Buttermere, Cumbria
Although, strictly, this should be in the Cumbria section, this image is still at home here. Buttermere in Cumbria, is only one of the spectacular sights in this area of natural beauty. This image shows the village, which is literally yards away from the iconic lake of the same name. Strictly speaking, Buttermere is a Mere rather than a Lake. The term Mere usually refers to an expanse of water where it's depth is less than it's width, Making most of the Lake District - The Mere District. This was taken in December 2021, making the autumn colours really stand out.
Olympus E-PL5 ~ f11 ~ 1/15th ~ ISO200 ~ 17mm
Buttermere Tree
Yet another beautiful landscape picture from the shores of Buttermere in Cumbria. This lone (windswept) Spruce tree has so much character, and stands out against the mountainous backdrop. I tried to capture the Crackled Bark on the tree trunk, which was one of my main points of composition. It reminded me of the style of Japanese Bonsai Trees, which is where the Japanese get their inspiration.
With such a large Field Of Focus from the tree to the horizon, it was important to use f11, but also, the sky was so bright that the shutter speed was taken down to only 1/15th second to get the right exposure.
Olympus PEN PL-5 ~ f11 - 1/15th - ISO200 - 37mm ~ +0.3Exp
A Break at Thimbleby Lakes
As mentioned throughout these pages, I spend quite a lot of time at Thimbleby lakes, whether it's for fishing, or just spending some Quiet Time away from the hectic schedules involved in Call Connect work. The serene location of this area is always a welcome time, even if it's only for a few minutes. I purposely got some Bokeh in this image to make the bus stand out behind the blurry grasses. Keep looking throughout the rest of the site for more images & drone footage snapped at this location.
It wasn't the sunniest of days, so I increased the ISO to 800, which meant that I could lower the shutter speed to 1.125th to keep the hand-held picture sharp.
Olympus PEN PL-5 ~ 20 ~ 1/125th ~ ISO800 ~ 75mm
Nabb Hill Sunset
This was taken on a junction in the heart of Lincolnshire Wolds. Nabb Hill is a fairly steep hill which joins Tetford and Salmonby at the bottom of the hill, with Belchford and Fulletby at the top of the hill. The road at the top is known as Furlongs Lane , and looks Westerly over the valley between the 2 villages. At this location at Sunset, there are some of the most stunning views of the Lincolnshire Skies. If, at any time, I am travelling back from Tetford to Horncastle at this time in the afternoon, I will Always choose this route to catch a view of this landscape. In fact, I try to find a short period of time to stop at the top of the hill to take in this beautiful and breathtaking view.
Olympus OM-D E-M5 mkiii ~ f11 ~ 1/15th ~ ISO400 ~ 14mm
West Ashby Treeline
Another short break in between passenger bookings while travelling through West Ashby. This time I had about 15 minutes to park my bus in the Layby, walk a short distance to the nearby tree-line, and get a few colourful pictures. As can be seen by the camera settings below, a simple f5.6 at 1/160th second exposure was good enough to capture the colours of the Autumnal Trees. I admit that I boosted the saturation a little in Post Processing with Darktable, but the settings were good enough to avoid any other tweeking. The shutter speed was fast enough to capture a few Crows in mid-flight too.
Olympus PEN PL-5 ~ f5.6 ~ 1/160th ~ ISO200 ~ 40mm
Roughton Road Weir
At the rear of a village called Haltham runs the River Bain. There is a road running near the river, which goes from Kirkby On Bain to Roughton (Pronounced Root-On). Thankfully there are a few pulling in places where a car can be parked up for short periods of time for photography of a really nice Weir. It's a lovely location to stop for half an hour or so, if only to grab a few shots of the river & Rural Landscapes. This picture was taken during the summer months, where there are very few wispy clouds and the wild flowers are in full bloom.
I tend to use fairly long exposures when it comes to water, because I like the effect this has on the water surface (note the softness of the waterfall, and the change in the appearance of the water in the foreground). The fact that I used these settings meant that I could have included this capture in the Long Exposure section (even though it also classifies as Scenery & Landscapes).
Olympus OM-D E-M5 mkiii ~ f5.6 - 1second - ISO64 - 41mm
Supermoon
As a keen amatuer photographer, I am always looking out for special events or unique occurances that I can take pictures of. This not only gives me practice of photography, but it also encourages me to learn about a photographic discipline that I maybe haven't tried before. I love learning how to try new things, like Astrophotography, or Macro Photography, they all have their unique settings and rules to follow. The same can be said for Lunar captures, with the sun shining off the surface of the moon, the camera settings have to be different to, for example, Milky Way photography.This image was taken from the Wolds, over Belchford, looking out across Tetford, very close to where I captured the Nabb Hill image. I got to the location early, and waited for the Supermoon to rise - it certainly didn't dissapoint.
Olympus PEN PL-5 ~ f6.3 - 1.3secs - ISO640 - 75mm
As Far As The Eye Can See
There are many more photos like this, but variations can be found in the Yorkshire section. Needless to say, this was taken in Yorkshire (Askrigg to be precise). The vast area of landscape which can be squeezed into a 16mm lens is quite amazing, but the impressive thing for me is: the immense Field of View for a setting of f5.6 is great. I did walk some of this amazing countryside, but certainly not all that is shown here!
If you've viewed some of my other pages, you may recognise the foreground, which is the Garden area of Askrigg, with it's layered spread & colourful blooms.
OMD EM5 Mkiii - f5.6 - 1/500th - ISO200 - 16mm
High Toynton Sunset
This is another one of my most popular layby spots for taking a break in, which is located just off the A158 at High Toynton. This small village is on route to Skegness, but has an extremely picturesque view from the small back road to Tetford. I have taken many pictures here, ranging from Dandilions, and Electric Power Lines, right through to birds, clouds & stunning sunsets. With a backdrop of Horncastle, and a foreground of some lovely local buildings & trees, this is really a great location. This one captured one of the several 'Manor Houses' dotted around the village.
OMD EM5 Mkiii - f7.1 - 1/320th - ISO200 - 82mm
Tetford War Memorial
Even a reasonably small village like Tetford has a large enough community of residents & respectfull Senior Citizens who have earnt the right to have a War Memorial where they can visit, if only once a year in November. During the Autumn months, the memorial is treated to a clean and tidy, ready for the new wreaths to be laid. This also makes for a stunning picture due to the colours of the trees in this part of the village.
OMD E-PL5 - f6.3 - 1/160th - ISO200 - 14mm
Market Stainton Church
I have spotted this composition several times while transporting passengers to and from Sotby on my bus. I had always wondered where to position myself to get a great shot. On this particular day, I had several minutes to spare, so got my trusty camera out & walked from Sotby/Ranby, towards Market Stainton. I managed to get a quiet part of the day to sit my Olympus on the road, and angle it to point towards the church. I think the Bokah of the road gives more focus to the subject in the centre. Although, this is a fairly long shot (150mm), it still captures the countryside, and the contrast between ancient church arcitecture & modern solar panels on the bungalow roof.
OMD E-PL5 - f7.1 - 1/400th - ISO200 - 150mm
Just Jane Skyline
It is always stunning to see the clear blue skies over Lincolnshire. The contrasting green variations of the trees, grass & crops, as well as the highlights of the pure white clouds. But it goes to another level when you get invited to East Kirkby Aviation Centre for the annual official opening of the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal. East Kirkby is the location of one of the few running Lancaster Bombers in the world, it is a special sight to see the propellers turning as it 'taxis' along the runway & airfield. Just Jane cannot fly (YET), although it draws large crowds just by moving around here. For the Poppy Appeal Launch, they also release thousands of poppies from the wings, which is truly a magnificent sight.
Not too far from here, Coningsby is loacted. This is the home of The Battle Of Britain Memorial Flight. Whenever you see a fly past of the Lancaster Bomber, Spitfires & the Dakota, this is where they have flown from.
Olympus E-PL5 ~ f10 ~ 1/250th ~ ISO200 ~ 33mm ~ +0.7Exp
Bluestone Heath Road
The Bluestone Heath Road runs the length of the Lincolnshire Wolds. It traverses the ridge of the top, looking over the many villages that it runs past. A driver can get great views of Scamblesby, Belchford, Tetford, Plus many more enroute. Being on a higher point not only gives advantages of brilliant views over much of the Northern part of the County, it also allows people to take stunning pictures, especially when the time is just right. Although the distant horizon looks misty, it is just the effect of the sunset on the atmosphere.
Olympus E-M5 Mkiii ~ f7.1 ~ 1/250th ~ ISO200 ~ 40mm
Bluestone Heath Bus
This picture was also taken on the Bluestone Heath Road, although, it was taken at the opposite end of the day as the previous picture. This one overlooks Tetford, which is East of this layby, which, by definition, makes it a Sunrise. I don't always try to get my bus into all of my images, but, sometimes, it just gives a bit more balance and perspective to a landscape scene. You may notice that the settings are very similar between this picture and the last one. Sunrises and Sunsets have similar light ratios, therefore, the amount of ambient light hitting the sensor will be roughly the same. When in Aperture Priority mode, the camera can make subtle differences to the settings if it needs to.
Olympus E-M5 Mkiii ~ f6.3 ~ 1/250th ~ ISO200 ~ 74mm
