Around three weeks ago I had a commercial shoot at Arncliffe, a beautiful village near Kettlewell. On the drive up it was very clear what effect the heatwave was having on the landscape, the colours were almost Autumnal, lots of yellow dried up fields! It was also reported on BBC News that Janets Foss, the waterfall at Malham had completely dried up!! I found this totally amazing as it didn’t seem too long ago that they were reporting that Malham Cove had become a waterfall for the first time in hundreds of years. So we were keen to see what it all looked like today!
We met our group at the Lister Arms for our morning session about ‘What makes a great Landscape photograph’ before setting out on the beautiful summers day. Whilst walking towards Janets Foss it was clear that the recent heavy rains had had a massive impact again on the landscape. The fields were green once again and looking very fresh indeed. This must be a small relief for the farmers, their crops and livestock. Arriving at the waterfall, there was indeed water flowing once again, the water levels were low, but the stream was there for us to photograph. Today was quite difficult with the bright sunlight, but the waterfalls themselves were in open shade, so we were able to capture the moving water well.
Up to Gordale Scar and again the falls were small. We did look at the amazing rock formations and also when you turn around and face out of the scar you are rewarded by a superb view.
Back out of the Scar and we stop for some lunch before capturing the grand entrance. What was quite useful was that there were a few clouds passing in front of the sun which gave us some lovely shadows and light areas for more interesting images. What was amazing was that the stream was totally dried up and made for a very dramatic lead in line up to the Scars entrance.
Fully rested from lunch we start the climb to the top! in the heat of the day was no easy climb today, but the views from the top overlooking the Scar were just incredible!!! Its one of our favourite stops with the 360 views all around Malhamdale. Again its quite clear to see the impact of the recent rains and just how quickly the grass can come back to life.
From here we cross the rough access land to the Lone Tree and Limestone pavement. Quote a few clouds were passing behind the tree and made for an excellent sky! likewise the view behind us towards the Tarn made for a potential Letterbox Crop image.
Getting towards the end of our day, we take the walk over to the Top of Malham Cove. With the nice weather its quite busy with visitors, but we have the time to wait patiently for the view to clear and we can get our shot.
Below the Cove and our last stop of the day was superb. A stunning blue sky above, with the sun dropping down, the side lit trees were just perfect and a great end to the day.
On the Sunday we met with the group in Harrogate to go over the Post Processing using Photoshop and Lightroom. There were some really great shots taken, and many good enough to print and hang proudly on the wall!
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