One of my favourite viewpoints in the Yorkshire Dales is just above Gordale Scar in Malhamdale which I’m lucky enough to visit every time we run a Natural Light Photography Workshop at Malham.  It’s a steep climb up from the valley floor below, but the view down into Gordale Scar (featured image) is just spectacular.

It’s not just the view down into Gordale Scar that makes this spot so special, though. Spectacular as that is, it’s quite often the view in the other direction across the open fields of Malhamdale to the south with the lush grass backlit that produces the most interesting images on our visits.

The weather always plays its part and whilst the sunshine is nice, a flat blue sky is often rather boring to photograph so cloudy blustery days are usually the most interesting with the ever-changing light playing on the fields below.

Looking across the valley formed by Gordale Beck there’s another great subject in the form of dry stone walls enclosing tiered fields running up the hillside by the lane.  This looks lovely in soft diffused light or with nice sidelighting.

The seasons make a big difference too.  Vibrant summer greens perhaps produce the images that most typify the Yorkshire Dales, but the more subtle tones of a late winter afternoon can work equally well.

Of course, no trip to Malham is complete without a visit to Malham Cove to see the amazing limestone pavement – and the top of the cove also affords fine views over Malhamdale.  But for sheer variety of subject matter in one location the viewpoint above Gordale Scar is hard to beat.

For more information on the workshop, visit our Malham and Gordale Photography Workshop page.