This week I want to share an image from last weekend. A friend offered to meet me at Higger Tor to get a few morning shots. I have never been to Higger Tor before although it’s on an hour’s drive from my house. When I arrived there was only his car and someone camping at the side of the road.
The weather for once was on our side and I thought the location was amazing. I can’t believe that I don’t shoot in the Peak District more often. It seems to be much under rated and we don’t see enough images from the area. I suspect this is because they aren’t quite as dramatic as many other locations.
I hope you like the image and have a great weekend.
The Lightweight Photographer 
I would gladly drive for an hour or more for such a vantage point. I could spend a week there, just watching the colors, the light, and the shadows change.
There are some wonderful places in the Peak District but I’m only now coming to appreciate them. For a long time I wanted large landscapes with dramatic views which the Peak District isn’t. I also had a lot of bad experiences when trying to photograph them and usually came away with nothing to show. So despite the relatively close proximity I seldom went there. I think that was a mistake.
You were very fortunate here to have an ovoid cloud that so effectively complemented the shapes of the layered boulders. They combine to draw the eye in deeply to the lovely distant landscape.
Beautiful rich natural textures. One minor distraction for me, however, are the unnatural jet contrails in the sky. Some might disagree and just say that’s natural in our “modern” sky, but they always bother me from a purest stand point. They frequently look like they are not homogenous with the rest of the clouds. A couple questions: F18 – Any diffraction concerns at that F stop? And, use of a polarizer with an ultra-wide lens?
Not much I can do about vapour trails I’m afraid. This area is on a major flight path into Manchester. To answer your questions, I don’t usually like using f/18.0 and usually stick to f/16 as a max. In this case f/16.0 wasn’t giving enough depth of field and was a little too much of a compromise. The Canon L series lenses tend to hold up pretty well at f/18.0 though so not too much of a worry. Regarding the polariser, I guess you’re questioning the problem with uneven shading that you often get when using these filters on a wide angle. This can be a problem with the clear blue sky but in these conditions it’s hard to see. It does though have a great effect on the foliage and grass. I use a large 105mm polariser on a Lee Filter ring. It does prevent you from using the lens at its widest as it can be seen in the frame. Despite this I have found that for some reason it causes less of an issue than if I screw a polariser directly onto the lens. Can’t explain why though.