I took the opportunity while my wife was away to book myself into a hotel in the Lake District for 2 Nights. I would head there after work, look forward to a beer and some food in the pub attached and get up early with a full day planned.
The plan was to get up for sunrise over Lake Buttermere and the lone tree to start, the problem i had was that i was stuck in traffic and didnt arrive at the hotel until late so i knew getting up for 5am was going to be a challenge which it was....
I was up and about at 6.30am and in the car driving to Lake Buttermere for 7am. While driving to lake Buttermere i noticed the amazing light we were getting and i had to make a decision fast, either keep going and risk losing the good light or stop somewhere and try and utilise this great light we were getting.
I stopped to make the most of the light at Crummock Water and i am so glad that i did. The light was amazing and i spent about 2 hours here getting some great shots. Some have made it to my landscape portfolio on my website.
Feeling smug that i had made the right decision i headed to Lake Buttermere and to the Lone Tree. When i had parked up and got to the tree the sun was high in the sky and was quite harsh, although i did get a couple of shots i was happy with.
I walked around the lake and took some great images making it around the lake in a few hours. I stopped also to have lunch and by this time i was thinking of where to go for sunset.
What is the plan i was thinking, the sun was too harsh at the moment so i knew i had a few hours before the light would soften.
I decided to take the 1.5 hour drive to Wast Water, this place was very remote and i was almost alone. I was also getting tired and it was great to be able to park the car and not do to much of a difficult walk. I shot a few panoramas and started to look for a composition for sunset.
As the sun was going down behind me we were getting some lovely orange light hitting the mountains in front of me.
After the sun went down i packed up and drove the 1 hour back to the hotel. Its such a good feeling and a proud moment knowing your are happy with your images and really cant wait to get them home to start processing them.
After a meal in the hotel and a few beers (again!) it felt like 1 beer was actually 3 after being in the fresh air all day, put it this way, i slept well.
After breakfast the next morning i headed home.
What an amazing weekend!