A rare moment of calm after a washout autumn could only mean one thing: a trip to the Lake District to photograph the beauty of Loughrigg Fell. Honestly, the way the weather played out, I didn’t think I would get the opportunity to capture autumn in 2025. That was until a glimmer of hope opened up, providing a brief respite from the relentless onslaught of wet and windy weather. A small window between low-pressure systems was all I needed, and I wasn’t about to let it slip by without making the most of it.
A Gloomy Autumn for the UK
The majority of autumn had been wet, windy, and depressingly gloomy. Not ideal for capturing the beauty of the most photogenic season of the year. As the weeks trickled by, my camera sat quietly in my office collecting dust. I was itching to get out. A never-ending barrage of low-pressure systems arrived, unleashing nothing but misery across England. It’s our worst nightmare as landscape photographers – we spend much of the year looking forward to autumn, praying for a storm-free season.
The Weather Forecast of Dreams
November arrived, and the window for opportunity was rapidly closing – soon the vibrant colours would fade, and the trees would shed their leaves. By this point, I was obsessively refreshing weather forecasts, desperately searching for a glimmer of hope.
Mindlessly scrolling through Met Office forecasts, something caught my eye. Wait, it couldn’t be, could it? An opportunity?
Thursday, 30th November. A rare morning of calm between two low-pressure systems. This was perfect! Rain was forecast to fall on Wednesday evening, before clearing throughout the night, leaving behind clear skies in its wake. It was the forecast of dreams. Low wind speeds and high humidity – the perfect recipe for a misty autumnal morning. This was too good to miss. I dusted off my camera and got myself ready for a trip to Loughrigg Fell to capture the essence of autumn.
Top tip: Be on the lookout for key indicators of misty mornings, and you will elevate your chances of capturing dream landscape photographs. Low wind speeds (less than 5km/h), high relative humidity (95% and above), and a dew point that matches the air temperature (e.g. dew point 7 degrees, air temperature near or at 7 degrees) are the foundations for mist and temperature inversions.
Loughrigg Fell’s Famous 360-Degree Views
I’m no stranger to the iconic and breathtaking views from the summit of Loughrigg Fell. In terms of physical effort to reach the summit versus summit views, Loughrigg Fell is off the scale. For such a small fell, Loughrigg offers arguably the best vantage point in the entire Lake District. From the summit, you are greeted by sweeping views over Grasmere, Rydal Water, Windermere, Elterwater, and last but by no means least, Great Langdale. It’s easy to see why it’s the perfect location to make the most of a promising weather forecast.
Longing for success, choosing a long lens over a wide-angle lens
Having photographed Loughrigg Fell’s classical compositions countless times, I wanted to walk away with something more unique. I therefore decided to abandon the wide-angle lens and instead favour a longer focal length. Canon’s EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, paired with my Canon R5, was my setup of choice, offering plenty of scope for creative freedom. It’s easy to fall into the trap of filling a wide-angle frame with autumn elements, just because the colours look spectacular. With a long lens, you are almost forced to think more methodically about your composition and what you want to include due to the more compressed framing.
The long-awaited morning had arrived. I woke up nice and early, grabbed my gear and headed out to Elterwater. Driving into Great Langdale, it was still dark, but you could clearly make out the mist forming as the morning progressed. Towards Elterwater (I parked in the National Trust car park), the forming mist was expectedly dense and almost fog-like. However, you could clearly make out the summit of Loughrigg Fell. This meant that the inversion base was low and views from the summit would be exceptional.
Leaving the car, I power walked up the hill, past Langdale YHA towards Grasmere, banking right at the fork and quickly joining the lesser-used ascent path to Loughrigg Fell. With hints of sunrise beginning to show and excitement building, I practically ran to the summit in around 15 minutes. It’s a fairly short route, but taxing at times. What it lacks in distance is more than offset by high inclines. Reaching the summit, I couldn’t help but stand in awe for a few minutes. Even in the dark, the signs of a developing temperature inversion are unmistakable. It was time to get to work.
“Dreams of Loughrigg Fell” – my first image of the morning
For a long time, I had envisioned a specific shot from Loughrigg Fell featuring a quintessential Lake District home surrounded by the most beautiful trees for as far as the eye can see. The problem was that it was a delicate composition – one that required near-perfect conditions to make it work. This autumn, I came very close to realising the dream, with a breathtaking display of autumnal colour delicately complemented by a blanket of mist.
As the horizon began to glow with the telltale signs of sunrise, I lined up a composition. Light was still low, but a distinct pink hue extended into the clouds above the horizon and was being reflected beautifully against the mist below. I set my focal length to 240mm and dialled in camera settings of f/11 with a 5-second exposure at ISO 400, slightly underexposing to account for the increasing highlights of the mist. Here’s the result of the first image of the morning, not a bad start at all!
It almost looks surreal, seeing such a strong presence of magenta hues against the morning mist. I even had to dial back the saturation in post-processing somewhat to keep the colours true to the moment. This is the result of the breathtaking sunrise hues being reflected onto the surrounding mist. I knew this composition had something, but it needed some refining.
A refined composition to capture the “Autumn Dream”
As the morning progressed, I was teased by the most beautiful sunrise. Unfortunately, it fizzled out moments before light reached my scene. Once again, I was scuppered by high clouds. The mist, however, was now beginning to ebb and flow throughout the landscape. My dream composition was looking better and better, and that’s when I seized the opportunity to capture a tighter crop of the previous capture. Working closer to 400mm, I chose to make the house a more obvious focal point with the wooden shed in the foreground. I carefully selected a balanced framing of both mist and autumnal trees and fired off my second shot of the morning.
The resulting photograph was quite possibly one of my all-time favourite autumnal scenes I’ve captured to date. I love the delicacy of the mist, beautifully complemented by the autumn colour palette. It truly is an example of a scene where the more you look, the more you notice. The camera settings for this image were: f/11, 1/5, ISO 400. Typically, I try to avoid human elements in my photography; however, this scene is very much an exception and a beautiful one at that. If I ever win the lottery, you know where you’ll find me.
Heron Island beautifully revealed in the clearing mist
Happy with the shots I had captured, I decided to move to the other side of Loughrigg Fell, which offers spectacular views over Grasmere and Rydal Water. From experience, this side of the mountain is less photographed, and you’re more likely to capture something a little more unique.
Looking down from my new vantage point, I could see that the wind was quickly building in strength over Rydal Water. In the process, the dense mist engulfing the lake was being whipped up and forcefully escorted towards Grasmere. In the process, subtle features of Rydal Water suddenly started to emerge. It began with small pockets of autumnal colour, and before long, Rydal’s famous islands graced me with their presence. Instinctively, I knew what had to be done, and I didn’t have long to capture the moment.
I pulled my camera from my bag and set about framing a composition that captured the revealing island (Heron Island) and the S-curves being carved into the lake by the developing winds. Tweaking the focal length until I hit the sweet spot, I fired off a couple of shots before the remaining mist departed the scene.
With that said, here is the third shot of the morning, titled “The Heron Island Big Reveal”. If you look closely, you might notice an unintended feature perched on the rock towards the right side of the frame – a lone seagull. Needless to say, I was one happy landscape photographer after capturing this scene.
No trip to Loughrigg Fell is complete without photographing the Langdale Pikes
For the final shot of the morning, I had to give in to tradition. The Langdale Pikes are an iconic focal point from Loughrigg Fell, and for good reason. The Pikes are such a dominant feature, instantly recognisable from every angle. On this particular morning, they were unquestionably beautiful. The mist that had moved across from Rydal Water to Grasmere had begun to drift across towards Great Langdale. High clouds had all but blocked the sun, yet somehow I struck gold. A small opening in the clouds behind me allowed glorious golden light to flood the landscape, bathing the Langdales and Crinkle Crags in the process.
Within seconds of the light hitting, I had whipped out my camera and lined up a hand-held composition to capture the surreal moment. I decided to keep a tight crop to the Langdale Pikes to ensure that they remained the dominant subject. For the foreground, I chose to include a selection of autumnal trees extending above the blanket of mist engulfing the valley. I hope you like the final shot of the morning.
A couple that didn’t make the cut
Thanks for reading if you made it this far. I hope you enjoyed reliving the autumn experience on Loughrigg Fell with me. After what seemed like weeks of eternal gloom and poor weather, it was unbelievably refreshing to get the chance to enjoy a moment of calm. What a moment it ended up being, too. I honestly couldn’t have asked for a more enjoyable morning with the camera. Fingers crossed, we can catch another break in the weather before autumn is over. I’m not ready to say goodbye to the spectacular autumnal palette just yet! In the meantime, here are a few more photographs from the morning which didn’t quite make the final cut.
A Loughrigg Fell classic featuring the winding pathway along Loughrigg Tarn. The only element missing from this photograph was a slither of early morning light catching the beautiful autumnal trees. Unfortunately, just before the sun rose above the distant fells, it was obscured by a bank of high-level clouds.
A classical view of Grasmere from Loughrigg Fell. Had I caught this scene earlier in the morning when the mist was in full swing, it may have worked. Don’t get me wrong, the colours look breathtaking, but without any light or major mist, it lacks that extra oomph.
Finally, a quintessential autumnal frame captured from a layby on the B5343. Similar to the classical shot over Grasmere, I think this scene is too flat. The colour palette definitely helps to layer the scene somewhat; however, a nice bit of light for contrast would have elevated this composition.
Related Posts
If these picturesque autumnal views from Loughrigg Fell have inspired you, you may enjoy my journeys to Bowfell and Pillar as well. Both feature invaluable insights and moments of seasonal beauty that stay with you long after you’ve left the fells.