Driving home tonight I couldn’t help but notice the evening sun catching the top of Helsby Hill, and lighting all the rocks up along the top of it.
It looked amazing, and as I passed under a narrow bridge spanning the motorway, I made a mental note of its rough location.
Later on, as the girls were going to bed, I had a quick look on google earth, and headed back out to try and capture an image of the sun on the rocks before it set for the day.
Google earth is great for this kind of thing, especially the “street view” mode, because you can get a great idea of what you can see from where.
This was important today because I needed to get to a spot that would let me capture the side of the hill that the sun was hitting.
On google earth it looked like it would be the right spot, and when I arrived, it certainly was just what I was looking for.
More over, the little lane also gave me a great leading line into my image, and the high bushes either side gave me a cool natural frame.
Whilst taking today’s photos, I had a nice encounter with a chap out walking. As much as he professed that he tried not to startle me, his call of “excuse me” made me jump out of my skin! I was so engulfed in my own little world capturing the moment, I hadn’t noticed him at all!
Anyway, he apologised, and asked if he would be interfering with my shot if he walked past. “Not at all” I told him, “and thank you for being so considerate”.
He then walked a little way down the lane and took a few shots himself with his phone. “Beautiful isn’t it” I remarked, “it really is” he replied in agreement, and continued off on his walk.
Learnings – I tried something a little different today, and focused in on the key element of the scene, rather than cramming as much as I could into the frame; which is what I normally try and do with my landscape shots.
I think it worked well, and it’s something I’ll try some more in the coming weeks.
Onegav 