A section of moorland footpath.

This is part of the path that runs across Widdop moor between Walshaw Dean reservoirs and Top Withens. I took the photo on a snowy day in January this year. The colours in the path stood out to me amidst the surrounding white of the snow.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/100s, 29mm, hand held.

Ferns and the base of a tree trunk touched by sunlight.

This tree surrounded by ferns is on the slope of the river bank close to Lumb Hole waterfalls at Crimsworth Dean. I was balanced on a rock in the river having taken photos looking up and down stream and was about to climb out when I noticed the lovely tones and patterns made by the light catching the ferns and bark. (June 2015)

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/11, 1/125s, 18mm, hand held.

Mossy stone post in sun-lit woodland

This is at Hardcastle Crags - photographed in June 2013. The stone post is at the start of one of the paths around the woods - it's possibly either an old fence/gate post or just a way-marker. I wanted to capture the patterns, colours and textures on the post, but also liked the contrast against the really bright backdrop of trees.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/25s, 55mm, hand held.

Section of mossy dry stone wall at Hardcastle Crags

Here's one from ages ago (June 2013) at Hardcastle Crags. I love the texture and tones in dry stone walls, so I converted this one to black and white to avoid the green moss becoming the main focus.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/25s, 40mm, hand held.

A stack of cut logs in woodland

Today's picture is from the woodland surrounding Ogden Water, taken in early March this year. I love the vivid colours in the logs and the different textures in their surfaces. Looking at the picture also makes me remember the strong smell of sawn wood that was in the air.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/3.5, 1/200s, 18mm, hand held.

Colourful, textured log in sunlit woodland

I saw this log lying in the woods around Ogden reservoir earlier this year. Even from a distance I could see the different colours on its bark, lit up by the sunshine - really striking!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/6.3, 1/250s, 26mm, hand held.

Lower Gorple reservoir in bright sunshine

I took this a few weeks ago at Widdop on the hottest day we've had so far this year (ie. warm enough to not take a coat!!). Although it was lovely weather for walking, it made photography a bit tricky as it was so bright and a bit hazy. I like the effect on this shot though - the sunlight adds sparkle and brings out the colour and texture of the stonework around the reservoir outlet.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/11, 1/160s, 22mm, hand held.

Light, shadows and reflections under a canal bridge

This is underneath a stone bridge over the Rochdale canal, near Sowerby Bridge, taken a few weeks ago. The lowering sun was creating great patterns and highlighting the colours of the moss on the stone.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/250s, 18mm, hand held.

Ropes and a fishing boat at Seahouses harbour

Another one from Northumberland (August 2013) today. These ropes were piled on the harbour walls, next to the lobster pots. I crouched down to position the colourful fishing boat in the background, but chose an aperture that gave a shallow-ish depth of field to make sure the perspective remained.

When processing the photo I wondered whether I should have focused on the boat rather than the ropes. I suppose it depends which was my main subject - at the time I was more interested in the ropes than the boat. With hindsight, it would have been interesting to take 2 version of the photo and see which worked best. I think this version would win though - I think the ropes take up too high a percentage of the picture to be out of focus.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/10, 1/60s, 38mm, hand held.

Moss-covered tree trunk surrounded by Autumn leaves

I took this one at Hardcastle Crags in November last year. I really like the shapes of the base of tree trunks where the roots start to spread - this one also had the lovely coating of green moss to contrast with the brown of the leaves on the ground.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/10, 1/125s, 40mm, 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.

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.

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.

Tree trunk, roots, foliage and bluebell, Hardcastle Crags.

This is another photo from my final Photography Btec course submission, taken in May 2013. My topic was the 'hidden' beauty of Hardcastle Crags (eg. not the obvious popular river/waterfall shots). It was mostly the lines and textures in the bark, roots and foliage that drew me to this shot - the bluebell was an added bonus - a lovely little splash of blue amongst the earthier tones.

I've learned a lot more about Lightroom since first processing the photo, so I went back to the raw file today and started again, creating a 'new and improved' version!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/11, 1.6s, 26mm, tripod.

Spooky branches

Something a bit different today - I've been experimenting with split toning in Lightroom. I took this close-up of bare, spiky branches at Hardcastle Crags in April last year. Although I liked the shapes and textures, the colours were washed out and left the image lacking something. I wanted to complement the spikiness of the branches by giving it an ominous mood, so tried out different colours and balances for the shadows and highlights. My measure of success was when my 10-year-old looked over my shoulder and said "Ooh - that looks spooky!". Colours chosen!

(By the way, I've decided to change what I write on my blog. I've been mentioning all post-production changes, but I think that's probably getting a bit dull - I do tend to do similar changes to most images - and without the original to compare to, it's probably a bit meaningless. From now on, I'll just mention any changes of particular interest. I'm also going to start detailing the camera settings used for each shot.)

Camera/Lens settings: ISO100, f /2.8, 1/320s, 90mm, hand-held

Trees and roots at Hardcastle Crags

This is one of my favourite subjects to photograph - I love the shapes and textures of tree branches, bark and roots, and I'm even happier if I can include a dry stone wall too! I took this one in May 2014 on my way back to the car park from photographing bluebells.

It was a hard decision whether to leave it in colour or convert to black and white. The latter won for now, but I'll probably post the colour version as well at some point. In Lightroom I used a grad filter to adjust exposure, highlights and shadows from the wall upwards. I also increased overall contrast slightly.

Lime kilns on Holy Island (2)

This is an alternative view of the lime kilns to the image I posted on 21st October. I really like the shapes and textures - could spend ages capturing different views and angles in there!

I made a few changes to exposure, contrast, shadows and highlights and converted to black and white in Lightroom.

Fallen branch among trees at Hardcastle Crags

This is another shot from my final Photography Btec work. I found this log in the middle of the wood at Hardcastle Crags and was intrigued by its shapes and textures. The top end reminds me of a snake's head - other people who've seen the photo say it reminds them of other things. I like how you can have your own interpretation of it depending where your imagination takes you!

I converted to monochrome, increased contrast slightly and added a slight dark vignette to draw your eye in to the branch.

River in Autumn at Hardcastle Crags

This one is from November 2013 when I headed into the Crags specifically to photograph a waterfall (see my earlier post on 23rd Sept). My son and his friend were playing by the river whilst I took the photo. When I headed over to see what they were up to I was struck by the range of colours and lovely contrasts in the scene, so I shooed them out of the way to get this photo!

In Lightroom I made very small increases to shadows, vibrance and saturation. I also added an angled grad filter to the top left corner to bring down exposure in the tree branches where the sun was breaking through.

Triptych of textures - stone, ripples & sparkles

A more abstract shot today! I took this photo in Seahouses last year - it's a close crop of the sea rippling up against the edge of a stone walkway. I liked the contrasting tones and textures between the stone and the water; and again between the section of water in the shade and the section with the sun glinting off its surface.

I cropped the raw photo to emphasise the 3 textural 'sections', then converted to monochrome and increased contrast and clarity.