Mating craneflies

My son spotted these 2 flies on these blades of grass at Hardcastle Crags today - he was initially drawn to the raindrops on the grass. We didn't realise at the time that they were actually mating!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/8, 1/60s, -1 step exp bias (keep forgetting to turn it off!), hand held.

Big hairy caterpillar crawling through grass.

My son spotted this caterpillar as we walked along a section of the Pennine Way on Heptonstall moor today. I haven't seen one like this for years. No idea what kind it is, or what it will, therefore, turn into eventually. We both agreed it looked so cute and furry that we wanted to pick it up; but it also looked equally big and possibly poisonous (probably overreacting there!), so we didn't!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/100s, 35mm, hand held.

Heavy snow weighing down branches over a stone wall.

Here's another from our local moor back in early March this year. I love the mix of textures in this photo.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/5, 1/320s, 35mm, hand held.

Snow-covered little tree and long grass.

Another one from a foggy, snowy afternoon in January last year on Roils Head moor, close to my home. I like how the snow has stuck to the centre of the tree trunk, creating dark outlines.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/200s, 26mm, hand held.

Bluebells under a hedgerow on a sunny, summer day.

This is an old one - from June 2013 - on one of my first walks with my DSLR at Hardcastle Crags. Sunshine and bluebells to cheer us up on a miserable, dark, wet winter evening!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/9, 1/15s, 36mm, hand held.

Thistle and grass against the sky at sunset.

This is taken at Malham Tarn - I was standing down by the side of the tarn, looking back up a steep slope, hence the angle of the shot. The sun was setting at the time, but the section of sky in this picture is actually opposite the sunset. I'm still not sure whether I like the thistle being in the picture, but I definitely like the colours and textures of the grass and the sky, so I'll leave it up to you to decide!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 1600, f/11, 1/125s, 40mm, 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.

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.

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.

Trees, fields and fences beneath dark clouds.

This little scene is just off to the side of Hollingworth Lake, Littleborough, photographed in July this year from the lake path. I like the mixture of lines and textures, but it's really the quality of the light that makes the picture. The different greens are really brought out and look great against the dark clouds.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/11, 1/200s, 55mm, hand held.

A summer meadow.

I took this one at the end of June this year, on a walk around Colden, on the hills above Hebden Bridge. This field is right on the edge of the Hardcastle Crags woods, on the opposite side of the valley to where I usually walk. I laid down in the grass to get the photo, to get a composition of just grass and sky.

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

Old barn in an overgrown field

This little barn is just off the path around Malham Tarn. It was getting quite dark when I took the photo one evening earlier this month and I didn't have my tripod, so used a high ISO. You can see the smoothing-out effect of the noise reduction tool in Lightroom - it makes it look like a painting, which I think works well on this image.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 800, f/9, 1/125s, 34mm, hand held.

Sunlit raindrops on a blade of grass

I took this one in April last year on the lawn in our garden (a last opportunity before we replaced it with artificial grass). I really like how each little raindrop has its own shadow. I also love the little part-open daisy - another thing I miss about having a real lawn (although I don't miss the mud, bare patches and mowing!!).

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/4, 1/500s, 90mm, hand held.

Sparkling sunlight and shadows on a boggy field

I passed this field whilst walking along the Rochdale canal, between Mytholmroyd and Sowerby Bridge, in April this year. It had obviously been raining a lot previously and this field had cows in it, so the ground was a bit of a mess. I thought it was transformed into something lovely, though, by the long shadows from the trees behind the field and the sparkling reflection from the sun and blue sky on the water.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/11, 1/100s, 22mm, hand held.

The edge of the mill pond, Hardcastle Crags

I took this one at Hardcastle Crags in November last year. This is a good example of one of my favourite types of photos to take - the less obvious 'hidden' beauties around us. Here, I was drawn to the colours, shapes and textures in the grasses, leaves and reflections.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/6.3, 1/125s, 32mm, hand held.

Stream, tree and walls at Widdop

Today, in the best weather we've had so far this year, I did a circular walk around Widdop, on the moors above Hebden Bridge. The walk took me past 3 reservoirs and some great rock formations (plenty of photos of them to follow!). The photo I've chosen for tonight, though, is the last one I took, just before I got back to the car. This lovely little stream runs under the road next to a lone house. I think the house owns the greener walled area - I love how different it is in colour to the scorched-looking moor grass.

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

Cat looking out over fields above the Calder valley

I took this at Midgley 2 weeks ago, early in the evening on the way back from a walk along the valley top. This cat was sitting looking out at the fields, possibly looking for prey, or maybe just admiring the view! I crept up to the wall behind it, totally expecting it to hear me and run. I took 3 photos of it from different angles and the only movement it made was to turn round and glare at me for disturbing its peace every time the shutter clicked!

The view is of Luddenden Foot in the middle distance and Sowerby village and church on the far hillside.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/11, 1/80s, 26mm, hand held.

Toad in wet grass

Here's another one from our walk up Stoodley Pike, Todmorden, yesterday. There's a sign on the road at the bottom of the hill, where we parked the car, warning about frogs crossing. Usually when we see a warning sign for any kind of animals we don't see any of them around; this time the sign was spot on - there were hundreds of frogs and toads in the dam and on the lower parts of the path up the hill. The edges of the dam were also crowded with big balls of frog spawn.

This toad (frogs hop; toads walk!) was sitting on the side of the path when we came down, so I could get close enough for a good photo.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/40s, 55mm, hand held.

Park bench in heavy snow

I took this one in the middle of a heavy snowstorm in January this year, on the moor near my home in Halifax. I love how you can only just see the trees in the background and the few wisps of grass in the foreground. Another one for my collection of minimalist snow scenes!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/10, 1/40s, 45mm, hand held.