Gritstone Edges Workshop (26th May 2024)

Description

Join me on the 26th May for a packed day of photographing the gritstone edge’s of the Dark Peak and the surrounding areas.

The Dark Peak is famously known for its long, sweeping gritstone edges with dramatic views over cliff edges. However, as impressive as these gritstone edges are, most offer easy access and you can get close-to-the-edge dramatic shots with relative ease and safety,

The gritstone edges run in an horseshoe, through to what is technically the White Peak if you go by the OS maps. They start high up the Derwent Valley at Derwent Edge, passing down to Bamford Edge, Stanage Edge, Burbage Rocks North and South, Froggatt Edge, Curbar Edge, Gardom’s Edge and finishes at Birchen Edge.

As you can imagine, such a great variety of edge’s gives way to great photographic opportunities. While we won’t visit every single edge on the day, we will visit a few, probably ending with a sunset on Curbar Edge or Stanage Edge.

During the day, depending on the weather, we may divert to somewhere like Wyming Brook or Padley Gorge to photograph flowing water to make the most of the day as the edge’s will look their best in the later evening. This also gives us a great opportunity to shoot some waterfalls, practice long exposures and also settle into the day, getting to know each other and how well you know your camera at a relaxing pace.

The day is also designed for photographer’s of all abilities, from beginner through to advanced. I like to give each client as equal amount of 1-2-1 time as I can, really allowing me to focus on what you need to learn.

What if the weather is poor? Don’t worry, unless it’s torrential all day, I have plenty of locations that suit a variety of weather and with my experience, you will still get to the best locations possible and you will still get some great images, for example waterfalls are brilliant for those overcast days. As we are in the UK, we see more grey than we do yellow and I am well adapted to getting us to the best spots if we need to change itinerary. This may even include chasing the light, with my knowledge of how the weather works in certain areas and using forecasts, webcams and other tools on the day to help us make those decisions, which I will share with you. We will spend a lot of time working on technique and composition and most of the day is designed to work up until that hopeful sunset so you have the skills to get the best you can at the end of the day. So even if we don’t get the weather or even that sunset you will have learnt a load of new skills, even if you are a more advanced photographer which you can take away with you and use on your next photographic outing.

We will meet to do a meet and greet with myself and the other photographers at 13:45 before discussing the final plans for the day.

We will break for food around 18:00 and if time allows, look at our images on a laptop to discuss basic processing techniques within Adobe Lightroom. The day will conclude after sunset around 21:45

Please note that although this workshop is listed as easy accessibility there may some short uphill sections such as reaching Stanage Edge. With enough time this is accessible to most and we will strive to do what the groups fitness as a whole dictates but please be aware of this. If you have any concerns please do not hesitate to get in touch but except up to 20 minutes walking uphill with a great reward at the end of it.

Upon booking you will be provided with a questionnaire to fill out which is a requirement of attending. I will also provide a recommended kit list and what to bring.

Throughout the day we will look at techniques such as focusing, using a tripod, 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.

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. I have also created a Facebook client area where you can keep in touch, share your photos and keep in touch with other attendees from 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.