Summer Portrait
From a good half-mile away a single pinprick of red was like a stark apostrophe on the landscape. Standing alone in the middle of a field, the poppy had an almost magnetic presence. My aim was to take the picture as if it was a formal portrait set against the backdrop of field and sky.
Shrouded Trees
Castleton, Derbyshire and in the foothills of Mam Tor and along the Hope Valley, thick low cloud and mist, illuminated by a strong winter sun, created a startling and evocative scene. This partner-picture to ‘Ring of Morning Mist’ shows the strong directional rays of the sun burning through the shrouded trees.
The Approach to Great Langdale
The remarkable road south of Ambleside, through Skelwith Bridge and Elterwater to Great Langdale and the Langdale Pikes is one of the classic rural roads; picturesque, atmospheric and enticing. Wainwright described the pikes as ‘once seen, never forgotten’ and indeed, Langdale pikes have a sense of spirit of place that is both ancient and almost tangible.
Coming to Town
Images capturing stillness, movement and light have a naturally dynamic sense. Here the static Santa and surrounding decorations seem surprisingly tranquil and calm when set against the rush and bustle of moving traffic at the European Christmas Market in Albert Square, Manchester.
Seven Rays
Light and mist are evocative partners. A December day and rays of late afternoon Winter light penetrate the ancient woodland at Chadkirk, near to Marple and Romiley in Cheshire. These woodlands surround the chapel that was once the ancient monastic cell of Saint Chad.
After the Storm - Brothers Water
Brothers Water is the smallest and one of the less popular of the English Lakes, nestled under majestic crags in the Hartsop Valley at the Northern end of the Kirkstone Pass in the Lake District, Cumbria. Arriving shortly after a heavy, Spring storm as the sun broke through a dramatic and brooding sky, it was easy to understand why Dorothy Wordsworth was so attracted to this “glittering, lively lake”.
Point of Ayr
In the mouth of the Dee estuary on Talacre beach, at the northernmost point of mainland Wales, stands the old and now inactive Point of Ayr lighthouse. Surrounded by sand flats, mud banks, saltmarsh, sand dunes a gas terminal and old colliery pools, it is still a haunting and iconic sentinel with regular sightings of a ghostly lighthouse keeper.
The Road Due West
On a January evening near to Hartington in Derbyshire, I stopped to admire the rich colours of the winter sky. Skirting the trees and heading off into the setting sun ‘The Road Due West’ for me captures something that is quintessentially ‘Derbyshire’.
The Woodland Below
A Place of legend, myth and the dramatic scenery of 'the clouds', the roaches are atmospheric and special in every sense. This picture was taken on an early morning in late September as the low cloud and mist moved between the trees and along the carpet of the roaches woodland.
Three Winter Trees
These three winter trees have an elegant compositional simplicity, silhouetted against a turbulent Derbyshire winter sky. A sudden shaft of sunlight transformed what could have been a bleak picture into something bright, vibrant and optimistic.