Metal farm gate reflected in a puddle in the Newlands valley.

I took this one in August last year on a walk around the Newlands valley. We'd just walked alongside the river and were crossing the valley bottom approaching Portinscale. This view is back up the valley towards Stair.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/11, 1/250s, 18mm, hand held.

Curved stone wall on a moorland slope

This is near the bottom of Stoodley Pike, Todmorden, taken in April this year. I've walked past this wall many times from further away and always wanted to photograph it but never seen a good angle. This time I walked around until I found this spot, which captures its curve really nicely.

Unfortunately the weather and time of day left me with an overly bright sky as background - I'll re-take the picture at some point on a 'more-interesting-sky' day!

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

Gate in wall between fields and trees, Luddenden.

I took this from the road behind Jerusalem Farm in the Luddenden valley, a few weeks ago. I love the sweeping curves of the wall and field and the muted tones of the greens and browns - it feels a bit like a watercolour painting.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/11, 1/80s, 55mm, hand held.

Curved dry stone wall and open gate, Malham.

I think this is my favourite wall and gate shot from Malham last August. It's cropped down from a larger image that included the horizon, another wall and sky. I realised that all that just distracted from the main element - the lovely curve of this wall and invitation from the open gate.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/9, 1/160s, 48mm, hand held.

Walls, fields, trees and mud in the Luddenden valley

I took this today on a 3 hour walk around the Luddenden valley, not far from where I live. My Dad told me I'd done this walk when I was little, but I don't remember it. Dad told me the views were wonderful, so today I got my map out and set off to rediscover it! He was right - a lovely walk and great photo opportunities (and I didn't get lost!). I think it'll become a regular trip.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/11, 1/80s, 32mm, hand held.

Looking towards Todmorden from Stoodley Pike

I've taken this view several times over the years with different cameras and in different weather conditions. This is the only one with my DSLR so far though and, despite poor late November afternoon light (resulting in a fair amount of processing!), I still love it.

I took the photo on the way down from Stoodley Pike, having walked up there from Hebden Bridge, further down the valley. The church you can see in the centre right of the picture is Lumbutts Methodist Church (built 1877). In the distance behind that, where the valleys merge, is the town of Todmorden, where I grew up.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/8, 1/80s, 32mm, hand held.

Dry stone wall, fence and sheep, Malham

This is taken from the path between Malham Cove and Gordale Scar, North Yorkshire. I love the tones and textures in dry stone walls - they work particularly well in black and white. The main reason for taking this particular picture was the overall shape and pattern made by the wall, fence and the rougher grass around the intersection. In Lightroom, I had to adjust the green and yellow sliders on the grey balance to make the rougher grass stand out.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/13, 1/160s, 55mm.

White cockerpoo peeping through wooden gate

This is Kizzy, our 1 year old cockerpoo, watching me through a gap between the boards in a gate in our garden. We had this gate put in last year after renovating the garden - it separates the half the dogs are allowed in and the half they're not! When I go into the 'forbidden half' she sits at the gate and watches me, whining for me to come back when I take too long (more than about 30 seconds, that is!).

Wooden fence and open gate in snowy fields

I took this one a few years ago when I only had a compact camera. As a project, I carried my camera to and from my son's school for a year to photograph our route through the seasons. We're lucky to live somewhere where our route to school takes us through such lovely scenery.

Thought I'd post this today as it's as close to a Christmassy scene as I've got in landscape photographs - haven't had any decent snow here for 3 years now - fingers crossed for January and February!

I'm giving myself Christmas Day and Boxing Day off the blog, so...MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!!

Sheep, barn and dry stone wall at Malham

Another one from our walk around Malham, North Yorkshire in August this year. This is halfway between the Cove and Gordale Scar. I thought the barn, wall and gates were lovely anyway, but the sheep were perfectly positioned to make an even better composition - I had to be quick before they moved!

In Lightroom, I used a grad filter to bring exposure down in the sky.

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.

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.