I live and work in the Eden Valley in Cumbria, situated mid-way between the popular Lake District National Park and the wild North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The recently expanded Yorkshire Dales National Park is also nearby – here my venues of choice are the bleak limestone plateau of Orton Scar and Asby Scar, the smooth and rounded Howgill Fells, and the verdant upper Swaledale valley, just across the county boundary in North Yorkshire. These are all very differing locations, where unpredictable weather patterns and ever-changing light add an extra dimension – in summary all great locations for the photographer.
Primarily I am a landscape photographer, and I particularly enjoy exploring subjects near to where I live. By keeping a close eye on the weather, it means I can react quickly when conditions are right – so I aim to keep my camera ‘go-bag’ always at the ready! I also like to document local events such as the famous Appleby Horse Fair, supplemented with occasional project work.
Once I have created and fine-tuned my images, I don't stop there. Whilst these days most images are viewed on screen, I like to go a stage futher by printing my best work. Maybe it is because of the years I spent making black and white prints in the darkroom, but to me the print represents the proper conclusion of the image-making process. This begins in camera when the image is composed, and the shutter is pressed. The raw image file produced by the camera is nearly always rather flat; it needs to be worked sympathetically so that the edit in software does justice to what I saw when I captured the scene. The choice of print media is another important consideration - the tooth and texture of the paper adds an extra dimension to the photograph which cannot be replicated on any screen.
Once I have created and fine-tuned my images, I don't stop there. Whilst these days most images are viewed on screen, I like to go a stage futher by printing my best work. Maybe it is because of the years I spent making black and white prints in the darkroom, but to me the print represents the proper conclusion of the image-making process. This begins in camera when the image is composed, and the shutter is pressed. The raw image file produced by the camera is nearly always rather flat; it needs to be worked sympathetically so that the edit in software does justice to what I saw when I captured the scene. The choice of print media is another important consideration - the tooth and texture of the paper adds an extra dimension to the photograph which cannot be replicated on any screen.
But enough words - I hope you will take some time to browse my site, and I hope you enjoy the images you see there, and in my posts on social media. If you have any comments, queries or suggestions, you are welcome to get in touch via my contact form or message me on Twitter.