Cluster of sun-lit ferns around a tree trunk

This one is from June 2013 at Hardcastle Crags. I love ferns - you may have noticed by now! Bluebells are usually the main focus when they're in photos - in this one they're just a (slightly out of focus) backdrop with the ferns in the spotlight, literally, from the sun.

I did quite a bit of tampering in Lightroom to get the effect I wanted. I brought exposure down overall, as the ferns were quite overexposed due to the strength of the sunlight. There were 2 other areas lit up by the sun that were too distracting - I used the brush to bring exposure down on the central bluebells and a graduated filter to do the same job on a patch of grass top left. I then increased contrast to the maximum - this increased the strength of the shadows and made some of the ferns bottom right 'disappear' into the darkness, leaving only the very bright ones in the picture.

Black and white cat yawning

This is Spook, our 5 year old black and white cat. I was watching him and taking photos, trying out my new macro lens, when he did a huge yawn and I managed to capture it. I often find that cats start yawning when I'm photographing them - maybe it's a nervous thing; or maybe they're just bored!

In Lightroom, I converted to monochrome, increased contrast, reduced exposure and added a slight dark vignette to darken the background.

Sun-lit gate and fenced path through trees.

Here's another one from the Keswick/Threlkeld railway path in Cumbria, taken in August this year. I loved the way the sun was highlighting the gate against the dark wooded background and the contrast of the hard line of the fence disappearing up into the trees against the soft texture of the grass.

In Lightroom, I increased contrast and exposure, then added a slight dark vignette to draw your eye in towards the gate and fence.

Over the dunes between Bamburgh and Seahouses

I took this in August 2013 on our holidays. We'd spent a few hours on the beach and were heading back to the car on this path through St Aidan's dunes. I looked back after climbing over this wooden stile and thought it'd make a good picture. Typically, we then had to hang around for ages whilst other holiday-makers made their way (very slowly!) over the stile and safely out of my photo!

In Lightroom I increased overall contrast and reduced exposure in the sky with a graduated filter.

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.

Pebble splash in a rockpool

One day on holiday at Seahouses, Northumberland in August 2013, I went wandering round the rockpools with one of my sons looking for interesting photos to take. He suggested dropping pebbles into one of the pools so that I could capture the splash. This is a crop of one of those shots.

I played around with the settings in Lightroom and settled on this effect, make by turning contrast right up and a large increase in vibrance.

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.