In the end of August and the start of September I had the chance to head up on to Stanton Moor twice in the space of two weeks. I’m usually up on the moor to explore and take pinhole shots of the plethora of Neolithic stone circles, ring cairns and burial mounds that are up there, but on this occasion I was there for the heather. And what heather! Very, very purpley/pink heather that in all honesty I felt compelled to tone down once I started working on them. The first time I went up (in the company of Tim and Charlotte Parkin, Anna Booth, my wife Jacqueline and the kids) the swallows were getting ready to leave, swooping low, feeding on the wing in readiness to fly back to Africa. Two weeks later when I visited with Dav Thomas (http://peaklandscapes.com/) the moor was deathly silent and the birds had gone.
Despite the fabulous colour of the heather, I was drawn the yellowing grasses of Stanton Moor, especially around the areas where controlled burning had taken place leaving the ground blackened with bleached remnants of old heather.
On my second trip to Stanton Moor I played around with my latest acquisition – a Lee Big Stopper – I know I’m coming very late to this game, but it was fun trying it out.
You can see more of Peak District landscape photography here.