Happy New Year!

Apologies for being 6 months too late and sincere thanks to all who have contacted me and encouraged me to post during my inactivity.

The main questions people have been asking is what I've been up to and why haven't I been taking photographs...

Well the simple truth is I just haven't felt like it.

Without trying to get all deep and philosophical...

For me, my photography is a form of escapism and it gives me opportunity to wander off on my own and be alone with my thoughts...I find a great peace being alone with nature in some isolated place.

In recent months, I guess I haven't been at peace with myself and therefore lost my motivation.

In the last couple of weeks I've started to become interested again...I've been looking at the work of other photographers and I've been trying to come up with ideas for a project that will hopefully inspire me to get back out there.

Thanks once again for your well wishes and support...Hopefully I'll have something new to offer very soon.

This is after all a photography blog, so I guess it's only right to leave you with a photograph.

I don't think I've shared this one before...

It's a sunset which I titled 'Last Light at Lyme Park' and I was fortunate enough to win the Talk Photography 'Trees' competition with it last year...

Playing Around With Light

Just to follow on from my last two posts...

On that beautiful spring evening I took the Red Deer shots, the light was so lovely I hung around and waited for the sun to set.
I have taken the sunset at this location many times before and I must of photographed one particular tree hundreds of times.

In fact, this must be the most photographed tree in British nature photography because it has been the subject of award winning images from pros such as Ben Hall and Geoff Simpson as well as helping yours truly to top prize in a competition early this year!

I'm sure many of you will be familiar with Ben's famous image of Red Deer under this tree at sunset because it has been used by the RSPB in their Birds Magazine on a number of occasions.

Anyway, I just wanted to make one more point about the use of light following on from the Mute Swan post from the other day...

One tree in the setting sun...
Same tree in the same setting sun, but this time I positioned myself a few feet further to the left...

As you can see, the results are rather different and the light paints two very different pictures with a lot more subtle variations in colour in the second shot.

Fire in the Sky

Yesterday, the recent beautiful silence in the Sky's was broken for the first time in nearly a week as UK commercial air traffic resumed operations after the chaos caused by the Icelandic volcano.

"So that's that then" many would assume and we can all get back to normal...

But can we? Should we?

A volcano nearly a thousand miles north of us erupts and throws Britain and most of Europe into near madness!

So today after a second day of near normal air traffic, I've listened smiling inwardly as people started to talk about their holiday plans as if the events of the last 6 days never happened.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this still a very active volcano that could gush out plumes of ash and other toxins at just about anytime in the near future?

OK, I'm not saying we should all just put our lives on hold and not travel anywhere...that's not what I'm getting at.

What concerns me is, that some people and this very much includes the media, just don't get it...Or to put it another way, they just don't seem to care.

How many news stories have we seen this week featuring stranded passengers and heartbroken holidaymakers?

Answer...Too Many!

I feel a great opportunity has been lost in the past week to educate and perhaps turn people on to the power and wonder of nature and perhaps even install a new respect for the natural world in some.

In this tacky age of junk TV, it would have been very refreshing to see.

Last night, I watched the sunset at Lyme Park in Cheshire and the effects of the Eyjafjallajokull Volcano were still very apparent...

Lyme Park Sunset

I had an hour to kill early yesterday evening and after Sunday's failed attempt at the Mountain Hare, I thought I might have a look for it's Brown Cousin at Lyme Park in Cheshire.

March of course is the time of the 'Mad March Hare' and the moorland landscape of this National Trust parkland is a good place to spot these shy creatures.

Dawn and dusk are the best times of days to see Brown Hares and in the Spring, the Hares are very active and can often be seen 'Boxing'.

I had a quick scout around the 'Cage' area of the park but my luck was out again!

However there was method in my madness and I chose this part of the park for good reason...

This is a place I have photographed on many occasions and past experience has taught me that after a beautiful sunny day, there isn't a better area of this delightful place to capture the setting sun...