Gerbera

This flower is from a Gerbera plant on my window sill. I photographed it with the blind pulled down behind to give a plain background.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/1.8, 1/400s, 35mm, tripod and cable release.

Back-lit trees in fog and snow

I've probably posted pics of these trees close to where I live before, but I'm drawn to them every time the weather is like this. It's with a different camera & lens this time anyway....(photographed last week)!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/5, 1/1000s, 55mm, hand held.

Track through Whinlatter Forest.

This is one of the tracks leading uphill through Whinlatter Forest in Keswick. I took the photo in August 2015. This is somewhere I would happily return to every time I visit the Lake District - I'd never run out of photographic inspiration there.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/11, 1/30s, 18mm, hand held.

Lone sailboat on Derwentwater

I took this from one of the Derwentwater launches, as we crossed the lake in August last year. I love how the lake looks on dark, cloudy days. The mountain in the background is Skiddaw, usually standing out in bright green and purples at that time of year, but dark and shadowy on this particular afternoon.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/11, 1/320s, -1step exp bias, 20mm, hand held.

Winter trees silhouetted in fog.

I took this photo last Monday not far from where I live in Halifax. Having had to go to an early morning appointment, I was lucky to reach this favourite group of trees before the fog lifted - I just had chance to walk round them once, then it cleared.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/2, 1/160s, 35mm, hand held.

Exposed roots and leaves on the woodland floor.

This area of woodland is just above Mytholmroyd - I took the photo on the way back from a walk to Stoodley Pike in July this year.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/2.2, 1/60s, 35mm, hand held.

Slipway at Morecambe Bay.

This one's from September last year. You can see the shapes of the Cumbrian mountains on the far side of the bay.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/18, 1/200s, 24mm, hand held.

Dead tree in a small clearing.

This is at Hawes End beside Derwentwater - I took the photo in August 2015. When we went back there this summer I looked for this tree again and was quite sad to see it had been felled.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/11, 1/250s, 50mm, hand held.

Sheep crossing a fallen-down dry stone wall.

This is on the approach to Stoodley Pike from the Mytholmroyd direction - I took the photo in July this year. The sheep were in the process of crossing the wall when they heard us approach and froze as they turned to look at us - perfect posing for a photo!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/8, 1/320s, 35mm, hand held.

Looking across the Duddon valley from the Walna Scar track.

Another photo taken on a fell running trip - this one's from June this year at the Duddon Valley. I love the windy dry stone wall in this shot.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/8, 1/80s, 35mm, hand held.

Sunlight across Stoodley Pike, Todmorden.

My son was in a fell race in Todmorden, where I grew up, today. He was racing up the hillside below Gaddings Dam, just along the ridge from the hill in this photo - Stoodley Pike. It was very cold but a lovely morning. The monument on the hill is a replacement for the original structure which was damaged by a lightning strike in 1854. The original was build in 1815 to commemorate the defeat of Napoleon and the surrender of Paris.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/4.2, 1/320s, 125mm, hand held.

Beneath an old building on stilts on Morecambe promenade.

I've searched the internet to try and find out what this building is but with no luck. I took the photo in September last year. The view in the distance is towards Cumbria, across the bay.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/18, 1/200s, 18mm, hand held.

Up a London underground escalator.

This is from my trip to London in March last year. I love the lights and lines in the underground and always try to get a few pictures on each trip.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/8, 1/60s, 24mm (and lots of exposure increase and noise reduction post-production - should've increased ISO!)

Sunburst through trees

This one's from November 2 years ago, at Hardcastle Crags. The leaves were in their autumnal colours, but I converted this image to black and white to focus on the sunburst.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/10, 1/125s, 20mm, hand held.

Sun breaking through rain clouds over a Peak District hillside.

I took this one in July this year whilst watching my son doing a fell race. The weather started off sunny, then we watched the rain moving towards us across the opposite hills, blurring the view. At this point, the sun started to fight back and eventually we were left under blue skies again.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/8, 1/200s, -1step exp bias, 35mm, converted to monochrome and slight olive split tone added to highlights.

Whitby pier and waterfront on a dark winter tea time.

It was a dark January tea time last year when I took this photo. I balanced the camera on a bean bag on top of a waste bin to get the long exposure.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/8, 30s, 55mm, bean bag & cable release.

Tiny tomatoes growing on a vine.

These are some of the first tiny tomatoes we grew last summer. My son planted 7 seeds from a cherry tomato bought at the supermarket - we ended up turning the conservatory into a temporary greenhouse and grew over 3,000 tomatoes from the 7 new plants!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/8, 1/100s, 90mm, tripod, cable release.

Skeletal trees on a hilltop.

This is right at the top of Hardcastle Crags, where the trees end and moorland begins. I took the photo looking steeply uphill into a bright blue sky in March last year. I was playing about with settings in Lightroom when I came across this effect (mostly created by reducing the blue slider in the black and white mix right down); I think it makes the trees look really skeletal - a bit spooky.

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

Ripples, reflections and shadows on Ullswater.

I took this from the lakeside path around Ullswater last month. I like the complexity of the picture - all caused by the overhanging tree branches.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/2.5, 1/250s, -1 step exp bias, 35mm, hand held.

Shadows from trees on the wall of an old canal-side mill (3)

A third photo of the mill at Luddenden Foot (April 2015). This time it's a full view of the mill, omitting the canal beneath it. The tree shadows look like they've been painted onto the wall.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/9, 1/100s, 22mm, hand held.