Scout Scar, Lake District, Summer
My poor Lisabet is still fighting COVID-19.
My poor Lisabet is still fighting COVID-19.
So, after being a dutiful boyfriend and sorting out brews/shopping/whatnot, I took the opportunity for a solid hike up to Scout Scar.
The weather is really starting to pick up in the UK now. Whilst we haven’t seen temperatures that the likes of France are currently experiencing (pushing 42°C), parts of the southeast England and London have been hitting 30°C.
Up here in Cumbria, temperatures have been hanging around the low 20s, but with a pleasant breeze. This made the hike up to and around Scout Scar all the more glorious.
All photos taken on my Fujifilm X-T2 using my Vivitar “Series 1” 28–105mm ƒ/2.8–3.8 zoom lens and Laowa 9mm ƒ/2.8 prime lens. Images made 90% in-camera using the Velvia film simulation, finished off in Affinity Photo.
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Scout Scar, Lake District, Spring
2022 has been fuckin’ wild so far.
2022 has been fuckin’ wild so far.
But finally, things are a bit happier. Family members that had been in hospital for separate issues are now home and recuperating.
It’s been stressful, and there have been somber conversations.
Let’s hope the 2nd half of 2022 improves.
We’ve got my Better Half’s sister staying with us for a while. She, too, is a photographer, and considerably more established and talented than me. Today, the sun rose and a glorious spring/summer’s day was upon us. We all, keenly, felt the need to be out in nature. What better way than to explore our own back garden as it were? Up to Scout Scar we go!
All photos taken on my Fujifilm X-T2 using my three prime lenses and a new lens (more on that further in the post): a Fujinon 23mm f/2.0, a Laowa 9mm f/2.8, and an adapted Pentax SMC 55mm f/2.0. Developed in Lightroom, finished in Affinity Photo.
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Brigsteer Park, Lake District, Spring
I wanted to see a lot of bluebells one last time for this year.
I wanted to see a lot of bluebells one last time for this year.
A work colleague tipped me off about Brigsteer Park, a woodland south of its village namesake, Brigsteer. The village sits underneath Scout Scar, and there’s a surprising amount of woodland underneath this fell.
So, Lisabet and I parked up at Helsington St. John’s Church and plotted a route down the fell slope, through a Bee Reserve and into Brigsteer Park for a ruddy good exploration.
All photos taken on my Fujifilm X-T2 using two of my prime lenses: a Fujinon 23mm f/2.0 and an adapted Pentax SMC 55mm f/2.0. Images developed using RNI Films’ Kodachrome film profiles.
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Warriners Wood, Lake District, Spring
A brighter weekend means a long Sunday morning above Kendal.
A brighter weekend means a long Sunday morning above Kendal.
We’ve been to Warriners Wood many times before, after we found it during the winter of 2021. As of spring this year it appears to have survived the 2021/2022 storm season rather well, and some of my favourite trees are still standing strong.
A “Warriner” is an old Scottish/English term for a gamekeeper—that is, someone who’s job is to manage game in a park. I assume this woodland was once part of a gamekeeper’s land. Saying that, Warriner has also since become a fairly popular surname. Who knows?
Even in early April we chanced upon what we think are bluebells. Already. Before the wild garlic has flowered. Crazy.
Photos taken on my Fujifilm X-T2 using my three prime lenses: a Fujinon 23mm f/2.0, a Laowa 9mm f/2.8, and an adapted Pentax SMC 55mm f/2.0. Images made 80% in-camera using the Astia film simulation, finished off in Lightroom and Affinity Photo.
Scout Scar, New Year’s Day, Lake District, Winter
Happy New Year everyone! Here’s to a joyous and—hopefully—more globally positive 2022.
Happy New Year everyone! Here’s to a joyous and—hopefully—more globally positive 2022.
The weather has been… weird. In fact, the UK set a new temperature record for New Year’s Eve, reaching as high as 16.5ºC. That is uncharacteristically warm. Temperatures maintained their elevated levels on New Year’s Day, too, but high winds also arrived. After a decent lie in, Lisabet and I decided on a local favourite to enjoy the first day of the new year: Scout Scar.
The last time we went up Scout Scar was almost exactly a month ago, and conditions could not have been more different. For New Year’s Day we took the time-honoured route up Captain French Lane and onto Brigsteer Road, following that all the way to the back of Scout Scar. Then, it’s a simple exercise of following the trail up the gentle slope of Scout Scar all the way until you reach it’s precipitous drop down to the Lyth Valley.
The wind was roaring all around us and views were obscured by haze and low cloud covering the Lake District fells. However, the sun was trying its hardest to burst out in between the rushing clouds. There were other sounds that were less familiar as we approached the summit… more rhythmical, and human. Turns out that Drum Nation Kendal had arrived at the summit for a joyous New Year’s Day drum performance on the fell.
Unexpected? Absolutely. But very awesome.
All photos taken on my Fujifilm X-T2 using two of my prime lenses: a Fujinon 23mm f/2.0 and an adapted Pentax SMC 55mm f/2.0. All images made in-camera using a customised Classic Chrome recipe, with finalisations made in Apple Photos, Pixelmator, and Darkroom.
Scout Scar, Lake District, Winter
On Saturday just gone, my Dad celebrated his 68th birthday!
On Saturday just gone, my Dad celebrated his 68th birthday!
Do you know what else happened on that day? Storm Arwen arrived. And it brought with it sustained winds of over 60mph with gusts approaching 100mph. Ultimately it caused power cuts for tens of thousands of homes across the UK as trees were torn from their roots and slammed into power lines.
In Kendal, we were one of the lucky ones. So rather than try to get to Dad’s house for his birthday, which involves driving over the A6 or M6 at altitudes several hundreds of metres above sea level, we postponed the get-together for Sunday.
This was fortuitous because as Saturday blended into Sunday, Storm Arwen left and snow arrived. By the time Dad arrived in Kendal, a fresh coating of powdery snow had packaged Cumbria in wintery goodness. What to do? Go on a walk, of course!
So we hiked up an old favourite, Scout Scar, to get some crackin’ winter views across to the Lakeland fells. And surely we did.
A smashing day all round.
All photos taken on my Fujifilm X-T2 using my Fujinon 23mm f/2.0 prime lens. Images were developed with RNI’s Fortia SP film profile, then finished off in Affinity Photo.