Pictures from the Dales

I was very much looking forward to seeing the Yorkshire Dales properly as I’d only driven through the area briefly before when visiting the Lake District. During my week there the weather was less than ideal which meant that photography was a bit more tricky. On Thursday the cloud lifted briefly to reveal just how beautiful the landscape there is. I had driven around for four days in the gloom and sometimes thick fog still in awe of my surroundings. But when the weather improved the views were glorious. Naturally I went snap happy knowing that this could possibly be the only decent day for light. Here’s what I came up with:

In the evening I set out to visit Semerwater, the largest natural lake in North Yorkshire. I captured the image above on the way there whilst driving along the narrow lanes.

Upon seeing Semerwater for the first time I was reminded of the Lake District as the water is surrounded by hills. After wading around the edge of the water for a while I took a couple of pictures and wondered if my luck was out as heavy clouds were gathering, blocking the setting sun. As I have learnt in the past, never walk away from this sort of situation straight away. I spent a while exploring more and eventually noticed some golden light hitting the hills on the other side of the lake. I returned to a spot I’d found earlier and waited for the scene below to unfold.

The rich light lasted for a short time. Afterwards, I walked out into the water as far as my wellies would allow to reach a point further along the water’s edge. Getting down really low to the ground (wet knees ahoy!) I composed one last picture, taking in the full expanse of cool clouds above.

Camera rental recommendation

Just before my trip to the Yorkshire Dales I was shooting a wedding for which I needed to hire a second camera and flashgun. Calumet wanted an astronomical price for 1 day’s rental so instead I opted to use a company called Hireacamera who offer delivery and collection by courier. I found their service to be very efficient and friendly so I thought it might be useful to share my experience here encase anyone is looking to rent equipment.