Simply the best

‘There are other photographs I enjoy when I look at them, but emotionally this is the one that unlocks something in me,’ says Verity, as we settle down for a chat over Zoom. The picture was made around 10.30am on 2 November 2015 in the Lake District National Park and acted ‘like a gateway drug’, encouraging her to take her love of landscape photography to the next level. ‘On this particular morning everything came together: the light was gorgeous and the autumn colours were perfect,’ she recalls. ‘I think I’ve been chasing a similar morning ever since!’

Verity was staying in the Lake District with fellow photographer Rich Jones (Instagram @ richjjones). Having checked the weather forecast the night before, the pair had relatively low expectations for the day ahead. ‘The forecast said it was going to be cloudy, but if you’ve ever been to the Lake District you’ll know that the forecast is never right,’ she laughs. True to form, when they woke up the next day the sky was clear. ‘We decided to go and see what was happening down at Derwentwater,’ says Verity.

To begin with, the lake was shrouded in mist. But after a few hours the sun cleared the fells, and the conditions became more favourable. ‘It started to cloud over, but there was still some mist,’ says Verity. ‘It was an amazing morning – I was running from shoreline to shoreline because the light was changing minute by minute!’ Verity admits to having a more spray and pray approach to her photography back then, but looking at the picture it’s clear that her instincts were spot on. ‘I’m probably a bit more considered in what I do now,’ she laughs. ‘I wasn’t using a tripod here and I pushed the ISO – I was just shooting away.’

Verity knew that she was witnessing something special when light broke