Peak District Sunrise
A landscape photography blog by Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire based landscape photographer Rob Thorley Photography.
Tuesday morning early alarm call. The plan . . . to shoot Parkhouse and Chrome Hill in the Derbyshire Peak District at sunrise, with the potential of a cloud inversion.
A cloud inversion is very much on my “bucket list” of shots that I’d like to capture. I'd had a look at the forecast for the last few days, and the Peak District was showing promise. It had been a toss up between Mam Tor, Parkhouse, and Chrome Hill, or The Roaches. I’ve never been to Mam Tor, and wasn’t 100% where to park etc . . . , so rather than fumble around in the dark, and potentially the fog I discounted it. I also discounted The Roaches as I’d been there a few times in recent weeks, so opted to shoot Parkhouse Hill, from Chrome Hill.
I arrived early, and was pleased to see the parking spot by the telephone box was free. I headed up to Chrome Hill, and noticed there was already a flashlight showing, so I knew I’d have some company.
It was evident even before sunrise that my choice of location for capturing a cloud inversion had been the wrong one. I knew I couldn’t improve on the pictures I already had from this spot, so I left my camera in bag, and just enjoyed watching the sunrise. About fifteen to twenty minutes after the sun had risen that changed. Whilst it had been an inversion free zone there were now some nice patches of mist forming in the Dove valley, and the angle of the sun was catching them just right. I composed my image with the 70-300mm at 300mm, and just shot the light for the next ten minutes, or so.
It was still early, and I wasn’t ready for home just yet, so decided to head across to Three Shire Heads in Staffordshire in the hope that there might be a bit of mist lingering in the valley. I think Three Shire Heads is a spot that works better a bit after sunrise, but can be tricky with your shadow as the sun rises behind.
It didn’t take long to get across there, and down. Sadly there was no mist but I did have the bonus of having the place to myself. I took a few of the 1-0-1 shots as the light was still nice, but to be honest I’d gone out in “inversion mode”, and I was more than a little disappointed with how the morning had turned out. I decided to call it there, as it was now turning into a blue sky day, and headed off home.
The last image I got was just before joining the A53 (Leek to Buxton road). I’d had this shot filed away for a year, or two. It’s a shot of Chrome Hill, but not one that you see that often. The image is of the “backside” of Chrome Hill, and shows why it’s also known as the “Dragon’s Back”.
When I got home, and loaded the images into Lightroom I was surprised, but very pleased with all the images I took this morning. Whilst I had broken my “cloud inversion cherry” I had still managed to capture a few images that I was very happy with.
You can view more images from Parkhouse Hill, Chrome Hill, Three Shire Heads, and my gallery of other Peak District locations.
