Join us as we briefly look back on the first three of our Walks with the Camera.

January – Belper

We followed in the footsteps of Jedediah Strutt and his family in the first of this year’s walks, as we took to the streets of Belper, reflecting on what life may have been like back in the 18th Century, while taking a closer look at Belper as we know it today.

Although a dry day it was pretty cold, so stopping off for a hot chocolate half way round to warm us up was very welcome.

On the route the group spent some time thinking about composition and in particular focusing on the Strutt Mills from a number of different vantage points, before finally heading off towards the local hostelry to end the day.

Cheers Geoff!

February – Carsington

It was a beautiful day for our February walk, which took us alongside a lesser known stretch of the reservoir for some landscape photography as well as wildlife for the twitchers amongst us.

Bad timing for the bird fanciers though as sightings were a little scarce by comparison to a visit the previous week.

That’s how it goes sometimes, although a buzzard did drop by to say hello, anyone capture it on camera?

Thank you to Dave King for providing hints and tips on camera control throughout the walk, and in particular the use of aperture settings and depth of field.

This walk was a good opportunity for the group to experiment, as we also paid a visit to Hopton Hall. With time out to enjoy the snowdrops at their best, Dave was on hand to offer guidance where and when required. www.hoptonhall.co.uk

With memory cards full there was nothing left to do but to relax and enjoy our Sunday lunch. The perfect end to a perfect day.

March – Ticknall

As spring is in the air our third destination in this series provided us with a day full of surprises!

All these walks do give participants an opportunity to get to know their Derbyshire villages a little better, some of which we tend to simply take for granted as we drive through, in order to reach our destination.

This one was no exception.

The group’s observational skills were put to the test as we began exploring Ticknall village through a photo trail. A bit of fun really, which saw one or two having to retrace their steps as they were searching for answers to the clues!

We then made our way into Calke Park where we found the perfect spot for some natural light portraiture with Dave’s guidance once again  and a couple of willing models, one of which was a natural as you can see, and the other… well the less said…

…and no visit to Calke Park at this time of year would be complete without welcoming the new arrivals at the lambing marquee.

After lunch we rounded off our day by taking a look at the British Wildlife Photography Exhibition in the stables.

It was a good opportunity for us to discuss the work on show before taking some last minute photographs on our way back to Ticknall village.

A good day was had by all…these walks just keep getting better!

Please enjoy some more images from our days out in the gallery. If you fancy joining us on our walks for all some time you would be very welcome. Please take a look at our programme for the rest of the year and do get in touch.

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