East Head

Ventured out today to one of my favourite spots - East Head.  Wonderfully still and quiet atmosphere and the late afternoon light added to the tranquility.  By the time we got to the beach the mist was starting to roll in from the harbour.  Freezing cold, but well worth the walk.

A reminder that winter has come too early

Leaves are still falling from the trees and we have a foot of snow on the ground.

I am having a mono day

The snow has made me mono.  Not sure why, not normally my thing. This twig had done a grand job balancing all these snow flakes at the end of itself.  I thought it deserved a photograph for its efforts.

Day at Kingston Lacy with Charlie Waite

Was given an amazing 40th birthday present by my wife and friends - a workshop with Charlie Waite at Kingston Lacy.  Good to listen to Charlie and his wealth of experience in and enthusiasm for landscape photography.  Came away with some good tips for light, exposure and composition as well as some options on my camera that I hadn't yet discovered.  Shame the day had to end!

One of the things that stuck in my mind was the fact the Ansel Adams reckoned on taking 12 good shots a year.  Now his definition of "good" may be slightly different to mine, but it really encouraged me to get out there and take photographs.  So often, I get discouraged with mediocre shots; but I guess you got to take them to take the good ones.

Eilean Donan Castle

Spent an evening at this beautiful castle and was lucky enough to capture some beautiful colours in the sky.  This photography used a 10 stop ND filter to lengthen the exposure time together with a tobacco grad.

The Commando Memorial, Scottish Highlands

This is the Commando memorial nr Spean Bridge in the Scottish Highlands.  I loved the moody sky over the mountains and how the dark clouds frame the picture. One of those lucky, by chance captures.

Elgol, Isle of Skye

Took a very long drive from our cottage to the south of the island - Elgol.  Elgol gives a great view over the sea to the Cullin mountains on another part of the island.  I was hoping for some moody skies over the mountain tops and I pretty much got what I wanted.  Waited in the car for about an hour as rain poured down and then headed for the rocky coastline to get a good vantage point.  Had some beautiful golden light and some more rain.  This is my favourite photo from this shoot.

Scottish Trip

 Eilean Donan Castle

Took a long overdue trip to Scotland in May.  Stayed a week on the Trotternish Penisula, Isle of Skye and then five days at lock Torridon.  Not my first trip to Scotland but I am always amazed by the vast areas of mountain wilderness - you seem to be able to drive for miles and miles through the most beautiful countryside.  It reminded me a bit of the drive between Banff and Jasper in Canada but also reminded me of the more mountainous areas of New Zealand. We had some fantastic weather, including sun, snow and thick fog.

Bude, Cornwall

My favourite photograph from my Cornwall trip.  Tripod was placed precariously on top of this rock as waves crashed in either side of me. The last of the colour in the sky was a deep red as the sun set into the sea.  The long exposure has created a misty white look to the sea, but it was actually this colour - the result of a huge build up of foam from the storms over the previous days.

Bude, Cornwall

Spent a week in Cornwall on the north coast near Bude.  Rained most of the week, but managed a photographic outing one evening when the rain had gone.  This was my first time to north Cornwall and there seemed to be lots to photographic opportunities with countless coves and bays and dramatic cliffs and interesting rock formations.  It was a shame the weather was so bad as I feel I could have made more of the location.

Amateur Photographer Magazine

A number of my pictures have been printed in Amateur Photographer - 20th March ed. Three of the images were taken during a New Year's break in the Lake District, one of which got Editor's choice. The other photograph was taken at the back of my father-in-law's house in Oxfordshire on Boxing Day.

Photographs of Worthing Pier at Low Tide

A couple of images from last weekend. I've only seen the tide out this far on a couple of occasions. Kind of like the woodwork on the pier. The long exposure was taken with the B+W ND110.

Photographs of Chanctonbury Ring

Got up to Chanctonbury Ring on the South Downs above Washington last week. Caught the sunset just right as it disappeared behind the ring. The light was gorgeous and it deifinitely felt good to be alive. It was pretty deserted up there: a farmer feeding his sheep, a lone jogger and a mad photographer lugging around his tripod and camera kit - it takes all sorts I suppose! By the time I got back to the car it was tipping it down and the sky was black with storm clouds.