Knowing the natural beauty that the Lake District holds, you may be left wondering why I would need to write this blog post. Surely all you need to do is head out with your camera in hand and start finding some amazing photographs. That may be the case however, the Lake District is a large place and it certainly holds many hidden gems for you to uncover. That’s the first purpose of this article.
The second purpose of this blog, as with my other articles discussing locations, is to give you the assistance in camera settings to get the picture you want in that location. The last thing you want to do is to arrive on location, snap away, think you’ve got the killer shot and then when you open things up in post production, your worst nightmare is realised: you have nothing to show for your endeavours due to bad settings.
Camera settings: Exposure 1/10s, f/22, 18mm, ISO 400
Location: On trail to Easedale Tarn (Google Maps)
If you’re not going to go hiking, what else are you going to do in the Lakes? And if you’re going to be presented with views like this, how can you not? This picture was captured on the trail that starts in Grasmere on Easedale Road heading up to Easedale Tarn.
Looking at what I used for the settings on this one may puzzle people a little bit with such a high exposure time but let me explain. The reason I had a higher exposure time on this one though the scene was relatively bright already was due to the stream to get the smoothed over look. I couldn’t go too high though due to me shooting without a tripod.
To counteract this, the aperture was made as small as I could to make sure the rest of the picture wasn’t over exposed thus ruining the composition. For the same reason, the ISO was brought down to ensure that the clarity of the rest of the image wasn’t spoilt by noise.
Camera settings: Exposure 1/4000s, f/11, 20mm, ISO 3200
Location: Trail to Easedale Tarn (Google Maps)
Continuing on with what can be captured on the Easedale Tarn trail, this one was taken just after the small waterfall giving an amazing view of the sunrise. I can only imagine what this would look like if you got up earlier before the sun came over the hills in the distance.
I really like how the hills in the foreground provide a “V” shape where you can frame the rest of the picture with whilst in the distance, you have the interleaving of the hill ranges with the gentle mist amongst them.
Admittedly, this was a picture that I struggled to capture exactly what I wanted to as I was shooting straight into the sun and lessons were learnt from it. I should have maybe looked into it better prior to taking it on how to achieve an organic picture as well as maybe investing in a filter but we live and we learn.
The exposure was at its smallest time due to the sun’s intensity and not wanting to drown out the rest of the picture. The reasoning behind the higher ISO (and I tried many different levels here!) was in the hope that I could capture what was in the foreground better with the fast shutter speed. If not in person, then the hope was to rescue the picture in post production. I feel it came out reasonably well but certainly could be better.
Since looking into it after, the recommendations that I seem to find were the use of a UV filter to tone down the intensity and even the use of taking two photos and overlaying them.
Camera settings: Exposure 1/6s, f/3.5, 18mm, ISO 200
Location: Ambleside YHA Pier (Google Maps)
This is a perfect example of the beauty that Mother Nature can bless you with. A spectacular sunrise on a crisp winter’s morning over a calm lake. Just looking at the picture brings a calming nature to me. To witness it in person was something else.
Staying at the YHA in Ambleside, they have pier that reaches out into the lake and provides you this amazing view to the south across the lake, giving you the viewpoint that seems like you’re standing on water. What I really love about this is the reflection achieved with the trees and the colours of the sunrise from the water.
Now, let’s talk camera settings for this one. Due to the pre-sunrise lighting, the exposure time was upped to ensure that I was able to capture that extra amount of light, whilst dropping the ISO down to ensure that there wasn’t any noise to ruin the clarity of the water and water.
Camera settings:
- Left picture – Exposure 1/4000s, f/9, 20mm, ISO 3200
- Right picture – Exposure 1/4000s, f/7.1, 20mm, ISO 1600
Location: Just off High Crag peak, slightly off trail that leads towards High Stile (Google Maps)
Even on a bleak and overcast day, it’s amazing what you can still capture on your adventures. In all honestly, I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. These are the views the great outdoors can provide you.
The first thing that I’ll admit with these pictures are that I didn’t take the time truly needed to master the picture that I wanted. It was blooming cold up there and any extra time with the gloves off meant my fingers were further down the numbness scale.
This is a lesson in preparedness. I’d left the camera on the settings from the early morning sunrise picture which is a completely different environment. What I should have done is set the camera up how I wanted it in the car park at the bottom where it was substantially less windy and cold to make my life easier at the top.
For me, the exposure time worked out for me as it allowed the detail in the clouds to be captured better, not being drowned out due to the sunlight illuminating them. It was able to keep that moody look that the day had. Due to the overcast nature of the weather, and me not changing the exposure time, I wanted the ISO higher than I usually use to try and get the colour captured from the peaks in the distance to capture their true intensity. This was maybe a mistake as it has upped the noise in the photograph and clarity wasn’t as good as it should have been.
Mores lessons learnt here for future adventure photography.
Camera settings:
- Left picture: Exposure 1/10s, f/14, 26mm, ISO 100
- Centre picture: Exposure 1/10s, f/5.6, 26mm, ISO 100
- Right picture: Exposure 1/5s, f/18, 22mm, ISO 100
Location: The Grot, Rydal Hall (Google Maps)
What an amazing location this is?! I’m definitely thankful to who came on my trip with me and recommended this spot after seeing it on Instagram. Don’t worry though, the walk out to Rydal Hall from Ambleside is a pleasant one, as are the rest of the grounds that the hall is situated in. We didn’t come here JUST for the photography location.
Let’s talk camera settings then, breaking down each shot. As you can see ISO was the same for all pictures, this was due to the want for a longer exposure time to get a more smoother over waterfall whilst compromising the fact that I was shooting without a tripod.
For the picture on the left, the smaller aperture was to ensure that over exposure wasn’t caused from the longer exposure time, ruining the detail in the background.
For the centre photograph, the larger aperture was used to try and bring all elements of the frame in. I wanted clarity of both the window itself and the scene that can be seen through it. Ideally this could have been f/3.5 however, I needed to compromise on trying to not have a drowned out picture, allowing the bridge and scene in the distance to be seen.
For the right hand photograph, I wanted to create the depth of the wall that was in the foreground whilst ensuring that there wasn’t over exposure of the scene from the longer exposure time.
There you have it. These are five great locations in the Lake District that will start you off on capturing the beauty that this place holds. This is just the first of what are a few locations and though I’ve only been there a few times, I have plenty more to share though, this will be shared through the lens of my phone. I intend to head back with the camera though and to get higher quality shots.
If there are any pictures in this blog that you liked the look of and would like to purchase it for your own personal use, be it a wall print or otherwise, then be sure to head over to my Alamy portfolio where you will be able to view them, along with . If what you’re looking for isn’t on there, then send me an email quiltycoversblog@gmail.com and I’ll be able to sort this out for you.
Like the content of this photography? Then be sure to check out my other photography blogs, letting you know how I go about finding my photography locations and giving tips and tricks for other locations that I visit, providing inside thoughts on how to capture the shot you’ll want.
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