Sawn logs on the ground in woodland

This is a photo from May 2013, from my first trip to Hardcastle Crags with my new DSLR camera. I've nearly deleted it many times but something always stopped me. This time I didn't pass over it when looking for a picture to use and instead decided to try some different crops and colour adjustments. Making it monochrome, adjusting the grey hues and cropping out some messy background really made the difference - I'm glad I kept it now.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/4, 1/80s, 20mm, hand held.

Tree and broken bough on steep valley side

This tree is growing on the slope of the valley side above Ogden Water, Halifax, where the stream flows down to join the reservoir. It's a very steep slope - perhaps not my cleverest move to decide to climb down it to photograph the tree, but it was too tempting to get the best angle!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/9, 1/200s, 18mm, hand held.

Canary Wharf tube station, London.

This one's from my recent trip to London. I love the shapes and light in London's stations - in this photo the light is pouring down into the station from the exit, silhouetting the commuters. Usually I don't like to have people in my photos, but here it works to give scale and motion to the scene.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/4.5, 1/50s, 24mm, hand held.

Weather-worn beach rocks (3)

These lovely coloured and shaped rocks are on the beach at Seahouses, Northumberland, photographed in August 2013. It's amazing to think the wind and water can carve such intricate designs - natural sculptures!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/100s, 18mm, hand held.

Gate in wall between fields and trees, Luddenden.

I took this from the road behind Jerusalem Farm in the Luddenden valley, a few weeks ago. I love the sweeping curves of the wall and field and the muted tones of the greens and browns - it feels a bit like a watercolour painting.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/11, 1/80s, 55mm, hand held.

Castlerigg stone circle at sunset (2)

Here's another image from Castlerigg stone circle in Keswick, Cumbria, taken on our holidays in August last year. The very first image I posted on this blog was also from that session - I prefer this one, though - it has more drama.

I'll list the camera settings below but, to be honest, I had to do so much post-production to reduce exposure and highlights and restore contrast, that they're almost irrelevant!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/9, 1/50s, 20mm, hand held (leaning on a stone for steadiness!).

Clouds reflected on Blackstone Edge reservoir

Today I went for a walk across the moors above Littleborough, Lancashire. The track I followed passes 3 reservoirs - this photo is of the first one, Blackstone Edge reservoir. I chose this walk today because it was a perfect day for photographing water reflections - lots of great shaped clouds and blue sky. However, when I set off it was windy so the reservoir surface was really choppy - hence no reflections. The wind fell as I walked, though, so I was able to get this photo on my return.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/11, 1/100s, 18mm

Sun setting behind a snowy wall and fence on a misty afternoon

I took this one in January this year near my home in Halifax. This wall edges the track onto the local moor - apparently there's a reservoir on the other side, but the wall's so high you can't see over it. We'd been for a walk round the moor in the new snow and were just on our way home as it had started to get dark. I'd often thought the lines and textures of the fence, wall and telegraph wire could make a good photo - the added patches of snow and light from setting sun finally made it worth taking.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/6.3, 1/400s, 18mm, hand held.

Sparkling pink rose (2)

This is an alternative view to the one I posted on the 15th Jan. I prefer this one out of the two - the composition is better and I like the bokeh produced by the out of focus water droplets on the left and top right.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/18, 1/3s, 90mm, tripod and ring light.

Crumbling moss-covered wall in sunlit woodland

This is one of the last photos I took today on a family walk through Hardcastle Crags. We usually park at the bottom of the valley and walk upstream to the mill and back. Today we parked at the top and walked downstream - a longer walk (about 2 hours each way). It was a beautiful day and everyone had a great time - kids and dogs ran themselves ragged!

This photo is taken towards the top of the valley, just before the trees end and open fields begin.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/11, 1/60s, 18mm, hand held.

Puddle and rock cairn on Ogden Moor

This is on the moor above Ogden Water, Halifax, taken a couple of weeks ago. I'd just passed the wind farm and was following this path across the muddy moor, hoping it would eventually lead back to where I parked the car (it did!). I find muddy paths very photogenic, especially when there's a nice sky to reflect in the puddles. The rock cairn added some interesting shapes and tones too.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/11, 1/80s, 18mm, hand held.

Lauch gangway on the Thames riverbank

I took this picture whilst walking along the South Bank of the Thames near Tower Bridge on my visit to London a few weeks ago. The sun was setting, giving everything a blue-ish hue, and I liked the contrast of the yellow lights inside the gangway. I also really liked the line of seagulls perched on top of it.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/6.3, 1/80s, 36mm, hand held.

Wall and wire fence in snow

A snow scene today - taken in January this year on the moor near my home in Halifax. I really like this kind of snow photo (minimalist and almost abstract) as it really represents how the landscape changes after a heavy snowfall - the snow covers up the vast majority of the detail and only the surfaces that it couldn't stick to remain visible.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/4, 1/60s, 24mm, hand held.

View across the Luddenden valley

Today I was on a mission! My Dad asked me to look out for a particular view of the Luddenden valley that he'd seen photographed a lot, and to find out where the photographer had been standing to get the picture. Even though I live very close to this valley, I'm not at all familiar with all the different little lanes that criss-cross its sides, so I knew approximately where I needed to be, but not how exactly to get there! I planned a route using a 'real' map then, for the first time, used the Maps app on my phone to track my exact location as I walked. I found this really useful when deciding which way to turn at junctions.

Anyway, I had lots of fun finding the view and got a few other photos along the way. The photo below shows the full wide-angle view from where I was standing - the view my Dad was after is a zoomed in version of this one - just featuring the distant valley and mid-ground. The full view made a better picture today due to the distance being quite hazy.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/11, 1/100s, 18mm, hand held.

Life on the sea rocks

I took this one of the rocks on the shore line of Longstone Island, Northumberland, whilst sitting on the boat waiting to sail back to Seahouses. It's incredible how much life there is in one small section of rock - weeds, molluscs, algae etc - so many lovely shapes, colours and textures!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/10, 1/100s, 116mm, hand held.

Curved roof at Kings Cross railway station, London

This is one of the first photos I took on my trip to London 2 weeks ago. I knew Kings Cross had a lovely roof so I had my camera ready before I even got off the train. Fortunately the sun was at a low angle, providing the best light to show the structure off.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/11, 1/80s, 20mm, hand held.

Curved dry stone wall and open gate, Malham.

I think this is my favourite wall and gate shot from Malham last August. It's cropped down from a larger image that included the horizon, another wall and sky. I realised that all that just distracted from the main element - the lovely curve of this wall and invitation from the open gate.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/9, 1/160s, 48mm, hand held.

Orange mesembryanthemum flowers

I took this picture of mesembryanthemum flowers in my garden in July last year. I've loved these flowers since I was a kid. When we first moved to a house with a garden, my mum allocated little patches of soil to me and my brother.His first flowers planted were mesembryanthemums - I can't even remember what mine were but I remember feeling jealous that his flowers were so lovely!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/3.5, 1/500s (& lots of exposure reduction in Lightroom!), 90mm, hand held.

Shadows from the trees on Jerusalem Lane

This lane runs behind Jerusalem Farm, a council-run wooded campsite and nature reserve in the Luddenden valley, a 10-minute drive from where I live. I took this a couple of weeks ago on my long walk around the valley. I loved the dramatic colours, contrasts and lines made by the sunshine on the trees.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/11, 1/100s, 55mm, hand held.

River Greta between Keswick and Threlkeld

This one's from our holiday to Keswick, Cumbria, in August last year. I took it from beside the old railway line path between Keswick and Threlkeld and, although I can't remember the exact point, I think the mountain in the background must be Blencathra.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/9, 1/50s, 40mm, hand held.

Rock face!

One of my sons found this rock on the beach near Dunstanburgh Castle, Northumberland on our holiday in August 2013. Can you see its face?

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/125s, 52mm, hand held.

Ogden wind farm

Today I went for a walk starting and ending at a local reservoir, Ogden Water, and crossing the moor below the wind farm on the way. This was my favourite kind of walk - I didn't really know where I was going, although I'd studied the map the night before, so just headed in the direction that intrigued me the most and found the right paths to get me back to my start point.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/11, 1/80s, 18mm, hand held.

Sunset over the River Thames at Vauxhall

Here is the first of many photos from my trip to London this weekend with my husband - we had a fantastic time and great weather. This photo was a lucky twist of fate. We ended up at Shaftesbury Ave around tea time and I wanted to get down to the river to catch the golden hour light - ideally around the Houses of Parliament. Our plan to get to Westminster before the sun set was totally foiled though - Covent Garden tube station was shut, Leicester Square was really busy, then we took a wrong turn outside Victoria station. I realised long before we reached Vauxhall Bridge that I wouldn't be getting the photos I'd hoped for, but optimistically suggested that fate might have meant for me to get a really great photo somewhere else instead. I couldn't believe my luck when we walked onto the bridge and saw this lovely sunset on the river!

I'm fascinated with cranes anyway - they're a permanent fixture (just changing location) in city centres and I think their shapes are as striking as the buildings, especially when silhouetted. Another bonus was seeing the towers of Battersea Power Station on the horizon - the first time I've ever seen them except on television.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 800, f/11, 1/60s, 22mm, hand held

Signpost and wall in snow and hazy sunshine

This is another one from our early-morning walk around our local moor in January. Bright sunshine in a blue sky was suddenly replaced by hazy sunshine through a low cloud as we walked. I liked the contrast and simplicity of this sign and the wall against the hazy background, separated by the magnified sun.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/8, 1/200s, 26mm, hand held.

ps. I won't be posting for the next 3 days as I'm going away - back Monday (with lots of new photos, hopefully!)

Contented cat lying on a garden wall

This is George, lying in one of his favourite places on our garden wall, in July last year. I love to remember him like this.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/3.5, 1/400s, 90mm, hand held.

Group of trees on a snowy golf course at sunrise

This is one of the shots from our early-morning trip to the local moor in January this year. This photo was taken on tiptoe looking over the wall onto the neighbouring golf course.  I loved this little group of trees and waited with my camera resting on the top of the snow-covered wall for the sun to start to rise and the sky to turn pink, providing such a lovely backdrop.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/11, 1/20s, 55mm, camera resting on a wall

Bluebells in the woods at Hardcastle Crags

I took this one at Hardcastle Crags in May last year. It was a lovely little scene, but there's quite a lot going on - the big contrasts from the bright sunlight and shadows, the bluebells, grass, wall, trees, logs etc. I took a few photos from different angles and distances to see which best captured it. So this is the first one to be processed...others to follow.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/10, 1/40s, 18mm, hand held.

Water droplet on orange gerbera

I took this at home last week. I've been inspired to have a go at this by someone on google+ who takes really beautiful images of water droplets on flowers, often with very clear reflections of other flowers etc in the droplets. This was my first attempt and I found it really difficult. I was trying to catch the reflection of another orange gerbera in the water - you can see it in this shot, but not that clearly. There's obviously a knack to this that I'll only find through trial and error!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/8, 1/125s, 90mm, ring light & tripod.