peak district winter solstice photography workshop

Join me on the 21st December for a packed day of photographing the Peak District on the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice.

Winter is my favourite time in the Peak District, it gets transformed and if we’re lucky we witness heavy frosts or even snow. With good light all day, you can often photograph scenes throughout the day without the strict need for golden hour.

However, we will be maximising our chances and photographing from sunrise to sunset to try to ensure we come back with some images from the day.

Our first location may be somewhere like Ramshaw Rocks, a fantastic gritstone escarpment that works well at sunrise at this time of year and isn’t too much of a walk to the top. However, our plans will stay flexible, and a start point will be chosen closer to the date in line with the weather forecast.

As the light is good throughout the day, we will decide our next locations depending on the weather. We may carry on with some grand landscapes such as the nearby Lathkill Dale and heading to Parson’s Tor, or we may select waterfalls if it’s a little dull, this would probably Lathkill Tufa Weir or Three Shires Head.

To finish the day off, we will do a sunset at somewhere like Curbar Edge, a classic gritstone edge contrasting with the limestone we started with at sunrise. We will be perfectly placed to capture golden sidelight striking the gritstone cliffs of Curbar Edge.

We will meet to do a meet and greet with myself and the other photographers at 07:30 before making our way up Ramshaw Rocks.

We will break for lunch around 12:00 and, if time allows, look at some of my previous images on a laptop to discuss basic processing techniques within Adobe Lightroom. The day will conclude after sunset around 16:00.

Throughout the day we will look at techniques such as focusing, use of filters vs exposure blending, composition, working with the light and more.

I am more than happy to discuss other more advanced techniques on 1-2-1 basis as well as to the group, depending on what is beneficial.

Upon booking, you will be sent an order confirmation email which includes meeting details, kit-list, discount codes and a questionnaire for you to fill out. This questionnaire just allows me to get information about you, so I can plan the day appropriately for the whole group.

The day is tailored around you as much as possible, and I strive to give each of you on the course for that day the best day possible. At the end of the day, you will have hopefully learnt new techniques and taken away some imagery you will be proud of. I am a friendly and relaxed tutor, and I welcome you to keep in touch with me after the course to ask me any questions you may have looked over on the day.

There will be a maximum group size of 4 meaning there will be plenty of 1-2-1 time. I will be on hand throughout the day for any questions, and my focus will be on ensuring you have the best day possible.

There is a £40 deposit required to secure your place on this workshop with the balance due no later than 6 weeks before the workshop.