Sunrise from Nettleton Hill

[Bearface]

Stephen and I met up early yesterday at this location in order to shoot some panoramics, and to our surprise the skies were almost surreally dramatic and colourful. To be honest (rather like most good things...) this all lasted but a few minutes until the sun rose and the clouds turned grey and dismal once more. I think Stephen got a few more keepers than I did, but I got this and a couple more in the hour we spent there.

The location is Nettleton Hill in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. It overlooks Golcar (the village I live in) and you can see Emley Moor mast and the Castle Hill monument on the horizon. Nothing much in the way of processing applied to this shot, although I've played with the curves to make the most of those magical colours.

http://dpnow.com/galleries/data/683/002w.jpg

[Stephen]

Here's a couple looking down the hill, its not often you find cobbled roads like this, though there seem to be a few in this area, they are little gems unchanged from the days that many of the houses in the area were owned and used by weavers, before the growth of the factory and mill system. I'm amazed at how well the cobbles have caught the sun. apart from changes in levels, I've done nothing to enhance the colour.

http://dpnow.com/galleries/data/731/IMG_3830a.jpg

http://dpnow.com/galleries/data/731/IMG_3839.jpg

[Josh Bear]

all excellent pictures. Love the light on and texture of the cobbles.

Best Regards

Josh

[Pops]

Now Stephen....I thought you carried an axe with you for those stray telegraph poles :)

[ash]

Really nice shots, yours and Tims, I do especially like the cobbles.
cheers
Ash.

[Tom]

I'm enjoying seeing a clean disc of the sun; how often we just see and explosion of yellow/gold. I think Tim just a tiny bit more of the dark areas would be perfect.

[Jocelyn Walker]

Ah Stephen! A beautiful shot of the coblestones! I prefer the 1st shot of yours, however, I see there is the remainder of an old wall on the left that would have been amazing slightly closer up, minus the white thing! Has anyone on the forum been to Exeter in Devon? (My favourite part of England, where a sister lives) If I remember rightly there are some exquisite cobled lanes or streets there & some superb pubs!! Mind you the countryside around there is alive with photo ops, with the Cathedral, Abbeys & old Roman bridges etc. Anyhow, the North of England suffices & your shots ably display its qualities! I see no pics of endless terraced houses & their grimy chimneypots & TV arials, which sadly was my impression of many parts of Northern England, or is that mainly around Manchester & Liverpool? ( I do know of some beautiful spots..is it the Yorkshire dales & Lake District?) Makes me think of the song...'On Ilkly Moor bar tat'!

[Stephen]

Places such as Nettleton Hill and others found in this part of Yorkshire have an honesty about them which I have rarely found in the South.

[Pol]

Places such as Nettleton Hill and others found in this part of Yorkshire have an honesty about them which I have rarely found in the South.


Amen to that!! The colours and textures of the cobbles are amazing and that first of Stephen's shots (houses onthe right) is a wonderful representation of what is rapidly becoming a bygone era sort of scene.

Jocelyn - You're missing a treat if you haven't explored the Border Country, Northumberland, Newcastle, Yorkshire, Lancashire etc. Those rows of 'terraced houses and grimy chimneys' you mention were gone many years ago and what you'll find are vibrant cities and wild, remote and often unspoiled landscape.

Southern Counties are often too 'manicured' imo.

Pol

[Tinka]

Hi,
Well what can one say? wonderful images, every one of them, very hard to say which I prefer, "not which is the best", but which I prefer, and I think I would have to come down on the side of the cobbled images, but only just. A fantastic photographic opportunity presented and taken advantage of superbly.

[Bearface]

I see no pics of endless terraced houses & their grimy chimneypots & TV arials, which sadly was my impression of many parts of Northern England, or is that mainly around Manchester & Liverpool?

I think that all towns (North and South) have their grimy terraces and TV aerials, but people's common perceptions of the North are often similar to your own. In fact, the North by scale has a larger range of beautiful, dramatic and rugged scenery than anywhere else in England, from the Lakes in the West, through the Pennines and right over to the East coast, as far South as the Peak National Park and as far North as the border with Scotland. Even the villages and towns have their own unique charms, but rarely do you see anything unpleasant or unappealing, unless of course you're trying to...:D

Liverpool and Manchester are both beautiful cities, with stunning architecture and rich, diverse cultures. You should visit them.

[Andrew Thatcher]

Great set of photos from you both. Love those cobbles.
I take it you did not get lost this time;)

[Stephen]

Another addition to this series is a HDR version, created from4 separate exposures. They were blended together with the help of Photomatix and then tonemapped and a little bit of extra help from Photoshop. I find it amazing the amount of detail that is to be found in scene, especially when you look at the originals. The only thing I'm not too happy with is the sun itself which is a little too much of a blob. In contrast the shot I posted earlier taken at the same place though a slightly different position seems to have a better sun, and that was created from one single exposure

http://dpnow.com/galleries/data/731/Nettleton-Hill.jpg

[Stephen]

Great set of photos from you both. Love those cobbles.
I take it you did not get lost this time;)

Haha, no this was on the doorstep stuff pretty much