.
Click below for a fullscreen 360° view of the scene in Flash, or for more info in Google Earth.
Another taste of winter: this time it’s Blackstone Edge Reservoir. Partially frozen and dusted in snowy tiger stripes, the cold expanse of water lies under a sky lit by the major urban areas around: Rochdale, Burnley, Halifax and Huddersfield. I stood on the edge of Turvin Road, under this signpost and tried to avoid car headlights in the long exposure time needed to capture the soft light. After a while I gave up and let this driver light up the view.
Click below for a fullscreen 360° view of the scene in Flash or QuickTime format, or locate the scene in Google Earth.
Soft pastel shades from urban sprawl in the distance, still cold water in the foreground.
I previously shot the other end of this reservoir during the wet summer of 2007: the contrast between the two occasions was striking.
Click below for a fullscreen 360° view of the scene in Flash or QuickTime format, or locate the scene in Google Earth.
Categories: landscapes, panorama, personal Tags: baitings, bridge, calderdale, dusk, panorama, reservoir, ryburn, snow, viaduct
I love this view. I shot it back in August 2007 but couldn’t get it to stitch properly as the source images weren’t highly contrasting enough. I came back to it this week and, with a bit of magic and hard work, was able to get it to behave.
Blackstone Edge overlooks Lancashire, and marks the border across to Yorkshire. The road climbs ever upwards, and the sky perpetually feels enormous, invasive, and omnipresent. At the top sits a reservoir, and despite the raw weather on the cusp of the Pennines, the surface usually looks oddly calm.
Click here to view a fullscreen Flash panorama of the scene.
Snow. There’s not been much this winter, but in true bank holiday weekend form, it came down on Saturday night in bucketloads. It didn’t last though, so today I tried to capture some of the character of the moors in true winter weather before it all melted.
I was lucky enough to capture this scene between snow and hail flurries just as the sun was dropping, and love the evening light. It was finger-numbingly cold up there, but worth it for a glimpse of those colours. Magic.
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Here’s the same scene (well, 100 metres difference) just 10 minutes beforehand. The weather changes fast on the tops!
Widdop Reservoir Dam, between Heptonstall and Trawden, February 2008
I think I’m developing a thing for dams. Or maybe it’s a thing for reservoirs. Living in the Pennines, where the landscape is splattered with their glinting still bodies, I feel they permeate one’s consciousness.
Widdop Reservoir is a favourite, lying as it does on the desolate road from Heptonstall to Colne. By the time you get to it, you’ve already watched the landscape empty and stretch out, rolling and barren before you. The sky was a perfect powder blue, and the ground had a light dusting of snow, enough to add character and sparkle to an otherwise muted season on the moors.
Click here to view a fullscreen Flash panorama of the scene.
A favourite view from a favourite road: looking towards Widdop reservoir in the snow.
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Looking across Widdop Reservoir.
Click below for a fullscreen 360° view of the scene in Flash, or for more info in Google Earth.
I used to drive past this reservoir everyday on the commute to and from work. Usually the sluices are dry and there’s a bare ring of stones above the waterline, indicating that the reservoir still had capacity. Not today though: excess water flowed powerfully down the face of the dam, under a glowering sky. So much for summer!
Click below for a fullscreen 360° view of the scene in Flash or QuickTime format, or locate the scene in Google Earth.
Click below for a fullscreen 360° view of the scene in Flash or QuickTime format, or locate the scene in Google Earth.
Categories: landscapes, panorama, personal Tags: calderdale, dam, panorama, pennines, reservoir, ripponden, ryburn, storm, summer, west yorkshire
