Bite-Size Blog Post #75 - Fiend's Fell
A short walk in the Pennines revealed a stark but beautiful landscape where light, shadow, and a solitary cairn became the perfect black and white subject.
Featureless and Challenging
In my last blog post, I talked about my day out exploring and photographing the north east of the Lake District with friend and collaborator Chris Sale. Though Chris knows the Lake District very well, he has also spent the last few years getting to know the Pennines. So, the day after we photographed the Lake District, he took me out on a short walk to a nearby hill in the Pennines.
The drive up to Hartside Pass was brilliant, full of twisty bends and sweeping views. I could immediately see why it had become so popular with drivers and motorcyclists alike. It was a lovely sunny day, so the road was busy, but we were soon parked up and walking out across the open moorland towards the cairn on Fiend’s Fell.
Chris had told me many times how featureless parts of the Pennines can feel, and he wasn’t wrong. In many ways, it reminded me of Dartmoor, just without the dramatic tors. The views were stunning though: rolling hills stretching as far as the eye could see. But beyond that, there was very little to catch the eye. I could suddenly understand why Chris gets excited about stone walls and ruined buildings. Finding an interesting foreground out here certainly isn’t easy. For me, the most obvious, and probably only, choice was the cairn itself.
Almost immediately, I began thinking in black and white. Removing the colour would help emphasise the texture and structure of the cairn, while also drawing attention to the moving patterns of light and shadow moving across the landscape and sky. I never thought I’d get excited about photographing a cairn!
While the Lake District is undoubtedly the more varied and dramatic landscape, there’s no doubt that the Pennines are an area deserving of much closer attention.