Colourful lobster pots and ropes at Whitby harbour.

I couldn't resist photographing these on my trip to Whitby in January this year - a lovely mix of patterns and colours!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/4, 1/100s, 22mm, hand held.

Sunlight on a limestone hillside at Malham.

This hill sits just behind Malham Tarn (following the path in the picture off to the left leads you around it). I took this one on the way back to the car after an afternoon picnic by the water earlier this month. I stitched 2 landscape photos together to get the full effect of the sun lighting up the curve between the hill and the little copse of trees on the right.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/8, 1/320s, 35mm, hand held (2 photos stitched together).

Foggy autumn woodland.

Another one from early November last year at Hardcastle Crags. This is one of my favourite times of year at the Crags - the colours and light are gorgeous.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/7.1, 1/40s, 18mm, hand held.

Sunlight and shadows on Canary Wharf office blocks.

Another picture of the dramatic buildings at Canary Wharf, London, from March last year. I'd love to photograph them on a long exposure with a tripod, to get the motion of the clouds above them, but I can't see me ever taking my tripod to London!

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

Toadstools growing out of a log in woodland.

I took this one at Hardcastle Crags in early November last year. I love how there's so much going on around this fallen branch. It may be dead itself but it's now the home of all kinds of other plant-life (and, no doubt, insects too). When writing the title of this blog post, I wasn't sure whether to call the fungi mushrooms or toadstools, so I looked up the difference - apparently the general difference is that mushrooms are edible and toadstools are poisonous. Still no idea what this one is!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/6.3, 1/60s, 18mm, hand held.

Poppy plant in the sunshine.

I took this yesterday in my mum's garden. The big red flowers were begging to be photographed, but on closer inspection I realised how lovely the 'hairy' leaves and buds were too. I decided to get some shots using the flowers as a blurred back and foreground and focusing instead on the foliage.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/4, 1/640s, 35mm, hand held.

Path winding down the Coledale valley beneath Grisedale Pike.

This one's from August last year, photographed from Coledale Hause. We'd just climbed Grisedale Pike (on the left) and were about to walk back down the valley along the path in the photo. You can also see the Beck winding its way off into the distance at the point the path straightens out.

The mountains in the background are Skiddaw and Blencathra.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/11, 1/200s, 18mm, hand held.

Panoramic view over Mytholmroyd, looking up Cragg Vale.

This one's from April last year, photographed on a late, sunny afternoon from Height Road.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/8, 1/125s, 22mm, hand held.

Shallow tree-filled valley below West Nab, Meltham.

I took this one today whilst walking the route of my son's latest fell race. It was my first time in this area and it's made me want to go back - this little valley was really lovely and a brilliant but tricky fell running location. I'm certainly glad I was walking it, not running! It was another day of mixed weather - beautiful sunshine for the duration of the junior races, followed by heavy rain for the seniors.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/8, 1/160s, 35mm, hand held.

Multi-coloured fern amongst fallen leaves.

I spotted this unusually coloured fern at Hardcastle Crags early in November last year. I love the textures and patterns too.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/5.3, 1/50s, 42mm, hand held.

Coal Clough wind farm viewed from Hoof Stones Height.

Here is an alternative view from Hoof Stones to that posted on 25th Feb. I took the photo on that day on a walk around the moors above Todmorden. Coal Clough is one of the oldest onshore wind farms in England, commissioned in 1992. There are 24 turbines, producing enough energy to serve the average needs of 5,500 homes. (all according to Wikipedia!)

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/8, 1/250s, 35mm, hand held.

Dramatic clouds over winter moorland.

I took this one in January this year (on the same day as my post from 30th April), on a walk around Wainstalls, close to where I live. The clouds were amazing that day - the ones in this picture almost look like a separate landscape in the sky.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/8, 1/125s, 38mm, hand held.

Man walking along Whitby beach.

I was walking along the cliff-top path in January this year when I spotted the shapes on this section of beach. I love how the inlet of water crosses the sand  to connect the sea to the rocks. I waited for this man to reach the middle of the inlet to add some contrast and context.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/8, 1/160s, 55mm, hand held.

Bluebells in the woods at Hardcastle Crags.

This one's from last week. The woods are carpeted with bluebells - it's the best year I've seen for them. I sat in this particular spot for ages and was joined, at different times, by a rabbit and a pheasant - just gorgeous!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/16, 1/20s, 35mm, tripod.

Silhouetted horses grazing on a Malham hilltop.

Yesterday we visited Malham again for my son to take part in a fell race. After the race we parked up beside the Tarn and had a picnic and a wander round. The kids and dogs paddled in the water and I played with my camera - it was a lovely afternoon! I took this one on the way back to the car when I noticed the patch of sunlight silhouetting the horses.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/10, 1/400s, 35mm, hand held.

Looking up at Lindisfarne Castle, Northumberland.

I took this in August 2013 whilst on holiday in Northumberland. I love the shapes in the castle wall (including the 'face' in the section on the left - see my post on 6th Nov 2015) and how well the textures and tones fit with the grey skies. It would be great to have chance to take this shot again on a stormy day with darker clouds.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/13, 1/50s, 32mm, hand held.

Cow guarding the path through its field.

This one's from our circular walk around Malham in August last year. There were numerous points that day where cows blocked our way and we had to carefully manoeuvre round them - almost as if their hobby was winding up walkers! This one didn't budge as we left the path to give it a wide berth, then stared at us until we were out of sight!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/11, 1/160s, 55mm, hand held.

Heavy snow weighing down branches over a stone wall.

Here's another from our local moor back in early March this year. I love the mix of textures in this photo.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/5, 1/320s, 35mm, hand held.

Bluebells flowering around a fallen branch.

Another one from yesterday's wander round Hardcastle Crags. I find it quite difficult to get pictures of bluebells that I'm happy with - they always seem so stunning when they blanket everywhere around you, but it's hard to scale that down to a photo that still captures the effect. In this case, this log helped with the composition, scale and context.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/5, 1/200s, 35mm, hand held.

A wild deer in the woods at Hardcastle Crags.

Today I went on my annual mission to take photos of the bluebells at Hardcastle Crags. They are spectacular this year and I got lots. Whilst wandering through the woods I came across 2 wild deer, who were casually heading in the same direction as me. I walked with them (at a reasonable distance) for a good 20 minutes. They frequently turned to look at me but didn't seem concerned about me being there, just carried on munching foliage. I managed to get a few photos of them, even though I had completely the wrong lens on my camera for wildlife shots. This one shows just one of the deer - the one who was leading the way.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/3.2, 1/640s, 35mm, hand held.

Just-washed strawberries.

I was about to do some flower photography in the garden today, so had my camera and macro lens out ready. Before starting that, I washed these strawberries ready for tea, then put them down to drain in a sunny patch of the kitchen counter. They looked so lovely I decided to get a few shots of them.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/14, 1/200s, (-1.3step exp bias), 90mm, hand held.

Blackpool's north pier viewed from the promenade steps.

This was a late afternoon at the end of December last year. I love the mixture of soft pinks and blues, the curves of the steps and dark lines of the pier.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/8, 1/60s, 44mm, hand held.

Little tree; big sky.

This one, from February this year, is on the moors above Kebs Road in Todmorden. This little tree was the only one in sight and, standing proud on the horizon, was just begging to be photographed. The big clouds provided the perfect contrasting backdrop.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/11, 1/200s, 35mm, hand held.

Fields and dry stone walls above Malham Cove.

I took this in August last year on the way back down Cove Road after doing a circular walk around the cove and tarn. The limestone pavement and cliffs of the cove are to the left of the picture; the village of Malham is to the right.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/11, 1/200s, 34mm, hand held.

Metal farm gate reflected in a puddle in the Newlands valley.

I took this one in August last year on a walk around the Newlands valley. We'd just walked alongside the river and were crossing the valley bottom approaching Portinscale. This view is back up the valley towards Stair.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/11, 1/250s, 18mm, hand held.

Artificial lighting in Clink Street Tunnel on London's south bank.

If you search the internet for Clink Street Tunnel you'll find much more dramatic photos of the lighting under this tunnel (an old railway tunnel between Southwark Bridge and London Bridge). There is an installation of LED lights in the tunnel roof that is programmed to change according to the flow of pedestrians beneath it. When the flow is light, white LEDs twinkle like stars; when heavier there's a colourful firework-like display. It was the twinkling effect when we walked beneath it, but I chose in this photo to isolate one of the purple side-lights and the shape of the arch instead.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/6.3, 1/80s, 18mm, hand held.

Symmetrical tree trunks amongst ferns.

This is at Hardcastle Crags, photographed in June last year. I love the symmetry and the way the silvery tree trunk in the centre stands out from the others.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/11, 1/80s, 24mm, hand held.

Bare trees silhouetted against rippled clouds.

I took this one on the edge of Norland moor, at the top of Maple Dean Clough. It was midday in late November last year and the sun was bright but low, filtered by the clouds.

Camera/lens settings; ISO 100, f/11, 1/250s, 32mm, hand held.