Wigtwizzle - Norman Smith's Travel Blog.: January 2019

Winter photography in Wharfedale

Saying winter arrived was a bit of an exaggeration as there was only a couple of inches of snow in the fields and the roads were all clear. I know everyone says we don't have the winters and snow like we used to have but its true, we don't. I'll grant you that last year was bad when the Beast From The East raised its ugly head but that was just a one off occurrence.

My day was another day when I wish I'd have taken a zoom lens with me. I would have loved to have got some close-ups of those three trees in the enclosure but unfortunately I only had my 24-70mm lens. The 70-300mm would have been ideal and also it would have given me the opportunity to get some close ups of the trees on Barden Fell too.

For the most part it was a cloudy day but the sun did break through later in the afternoon when I was up near Kettlewell. This gave some good light but even so, I still prefer the shots I took earlier in the day near Appletreewick. There's a certain simplicity and minimalism to them which I really like, especially the ones I took of the clump of trees and dry stone wall.

In future when I go out for a drive, I think my best bet will be to have both lenses in the car so I can chop and change when the need arises. If I had been going for a walk then I would have had my photography rucksack with me which would have had both lenses in anyway.

It's very frustrating thinking that you have missed out on a opportunity through your own bad decision making.

Howgill, Wharfedale

Barden Fell Plantation

Barden Fell

Enclosure

Disappearing Act

Near Appletreewick

S Bend

Trees near Appletreewick

Break in the wall

Close up on nature

Stangs Lane, Appletreewick

The River Wharfe at Kettlewell

Lambing time approaches

Wharfedale trees

A magical and surreal Ogden Clough

The weather wasn't too good and deteriorated even further the nearer I got to Ogden Water. It had been a still morning and I had hoped for the low cloud to lift and for the sun to maybe break through. This would have given me some great light to work with plus a chance for some reflection shots but it wasn't to be.

Actually it would have been so easy not to go out at all and just stay at home and have a lazy day but sometimes its good to push yourself and work in more challenging conditions. If the photos work then its a bonus, if they don't then you haven't really lost anything; plus you will hopefully learn from your mistakes for the next time. Also, good or bad, you are getting a bit of exercise and keeping the grey matter ticking over at the same.

I've been in the Clough many times and in all sorts of weather. Today though, the snow turned it in to a rather magical and surreal place which gave it an atmosphere I have never experienced on my previous visits. With it being so cold and never getting any sun, all the snow was sticking to the branches of the and leaves on the trees, rocks and grasses; this made it as near to being a winter wonderland as you could get. I'm not too sure about all of the compositions though. Some are good, some are not so good and some are poor but, as in anything you do in life, you only learn by trial and error.

Before going back to the car, I walked up on to the golf course which was a total white out and bloody freezing. It can be a pretty bleak place even in the middle of summer as most of the holes are over 1000ft above sea level but when the snow and mist are down, its hard to imagine that there is a golf course there at all.

Anyway I took a few random shots up there and then beat a hasty retreat back down to the car. In ten minutes I was back home, the heating was on, a warm cuppa was in my hand and I was sat there feeling chuffed at having made the effort and got out. My only reservation was that I didn't take a zoom lens with me which meant I couldn't pick out closer and more intimate scenes so that is something to consider in future.

A frozen Ogden Water

Ogden Plantation

Ogden Water

Ogden Plantation

Ogden Clough

Ogden Plantation

Ogden Clough

Snow on grasses, Ogden Clough

Ogden Water

Skirden Clough

Perimeter of Ogden Plantation

The 18th, Halifax Golf Course

In the rough, Halifax Golf Course

Withens New Road

A cold and misty Ogden water

Winskill Stones

Usual scenario, I leave the house in sunshine and by the time I reach Skipton, the cloud has moved in. I had earlier considered going up to The Lakes for the day but a quick check of The Met Office app quickly put paid to that as well!

The limestone pavement at Winskill really is a great place to be. You can see all The Three Peaks; Ingleborough is directly in front, Whernside just to its right and, set aside from the other two, is Pen-y-Ghent to the north. Add to that the famous Winskill hawthorn and you have a photographers paradise, even when its a dull day like today was.

Mind you, areas like this at one time had been in threat of being ruined. The well-known gardener Geoff Hamilton was a great supporter of the campaign to stop people buying limestone pavement to make rockeries from and when he died, this important area of limestone pavement was bought by Plantlife International and the reserve dedicated to his memory. Thank you Geoff! Lots of photos of the Pavement and tree were taken before returning to the car to warm up. You really are exposed to the elements at Winskill.

My next port of call was a limestone area known as The Giant's Grave which is round the back of Pen-y-Ghent. I've searched the Internet and can't find out how or why it got its name. Its another one of those places that is a photographers delight. It is a small limestone pavement which overlooks the valley of Pen-y-Ghent Gill and has Littondale and The Horse Head Pass as a distant backdrop. I had to hang around there for ages for a decent bit of light to come across but I was well rewarded in the end.

I took a my last few photos looking down on Littondale. The light wasn't too good but due to a bitterly cold wind I couldn't hang around and had to get back to the car as quickly as I could before my fingers dropped off! As so ofter happens, the sun broke through as I reached Wharfedale which was slightly annoying but it did gave me a very pleasant drive home. Despite the weather, I still had a great afternoon out and I think I took some pretty good photos.