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I have been busy recently trying to sort out the content of the WYHT guidebook into some sort of clear order. While writing up the directions and the historical info, I realised there were some pictures that really needed re-taking, and also some research that could be done to bring the heritage sections to life in more detail. All I needed was a sunny day and free time. Sounds simple right?

Wrong.

Things have been not going to plan, which let’s face it, is part of life generally. The trick is to learn from these things and have projects you can pick up when something isn’t working out.

The summer holidays this year have been among the wettest on record, with rain forecast every day. To my knowledge, so far, there have been three good days of weather and it is nearly mid August. Also, I was injured recently which led to a couple of rest days. So things have not been going to plan, which let’s face it, is part of life generally. The trick is to learn from these things and have projects you can pick up when something isn’t happening. There’s no shortage of other projects in my case!

Finally, on the 10th August, I managed to slip out to Marsden. I had orginally planned to walk out all the way to Holmfirth and back, but then decided I only really needed photos from one certain point, just outside of Holme. Part of the issue with taking engaging photos on a trail is that you risk taking loads of very similar looking photos – here’s a trail, and here’s another one. It all gets quite boring. To change this and succeed, you need a combination in my opinion of three things.

The first is good light. I was lucky on the 10th as it was a cloudy but breezy day with patches of clear skies. This meant for constant changes in light caused by passing clouds. The second is having some interesting ideas for angles and perspectives and the third factor us being able to find and use the desired functions on the camera. We tend, for the most part, to stick with Auto mode – it’s safe enough and why not let the camera do some hard work? But it can only really lead to average looking photos. The panoramic shot above cannot be taken in Auto mode but I think it is a lot more engaging than a bog-standard shot of a reservoir.

Writing guidebooks requires loads of different skill sets and I’ll hopefully be doing a class/workshop on them at some point. Anyway, the trail is now fully photographed (thank God! It has taken ages to do this and other projects are waiting…) and I can work towards a February 2024 deadline. Reckon I’ll make it?