Following on from the wedding I photographed at Normanton Church back in June 2016, I’ve been back a couple of times in recent months.

Cloud-Blur & Sunset at Normanton Church, Rutland Water

The first return visit to Normanton Church came on the 19th of September 2017 and was somewhat impromptu. The desire to visit was two-fold. Firstly, it was a blowy day and I wanted to make use of some long-exposures, to get some movement in the clouds and smooth the waves. Secondly, having seen the awesome sunset shots shared on social media by friends like Steve Houghton and Lee Hellwing, I planned to hang around to get some of those for myself.

Commitments earlier in the day meant it was about 1600 by the time I arrived. The direct gaze of the sun was already off the south-facing side, meaning it wasn’t illuminated as nicely as I’d hoped it might be. It still worked OK, however.

It became clear quite quickly that the sunset wasn’t going to be exactly how I’d envisaged either, with the sun setting much further to the south than I’d expected. I would normally have checked such things using The Photographer’s Ephemeris, but it really was a last-minute decision to chance the journey.

In truth, if I had, I would have missed out on some pictures that I was ultimately very pleased with. Sometimes you can know too much!

Snowy Normanton Church, Rutland Water

My next visit came on the 11th of December 2017. The previous day, a significant amount of snow had fallen in Northamptonshire and surrounding counties. I had made a promise to myself that I would try to get out with the camera should we have any snow this winter, but I was put off by the awful traffic reports on the day it came.

Conscious that temperatures were due to rise (indeed, quite a bit of bit of what we had had was already thawing by the end of the 10th), I knew my only real chance would be the following day. I undertook something of a circuit of local landmarks, before I finally decided I would make an effort to chase the sun.

Rutland, whilst predominantly white, seemed not to have had such significant snowfall as we had here. A light covering lay on the grass to the south of Normanton Church. Despite being on the edge of the bank of cloud, the sunlight was still being diffused by high-level stuff.

The results were OK, without being quite what I’d hoped for.

South Luffenham Windmill, Rutland

On my first visit to Normanton Church of the year, I’d noted a derelict, sail-less windmill just a handful of miles away from Rutland Water. It had struck me as a place that might make for interesting star-trail shots.

While I couldn’t hang around until dark, leaving at the end of my second visit, I thought it would be rude to not get some snowy pics of what’s left of South Luffenham Windmill.

As I was snapping away, the alarm for the level crossing started to go off, announcing that a train was imminent. I legged it the 150m or so down the hill to see what it was. It wasn’t desperately exciting – a Class 170 CrossCountry Trains service.

Morcott Windmill, Rutland

Returning to my car, and with the weather still looking more promising further west, I decided I would get on the A47 towards Market Harborough and see what I could see. I knew the north-facing views were pretty special and that there were a number of laybys that made it really easy to stop.

Just a few miles up the road, I spotted a beautifully-preserved windmill on the left-hand side. It was on the edge of the village of Morcott, though the address suggests it’s in Barrowden.

The sun was in the wrong place for shots showing the sails to best effect, so I had to settle for some almost-silhouetted, almost-sunset shots instead.

Researching after I got home, I learned that the Morcott Windmill is now a self-catering holiday home.

My journey did continue further, but I’ll save that for another time.

Thanks for visiting.

Karl

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I am based in Northamptonshire, but am willing to travel out of area.

If you’ve not already done so, please take a look at my Wedding Portfolio.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][gem_textbox rectangle_corner=”lb” content_text_color=”#757575″ border_width=”1″][vc_column_text]Karl Drage is a professional Northamptonshire-based wedding photographer who also covers surrounding counties such as Leicestershire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Rutland, Oxfordshire & Warwickshire. If you are looking for a wedding photographer in the towns of Northampton, Kettering, Wellingborough, Oundle, Corby, Peterborough, Leicester, Huntingdon, Towcester, Rugby, Daventry, Oakham or nearby, please use one of the methods on the Contact Us page to get in touch. He will be only too happy to go through your needs with you and will endeavour to put together a competitive solution that meets them.[/vc_column_text][/gem_textbox][/vc_column][/vc_row]