It'd been clear and then sunny all the way up - but of course when the loco put in an appearance the sun disappeared.
Did some shots departing Keighley - there's a new challenge with this position with the green domes of a mosque in the background. Managed to hide the mosque behind the loco and used the pw trolley thing (again) as foreground. It can't have moved in years...
Just after 11am the sun put in an appearance - and what an appearance! Perfect harsh, low winter sun - exactly the stuff glints are made of.
Got some departing shots from Ingrow, and the going away shot was really brilliant. Out of about 40 odd photographers only a handful thought of it. Ho hum...
Moved on to the 'mound', again full sun. Its always a nice shot with the hills in the background and the remains of West Yorkshire's industrial heritage.
Its fascinating to see they're developing the industrial buildings on the southern edge of Ingrow. Apparently they're going to be flats. Watched John invoke the wrath of the gallery as he dared to try to somethign different...
Moved on again to the tunnel - and by now the sun had gone and rain had started. Seemed sensible to shoot from inside the tunnel - but the leaks and drips were nearly as bad as the rain outside.
Simon joined us - but then moved back outside - see below. He probably got it right - the sun put in a brief appearance and rumour has it we had the first rainbow of the day.
I of course missed all rainbows and probably the dolphins as well, still being in the gloom and damp of the tunnel.
Moved on again to Haworth for lunch - by now it was completely tipping it down. But you have to try, don't you?
With the camera turned up to ISO 400 (and more) I tried a number of variants of the back shot against the trees. With the bench, without the bench. With the lamps, without the lamps.
By now the camera was soaking - well done Nikon - they could advertise the D2x as being waterproof!
Eventually one of the crew came along carrying lamps - and for me he made the shot of the day.
Tried the shot just north of Haworth - but given the weather nobody wanted to stray far from the lineside. Decided they were all lightweights and climbed the hill on my own trying to get a shot keeping the sky out of the frame.
Of course when I got to the top of the hill the rain REALLY came on. It took seconds to penetrate my 'waterproof' jacket - but of course the Nikon kept going. Only problem was the bow wave coming over the top and into my eye at the viewfinder.
On again to Oxenhope. Wow - platform white over with hailstones! Watched the loco taking water - but no shots were on - couldn't find a way of keeping the Christmas deckies out of the frame. Decided to call it a day, got back on the train to Ingrow and bailed at about 4pm.
Conclusion. Despite awful weather you can still get good pictures, you just need to keep trying and looking for the light, however weak it might be.
Check out the platform shot at Haworth - I'm delighted with it. And of course a three stop grad filter is a must - otherwise the sky just burns out and the result is hopeless.
Check out the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway album...
