Cambridge on New Year's Eve

Willows by River Cam on misty morning.

Tourists in London

This trio caught my eye as they all looked at their cameras at the same time. No cut and paste - they are twins!

Norway Update

I have put a new page with 20 of the Norway photographs on my webpage - follow link on top right of this page

Still processing Norway photographs!

This was one of the dozens of lone trees I took while sledding but most were blurry as not enough light for faster shutterspeed.

Image Straightened using Spherize Command in Photoshop

Raw File Conversions of Northern Lights Pictures

Two of the twenty shots that I took of the Northern Lights converted from the Raw file. As I hoped there was a lot more colour in the Raw file. I think that I will straighten the row of lights on the shoreline before printing.

I liked the tree in the image below - it was a very still evening so the tree remains fairly sharp even with a two minute exposure.

Two final shots from Norway trip

People doing their Christmas shopping in Tromso. Our last day was very clear and had the most wonderful 'sunset' with all the colours of the spectrum in the sky and reflected in the water.

Tromso Islands

View from Wilderness Centre back towards Tromso with the main bridge that connects the islands.

Dog Sledging

Spent the day with 300 Huskies - all wanting to play or take you for a sledge run. These were our two rear dogs that did most of the pulling.

Northern Lights

This is what a 2-3 minute exposure recorded - didn't look as impressive to the eye but still a wonderful experience. This is from the jpeg file so hopefully lot more colour and clarity from the Raw.

Tromso High School

View of the High School with statue of King Olaf in the foreground.

Greetings from Tromso in Norway

Taken at 3 oclock in the afternoon - there are only 4 hours of twilight at this time of year.

Thames at night

I have been playing around with Monochrome conversion using Adobe Lightroom where you have eight colour 'channels' to adjust. Very useful for bringing out orange lighting in a night scene!

Barn owl is back

Good to see our barn owl back quartering the field outside my window this evening.

Albino blackbird

This albino blackbird has been around Toft for at least a year - don't know whether he bred this season but I am surprised he has survived so long as he is very conspicuous. I say 'he' but as there is no eye ring, I wonder if it is female with no pigment in the beak - any ideas?

Cat in the Bag

Amazing places cats end up in to keep warm.

Follow-up visit to Ely Cathedral

Returned to Ely today - very bright sunny day so lots of light bouncing around in the Cathedral. Used the 15mm lens to give these two views of the choir on a platform underneath the octagon.

Maryport Cumbria

Taken on recent trip to Cumbria in high winds and driving rain - no chance of fishing boats going out

Lady Chapel Ely Cathedral

Ely Cathedral

Taken with 15 mm Fish-eye converted from raw with no further manipulation - any ideas how it was done!

Beach at Hunstanton

A rainy day on the Norfolk Coast

Deserted Hotel

Came across a deserted and randalised hotel while up north. This was taken through a smashed safety glass door which acted as as diffusing filter.

Wolf Pack

Wolves jostling for dominance - just like domestic dogs, the top dog will climb on others and the under dog hangs the head.

Wolf brothers

First of some pictures of a European wolf pack. Two are obviously brothers with identically marked faces.

Hear the Echo of Boots

One of the cobbled passageways leading from the rows of houses to the Mill complex in Halifax - finely polished from hundreds of boots.

Morning light over Northern Fells

This was the view 180 degrees from the lefthand photo below - all the drama that morning was towards the sun.

Change in the Weather

Two different days, just about the same viewpoint and time in the morning but very different weather conditions.

Views of Halifax

Spent night in Travelodge in Halifax, which is part of the renovated Dean Clough complex. Reminded of the work of Bill Brandt (right is one of his images from Halifax). Treated my image to give a similar gritty feel. Not enough time to take many photographs - a project for next visit.

Rain in the Lakes

One of my favourite images from the trip to the Lakes - says it all!!

Autumn Stream

The colours were very variable through the Lake District. Found this lovely stream near Glen Ridding where the leaves were still on the trees

Lake District Sheep

Some inquisitive sheep taken on 'the' sunny morning on a recent trip to the Lakes

Laccaria amethystea

Two views of Amethyst deceiver taken at Brandon

Toadstool from Outing to Brandon

This is one of my favourite shots from today's wander in the beechwoods at Brandon.

I think it is Coprinus lagopus but would like confirmation.

Weekend for Autumn Colours

The autumn colours seem to be at their best in Cambridgeshire at the moment. As high winds are reported to be on their way, now is the time to record this year's yellows and golds.

Images for Recipe Book

I am in the process of producing some illustrations for a recipe book to be sold to help fund a toilet for our Parish Church in Toft.

These need to be in monochrome suitable for printing on text pages.

Liverpool 20 years on

I knew I had a photograph from the late 1980s of Mersey from behind the Albert Dock so I attempted to get the same viewpoint. The most interesting difference is the proliferation of safety fences. In the older photo on the right ther were no barriers other than the chain fence. Now there is a solid railing fence and in places extra barricades - a sign of our mitigation-mad culture? The three dockyard cranes at the Cammell Laird Shipyard at Birkenhead were blown up in November 2003 when the dockyard closed.

Visit to Liverpool

Visited the Metropolitan Cathedral in Liverpool on a very bright sunny day last week and was amazed by the colours coming through the stained glass ceiling windows. The staff were very friendly and encouraged us to take photographs with no restriction on tripods - just a request to publicize the beauty of the building - not a problem.