Coniston Range, Lake District

[Andrew Stannard]

Hi,

I haven't really done much panorama photography, but was up high on the Lake District fells just before sunset yesterday, and came across this scene, which was too good to miss!

It's a stitch of about 8 shots from my 20D, although I was quite caution with the amount of overlap. Handheld (but with IS lens) and stitched in CS3.

The light was just beautiful at this time of day, and am planning to get a large print of this image. Being up high at sunset did mean that we finished the descent in the dark. Worth it though!

There's a few more from the walk at this link.

Haven't done a proper edit yet, so apologies for some dust spots. There's a couple of other panoramas still waiting to be stitched and will post these if there's some interest.


Cheers,

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

...Haven't done a proper edit yet, so apologies for some dust spots. There's a couple of other panoramas still waiting to be stitched and will post these if there's some interest...

Hi Andy,

Surely you must be joking Mr. Stannard! Apologies are not in order as this is a marvellous picture. Yes, please show more .

BTW, you might want to crop a little from the top and the left. I think it will be a tad more balanced that way but it is very good as it is right now.

Cheers,

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Andy,

Hi,

I haven't really done much panorama photography, but was up high on the Lake District fells just before sunset yesterday, and came across this scene, which was too good to miss!

Lovely scene, and a nice piece of work.

Thanks.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Asher Kelman]

Andrew,

The picture is itself superb and stands well as a work on it's own. Little description os needed at all, although, now we'd love to know all about this sight and the surroundings.

I visited your site and congratulate you on the simple and art-worthy interface. By showing pictures you are proud of, the standard is kept high and that really makes a difference. Of course, we'd love to know about the soft ware. It's created in Adobe Lightroom. Is that all? Is it flash too?

Asher

 

[janet Smith]

There's a couple of other panoramas still waiting to be stitched and will post these if there's some interest

Hi Andrew

Well I'm definitely interested in seeing them, I like the one you have posted here, I think it's perfect as is - well done...

I visited your website and you got some lovely shots, No 7 stood out for me. You're very lucky with the weather aren't you - I remember your shot of Buachaille Etive Mhor not often clearly visible in winter, but you got a perfect day, now a perfect day in the Lakes, next time you're going somewhere you'd better let me know LOL!

 

[Andrew Stannard]

Hi,

Thanks for the comments. Have another two other panoramas which are now just about done, and I'll post these later today.

Cem - Have played around with the cropping a bit, and maybe you're right. I find it harder to judge the overall balance on a longer image, so think a couple of test prints are in order.


Asher:

The Coniston fells are at the southern end of the Lake District, and stand almost in their own little group compared to the rest of the mountains. Coniston Water (the lake at the foot of the fells - but not visible in my shot) was the scene of many attempts at the water speed record in the 1950s - 60s, and tragically Donnald Campbell was killed here in 1967 - his body and the boat being recovered in 2001.

The shot I took was taken from a descent of Crinkle Crags in the Langdale Valley, and this spot gives a lovely vantage spot of the Consiton range. On such a day as this the rucksack was a bit heavy due to the necessity of carrying crampons and ice axe, so I took just a single lens and no tripod.

Being high up on the hills as the sun is setting can be a wondrous sight - it made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck - and I felt privileged to be there. Well worth it if you ever get the chance.

On the website side of things, it depends on which bit you visited! The link to the other shots from the same walk is flash based and straight from lightroom - no modifications at all. These galleries do look nice, but I'm not a great fan of flash, and I don't have the ability to add in a shopping cart etc. Not sure how well they would index in Google either.

The main bit of my website (if you follow my signature link) is all hand-coded. The galleries in here are php/mySQL based, which makes it easy to manage, and also gives the possibility to add some search functions at some point. Google friendly as well.


Jan - I do seem to have had some lucky weather recently! I always save up a days holiday from work for early December and look for a day to get to the Lakes - I'm only 45min from Ambleside, so can wait until the forecast is looking good.

Anyway a bit of long post, will post some other panoramas later.


Cheers,

 

[Andrew Stannard]

2 More Panoramas

Hi,

Below are two more panoramas from the same day.

The first is taken from the top of Bowfell looking towards the Scafell Range. The peak in the middle being Scafell Pike, the highest England at 3209ft (please don't laugh at this figure if you've been looking at Fahim's images from the Himalaya!).

Despite its diminutive size compared to other mountains around the world it can be a serious peak to tackle in winter, with the weather in the Lake District being notoriously fickle and quick to deteriorate.

I'm not too keen on the cloud mass to the right of the image, seems to drag the eye out of the picture a bit, but not a lot that could be done about this. This was taken about 1pm, so the light was not as warm as the original image that I posted.


The final image is taken from the summit of Crinkle Crags looking east towards Fairfield. Will be interested to see what people think of this, personally I'm not that keen on the image - it just doesn't seem to quite come together for me.

Cheers,

 

[janet Smith]

I'm not too keen on the cloud mass to the right of the image, seems to drag the eye out of the picture a bit, but not a lot that could be done about this.....
The final image is taken from the summit of Crinkle Crags looking east towards Fairfield. Will be interested to see what people think of this, personally I'm not that keen on the image - it just doesn't seem to quite come together for me.

Hi Andy

If I may say, I think you're being hypercritical and hard on your own work, I think we're all probably guilty of the same thing sometimes though, so I know where you're coming from. I would be proud to have made the climb and got the shots that you did, you have showed us a landscape in a way that will make people want to visit and go walking/climbing, this has to be good!

I've looked at the last shot of Crinkle Crags trying see why you're 'not keen on it' surely the purpose of a panoramic shot is to show us the open vista and spread of the hills layed out before you, which you have achieved, you've also caught the lovely light to the far right and LHS. The only thing I think could possible be worked upon for improvement, could maybe the clouds on the LHS, possibly toning down the highlights, I'm not sure....

I think we can get too 'nit-picky' always striving for perfection, never knowing when we've got it, if we ever do.... I've been covering up a bit of sky with a sheet of paper (in the last shot) wondering if the balance would improve by losing 5mm or so from the top, just a suggestion.

Anyway, I like all them, I'm sorry you're not too keen, maybe you need to come back to them with fresh eyes in a few days time...

 

[Asher Kelman]

Hi Andy,

Surely you must be joking Mr. Stannard! Apologies are not in order as this is a marvellous picture. Yes, please show more .

BTW, you might want to crop a little from the top and the left. I think it will be a tad more balanced that way but it is very good as it is right now.

Cheers,

Agreed on the marvelous! Just the crop, if any is needed would be on the right and then the top. Frankly I'd really be tempted to cheat and add more of that gorgeous clouds, but that's just impulse. I like to see whole clouds whether "puffy" like so many bundles of soft pillows or streaked across the sky like bold painters strokes. That's a big artistic and even ethical question for each photographer. Should one take clouds from one picture to enhance another?

Is this made of several different exposure layers as well?

Asher.

 

[Michael Fontana]

Andrew

I like most the Scafell Pike - not because its height but the rel. neutral color of the light/WB..

I wasn't aware that crampons and ice axe were required, btw....

I dunno, there might have been in reality that warm light, but somehow it distracts me from viewing the scene in pano 1 and 3....

As I had similar problems, I'm aware, that its not to easy, to get it managed well.

 

[Sean DeMerchant]

Beautiful image.

I haven't really done much panorama photography, but was up high on the Lake District fells just before sunset yesterday, and came across this scene, which was too good to miss!

It's a stitch of about 8 shots from my 20D, although I was quite caution with the amount of overlap. Handheld (but with IS lens) and stitched in CS3.

Stitching is so easy with the latest tools. Do a little editing of the joins manually and you can get a flawless image with little effort.

Being up high at sunset did mean that we finished the descent in the dark. Worth it though!

It usually is worth it. <smile>

There's a couple of other panoramas still waiting to be stitched and will post these if there's some interest.

I almost always enjoy good light on the Lake District.

all the best,

Sean

 

[Andrew Stannard]

Hi,

Thanks for the further comments.

Jan - I decided to take your advice and come back to the second two images after a few days, see if absence really does makes the heart grow fonder!

Pleased to say that it does, although I still have a few reservations about the last one - I think it's just not quite as spectacular as I remember the scene was in reality

I've also put together the final panorama from the day. Visibility was so good that this image probably shows most of the south west corner of the Lake District - certainly too many peaks to try and name here! This hills in the extreme distance on the far right are actually part of another range - The Howgill Fells.

Thanks,

 

[janet Smith]

Jan - I decided to take your advice and come back to the second two images after a few days, see if absence really does makes the heart grow fonder!

Pleased to say that it does, although I still have a few reservations about the last one - I think it's just not quite as spectacular as I remember the scene was in reality

Hi Andy

Glad you're feeling happier with your pano's, I know just what you mean, I've been so disappointed with so many of my own shots, when you're up there in the fresh, cold exhilarating air, no matter how good the photograph it's never as good as the sensation is it, but - I would have been delighted to have taken any/all of these that you have shown us here.

 

[Valentin Arfire]

beautiful panoramas

You've managed to get much of the majesty of mountains.

Hats off.

regards,