Photographing the Lake District: The Most Beautiful Places to Visit (Fotovue Photographing Guide)

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The village of Coniston is a great spot to stop for a cuppa, or maybe a pub lunch. Close by is Coniston Water and Fells, and there are a couple of nice jetties to photograph on the eastern shore:Pakamoor and Monk Coniston. The latter has a distinctive kink halfway along, which makes for a different composition to the classic straight launches. I also offer an annual bestselling Lake District Calendar, two landscape photography book called Capture Lakeland Volumes 1 and 2, Lake District postcards and mini landscape prints gift items. I hope my top ten locations for landscape photography in the Lake District will prove a great starting point for when you visit, but this article barely scratches the surface. We chatted with local Vallerret Ambassadors Lee Gale and Simon Baxter to get their best tips for visiting and capturing the magic of the Lake District. What are the highlights you can expect to see when visiting the Lake District:

Derwentwater is a large lake and you will find a number of jetties dotted along its shores. The best known is Ashness Launch, near Barrow Bay along the B5289. While this is a popular and well-known viewpoint, it is a good sunset location and it can be a wonderfully peaceful spot.

Park on the road near St Mary’s church at Rydal. This is the road up to Rydal Hall. The parking here can be limited, so arrive early to get a space (there’s an honesty box to leave donations to the church for parking). Walk down the road and turn right, then access a footbridge over the River Rothay from the A591, close to the Badger Bar pub.

Park in the same area, but this time, instead of following the shoreline path, take the route that forks off to the left. This path leads up onto Loughrigg Fell via Rydal Caves. The views constantly improve as you gain elevation, but it should only take you around 25 to 30 minutes of steady walking to reach the first (lower) plateau of the fell, which gives expansive views over Rydal Water. LEE: Dress appropriately for the time of year you’re visiting, but even in the summer months be sure to have some kind of waterproof coat with you. Have some good walking boots as the terrain can be quite diverse and also be sure to take a reusable water bottle with you if you are planning on doing some of the walks. The majority of locations involve short walks or are roadside, including many wheelchair accessible places, and in this second edition, for the energetic, nine, scenic, high mountain walks are described.

1. Derwentwater

Drumburgh Take the short walk from the car park to a viewing platform where you’ll find a beautiful carving showing all the wildlife that can be found on this lowland peat bog. Much of the life here is on the wing with rare large heath butterflies in summer and snipe and short-eared owls in winter. The nature reserve is one mile south of Drumburgh village on the Solway coast, for more information visit www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk You can park near the cattle grid on the road between Blea Tarn and Great Langdale, although parking is limited to just a few cars. Early morning typically provides the best light here. There are not too many places in the world where you can discover a combination of breathtaking lakes, picturesque valleys, lush woodland, dramatic waterfalls, pretty tarns, soaring mountains, and even coastline – all neatly compressed into just one region. However, the Lake District, in North West England, is home to all of these things and consequently Lake District photography hotspots are popular.

I had originally shot this image in landscape format as I really wanted to get the breath of Blencathra and its wonderful shape into the scene. But in the end, I decided that this cropped version in portrait had greater impact – sometimes, and quite often in landscape photography, less is more. In this guide, I share plenty of Lake District landscape photography tips to get you started. I’ve also included seven of my favorite locations. Of course, in a place as beautiful as the Lake District, it’s impossible to mention every awe-inspiring view, so I highly recommend you spend some time exploring the area on your own.

Blea Tarn, Lake District

There are lots of footpaths to explore and several hides which look out over a tarn and wetland, perfect for bird watching.