Photographing Adder Again

Adders to me are beautiful creatures, especially so when you get up close and observe the colour and detail of their scales. They are well adapted to the moorland environment and blend in among the heather and bracken completely. So much so that even close up their scales take on the shape and texture of leaves. It is almost as if they were formed from the very earth itself. Even on the lighter males the black zigzag pattern along their back from some angles appears as a sun cast shadow from a bracken frond.

These are a few images from the day.

Adder Vipera berus. © David Forster

Even the black markings on their backs appear as shadows cast by the bracken. © David Forster

Close up of the head of a male Adder (Vipera Berus). © David Forster

An image from a previous visit which shows how their markings help them blend into their environment, even in the open. © David Forster

Video - A Winter Walk in Upper Teesdale

This is a video short of a larger project I am working on which is supported in part by the North Pennines AONB Partnership about trekking in the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). If you are looking for a landscape in England that has more than just the essence of wilderness about it, then the North Pennines and Upper Teesdale in particular will certainly go a long way in meeting your needs. Such is the geological and climatic diversity of this part of the Pennines the area has actually been scientifically classified as a sub arctic region and is recognised as a European and Global Geopark. Without a doubt to walk here is to step back in time, this really does feel like England's last wilderness.

 

A Frogs Eye View

As I wandered over the moors with the warm sun on my face accompanied by the forlorn calls of Golden Plover it certainly felt as if spring was just around the corner. My main goal today was to see if I could get a few more images of the adders I have been photographing over the last few years. Unfortunately I was spotted before I got close enough and only managed a few record shots before the only one basking silently disappeared back underground. Still a sighting is better than nothing.

Only a record shot today of the Adder (Vipera Berus) but it is nice to see it has survived the winter


Moving on I heard the chorus of croaking frogs well before I saw them. Again I was spotted and the closer I got the quieter they became until all I could hear were the plops of each one as they hopped into the water. There is one thing you need to have if you like photographing wildlife and that is patience. I knew they would resurface if I stayed still and ten minutes later a few smug looking individuals began to push up through the thick soup of weed and jelly-like frogspawn - the pupil black centres of which stared back at me like some watery eyed creature.

Frogspawn - © David Forster


Resisting the temptation to start shooting straight away I waited a little longer allowing them to get used to my presence as I inched slowly forward. Soon we were all eye-to-eye only inches away from each other. At this level with my nose almost touching the water I could see the world from a frogs eye view. Coated in a viscous layer and with coal back pupils set in aged gold leaf they stared unblinkingly back at me with an air of contented smugness. Such happy contentment is hardly surprising, especially when you look at the fun they were having as they wriggled and writhed together among their spawn.

© David Forster

Despite disappearing when they saw me they soon reappeared - © David Forster

My reflection - © David Forster


Spring is definitely well on the way even on the high moors of Teesdale and judging by the activities of this little group there will be tadpoles aplenty in the coming months.


What is the difference between a Frog and a Toad?

Common Frog (Rana Temporaria)
· Green/brown in appearance with a smooth skin.
· Jumps rather than walks
· Mostly lives in an aquatic environment
· Lays eggs as a ball of Frogspawn

Common Frog (Rana Temporaria) - © David Forster



Common Toad (Bufo bufo)
· Brown in appearance with a warty skin
· Walks rather than jumps
· Does not live in an aquatic environment.
· Lays its eggs in a string rather than a ball.

Male and Female Common Toads (Bufo bufo) in Amplexus - © David Forster

Copyright Infringement

Each month as part of my image licensing administration I spend a fair bit of time meticulously recording all of the reproduction licenses that either myself, or my agents provide to clients. This is followed up by taking a random sample of my images and then by using the likes of Google Image Search as well as other search software I carry out a trawl of the web for unauthorised image use. Pretty much every time I do this I catch someone who is using my images without permission.

Recently I have noticed that it's not just people downloading images to illustrate a blog, or an individual with a personal website doing it. Instead it is often big businesses, many of which have the cheek to add their copyright statements to the websites my unlicensed images have been placed on.

These so called "copyright infringers" to use a more polite term (some photographers simply prefer to call them thieves) come from a broad spectrum of companies and individuals from across the world. Yesterday the businesses I found using my images were an engineering organisation in Thailand, a fumigation company in Costa Rica and an English educational establishment. A national newspaper, a book publisher and a semi-commercial Blog, (all British) were identified in the previous trawl.

This is one from yesterdays trawl

In this example I know for a fact this image has not been licensed to them. The copyright info screen on the right also shows I own the copyright to the spider image. Oh and just for the record it makes little difference if someone removes the metadata, or alters the image. This is because reverse image search engines look for the image and not just the associated metadata. We also hold the digital negative (RAW File) if any further proof is needed.

On a more positive note my invoices and/or take down notices are in the post so it is not all bad news.

Valley of the Ice Flowers

If you are looking for a landscape in England that has more than just the essence of wilderness about it, then the North Pennines and Upper Teesdale in particular will certainly go a long way in meeting your needs. Such is the geological and climatic diversity of this part of the Pennines the area has actually been scientifically classified as a sub arctic region and is recognised as a European and Global Geopark. Without a doubt to walk here is to step back in time, this really is England's last wilderness.

Falcon Clints and the River Tees from Cronkley Fell. Copyright David Forster

Whenever I walk along the Pennine Way below Falcon Clints, or have a wander over Cronkley Fell by the Green Trod path, I often think about the forces that shaped this landscape. Evidence of great elemental battles between rock, ice and the weather are all around. Evidence too of the resilience of nature to survive where once ice and very rock itself were locked together in a freezing embrace. Thirty thousand years ago nothing could survive here, but then came a change in climate and around 10,000- 15,000 years ago Teesdale was slowly released from the ice to become the valley of the ice flowers. Here Spring Gentian, Rockrose, Birds-Eye Primrose and Alpine Bistort to name but a few, populate the mountains, peat bogs and outcrops that are now part of the Moor House – Upper Teesdale Biosphere Reserve. These plants are all part of a group of plants that botanists refer to as the "Teesdale assemblage" such is their uniqueness.

The Rare Spring Gentian (Gentiana verna) a member of the "Teesdale Assemblage". Copyright David Forster

Mountain Pansy (Viola lutea). Copyright David Forster


Today with a dusting of snow and the sound of chuckling Grouse carried on a cold easterly wind it was certainly living up to its sub arctic label. Looking out over the highest most remote land in the Pennines it really did feel as if the glacial forces that shaped this valley had only retreated a short time ago. Geologically speaking of course it really is only a very short time since this valley echoed to the sound of a glacier grinding its way down the valley.

The ice though is only a part of the story here and we can go back even further to the time when the landscape was still being formed. It would appear that around 295 million years ago magma flowed from several volcanic vents right across northern England producing what we now refer to as the Great Whin Sill (Dolerite). These rocks can clearly be seen at Cauldron Snout, High Force, High Cup Nick and Falcon Clints. They are however just a small portion of a massive series of magma flows that stretch northwards, appearing again as the outcrops on which Hadrians Wall was built and then eastwards all the way to the coast. The Farne Islands and Holy Island being two of the larger islands that are made up of this rock.

Locally in Teesdale the magma forced its way through to the overlying sedimentary rocks of Carboniferous Limestone and as it did so it superheated the limestone causing it to crystallise. This crystallised limestone is known as Saccharoidal Marble if you are a geologist, but botanists simply refer to it as "Sugar Limestone" as it is soft and granular just like sugar - pretty obvious really. It is the presence of the sugar limestone that allows lime-loving plants such as the Spring Gentian to survive here.

In another month or so the Lapwing, Golden Plover and Curlew will return and these valleys will echo to the haunting sound of their calls, I will know then that spring is on its way and the ice flowers will soon appear - it is my favourite time of year.

Valley of the ice flowers. Copyright David Forster


For me the haunting sound of the Curlew (Numenius arquata) signals the arrival of spring

Further Information

· Teesdale is part of the Pennines designated as an "Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty" (AONB), which covers a landmass of around 2,000 square km. AONB

· Moor House - Upper Teesdale Biosphere Reserve. Moor House Reserve

· In 2003 the AONB became Britain's first European Geopark. Geopark

The Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis)

Sometimes things happen around you and you simply don't have a clue. When I began watching the local news on Monday (22nd January) I was certainly surprised to see images of the Northern Lights from various locations across the north-east that's for sure. I was even more surprised when I saw that someone had captured a cracking image up at the Tan Hill Pub, which is not that far away from me as the crow flies. Hoping for a repeat performance I headed out the following night, but despite clear conditions they did not appear. I did manage a couple of star trail images as a consolation though. The process of creating the star trails also brought back memories of the first time I ever saw the Northern Lights. One thing that stood out for me at the time was the motion, the fact that you actually see the colours swirling around, sweeping across the sky, or descending like a curtain. Then just as quickly fading to nothing - it was a truly wonderful sight.

The last time we had a good show of the Northern Lights this far south was in 2005 and fortunately on that occasion I managed to get some acceptable images that were used during the BBC Look North News.

This image is from the 21st January 2005 Aurora Borealis over Teesdale and was used on Look North. Copyright David Forster


Examining at the EXIF file data from the 2005 images it was interesting to note that they were captured in the same month and only one night apart - the 21st January. The images were created using an old Canon 300D, but being one of the early digital cameras with a 6MP sensor it was not ideal for long exposure low light photography so they were a bit too noisy. That said at the time there was a lot of interest so they cannot have been too bad. Sadly by the standards of today they probably wouldn't meet the quality control requirements of most photo libraries so it would be great to capture some more images using the Canon 5D MK2.

A couple more images of the 21st January 2005 Aurora Borealis.

The 21st January 2005 Aurora in Teesdale. Copyright David Forster

The 21st January 2005 Aurora in Teesdale. Copyright David Forster


Star Trails from Last Night
This incidentally is from the same place as the 2005 images. The white buildings to the left have been demolished and there certainly seems to be a lot more light pollution from the east.

Last Night's Star Trails - Copyright David Forster

On a High in the Lake District - Crag Hill and Sail

It has been a frustrating few weeks weather wise which has had a knock on effect with my photography. Leaden grey skies, gale force winds and rain seem to have been the dominating weather events and producing decent images that will tempt editors to publish them has been difficult to say the least. Such frustrations were soon forgotten when a settled few days were promised by the weather forecasters.

The only slight problem was that I could not get out on Thursday and Friday when the weather had cleared due to having to complete image submissions and admin so would have to try and get a few decent pics while out walking with my wife Moira and our friends Graham and Sandra on Saturday. Through the week I tend to mainly work alone and focus fully on my photography, while at weekends I try to enjoy our walks and just take the odd picture. Separating work from my time with family and friends is not easy, especially when the weather has been poor all week and I am feeling the pressure to create more images to license. This business/leisure conflict will be something a lot of professional landscape and wildlife photographers and their families will appreciate I am sure. Fortunately Graham is a keen photographer as well so I don't feel too bad about holding everyone up, plus he can share the blame:-)

Clear skies overnight had led to a hard frost and a few low level mist patches so conditions up high looked as if they would be pretty good. The plan today therefore was to head up to the mountain of Sail (773m) and then continue on up to Crag Hill (839m), before descending to Coledale Hause and then returning along the Coldedale Valley past Force Crag mine back to the village.

From the village of Braithwaite it is a straightforward if quite steep ascent up past Stile End. With every frozen step the views opened up and by the time we reached the Base of Outerside we were stopping every few paces to admire the view or capture a few images. The views it has to be said were stunning in every direction and it was difficult to pick out and isolate scenes from the myriad of photographic possibilities. In the end it was the cold that drove us on and we made the steep pull up to the col between Sail and Causey Pike in fairly good time. Here I spent a while trying to capture Causey Pike balanced between Skiddaw and Blencathra on the left and the Helvellyn range on the right. Ahead through a mist veiled gap in the mountains I could also see the Pennines and the mountain of Cross Fell, but found it difficult to keep all three in balance due to the sloping nature of the foreground. I also tried to ensure I managed to get images where the viewer could pick out the tiny specks of walkers on Causey's summit to give a sense of scale, the only trouble was by the time I got my composition sorted they kept sitting down or wandering off. In the end I settled for the images below, partly because I was getting cold and partly because my companions had got cold and bored and had left me - again. They are always patient and accommodating but there are times when they get fed up of waiting, especially after hearing "just one more shot" for the umpteenth time. This time even Graham had gone on as well.

Causey Pike with Blencathra (left), Pennines (distant centre) and the Helvellyn/Dodds range (distant right). Copyright David Forster

People on the Summit of Causey Pike. Copyright David Forster

Fell runners heading towards Causey Pike. Copyright David Forster

I eventually caught up with everyone enjoying a bite to eat in the sun on top of Sail, but rather than sit and enjoy my food and the view, I bolted it down and again set to work trying to achieve a few images before the cold drove everyone away onto the next hill.

Crag Hill from Sail. Copyright David Forster

This time Graham stayed with me and we spend 20 minutes or so capturing various images of the extensive views to the north-east. In fact he had been a bit crafty and had done a quick reccy of the summit while waiting for me and had spotted a couple of good compositions for us to try.

The view NE towards Skiddaw and Blencathra. Copyright David Forster

By the time we had finished the others were nearing the top of Crag Hill and we picked up the pace to catch them up enjoying a coffee on the summit. We all thought the view from Sail was wonderful, but the view from up here was simply stunning and again it was difficult if not impossible to know where to point the camera. Thankfully the wind was very light and after spending twenty minutes or so capturing some video and still images I also managed to convince the others to do a bit of impromptu modelling. Eventually though, it simply got too cold to stand about and we reluctantly left the summit and headed for Coledale Hause, stopping briefly at Eel Crag for a few more images.

Causey Pike from Crag Hill. Copyright David Forster

Ordnance Survey Trig Point on Crag Hill with Skiddaw and Blencathra ahead. Copyright David Forster

Coledale Valley from Eel Crag. Copyright David Forster

Time was getting on so rather than follow the footpath towards Grassmoor we took a direct route and paid the price for this by ending up on some steep loose ground. We were also in the shadow of the mountains now so the camera equipment was put away and we carefully made our way down to Coledale Hause itself. After a short rest and a drink we then had a steady walk down the valley past Force Crag Mine and along the track to get back to the campsite in Braithwaite just before sunset. All in all it was really enjoyable day - all we need now is some more decent weather.

These of course are only a small sample of images from the day and you will be able to find more on My Images on Alamy in the coming days

Cameras used today were Canon 5D Mk2 for stills and the Canon XA10 for video.

All text/images copyright David Forster