The Cloud or Bosley Cloud is described by Wikipedia as a prominent hill which lies on the border between Cheshire and Staffordshire a couple of miles to the west of the Peak district national park boundary. The hill was shaped in the ice age by the passage of ice. In the past I have walked up it many times with my kids but never done much photography up there. Getting to the top is really simple though and it can be accessed easily on the North East side from Red lane. The images below are a couple of the shots I have taken over the last few weeks on a number of visits.
Sunrise over "The Cloud" – Nikon D800 and Nikkor 24-70mm F22 1/60s ISO 160 (70mm)
Bosley Cloud itself is difficult to photograph and I have tried lots of different angles but not really found an image that works. The above image was a grab online casino shot taken recently from the A34 on the way to work and shows the geographical contours of The Cloud.
After a casino online couple of visits at both sunrise and sunset I decided that the morning light created the best compositional opportunities.
Golden light, Bosley Cloud – Nikon D800 and Nikkor 24-70mm F2.8 F/9 1/60s ISO 100 (48mm)
Morning rays, Bosley Cloud - Nikon D800 and Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8 VR. F/9 1/200s ISO 100 (130mm)
Another amazing morning mist in the peaks. The rays of light were stunning - it was a shame I couldn"t have spent more time up here. Often landscape photographers forget about isolating areas of the image with a long lens. In misty conditions like "morning rays" above this can be really effective. In rays in this photo weren"t as obvious in the wider image and even by the naked eye but are accentuated in the tight crop 130mm focal length gives.
These and many other images of the peak district and surrounding areas can be seen at my exhibition next year at Bollington Arts Centre entitled Peak Discovery.