Waterfall in the valley of desolation

This lovely waterfall is at the head of the 'Valley of Desolation' at Bolton Abbey. I took the photo last week on a cold, sunny day. It's the first time I've visited this waterfall and I'll definitely return - I'm keen to see the differences in the surrounding foliage as the seasons change.

This is also the first photo I've posted on here using my new camera - a Nikon D7200 - I love it!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/22, 1/5s, 35mm, cable release & bean bag.

Heron in the river at Hardcastle Crags.

I've seen the heron at Hardcastle Crags many times but never managed to photograph it. A few weeks ago, I followed it quite a long way upstream, seeing it in numerous places each time it stopped to fish, but I only had a wide lens on my camera and couldn't get close enough. So, today, I deliberately took my long lens in the hope that I'd see it. I couldn't believe my luck when I reached the river beside Gibson Mill and found it posing perfectly for me in the waterfall. Then it flew further upstream and I managed another shot of it perched on the river bank. I'd love to know if there's more than one heron - I've only ever seen one on its own.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/4.8, 1/125s, -1 step exp bias, 210mm, hand held

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/5, 1/200s, -1 step exp bias, 120mm, hand held

Little waterfall at the top of Jumble Hole Clough.

I took this one in April this year. This is near the top of the stream, above the old mill. I love the detail and colours in the bit where the water first passes over the top stones - I think it looks like a parting in smooth, golden-streaked hair.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/8, 1/8s, 35mm, hand held (I think I balanced the camera on the side of the little wooden bridge I was standing on)

Little waterfall at Maple Dean Clough, Norland (3)

Today my eldest son and I walked up through the (very muddy!) woods above Copley to Maple Dean Clough. I took my little beanbag, knowing there would be opportunities for long exposure shots in the stream. The low camera angle and the fact that the water was quite fast flowing today, make this little waterfall look much bigger than it actually is.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/22, 1.3s, 35mm, bean bag & remote release.

Waterfall around rocks at Jumble Hole Clough.

Another one from yesterday's walk down Jumble Hole Clough. I spent quite some time by this waterfall and took a number of close-up, long exposure shots. I didn't have a tripod with me and couldn't use my bean bag as that put the camera at too low an angle, so was just trying to hold my breath and stand still! There's still a bit of camera shake in these shots, but it's only obvious on the rocks, which are in shadow.

I'm already planning my next trip back, though, with a tripod!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/14, 1/6s, 35mm, hand held.

Overgrown mill ruins at Jumble Hole Clough

I did another new walk today - from Great Rock above Todmorden, down through Jumble Hole Clough, along the canal bank in the valley bottom, then back up the hillside from Eastwood. The fast-flowing stream down Jumble Hole Clough is stunning, but I'm not sure I've got any photos that really do it justice - I always felt like I needed to be on the other side of the stream. I did look for ways across at various points but (for once!) was sensible and didn't risk slipping off the mossy rocks and breaking bones or camera.

There are ruins of old textile mills at various points in the Clough - this is one of the smaller ones towards the bottom. It has a huge tree growing on top of it and a little waterfall in its side - hardly recognisable as a building any more.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/3.2, 1/125s, 35mm, hand held.

Sunlight touching the water and shores of Lake Buttermere.

Here's another from our holiday to the Lake District last August. This was a lovely day of cloudy skies with shafts of sunlight breaking through like spotlights on the lake and mountain slopes. It really brought out the colours in the water and made the surface sparkle.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/11, 1/200s, 24mm, hand held.

Little waterfall at Maple Dean Clough, Norland (2)

Here's another one from my walk from Sowerby Bridge to Norland in November last year. Instead of a tripod, I used a bean bag to rest the camera on to get the long exposure.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/22, 2.5s, 22mm, bean bag & remote release.

Little waterfall at Maple Dean Clough, Norland.

Yesterday I did a lovely walk from Sowerby Bridge to Norland and back, climbing up via Maple Dean Clough. I didn't want to carry my tripod as it was a long walk, so came up with the idea of using a bean-filled microwaveable neck cushion in a plastic bag as a camera rest. It worked brilliantly - I used it for this shot, along with a remote release.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/18, 1 sec, 18mm, 'bean bag' & remote release.

Waterfalls at the head of Buttermere, viewed from between tree branches

This one's from our holiday to the Lake District in August this year. The mountains (Fleetwith Pike & Haystacks) and waterfalls at the end of Buttermere are always stunning to look at or photograph, but I also really liked this hint of the view to come through the natural frame of branches.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/11, 1/200s, 55mm, hand held.

Lumb Hole waterfalls

These lovely waterfalls are at Crimsworth Dean, near Hebden Bridge, photographed on a walk along the valley in June this year. I've been trying different ways of photographing fast water - long and short exposures - and I think I prefer short. I like capturing the motion and being able to distinguish the separate droplets of water. This one isn't a particularly short exposure (1/80s), but still does the job.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/11, 1/80s, 18mm.

Waterfall at Hardcastle Crags in Autumn

This one's from November 2013 - an alternative view of a previously posted shot of this waterfall (see post on 23rd Sept 2014).

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/22, 13s, 40mm, ND filters, tripod.

Lumb Hole waterfalls and Crimsworth Dean Beck

I took this one last week at Crimsworth Dean, near Hebden Bridge. There's a plaque on a stone near the top of the waterfall commemorating the poem that poet laureate Ted Hughes wrote,

based on a photograph taken there. The poem was called 'Six young men' and was about them all leaving to fight in the First World War and not returning.

Whilst clambering around on the rocks in the river I managed to lose my guide book (it fell out of my pocket) and had to work out my own way back to the car as it was my first time on this circular walk!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/11, 1/160s, 18mm, hand held.

Little waterfall at Hardcastle Crags

I took this in May 2013 at the Crags. It's only a little waterfall, but I thought it was really cute - I love the contrasting tones, shapes and textures of the rocks and their zingy green covering of moss. I used a tripod and ND filters to get the long exposure on the water.

In Lightroom, I cropped the image to an aspect ratio that better suited the composition, then tweaked contrast and shadows.

Little waterfall and bluebells at Hardcastle Crags

I took this in May this year on a walk at Hardcastle Crags, Hebden Bridge. Initially I just wanted to photograph the falling water, but then realised what a pretty setting it was in.

The only change I made to the raw file was to add a graduated filter to bring down exposure in the trees at the top.

Woodland waterfall in Autumn at Hardcastle Crags

I took this photo in November 2013 at Hardcastle Crags, a wooded valley near Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire. I set out with my tripod specifically to get a photo of a waterfall, having waited until Autumn to get the reds and browns in the surrounding foliage. I was actually intending to photograph a different waterfall, but on arrival found that it had dried up - not enough recent rainfall, for once!

After walking further up the valley, I found this one - much bigger and more picturesque than the one I'd originally looked for.

I reduced exposure and highlights and lifted the shadows slightly in post production.