Sunrise at Burbage moor

Let's start with a postcard. Sheep waking up to a beautiful sunrise on a frosty morning. They appear to have chosen the spot to be in line with the rising sun, but they were already there, before the rays graced them. Sixth sense?

Dense-ish cloud cover that lends to such picturesque sunrises also means that the conditions change very quickly. In such conditions I use the 'shoot first - ask later' technique ;) and trust my instincts mostly. When seeing a potentially good subject I shoot several frames with slightly different framing and orientation. Really, there is no time to set up tripod and carefully study the composition. The other thing is that when I'm drawn visually to something I may not notice all the important details at the time of capture. Like the beautiful turbulent clouds below

Magpie and Moon

This shot crowned our afternoon walk around Sheffield with dear friends from Lincoln. Many promising photographs to follow the water-colour theme and a pleasant stroll that took to places never visited before.

Magpie and Moon, St Vincent, Sheffield

Night sky at Surprise View

When visiting the Surprise View parking last time I noticed a nice poster advertising this spot as a perfect place to watch stars, along with a diagram of the winter sky here. Silly me. As soon as I set up the tripod and the rest of the toys, a car with all headlights on went by, and then another, and the a double decker bus ...
Anyway I managed to get some frames in between the traffic.
In two weeks we'll go up north to visit the Hadrian's Wall and the youth hostel is pretty much at the end of the road among the moors of northumberland. That might be a better spot for stargazing.

A nice English countryside as seen from Rushup Edge in the Peak District

Red Grouse at Stanage Edge

Red Grouse at Stanage Edge, Peak District National Park, UK

As I mentioned in the last post I had a rare chance to get quite close to a female Red grouse. They don’t have the red "eyebrows" and blend exceptionally well with the heather. Usually as you walk across the moors, they burst to flight 2 meters away from you. Then it is of course to late to photograph them. But here I was positioned in front of a small boulder against the sun, so my outline was not visible and the bird apparently did not see me. It went on with his search for food raising his head every 2 seconds. The last picture shows the "I'm not here" phase - the bird noticed me and stood still, but since I knew where it was I could wait patiently for the light to change. As the sun rose a bit higher it shone nicely on the grouse. I did my part and withdrew quietly.

These photographs were made with a 70-200mm lens plus 1.4 converter. In the last picture I was about 2 meters away from the bird, hiding behind a boulder.

eARTh beneath your feet #2 and #3

The higher parts of the moors, exposed to wind, got a bit of a frost lately. Apart from producing these amazing art, the frost facilitates moving around the moors, which are incredibly soggy at this time of year. I also managed to get quite close to a female Red Grouse but that's for another post.
While driving to the Peak yesterday I was brutally reminded how slippery the road can be - the black ice - I saw a car in the ditch at the sharp turn on top of the hill as you approach the national park. I had no tow-rope but offered a lift. The lady answered that her Mum who lives in Hathersage is coming to give her a tow. As soon as I got back I bought a tow-rope. You never know when you will need help.

eARTh beneath your feet

eARTh beneath your feet, Upper Burbage Bridge, Peak District