Commentary:

 

Downstream from Buxton on the River Wye is Raven Tor. The Tor is a bastion of overhanging limestone that has been ground zero for hard sport climbing in the Peak District for much of the last thirty years. Climbers come from all around the globe to try the desperate climbs for which Raven Tor is famous.

 

Yet just a stone’s throw away is the River Wye. The majority of the time climbers come and go to the Tor and don’t bat an eye in the direction of the river. However, come the autumn and the rains then the River Wye takes on the appearance of a brown, muddy highway thundering down the valley. Once the flood waters die down, the Wye returns to its sedate self carrying its autumnal cargo of fallen leaves and sticks.

 

Beyond Raven Tor the Wye drops over a series of weirs and dams. It’s worth a look every now and again especially during the autumn when the colours of trapped leaves stand in stark contrast to the water. During a break in climbing activity I wondered down to the river with my camera and shot over a gig of images. Shooting rivers and leaves is about as different as it gets from shooting climbers in action and it makes a refreshing change too. Nothing ventured…

 

As a climbing photographer I usually gravitate towards shooting wide. On this occasion though I was drawn to zoom in and get close up on a ‘pile’ of leaves which caught my eye. However, they needed context so I needed also to capture the essence of the flowing river. Following post processing a panoramic-style crop accentuated the importance of the leaves and flowing river...

 

Capture Notes:

Nikon D300, 28-70 AFS f2.8, 1/3 secs @ f14 ISO 100, matrix metering, -0.7EV compensation

 

Keywords:

River Wye, autumnal image, flowing water, blurred river flow, landscape photography