Third Time's The Charm
I returned to Black Coppice quarry for a third time this week to take another crack at this pesky heather.
On this occasion, I'd arrived at the start of a pleasant late summer evening, a couple of hours before sunset. The temperature was much cooler than it had been on the previous weekend and the breeze had picked up enough to keep the midges away, all in all, a really nice night.
After struggling to carry the Fuji kit up there on the previous visit (mostly due to the heat I think), I'd decided to reduce my kit weight a bit and to that end I ditched the tripod and took the Nikon Z8 kit instead, comprising the body, 24-70 f/2.8S and 70-180 f/2.8 (the latter never coming out of the bag as it turned out). I also had the usual circular polariser to hand, which I think all of these shots are taken with.
In the Quarry
On the previous visits, I'd climbed to the top of Black Coppice via the steep path that circumscribes another quarry to the North of this one, but on this occasion, I followed the rough path that leads directly up to this quarry. Here, I am pressed firmly against the rock face rising behind me to get as far back as possible to try and squeeze the shaded heather on the left into the frame along with the brightly lit heather and craggy cliffs on the opposite side of the workings. In the end, I still had to resort to a handheld pano to fit in all that I wanted. I think there are either four or five portrait oriented shots in this one.
After taking this shot, I scrambled up the side of the outcrop on the left to reach the moors above.
On Top
I shot a number of angles around the top of the quarry, but it was these looking towards the setting sun that feel most satisfied with. I particularly liked the back lit grass and heather at the bottom of the frame on this one. I thought this spot had potential when I visited it at the weekend, but on that occasion it was guarded by a fearsome swarm of black flying things. This time around the skies were clear and I was able to spend quite a while experimenting with slightly different compositions and exposure settings.
Ray of Light
This is taken a little way further to the right along the V shaped ridge of the quarry. Again, I was trying for an interesting foreground, but what made me fire the shutter here was the splash of direct sunlight glancing on the rocks opposite.
Last Light
By this time, I'd left the quarry and walked back along the top of Black Coppice to the stile that leads onto the open moor, planning to wander out onto the moors a little way and then make my way back along (the currently rather dry) Black Brook. It had been such a pleasant evening that might have led to a nice sunset, except the light was about to abruptly disappear, swallowed by the oft present cloud bank over the Irish Sea.
Here, I've tried to expose as much as possible for the setting sun (well, I say setting, I think sunset was technically about 30 minutes away at this point, not that I'd be seeing any of it tonight), without totally crushing the heather into the shadows. On the raw image, that bank of heather is just a black blob, but there was enough data there to tease out plenty of detail and colour with a few judiciously placed radial gradients lifting the shadows and blacks.
After taking this, I crossed onto the open moor, heading towards Black Brook. I can't have been walking for more than five minutes before the colour drained out of my surroundings as the sun dipped behind that cloud bank.
