Little Langdale

A few unseasonably hot days in the Lake District at the beginning of October made for an excellent break. We did not stray far from Little Langdale as there was so much on our doorstep. Photographically it's a challenge as small changes in the light can make enormous differences to the final image and the ideal light is unlikely to be present to the casual stroller. This image was taken with my Sony HX5V and is decent enough given that the camera has such a tiny sensor.

A slate quarry was within walking distance but I was unable to do it justice as on my first visit the light was harsh and from the wrong direction and on my second trip I was too tired to give it the attention it required. Being lazy, I exposed my Sony A700 with HDR (High Dynamic Range) in mind but struggled to gauge depth of field.

HDR can distort colours but these images are more or less how I visualised them.

I have recently sold my Mamiya 330f and while I am glad that I no longer have to carry such a heavy camera I do miss the square format and rigour that a manual camera imposes. More time to look, think and generally reflect.

Cathederal Cave is Little Langdale's star attraction but needed to be given more attention than I was able as I required an urgent toilet break. The challange of balancing the sky and the deep shadows seemed to demand HDR but the colours never seemed right. I ended up by manipulating one RAW file (rather than trying to combine several) but I am still disappointed.

Graham wisely decided not to try and balance such an impossible exposure challange and achieved this lovely result.