Paul, better known as Great Lux Photography, was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire on the edge of the Peak District National Park and has been a regular visitor to the Peak as a walker for many years.
Paul can usually be found photographing sunrise or sunset at various locations throughout the Peak District, and in the following selection, how Paul sees Autumn in the Peak District… Enjoy!
#1 Awesome Autumn reflections on the Derwent Reservoir
Ladybower Reservoir is the largest and newest of the reservoirs, the other two being the more remote but equally picturesque, they are Derwent Reservoir (pictured) and Howden Reservoir. The three reservoirs between them cover almost 200 square kilometres and have a staggering combined capacity of 464 billion litres.
Derwent Reservoir, pictured in its autumnal glory is the middle reservoir, and famously was the site where the Dambuster bouncing bomb trials were carried out.
An incredible photograph of autumn in the Peak District. The view into the golden tree canopy is beautiful, and a perspective that more of us should take notice of during autumn.
The wooded ravine known as Padley Gorge is only a stone’s throw from civilisation, but feels like another world entirely. Located close to the A6187 on the border between Derbyshire and Yorkshire, it lies at the eastern edge of the Peak District National Park.
Here, ancient oak and birch trees grow along gentle slopes, forming the most wonderful twisted shapes, and in the valley below a crystal-clear stream, Burbage Brook, rushes across rocks.
Captured here beautifully, this really having an autumn in the Peak District feel to it.
The area is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), recognised in 1972 as being “the best example of the remnant oak-birch woodland that once covered much of the edges of the gritstone uplands of the Peak District.” Padley Gorge is home to a number of endangered species of birds, including pied flycatchers, wood warblers and hawfinches, as well as rare plant life.
#4 An Avenue of Beech Trees – “Walk into the Light”
The beauty of an avenue of Beech trees, here acting as a windbreak to a coniferous plantation high in the Derbyshire Dales. The structure of the Beech with its distinctive smooth bark and crinkly orange autumnal leaves make for an impactful image of autumn.
Wyming Brook rises in Redmires Reservoirs, flowing north-easterly for over a kilometre down steep terrain into an underground chamber before it flows into the lower of the Rivelin Dams.
Wyming Brook is part of the Eastern Moors Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), there is an abundance of wildlife at this nature reserve, including the common lutestring and northern spinach moths. It is also home to many kinds of birds, from pine seed eating crossbills to the brown and white dipper which forages for aquatic insects along the fast flowing streams. Other notable summer migrant bird species that can be observed on the reserve include redstarts, wood warblers and pied flycatchers. [Ref Wildlife Trust]
Great Lux Photography has captured autumn beautifully here, with a wide photograph of the brook tumbling through deciduous woodland, with the yellows and oranges of autumn, and the greens of the moss on the rocks. Such a beautiful scene.
