Familiarity Breeds Contempt
A landscape photography blog by Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire based landscape photographer Rob Thorley Photography.
As the saying goes “familiarity breeds contempt” . . . Not that I have a lack of respect for The Roaches as a landscape photography location. It’s a beautiful spot in the Peak District National Park, and I’d go as far as saying it’s my favourite Peak District location (so far).
When i think about it I suppose I could just as easily have titled this post “Rob is a lazy git” as that what it was feeling like when I thought of visiting again. For those that follow along, or have checked out my galleries you’ll notice that I like to visit here often. I’ve photographed The Roaches in all seasons, and just about every weather condition. I feel like I’m still due a few epic skies to round off sunrise and sunset but other than that it is very familiar, or so I thought . . .
Whilst I haven’t wrote about it here, since my last visit to photograph The Roaches I’d actually been a few times to work on my videography, and drone flying skills. For this particular visit however I was just out for sunrise with a chance of mist (god bless the BBC weather app).
I knew from my recent videography practice visits that Doxey Pool was now fenced off for environmental conservation reasons, so there wasn’t going to be any opportunities there, else that would have been plan A. With the forecast in mind I was debating whether plan B was to go the Hen Cloud end, or go up to the trig point via Roach End. As I was mulling this over it hit me like a lightning bolt that the BBC weather app wouldn’t have forecast . . . what about the bit in the middle?
When I go to The Roaches I never do the full ridgeline. Firstly I’m saving my knees, and generally I tend to photograph a spot whilst the conditions are favourable and then move on. That got me thinking had I ever photographed in between Doxey Pool, and the trig point? I flicked through my images of The Roaches and found that I’d only ever photographed the middle bit once before, which was after the fire of 2018 when I went out to photograph the aftermath. Needless to say that whilst the images documented the landscape they weren’t in any shape or form photogenic.
I opted to start at Roach End, and loaded up like a sherpa I set off at stupid o’clock to ensure I was in the middle for blue hour, and sunrise.
It was an uneventful “slog” up top. Uneventful other than having a mild coronary when someone greeted me with a “good morning”. I was in the zone, or more likely well away with the fairies thinking about the new (to me) compositions I was seeing. With the dawn light I hadn’t noticed a chap huddled in the rocks and jumped a mile when he spoke. I managed to respond with a cheery “good morning” back, rather then the “FFS mate, you nearly gave me a heart attack” that was initially on my lips.
I continued on along the ridgeline and decided on a few compositions just shy of Doxey Pool for blue hour and sunrise. Whilst there was no epic sky the light was beautiful and I was quite pleased with my first shot.
Blue hour at The Roaches.
I’m sure it’s a mental thing but I always find that when I’m pleased with an image early on, even on the back of the camera it sets the mood for the day. Whilst the location, and conditions aid this massively you still need to get it in the bag. Buoyed by the first image I played about with the initial compositions and shot the early morning light. it was great start to the day, and I even remembered to look behind me.
I worked my way back along the ridgeline stopping often to try out the compositions I was seeing. I shot well past sunrise as I worked my way back towards the trig point. As you’d expect not all of the compositions worked. They didn’t all suit a sunrise but as well as filling my memory cards I was filling my memory bank with opportunities for different conditions, times of the day and days of the year. Dare I say it had been a really inspirational morning.
So if there’s a moral to this blog post I’d say don’t let familiarity breed contempt, whether that’s for people in your life or in this instance a landscape location that you enjoy. Stray from the well trodden path . . . if it’s safe to do so. Look left, right and behind you and who knows you may also find yourself inspired once more by an old favourite.
Anyway I hope you’ve enjoyed these. I have added a few other images from today in my Peak District gallery of The Roaches if you want to check those out.
You can view more images from The Roaches, and my gallery of other Peak District locations.
