Looking across Derwentwater to low clouds and sunlight on Blencathra

This one's from our holiday to Keswick in August this year. We'd just cruised across the lake on one of the launches and were starting to walk along the shore towards Portinscale. The mountain lit by the sun is Blencathra, also known as Saddleback due to the shape of its main ridge (which is obscured by clouds on this photo).

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/11, 1/200s, 55mm, hand held.

Birds flocking over Blackpool's North Pier at dusk

Back from my Christmas break now with a new set of photos to play with! I took this a couple of days ago in Blackpool. My husband and I walked from his parents' house to the seafront with the dogs and I took my camera 'just in case'. Glad I did, because the light was beautiful as the sun went down. We also got treated to a show from these birds (starlings?) flocking around the pier, creating different patterns of dark waves against the sky.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/125s, 48mm, hand held.

Line of snowy trees on Roils Head Moor

In the absence of any snow this Christmas (it's windy and raining!), I decided to use a snowy photo from earlier in the year today. I took this one early morning in January on our local moor. Apparently they're planning to build houses all over this moor, which would be very sad for those who appreciate our green spaces.

Merry Christmas everyone - I'll probably take a couple of days off now!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/10, 1/80s, 26mm, hand held.

Twisted, mossy tree trunks in woodland.

This is a section of woodland beside the path near Broadhead Clough in Mytholmroyd. I took the photo this morning on a walk with my sons - the first time any of us has done this route (Mytholmroyd-Broadhead Clough-Erringden Moor-Mytholmroyd). It was a nice enough walk, but really boggy because of all the recent rain - lots of clothes and boots washing to be done when we got back!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/4, 1/100s, 20mm, hand held.

Sunlight and shadows across North Yorkshire countryside

I took this one in Malham in August this year. We were towards the end of a walk from Malham, along the Cove, up to the Tarn and back over the hillside above Cove Road. This view looks right across the Cove (in the dip between fore- and mid-ground) towards Goredale Scar (to the left of where the sunlight is hitting).

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/10, 1/160s, 46mm, hand held.

Crumbling log

Another log photo! A decaying one this time, photographed in June 2013 at Hardcastle Crags.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/5, 1/20s, 34mm, hand held.

Puddles on the moor at Penistone Hill Country Park, Oxenhope.

I took this one this morning. My son was taking part in a fell run around the quarries at Penistone Country Park - we were walking the route prior to the race when I took this photo. It was a lovely morning but, as you can see, it was quite boggy - the kids were covered in mud when they finished!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/11, 1/80s, 18mm, hand held.

A summer day at Hollingworth Lake

This is from a walk/bike ride with the kids round Hollingworth Lake at the beginning of the school holidays in July this year. There was a great mixture of clouds that day, with the odd bit of blue showing through.

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

Long grass in heavy snow.

I took this one afternoon in January this year, on our local moor. The snow had only just fallen and the sky was still heavy with it. I love how snow creates such minimalist scenes - in any other weather, this line of grass would probably not get a second look.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/8, 1/80s, 26mm, hand held.

Hollow log surrounded by foliage.

I found this lovely natural 'still life' arrangement in the woods at Crimsworth Dean, Hebden Bridge, on a walk in June this year. The log looks like it would make a cosy home for a little rodent!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/5, 1/100s, 22mm, hand held.

Sunshine, dark clouds and ducks on Grasmere.

This one's from our holiday to the Lake District in August this year. On this day, we walked from Grasmere village, along the lake to this point, then along the length of Rydal Water. The weather was switching from heavy rain to bright sunshine, leading to some great contrasts within the sky, land and water.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/11, 1/160s, 18mm, hand held.

Autumn colours around a leaf-shadowed tree trunk

I spotted this tree, just above Bacup Road, Todmorden, on a long walk in October this year. The weather wasn't that great at the time, but the leaves on the tree still stood out. The following day, I returned to the spot with my tripod - this time the sun was out and the sky blue, making the colours even more dazzling and adding the lovely leaf-shadow patterns to the tree trunk.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/11, 1/80s, 55mm, tripod.

Dunstanburgh Castle beyond rock pools north of Craster

We'd just been for a wander around Dunstanburgh Castle when I took this photo in August 2013. Instead of following the path back through the fields to Craster, we diverted down onto the rock pools to see what we could find. One of the things I found was a better view of the castle!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/13, 1/80s, 22mm, hand held.

Canary Wharf tube station (2)

I took this during my London trip in March this year. These escalators take you up to ground level, heading towards Heron Quays.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/4.5, 1/50s, 18mm, hand held.

Leaves and stems of a Sedum plant surrounded by pink flowers.

I took this one in September last year. Most of my images were of the pretty, intricate flowers and the insects that landed on them. I also really like the shape and form of the leaves and stems of Sedum plants though, so decided to do some shots with them as the main focus.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/9, 1/200s, 90mm, hand held.

Old, dead tree in a foggy field.

Anyone who drives up and down the Calder valley on a regular basis will probably recognise this tree - it stands on its own in the middle of a field just outside Mytholmroyd, near the high school. I've been admiring it for years and always wanted to photograph it. It seems to change colour with the weather and seasons - sometimes looking grey, sometimes glowing white.

I finally ended up stopping the car one day in October when it was in a 'glowing' phase, standing out against the autumn colours of the trees in the background that line the edge of the field (I'll post that photo another day). Then a couple of weeks later I was on my way to Hardcastle Crags to photograph the woodland on a foggy morning, when I saw the tree like this - looking ghostly and alone, the background trees hidden in the fog. I have a feeling these won't be the last photos I take of this tree!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/6.3, 1/125s, 55mm, hand held.

Peacock feather

I bought three of these gorgeous feathers for £1 each at a farm shop near Carnforth, Lancashire, in September (we'd just seen the peacock itself on the farm!). There used to be peacocks on Todmorden park when I was little and I remember that if you were lucky you'd sometimes find one of their feathers on the ground.

I finally got round to photographing one yesterday and they're as good a subject as I'd hoped. The individual fronds look like tinsel when magnified and the colours are spectacular.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/18, 25s, 90mm, tripod (lit by the room's normal ceiling light bulb)

Shadows and reflections on the Rochdale canal

I took this on a late afternoon in April this year when the sun was low and the shadows long. It's somewhere between Luddenden Foot and Mytholmroyd.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/8, 1/80s, 22mm, hand held.

Stile at the top of Watlowes dry valley, Malham.

One from early August this year. This wall runs right down the middle of the valley until it reaches the limestone pavement at the top of Malham Cove. On this day, we'd just walked up from there and were continuing on to the Tarn.

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

Dew droplets on a spider's web spun in long grass

This was a totally unexpected find in early November at Hardcastle Crags this year. It was a foggy morning and the trees were in full autumn colour so I took my tripod hoping to get some atmospheric woodland shots. Whilst walking through the trees I noticed lots of these webs in the tall grass, all glistening with the dew drops that had settled on them from the fog. Luckily, I'd also packed my macro lens, so I set up the tripod and got a few shots from different angles.

I converted to black and white to take away the distracting bright greens of the grass.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/22, 1.6s, 90mm, tripod.

Barge moving along the Rochdale canal

I took this on a late afternoon at the end of October this year, just outside Sowerby Bridge. I had just set my tripod up to take photos of the autumn foliage when I saw this barge appearing from the tunnel in the distance. I liked the idea of getting a long exposure motion shot (making one of the slowest-moving forms of transport look super-fast!) so had to quickly attach ND filters and guess my camera settings, knowing I'd only get one chance at it. Happily, it worked!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/11, 30s, 20mm, ND filters, tripod.

Light and shade across the Calder valley and Stoodley Pike

This one's from March this year on a walk from Blackstone Edge past the reservoirs. I was somewhere near Gaddings Dam at around midday when I took this photo, looking over Todmorden towards Stoodley Pike.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/11, 1/125s, 40mm, hand held.

Low morning sunburst behind bare winter trees

I took this one on a walk from Warley down to Luddenden and back in March this year. This is about half way down the valley side, hence the angle of the photo, looking up through the treetops to the sunshine.

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

Little shell on a rock on Seahouses beach

I took this one in August 2013 whilst on holiday at Seahouses, \Northumberland. I liked how the smooth, white shell contrasted against both the rough, dark rock and the blue sea and sky in the background.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/5.3, 1/125s, 48mm, hand held.

Little flowers growing in a gap in Malham's limestone pavement

I took this in August whilst walking from Malham Cove to the Tarn. There are lots of different plants growing out of little holes in the rock - really lovely and very impressive how they manage to flourish somewhere so exposed.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 800, f/11, 1/125s, 44mm, hand held.