Rockpools, sparkling sea and swirling clouds at Seahouses

I loved the drama of the swirling clouds and the sparkle of the sun on the water in this scene. I took the picture in August 2013 from the rock pools to the South of the harbour at Seahouses.

In Lightroom, I just increased contrast and exposure very slightly.

View across Malham Cove

Here's yet another view across the very picturesque Malham Cove, towards Pendle Hill! I wasn't sure this would be a 'useable' photo - I liked the curved framing of the foreground rocks, the dry stone wall and the array of fields and trees in the midsection of the photo, but there was too much sky and dull grass around the edges. I decided the only hope for it was to try a vignette.

Until now, I've only used very slight, not obvious, vignettes to draw your eye into the centre. This time I had to use a stronger one. I do think it does the job well though, supporting the natural frame of the rocks and drawing your eye away from the parts of the picture that don't add any interest.

Contrasting trees

These trees line a portion of the railway path between Keswick and Threlkeld, Cumbria. I took the photo in August this year because I was really struck by the strong shapes, tones and textures of the foreground trees (are they beech?) and the contrast against the lush greenery of the trees behind.

I made a few small tweaks in Lightroom to bring out these features - increased contrast, reduced highlights and increased vibrancy and saturation.

Mill pond in Autumn, Hardcastle Crags

I took this one at Hardcastle Crags in November 2013 because I loved the colours and reflections. Although the side lighting from the low sun was what made the colours and tree textures so lovely, it also made the photograph difficult to achieve, due to the big contrasts. I didn't have any filters so I exposed for the shadows and hoped for the best.

In Lightroom I used graduated filters (top down and bottom up) to reduce exposure and highlights in the sky and water. I also increased shadows to bring a bit more detail out.

Lindisfarne Castle below stormy clouds, viewed from across the harbour

The lighting on the day I took this photo in August 2013 was quite poor - what makes this photo is the dramatic cloud formation above the castle and sea. The clouds look like they've deliberately left a space the same shape as the castle - like the clouds are jigsaw pieces that will fit down onto the horizon, fitting snuggly around the castle mound!

This shot is also unusual for me in that it is full of people, swarming around the castle. Usually I hate having people in my landscape photos - fortunately they are so far away in this one you can only see them by zooming in!

I made quite a few small tweaks in Lightroom, as well as cropping the photo to a panoramic shape and converting to monochrome (the colours were so washed out due to the flat light anyway). I played around with contrast, vibrance, saturation and exposure to get this final image.

River flowing around moss-covered rocks at Hardcastle Crags

This is a crop of a photo I took whilst practicing with ND filters at Hardcastle Crags for my Btec course. I can't remember how many stops I used for this particular image, but this one was my favourite in terms of the effect of the creamy water flowing around the rough textured rocks. The composition of the original image as a whole wasn't great, as I chose the location purely for the water and rocks, but couldn't get close enough to exclude the surroundings, hence making a significant crop for this final image.

In Lightroom, as well as the crop, I also flipped the photo horizontally, as it didn't feel right flowing right to left.  I then increased contrast and added 2 angled graduated filters to reduce the glare top and bottom left.

Dandelion clock (2)

This is another photo from the group of images I took in my garden in May this year. The original image was a wider shot of the dandelion clock head with a blurred green background (similar to the one I posted on Sept 13th). I wanted to see whether a closer crop would work, and I really like the outcome.

In Lightroom, I increased contrast and vibrance to get a bit more 'zing' out of the colours and textures. Then I used a square crop to emphasise the symmetry and added a slight dark vignette to emphasise the spherical shape.

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.

Beck running under Ashness Bridge, Cumbria

This is Barrow Beck, the stream that runs under Ashness Bridge, just above Derwentwater, Cumbria. I went for a close-up crop from my original photo because there was so much glare in the grey sky, even after tampering with it in Lightroom. I really like the composition of the crop, but I still made a lot of changes to contrast, exposure and grey tones to get a pleasing balance of tones and textures.

Sun-lit fern in woodland, Hardcastle Crags

This is another one of the set I took at Hardcastle Crags in April 2013 for the final part of my Photography Btec. I love how the sun lights the fern up and also lights up a patch of the fallen leaves in the background. The delicate shapes of the tips of the fern fronds are emphasised by the contrast against the dark tree trunk.

In Lightroom I used a graduated filter to bring down exposure and highlights in the sky between the trees.

Garden flowers

White bluebells (is that what you call them??) in front of green Euphorbia flowers with bluebells in the background - from my garden in Spring this year. I love how these 3 plants flower at the same time and grow into and around each other - the colours look great together.

I cropped the original image to focus more on the white flowers, then reduced exposure and highlights, as they were a bit 'blown out'.

Small yacht passing Dunstanburgh Castle, Northumberland

I took this on our holiday to Seahouses in August 2013. We'd just been exploring Dunstanburgh Castle, further down the coast near Craster, and were just leaving. Just as we started walking away from the castle I saw the yacht passing out at sea. I thought there was potential for a photo - it looked so small and delicate on its own out there, contrasting with the big, strong, stone castle wall. It was actually moving quite fast so I only just managed to get my camera ready in time to get the castle wall and the yacht in the same shot.

The resulting picture wasn't great as I didn't have time to compose or expose it properly, but I got the content I needed and sorted the rest out in Lightroom. I cropped the picture to a panoramic size to frame the horizon, used a graduated filter to bring down highlights in the sky and increased overall contrast, saturation and shadows slightly.

Tree trunk and roots at Hardcastle Crags

This is one from May this year in the woods at Hardcastle Crags, Hebden Bridge. The trees there are amazing - wonderful shapes and textures in their trunks, branches and roots. Unfortunately I don't know my trees well enough to tell you what kind this is though!

After increasing contrast, I converted the raw file to monochrome to emphasise the textures. I then reduced exposure a little.

Dry stone wall at Malham Cove, North Yorkshire

This photo provides another view of Malham Cove to other photos I've posted so far. However, the main focus of the image is the brilliant curve of the dry stone wall that runs down into the cove then back up the opposite hillside, then connecting into further networks of walls. I took quite a few versions of this picture to see which angle gave the best composition; then, as I was walking away, the sun came out and lit the scene up for me, so I ran back and got this final shot.

You can also just see a mountain in the centre of the far horizon - I think it's Pendle Hill in Burnley, Lancashire.

It being a dazzlingly bright day, I had to use a graduated filter in Lightroom to reduce the highlights and exposure in the sky. Then I increased vibrance and saturation just by one click to bring out the green a bit more.

Rope knotted around wooden boards on a boat

This is on one of the boats used for trips to the Farne Islands from Seahouses harbour. I took it on the way back from a visit to Longstone Island on our holiday there in August 2013. I think this rope was holding one of the life rings onto the side of the boat. This might be just me being odd, but the textures and shapes just appealed to me!

I increased contrast, reduced exposure slightly and converted to monochrome in Lightroom.

River Greta with Blencathra in the background, Keswick

I took this on our August holiday to Keswick this year. On the far right bank of the river you can just see our holiday home - a cabin at Low Briery Holiday Park (what a location - much recommended!). The mountain in the background, Blencathra, is my favourite climb in the Lake District, although I haven't done it for years. There's a fantastic ridge at the top called Sharp Edge. The mountain is also known as Saddleback - you can see the dip in the summit that gives it that name in this picture.

I reduced exposure in the sky with a graduated filter to balance it out, then increased overall exposure slightly.

White cockerpoo on a countryside walk

This is Kizzy in August this year when she was 9 months old. I took this during our walk around Malham - you can see she's all windswept and worn out from the excitement!

In Lightroom, I increased exposure very slightly and added a dark vignette.

Little waterfall and bluebells at Hardcastle Crags

I took this in May this year on a walk at Hardcastle Crags, Hebden Bridge. Initially I just wanted to photograph the falling water, but then realised what a pretty setting it was in.

The only change I made to the raw file was to add a graduated filter to bring down exposure in the trees at the top.

Lobster pot on pebbled beach, Holy Island.

I took this one on Holy Island, Northumberland in August 2013. There was a steep 'wall' of pebbles bordering the beach and this lobster pot was abandoned on it. I liked the contrasting shapes and patterns in the pot, pebbles and sky.

In Lightroom I used a graduated filter to balance out the exposure of the pebbles and sky, then increased shadows to put some definition into the pot. I also added a slight dark vignette to soften the edges of the picture and draw your eye in.

Barn and plough at Malham

This barn is alongside the river that runs down through Malham below Janet's Foss. I took the photo in August this year because I liked the contrasts in shapes, colours and textures between the stone of the barn, the trees, grass and rusty plough (I think it's a plough!).

I didn't have time to get my settings right in camera, so had to make quite a few changes in Lightroom: slight reduction to exposure; increase in contrast; slight increases to vibrance and saturation; crop to improve composition.

Sun-dappled, tree-lined path (2)

I took this one on the same walk as my ealier post on the 9th Sept - same path,
different trees! This is the former railway track from Keswick to Threlkeld - a lovely short walk (or start to a bigger walk). I just love the effect of the sun cutting through the trees and making patterns on the path as it disappears into the distance.

I made quite a few small changes to the raw file in Lightroom - slight increases in temperature, exposure and contrast; brush tool to 'dodge' out a very dark area in the bottom right corner; addition of a slight dark vignette to enhance the tunnel effect.

2 boys exploring Derwentwater

This is my 2 sons wading and exploring in Derwentwater, Cumbria in August this year. I love how small (yet undeterred) they look against the moody, dramatic backdrop of the mountains and in the vastness of the lake.

I converted the raw file to monochrome in Lightroom, reduced highlights slightly in the sky and increased contrast to help define the ripples in the water.

Dry stone wall and metal gate in snow

I took this on a walk around Norton Moor near our home in Halifax in January 2013. That was the last time we had any decent heavy snow - fingers crossed for this year! I love photographing in the snow - it's great for highlighting shapes and textures like this wall, grass and gate. This was before I got a DSLR camera so it's taken with a Panasonic compact.

I cropped the jpeg, converted to monochrome and added a slight vignette in Lightroom.

Wilting rose

I took this in my garden in July last year. The backdrop was a shady stone wall, which just came out as black (pleasingly!) in the shot. As I've mentioned before, for some reason I prefer to photograph dying flowers, particularly roses. It's a different kind of beauty...

I reduced exposure and increased contrast in Lightroom.

View over Derwentwater rowing boats to Catbells

This is a alternative view to an earlier blog post, taking in the rowing boats and pier at the Keswick end of Derwentwater and looking across to Catbells on the horizon. Rather than choosing the more obvious landscape orientation, I chose portrait to give the moody sky a lot of space - it's another day of heavy clouds, but the sun's fighting to break through in the distance, silhouetting the mountains and just managing to light up the lake surface a little.

In Lightroom I used a graduated filter to reduce exposure in the sky, then I increased overall exposure and contrast slightly.

The road through Hardcastle Crags in Autumn

Another one from our walk this week. This is the main road through the woods at Hardcastle Crags, leading to Gibson Mill, beautifully framed by autumn foliage (on the trees and on the ground).

I used a graduated filter in Lightroom to reduce the exposure in the top section.

Layers of trees at Hardcastle Crags

This is another one from yesterday at Hardcastle Crags, Hebden Bridge. We were under the trees high up the valley side between the car park and Gibson Mill - I took this looking across the valley to the trees on the other side. I like the differences in the types/shapes of trees and the lighting on each side of the valley (one side in shade, one in sunlight), giving the effect of 2 'layers' of trees.

I increased contrast very slightly in Lightroom - no other changes.

Lovely Autumn tree at Hardcastle Crags

I took this today on a 4 hour wander round Hardcastle Crags with the kids. The weather was gorgeous - chilly, blue skies and sun breaking through the remaining leaves and branches. Needless to say, I took LOADS of photos! This one was my first - we hadn't even left the car park when I looked up and saw this tree and its beautiful colours, with a backdrop of blue sky.

The only post production change I made was a slight crop to remove a dark shadow at the bottom of the frame.

Sunburst through Autumn foliage over walled path

I took this yesterday on a walk from Hebden Bridge over the hills to Stoodley Pike, Todmorden. The sky was grey when we set off, but the sun came out as we climbed the valley side under the trees. By the time we reached Stoodley Pike a couple of hours later, the sky had turned black, the wind whipped up and it started to rain! A lovely walk, though.

Lighting conditions were tricky with no tripod or filters and I had to use a high ISO to keep aperture small and shutter speed fast. Post production, I used a graduated filter to reduce the highlights in the patches of sky, then increased exposure and contrast overall.

Log framed by ferns and bluebells at Hardcastle Crags

This is one from April 2013, one of the pictures I took at Hardcastle Crags for the final piece of my photography Btec qualification. I had already taken the photos I went out looking for and was on the way back to the car park when I passed this log. It was just like a still life waiting to be photographed!

I made no post production changes at all to this image.