My week of photography on Hive - hanging around in forests and caves

Continuing my weekly posts of photography to Hive, this week I've been busy with work and my knees have taken a pounding on a survey I did during the week! So I've had to take it easy and find locations which don't punish my knees too much!

Rock Hound

With the aim of being kind to my knees I suggested to @fadetoblack when we met up that it would be a good idea to visit a cave in Castleton, Derbyshire where the walk from the car was only 50 mtrs. Unfortunately I'd forgotten the climb in to the cave was a bit treacherous and slippy as feck!

Once in the cave, we decided to stay in it and get the shots we wanted. I used my camera rotation tool and fired off a few shots as experiments. This was a simple 180 degree rotation where the camera is tilted at 45 degrees:

Happy Accidents

Quite a bit of camera rotation photography is experimental, at least it is in my case. Sometimes the test shots don't always go according to plan but somehow look better than the original idea you were going for....

Thanks to @fadetoblack and his apparent calm and patience whilst being chopped at the waist!

An Obession with Padley Gorge

Padley Gorge is an ancient woodland on the edge of the Derbyshire Peak District and is visited by hordes of tourists. During daylight hours it's best to get down to the Gorge early to avoid the throng and to find the best and possibly only parking spot.

I've been practicing my exposure bracketing and focus stacking technique. The photography side for me is easy but the processing side not so much. Watching tutorials about Photoshop layer masking has confused me no end but I think I finally sussed it!

An obsession with one single tree

This tree in Padley is precariously balanced on the edge of a ravine with a brook flowing below. I can't remember ever seeing a tree as dramatic as this one. In fact, living next to Sherwood Forest as I do, it's strange that I'll drive 50 miles to shoot this particular tree!

Woodland makes the best desktop background

Quite a few of the images I shoot end up as desktop backgrounds. This looks amazing on a 32" 4K monitor!

Tree monster

I've seen this tree a few times but can't believe I never noticed the grumpy face looking at me!

The Footbridge

I’ve been here in the dark hundreds of times but rarely in the light. This footbridge has been the setting for many lightpainting images!

The iPhone Leaf

As I packed away my camera and folded the legs on my tripod, I couldn't resist one last snap with my iPhone. These phones are amazing but it still can't beat a "proper" camera. I shot this using the ultra wide camera on the phone and it's a reminder to myself to buy a Sony 14mm and shoot this properly....

About me:
I usually specialise in shooting lightpainting images but occasionally dabble in urbex, landscape and artistic model photography. I'm always on the lookout for someone to collaborate with; the social side of photography is always good!

Social Media
https://www.facebook.com/fastchrisuk
https://www.flickr.com/photos/fastchris/