Autumn colours on the Rochdale canal

I took this one this afternoon, just outside Sowerby Bridge. I knew it was going to be a very still, dull afternoon, so good for long exposures with a tripod to capture the colours around the canal. The leaves seem to be extra vivid this year, but it won't be long before they've all fallen.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/16, 5s, 55mm, tripod.

Baitings reservoir on a damp October day

Another reservoir shot today, but a very different one to yesterday's. This is Baitings reservoir, between Ripponden and Blackstone Edge. I took the photo a couple of weeks ago on a family walk. The clouds were low and the air damp but the views were still worth seeing.

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

Low evening sunshine on Blackstone Edge reservoir

This one's from April this year, when my son and I went for a wander around the reservoir with our cameras. I love the effect of sun sparkling on water, and the sun hitting the edges of the rocks in the foreground helps to make this more of a picture.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/11, 1/320s, 18mm, hand held.

Reflected sunlight on a building wall and pavement

I took this on Southwark Bridge Road, London, in March this year. The low morning sunlight was hitting the buildings on the opposite side of the road and was being reflected from their windows onto these walls, with the railings making shadows across the pavement.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/11, 1/200s, 20mm, hand held.

Sun-lit, shadowy tree-covered lane in Summer

This lane is not far from Withens Clough reservoir - I took the photo on a walk round there from Cragg Vale, in June this year. The focusing could be sharper (think I struggled with the low light) but I love the image too much to delete it!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/8, 1/125s, 32mm, hand held.

Water droplet on orange gerbera (2)

Another shot from the macro session I did at home in February this year, using my favourite flower - a gerbera.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/11, 1/60s, 90mm, tripod & LED ring light.

Sparrow picking up seeds on my garden wall

I took this one in June this year. I'd scattered a few seeds on the wall close to the bird feeder and set up my camera and tripod a few feet away on the patio. I then sat very still with the remote release in my hand and waited for the birds - a good lesson in patience (which I really don't have much of!).

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/8, 1/250s, 165mm, tripod.

Walled track through autumnal trees

I took this one today on a long walk around the hills surrounding Todmorden. This was on the last leg of the walk, in woodland above Lydgate. The weather was mixed, with a fair amount of rain, but the trees looked beautiful throughout - their best time of year!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/5, 1/100s, 35mm, hand held.

Disused mill on a cobbled lane in Halifax

I took this in April on a walk up around Southowram from Halifax centre - this mill is at the foot of the hill in Siddal. I like our old mills (particularly the disused ones) - both their structures and their history.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/11, 1/250s, 18mm, hand held.

Snow-covered tall grass and little tree

This one's from early January this year, photographed on a foggy afternoon on Roils Head Moor, Halifax. The snow had fallen not long before so was still piled high on each blade of grass.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/11, 1/40s, 26mm, hand held.

Beneath a tree on Widdop moor

This tree is next to the path that runs alongside Alcomden Water and eventually takes you up to Walshaw Dean reservoirs, which are in the background of this photo (taken in September this year). If you keep walking across the moor in the distance you'll reach Haworth and the ruins of the building that is said to have inspired Wuthering Heights (Top Withens farmhouse).

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/16, 1/125s, 38mm, hand held.

Colourful autumnal trees

These trees are just below Ryburn reservoir at Ripponden. We went for a family walk there on Sunday and I photographed them then. When I got home, however, I realised the pictures were all slightly out of focus - I must have knocked it when I adjusted the polariser. I was gutted because I really loved the image. So today I went back (this time with a tripod to avoid high ISO) and took the photo again - making sure I checked focusing properly. Happy now!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/5.3, 1/25s, 44mm, circular polariser, tripod.

Rocks and pebbles on Seahouses beach

Some more wonderfully shaped and textured rocks from Northumberland - photographed in August 2013. The only problem taking photos in this area is deciding what not to photograph!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/11, 1/25s, 24mm, hand held.

Dry valley above Malham Cove

This one's from August this year, looking up the dry limestone valley (named Watlowes) above Malham Cove, leading up towards Malham Tarn. We met 4 highland cows in this valley - I think they're really cute but we did start to worry when one of them stomped purposefully towards us (we had our dogs on leads). Fortunately it lost interest as we got further away!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/11, 1/160s, 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.

Rippled clouds over Morecambe Bay at sunset

The sun was about to set off to the left of this scene when I took the photo about a month ago. As often happens, the sky off to the side or opposite a sunset is just as, if not more, interesting and dramatic as the sunset itself.

You can just see the Lake District mountains on the far side of the bay.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/11, 1/160s, 18mm, hand held.

Farm buildings near Portinscale, Lake District.

I took this one on a walk around the Newlands valley on our holiday to Keswick in August this year. I love how the sunlight hits the stone wall and the blue of the door mirrors the sky colour.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/11, 1/160s, 18mm, hand held.

Glass butterfly in the sunshine

A macro shot tonight - this is one of those little glass butterflies that you put around the base of plants as decoration and/or protection from frost etc. This is one of several scattered around the base of my blueberry bush - they shine beautifully in the sunshine.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/3.5, 1/1000s, 90mm, hand held.

Looking up the sunny Coledale valley

Here's another photo of the lovely Coledale valley (from August this year). It's taken from the path beneath Grisedale Pike, looking up towards Coledale Hause at the head of the valley.

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

Autumn coloured wild plants blowing in the breeze

I have no idea what these plants/weeds are (please leave a comment if you do!) - I spotted their vibrant colours yesterday on the slopes of a disused quarry at Penistone Hill Country Park, Haworth. I was there to watch my son in a fell run; safe to say I was the only person there photographing the plant-life instead of the runners!

I intentionally used a slow shutter speed to capture the movement as the wind blew through them.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/18, 1/25s, 38mm, hand held.

London's Houses of Parliament at night

Obviously this is a much-photographed scene, but I couldn't resist during my trip to London in March this year. There were quite a few other photographers along the Thames path, between this point and our hotel near Southwark Bridge, all with tripods! The sensible choice at that time of night, but I hadn't taken mine so had to up the ISO and apply lots of noise reduction in Lightroom. I also rested my camera on the top of the wall to help with sharpness.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 1600, f/5.6, 1/50s,  18mm, 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.

Evening mist in the Luddenden valley

I took this a week ago not far from where I live. I had gone out to photograph the sunset and carried on taking photos for a while afterwards as the post-sunset light was so lovely.

In the foreground of this image, just behind the farm buildings, you can see a tractor cutting the grass in one of the fields. It had started working its way round just as I arrived to set my tripod up and was still going when I left.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/8, 1/13s, 55mm, tripod.

Shadows from a fence along the Rochdale canal towpath

I took this in April this year, on the canal bank between Mytholmroyd and Sowerby Bridge. It was around tea time and the sun was low, creating strong shadows from the fence across the path. I converted it to black and white to make sure these lines were the main focus of the image (the vivid blue sky and green grass were quite distracting).

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

Moss-covered dry stone wall surrounded by greenery

I took this one in August this year whilst walking around Malham Tarn, North Yorkshire. This wall was in shadows beneath trees, but the greens and silvery stone still really stood out.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 800, f/11, 1/125s, 26mm, hand held.

Vividly coloured reflections and sunlight in a shallow river

This is the River Hebden at Hardcastle Crags. The golden coloured areas are sunlight hitting the rocks and pebbles on the river bed; the rest of the colours are reflections of trees and blue skies above.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/11, 1/125s, 48mm, hand held.

Knot in sun-lit tree bark

I took this in April 2014 at Hardcastle Crags. The blue sky in the background was contrasting beautifully with the mossy green surface of the tree trunk, which was lit up in the morning sun.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/3.5, 1/800s, 90mm, hand held.

Sculptures of cormorants silhouetted against the setting sun at Morecambe

Another sunset photo tonight - this time from Morecambe, Lancashire, photographed last weekend. These sculptures of cormorants, made from slices of steel, are just in front of the Midland Hotel. They were created by Brian Fell as part of the Tern Project.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/6.3, 1/4000s, 26mm, hand held.

Sunset over the Lancashire moors

This one's from July this year, when my son and I went for a late evening walk on the moor behind Blackstone Edge reservoir. I used a high ISO to avoid too long an exposure (as it was really windy) so had to use a lot of noise reduction in Lightroom. As I've found before, though, the smoothed out effect of the noise reduction really works with the texture of the long grass.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 800, f/18, 1/125s, 18mm, tripod.

Muddy, puddled track between trees

Here's another muddy, wet scene from a walk along the Luddenden valley in February this year. This is just before you come out from under the trees and the valley opens up ahead of you.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/11, 1/125s, 22mm, hand held.

Sheep grazing in late evening sunshine.

I took this last night between Norton Tower and Mount Tabor. I was wandering round with my camera, scouting out good locations for sunset photos, when I passed this group of sheep. I loved how their silhouettes seemed to glow in the back-light from the bright, low, sunshine.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/18, 1/160s, 24mm, ND hard grad filters, hand held.