First shots with my new lens

Langdale Pikes

This was the first day’s shooting with my new Panasonic lens for my Olympus OMD-EM10 and I was excited by it. Also the first time I’ve been able to try using my Lee neutral density graduated filters with the Olympus and I was interested to see how that would work ( here’s how it worked) .

The weather turned out fantastically well and I went back to my current-favourite place – Holme Fell again. I hope you’re not bored with shots of the Langdale Pikes and Fairfield.

The sunset was glorious, though lacking any clouds to add drama, but the larch trees were lit up in flame. After the sun had gone I kept shooting to get some of the lovely mauve colours on the landscape.

Fairfield and Helvellyn

I’m impressed by the quality of the new lens. Better than my Pentax, more consistent than the old Olympus lens I had on the OMD. Not bad for £80. I also took some shots with the Pentax, which have quite a different look to them though whether you’ll notice is doubtful.

Fairfield and Helvellyn

Fairfield and Helvellyn

Fairfield and Helvellyn

Langdale Pikes

Langdale Pikes

Fairfield and Helvellyn

Langdale Pikes

Langdale Pikes

Langdale Pikes

Man-made landscapes

Here are a few more shots from Holme Fell, the location I’ve been visiting so much recently.

I’ve been asked to give a talk to a local natural history society (they’re booking well in advance – this is scheduled for February 2021!). For my subject I’ve decided to talk about how our supposedly natural landscapes are actually man-made. This was prompted by a TV programme I saw recently about some part of the countryside where a woman was asked why she helped out with the local grouse shoot when she was a vegetarian. She said these pastimes help to conserve the landscape that we love. I couldn’t help wondering what would happen to that landscape if it were left to its own devices. It wouldn’t spontaneously cover itself in concrete.

However, it is a fact that most of the pretty countryside we like so much in England and Wales is entirely the work of humans. Holme Fell is a very good example. The tarn you see in two of the shots, Yew Tree tarn, was created in the 1930s when the landowner decided to dam the river. The wider fell area is full of old mine workings, now abandoned (very beautifully) to silver birch and larch. Most of the cumbrian fells are generally denuded of trees because of hundreds of years of sheep grazing.

This is the countryside we love, but we have made it that way.

Holme Fell part two

In Holme Fell part one I wrote about finding this fantastic location between Ambleside and Coniston. Two days after that visit I went again, drawn by the fantastic autumn colours and beautiful views. I wasn’t disappointed.