The 'long view' at Birkett Common is just as dramatic as the wider scene more commonly photographed. The characteristic and ancient dry stone (no mortar) walls are a particularly attractive feature of the region. The dark and brooding distant hills of the North Pennines offer a perfect contrast to glancing, late afternoon sun that highlights the exhaust of 'Scots Guardman' as the locomotive attacks the stiff climb to the summit of the Settle and Carlisle line at Ais Gill.
Landscape photography is difficult due to the challenge of combining good light and good scenery. Good railroad photography enters another level of complexity since it requires the first two while there is a train in view.
