Baldstone Ridgeline
A landscape photography blog by Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire based landscape photographer Rob Thorley Photography.
I’ve photographed Baldstone in Staffordshire a few times, but always from a distance, and always from Gib Torr. Today though, I was going to rectify that. The only spanner that could possibly be in the works was if the wind was too fresh.
I didn’t bust a gut to get up to Baldstone. There was never going to be a sunrise, and given that the kids were back at school today I though I’d leave a little after nine o’clock.
The bonus of Baldstone is that it is only a short walk across the moor, and a short climb up to the ridge. I got distracted for a while by what looked to be an active Badger set. I had a bit of a mooch around, and filed it away for future reference.
As soon as I crested the ridge I knew it was going to be challenging. There was a very stiff south-westerly wind, so trying to eliminate camera shake without cranking up the ISO was going to be tricky.
I took a few shots of Gib Torr from the opposite direction, as I hadn’t got anything showing this perspective. I had to crouch in behind some big rocks to shield from the wind to get the images before I set off along the ridgeline.
I took a number of images of Baldstones from the ridgeline, but most were either with the tripod low, or sheltering behind a big rock. Others were taken from the eastern slope of Baldstone out of the wind, which was a far easier proposition.
As this was somewhere I’d never walked, or photographed before it was still very pleasurable despite the howling wind, and I’m planning to return soon, when conditions are forecast to be better.
You can view more images from Baldstone, and my gallery of other Peak District locations.
