I write this as we have just moved into British Summer Time but with all the rain that has been around it doesn’t quite feel that we are on our way to warmer, drier days. Not just yet it seems and the long range forecast for the next fortnight seems to bear that out.

Each time I have visited the Lakeland fells or the Eryri mountains recently, the run off of water has been very evident. It will take a good while for the ground to firm up again.

Hopefully it will turn around soon.

It is now noticeable that the buds are opening on the trees and flowers are beginning show. The snowdrops have gone and the wild garlic and bluebells will soon be adorning the woodland floor. What a great time of year this is. Nothing poetic from me as I will let nature speak for itself.

I have been continuing my trips around the UK delivering talks and a few weeks ago I had a scheduled trip down to Devizes in Wiltshire to a club I have been privileged to speak at before. As the Photography Show was on, I thought it a good idea to call in on my way down. It was the last day of the show and I wanted to see what was happening there.

Before I went I pre booked my car park. It is now £17.50 to park…..the pre book saved me £5.00 so it came to £12.00 but £17.50……!

The show was as I expected but I never really go with anything in mind. It is just nice to be able to wander round and see what is what.

It was a pleasure to be welcomed onto the Fujifilm stand and I enjoyed a good, fruitful conversation with them. As a former ambassador, it is nice to still be in the fold. They have reduced their ambassadorial programme considerably now but still refer to ‘us’ as ambassadors for the brand.

I never regret switching to Fujifilm cameras and I can honestly say my money has been well spent on their kit. I invested in it over 10 years ago moving from my full frame Canon kit as I knew the mirrorless would be more of an advantage to me with my iffy back! I wasn’t wrong and you cannot tell that I don’t use full frame. In fact, people are surprised when they know I work on a crop sensor but I will still be sticking with my X pro system for the foreseeable.

If it aint broken….

I also met one or two old friends as I walked around and it was good to catch up with them, generally chew the fat and how they are moving forward with their cameras.

Unusally for me, I actually treated my self and acquired a BENRO Mach 3 tripod. I have had my Gitzo for many years now and whilst it has served me well but I was totally taken with the BENRO. Without doubt it is much more sturdy and is as tall as me even without the centre column being used. You might think, ‘well why need it that high?’

After I had a play with it at home, I attached my own Acratech head to the legs and went off to the Langdales to put it through its paces.

The weather was wonderfully mixed with four seasons greeting us as we walked from the Old Dungeon Ghyll car park to our intended destination. Nothing new there then and I personally prefer the dramatic, grim weather. It is normally referred to as atmospheric but I refer to it as grim.

The route through the valley towards the foot of Bow Fell was easy enough and offered us a myriad of possibilities to work at.

I cannot wait to go back there in the near future.

Because the weather was really closing in with fierce winds and heavy rain, we decided to walk on and bank the other locations for another day.

The mountains aint going anywhere!

The tripod didn’t let us down and performed as I knew it would, especially its extra length. To give you an idea of where we were, I was a good few feet above a sloping ledge that lead to the fast flowing beck to our right and the position I wanted would have meant moving a tad too close to that drop. I was able to access a different but acceptable position due to the leg length by dropping one of them to its full extension. Otherwise, I would have had to balance precariously to try and get the shot. In truth I wouldn’t have bothered as risk isn’t worth it.

I never take risks in the mountains.

I was extremely pleased with its performance. It is naturally a little bulkier than my Gitzo and so a ‘midges heavier’ but that is worth it for me with the options and stability it offers.

Without doubt it is a great piece of kit and I will really put it to work as we move throughout the year. I will continue to update on social and here as to its benefits and any criticisms I may have.

Nothing is perfect.

The rest of this month sees me running workshops in both the Lakes and Eryri and I have just finished an article that was requested by ‘Outdoor Photography’ magazine which will be on the shelves in mid April. I will post more details about it when it is published.

Hopefully you have had a good Easter and been out with the camera? if so I hope that you have taken some cracking images.

Enjoy your photography and let’s hope that it gets a tad warmer soon.

Dramatic but warm!

Regards

Mark