A Hidden Gem

The Churnet Valley is full of undiscovered gems.This is a lovely waterfall in Crowgutter Wood near to where I live, not many people go, I'm almost always alone when I go there. I've looked at this waterfall many times from above, you can't really get a photo from above and I'd thought about going to the bottom many times but it's either been too overgrown in summer or it's been to muddy/slippery in the winter but this time I took a rope and made it to the bottom - and back!

 

I took quite a few shots, some long exposures with the water frozen in time, which always looks so dreamy and pretty, and some faster exposures which show the power of the water - it's subjective and I know some don't like the look of long exposure water - being kind of artificial, and that's fine of course. I went with this one first but I'll probably post another contrasting one at some stage.

 

It was about a 90 second exposure (and a 30 second exposure for the sky to get some blue and clouds) and I blurred the sides a little (at varying percentages) for further dreaminess

Done