Ullswater

31st March 2016. Up early as the forecast looked promising if cold, 20F at dawn. Drove for 40 minutes and then climbed up the fell to take shots of sunrise on this lovely lake. I have tried to take images here many times but never got the perfect conditions, still haven't. The difficulty photographing here is stopping your eyes disappearing along the lake and out of the frame usually to the left. I had found numerous small crags that I could use to mask off the lake and contain the image so was prepared to climb up to them. I was in thick fog driving up the river valley to the foot of the lake and almost stopped to take images of the trees looming out of the fog but didn't and continued on. Little cloud cover pre-dawn so the sky wasn't great but the lake was like a mill pond.

Onwards and upwards lugging 25 lb of camera gear and dressed like an Arctic explorer.

The sun was just starting to light up the tops of the hills and the early morning mist was disappearing.

Here the first light is starting to hit the trees that look Autumnal even in March. The clouds were coming and going all the time.

I finally arrived at the end of my walk on Yew Crag and admired the view and wondered when the first boat would sail. I must have looked stupid, a pensioner wandering about trying to get a 3G signal on top of a hillside to find ferry sailing times. Finally phoned my wife who relayed the info and I waited the hour and a half for the first boat, The Raven to sail from Glenridding towards me.

I thought it worth the wait although the light was a little harsh by this time but the patterns created by the wake of the boat were magical. This image reminds me of Norway and the fjords but the scale is somewhat smaller. The hills are about 3,000ft, I am only 1,000ft above the lake and the boat takes 250 passengers not the mammoth cruise liners. I have often revisited this location but have never got a better shot than this and probably never will but the walk up the fell is tremendous. Ken

This is really a neat sequence of images Ken. Picking favorites in a set like this is always difficult but the light in the second one really appeals to my eyes.

Hey Ken, this is some really nice eye candy!

I enjoyed the story and I really enjoyed watching the progression of light. That’s great that you stayed for the ferry, the scale that it adds is cool. It’s amazing how big that lake really is. My favorites may be #3 and 5, but they are all great!

You may have looked like an arctic explorer but it was worth the effort.

Thanks both you for taking the time to look and comment. For me #5 is my favourite even if the light had gone beyond its best. I now carry timetables for all the boats on the lake district lakes. Ken

So where is the ferry going? Is there an unseen dock or road that it's heading too? And yeah, I really like that ferry in the shot, so I can see you picking that as your favorite.

Jim they are really just tourist boats. They start at Glenridding which you can just about see at the end of the lake. The boats then go to Howtown which is off behind you to the left. There is no road along the left hand side of the lake but I have walked it often and mountain biked it once and that was hard work. The boat then travels to Pooley Bridge and returns. I am high above Aira Force which is quite a pretty waterfall with easy paths to let you get all around it. Ken
https://www.ullswater-steamers.co.uk/

Great series. I like em all, but the last one is quite striking (and perhaps more postcard like). Would make a great sequence in a slide show.

Great stuff! I do miss the Lake District. Classic works!