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ANNOUNCEMENT: LightSweep is no more!

Sorry it’s been a while since my last post. I’ve actually been considering my photography future and, as a result, I have a new website! I would love it if you followed along with my artistic journey -> Welcome to Ian Cylkowski Photography!

This obviously means that this website and tumblr blog, lightsweep.co.uk, will see no more content and updates. Instead, it will serve as an archive of my previous work.

So feel free to check out my new website, www.iancylkowski.com, for my new work moving forward!

Thanks for all your comments, encouragement, and sharing over the years. You lot have been ace.

Love and Beards,

Ian.

Finding The Corners Of Cumbria

There’s more to Cumbria than the Lake District (although admittedly the Lakes are a large part of it). Lisabet and I have recently taken to exploring the more “forgotten” little jewels around Cumbria. The above photo is such a place. Welcome to Sandscale Haws Nature Reserve!

You can find this wonderful place off the western side of the Furness peninsula, extending out into the Duddon Estuary. The Reserve is a place of sand dunes, wildflowers, sandy beaches, and shingle shores. And when we were exploring, it was a glorious day. The tide was rolling out so the more I was shooting the more the coast was being exposed, such as this little tide line of pebbles embedded in the windswept sand.

Sandscale Haws, Duddon Estuary, Cumbria, England.

ISO100, ƒ/22, 1sec at 14mm (21mm full-frame equiv.) using a slim circular polariser, a hard 2-stop ND grad, and a 3-stop full-ND filter stacked on my Sigma dp0 Quattro. It was a bright day so I used my 3-stopper with the smallest aperture in order to get the slowest shutter speed possible: one second. I then shot the same exposure over twenty times so that in post I could average them altogether to create the effect of a much longer exposure. Processed in Sigma Photo Pro, blended in Photoshop, edited in Color Efex Pro and Macphun Luminar.

Lived Up To The Legend

If you’re in the North of England and you want waterfalls, you should probably go to the Yorkshire Dales as there’s loads. But the Lake District has its fair share of waterfalls, and Stanley Force is one of the more impressive ones. I’ve been after shooting this one for years, and the other day I finally had the right conditions: overcast skies for soft light, in the middle of the summer for a full on lush environment.

Stanley Force sits at the head of Stanley Ghyll, a gorge in Eskdale that cuts through the granite of the Eskdale Fells. The result is a narrow and deep ravine that has been made more accessible with three wooden bridges. Incidentally, the gorge and waterfall are named after the Stanley family, who owned and lived in nearby Dalegarth Hall when the area was becoming popular with Victorian tourists. Stanley Force is a 60-ft drop and, surrounded by all sorts of ferns, moss, lichen and other vegetation, is an incredible sight.

Stanley Force, Stanley Ghyll, Eskdale, Lake District, Cumbria, England.

ISO100, various apertures and shutter speeds, 14mm (21mm full-frame equiv.) using a slim circular polariser on my Sigma dp0 Quattro. This photo was made with four exposures at ƒ/8 to get all the highlight and shadow information, and then another underexposed frame at ƒ/22 to get a darker but longer exposure for the highlights of the water. Processed in Sigma Photo Pro, blended in Photoshop, edited in Color Efex Pro and Macphun’s Luminar.

Foxglove In The Forest

Today, Lisabet and I went hike around an area that really doesn’t get enough from us: the Forest of Bowland, in particular, Gisburn Forest. The name “Forest of Bowland” might confuse a lot of folk who travel around the area for the first time … because there’s really not that many trees. The area is characterised more by rolling fells, deep valley, and peaty bog everywhere. The word “forest” here refers back to its original root, namely a sort of royal hunting ground. The original meaning of “forest” is more akin to “preserve”; the idea of a woodland is a more modern meaning.

We enjoyed a 6-mile hike around the trails of Gisburn Forest, which was looking spectacularly lush. At one of the highest points of the trail, a little clearing revealed a fallen tree with beautiful foxgloves growing from its exposed roots. I couldn’t resist a composition, especially when a small break in the clouds gave me some delicious spot lighting.

Gisburn Forest, Forest of Bowland, Lancashire, England.

ISO100, ƒ/11, 2.5secs at 14mm (21mm full-frame equiv.) using a slim circular polariser on my Sigma dp0 Quattro. This is mostly a single exposure with some help from three additional underexposed frames for retaining shadow detail. Processed in Sigma Photo Pro, blended in Photoshop, edited in Color Efex Pro and Macphun Luminar.

Clints & Grikes Under The Nab

Increasingly, as a landscape photographer, I find myself fascinated with the geology of this country, and how it has been shaped by the passing of time. Equally fascinating, to me, is the immense variety of dialect found in the British Isles … and how that is reflected in the landscape.

The photo here is an example. This is a limestone pavement, fairly common in the Yorkshire Dales, which is formed by a retreating glacier exposing the limestone to the elements and then acidic rain eats away at weak joints in the rock, resulting in clints (the slabs) and grikes (the deep grooves), both Northern English dialect words. Isn’t Britain fascinating?

Angerholme Pots, Mallerstang, Yorkshire Dales, Cumbria, England.

ISO100, ƒ/16, 1⁄15sec at 14mm (21mm full-frame equiv.) using my Sigma dp0 Quattro. This is a blend of three exposures, manually blended together. Processed in Lightroom, blended in Photoshop, edited with Color Efex Pro and Macphun’s Luminar.

Seeing New Things With Old Friends

This weekend, I had the honour and delight of the company of my best friend, Fie, and her boyfriend Paul. I love showing my friends around to various parts of the Lake District. This time we enjoyed a wander around the gorge created by Aira Force, one of the Lake District’s more famous waterfalls. We were able to drop down off the track and get right next to the beck that pours out from the falls. It was a gloriously sunny day, and this scene was proper lush, vegetation and wildlife everywhere. What a place.

Aira Beck, Ullswater, Lake District, Cumbria, England.

ISO100, ƒ/8.0, 5secs at 14mm (21mm full-frame equiv.) using a slim circular polariser on my Sigma dp0 Quattro. This is largely a single 5second exposure with help from successively darker exposures for highlight detail in the trees. Processed in Sigma Photo Pro, edited in Photoshop, Color Efex Pro, and Mapchun Luminar.

Jewels Left From The Retreating Tide

Photographically, there’s something dynamic about shooting seascapes when the tide is coming in (and in Britain, the tide moves quickly). But equally, I enjoy seascapes when the tide is moving out, too. Pebbles and rocks are still saturated in moisture, producing often colourful results. Various types of seaweed are left behind, often in lined piles that follow the line of tide. Fascinating geological formations reveal themselves. Such was the case here, at Coldingham Bay, when looking for compositions involving the 8metre-high sea stack The Kip.

Coldingham Bay, Coldingham, Scottish Borders, Scotland.

ISO100, ƒ/18, 0.8secs at 14mm (21mm full-frame equiv.) using a slim circular polariser and a hard 2-stop ND grad filter stacked on my Sigma dp0 Quattro. This is a single exposure. Processed in Sigma Photo Pro, edited in Color Efex Pro and Photoshop.

You Just Want To Dip Your Head In

Despite a long dry period in May, unusual for the North of England, Stainforth Force was still powerful and thunderous when Lisabet and I visited. There were plenty of families milling about the falls, watching the minnows in the shallow pools, diving into the plunge pools, and basking in the cascades. The temptation to just dive in and cool down meself was proper tempting…

Stainforth Force, Stainforth, Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire, England.

ISO100, ƒ/22, 0.8secs at 14mm (21mm full-frame equiv.) using a slim circular polariser on my Sigma dp0 Quattro. This is mostly a single exposure with some help from an under- and overexposed frame for shadow and highlight detail. Processed in Sigma Photo Pro, edited in Photoshop, Macphun Luminar, and Color Efex Pro.

The Influence of the Church

This week, it’s been coming down yal watter (raining heavily). But today, a respite! So I went hiking around Kirkstone Pass, a favourite of mine, and it was so lovely seeing the area looking lush and green. I scrambled across the screes to get to the Kirkstone, the giant rock you see in this image. This rock lends its name to the mountain pass; “kirk” comes from the Old Norse kirkja meaning “church”, so it’s a rock that looks like a church. You’ll find kirk is still used in places like Iceland and the Faroe Islands (for example, the famous Kirkjufell mountain, translating to “church mountain”).

The Kirkstone, Kirkstone Pass, Lake District, Cumbria, England.

ISO100, ƒ/11, ⅛sec at 14mm (21mm full-frame equiv.) using a slim circular polariser on my Sigma dp0 Quattro. This is largely a single exposure with some help from an underexposed frame for highlight detail. Processed in Sigma Photo Pro, edited in Photoshop, Color Efex Pro, and Macphun Luminar.

Not Another Soul

I’ve commented before on the lack of traffic and people around the Mallerstang valley. To me, it’s one of the main attractions of this place. It’s not even like Mallerstang is particularly taxing to get to, but it is sort of out of the way. To get to Mallerstang you either have to first navigate towards the centre of the Yorkshire Dales then head north … or drive round to the top of the Dales and go south. Both routes involve coming off motorways and onto bendy, twisty, hilly roads. Fun, though.

Angerholme Pots, Wild Boar Fell, Mallerstang, Yorkshire Dales, Cumbria, England.

ISO100, ƒ/13, 1/80sec at 14mm (21mm full-frame equiv.), shot with my Sigma dp0 Quattro. This is largely a single exposure with some help from an underexposed frame for highlight detail, as the sun was starting to come through. Processed in Lightroom, edited in Photoshop, Color Efex Pro, and Macphun Luminar.

Summer’s Bountiful Playground

Britain is really starting to look proper lush now. Lisabet and I had a wee hike from Stainforth in the Yorkshire Dales down towards Little Stainforth to check out Stainforth Force. And what a bonny la’al area this is! Quite a few families about, playing in the river, diving in the plunge pools and bathing in the waterfalls; glorious on a hot summer’s day! I took many compositions around here; this one is shot north of the falls looking towards Stainforth Bridge, an ancient packhorse bridge, heavily featuring the eroded forms of the limestone river bed. =)

Stainforth Force, Little Stainforth, Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire, England.

ISO100, ƒ/16, ⅕sec at 14mm (21mm full-frame equiv.) using a slim circular polariser on my Sigma dp0 Quattro. This is largely a single exposure with some blending help from an overexposed frame for shadow detail. Processed in Sigma Photo Pro (FOV Classic Blue), edited in Photoshop, Color Efex Pro, and Macphun Luminar.

The Steps of the Castle Fortress

The Northumberland coast is known for many things: its spectacular beauty, incredible sunrises … and also the numerous castles! That’s because Northumberland was a heavily contested area between the Scots and the English, nevermind other invading forces such as the Vikings; castles were built for defence and lookouts.

This one in the photo is Dunstanburgh Castle, built sometime in the 14th century. It sits on a piece of headland with gorgeous coast on either side: to the north you have Embleton Bay, and to the south is the Craster coast. This composition was from the southern side looking north, and the geology here is fascinating, thousands of years of being battered by the waves of the North Sea. The rocks here are also covered in this super bright yellow and white lichen. Gorgeous.

Dunstanburgh Castle, Craster, Northumberland, England.

ISO100, ƒ/13 at 14mm (21mm full-frame equiv.) using a slim circular polariser and a soft 3-stop ND grad filter stacked on my Sigma dp0 Quattro. This is a single exposure. Processed in Lightroom, edited in Macphun Luminar, Color Efex Pro, and Photoshop.

Approaching Peak Lush

On our circuit hike around Levens Hall Deer Park, the halfway point was marked with a visit to Force Falls. I have been here once before, walking all the way from Kendal; this is the part of the River Kent that narrows considerably through a series of overhanging limestone shelves and drops. I’ve never been here though when everything was looking so lush and vibrant! I stopped on the bridge across the river for some compositions of this impressive gorge, Lisabet meanwhile had snapped an impressive photo of a Heron intensely watching the falls for fish.

Force Falls, Sedgwick, Kendal, Cumbria, England.

ISO100, ƒ/22 at 14mm (21mm full-frame equiv.) using a slim circular polariser on my Sigma dp0 Quattro. This is a HDR image made from three bracketed exposures (plus a fourth created by overexposing the brightest exposure). Processed in Lightroom, blended in Photomatix, edited in Luminar, Color Efex Pro, and Photoshop.

The Nab Unveiled

Saturday, yesterday, was not exactly conducive to hiking and photography as the humidity and heat of the week resulting in a torrential downpour all day. Today, Sunday, was thankfully much better. I made my way east to the wonderfully quiet Mallerstang valley, in search of a composition from underneath the centrepiece of the valley: Wild Boar Fell.

Once you get over the first “lip” of the valley, the land flattens out and The Nab of Wild Boar Fell pins your eyes open in amazement. Underneath The Nab, you can find a little area of limestone pavement known as Angerholme Pots, so I took my time with compositions, watching the cloud cover lifting from The Nab, and enjoying the otherworldly shapes of the limestone.

Angerholme Pots, Mallerstang, Yorkshire Dales, Cumbria, England.

ISO100, ƒ/16 at 14mm (21mm full-frame equiv.) using my Sigma dp0 Quattro. This is a HDR image made from three bracketed exposures. Processed in Lightroom, blended in Photomatix, edited in Macphun Luminar, Color Efex Pro, and Photoshop.

Meeting of the Vikings

The Lake District has a rich history involving neolithic settlement, celtic tribes, Roman imperialism, and the Viking invasion then settlement. I lot of the place names and geographical features of the Lakes come from the Old Norse language of the Vikings. The composition you see here is from a small mound at the top of the Little Langdale valley, known to be a Viking meeting place. I can see why they would meet here, you can see for miles!

Little Langdale, Lake District, Cumbria, England.

ISO100, ƒ/11.0 at 14mm (21mm full-frame equiv.) using my Sigma dp0 Quattro. This is a high-end HDR image made from three bracketed exposures. Processed in Lightroom, blended in Photomatix, edited in Macphun’s Luminar, Color Efex Pro, and Photoshop.

Lennys Over Kenny

It’s too hot. In other news, there’s been some proper bonny sunsets over Kendal recently, and the valley is starting to look proper lush now. Couple of evenings ago, all these lenticular clouds started appearing as the sun started to set. I grabbed me tripod and camera, and took the laborious hike up to the bedroom for this composition. I’m very fortunate.

Kendal, Cumbria, England.

ISO100, ƒ/7.1 at 14mm (21mm full-frame equiv.) using a slim circular polariser (to remove glare from the window) on my Sigma dp0 Quattro. This is a HDR image made from three bracketed exposures. Processed in Lightroom, blended in Photomatix, edited in Color Efex Pro, Macphun’s Luminar, and Photoshop.

The Enormity of the Old Ruins

The open ruins of Melrose Abbey, built from red-tinted sandstone, covered in aged moss, but with the intricate workings in the stone still visible. Light oozes through the ancient windows and arches.

Melrose Abbey, Melrose, Scottish Borders, Scotland.

ISO100, ƒ/16 at 14mm (21mm full-frame equiv.), shot with my Sigma dp0 Quattro. This is a HDR image made from three bracketed exposures. Processed in Sigma Photo Pro, blended in Photomatix, edited in Photoshop, Color Efex Pro and Macphun Luminar.

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