A beautiful clear sky and freezing temperatures were perfect to allow the hoar frost to form for this beautiful sunrise image taken at Hjarbæk Fjord in Jylland (Jutland), Denmark. It was a beautiful present for a Christmas morning!
Not far from home lies the forrest of Bidstrup. In the middle of the forrest lies a lake. The lake is full of fish and in the summer many people come to swim from the jetty that extends out from the shore. I took this picture on a cool and perfectly still and tranquil autumn morning. Whilst it is not wilderness, the forrest was so quiet that I certainly felt at one with nature. (and no, I didn’t go for a swim -the water was way too cold!)
The weather on the Faroe Islands is renowned for being changeable as the weather systems roll across the Atlantic Ocean. I had visited this location a few weeks before following a dry couple of days on the Islands. The smaller falls in the foreground were completely dried up. The next opportunity to visit was after a couple of days of rain, allowing the falls to flow again. As you can see, the clouds were rolling through, giving glimpses of sun through the heavy rain, painting the mid-ground in lovely warm light whilst the mountain in the background was being engulfed in clouds.
I was fortunate to be in Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Olympic Games, where on one of our days off, myself and a few of my colleagues took the cable car up to the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain, with its great views over both the city and the coast.
This little stream flows behind the village where I live. The bridge is built of railway sleepers and telegraph poles, to enable the farmers cattle to cross from one pasture to the next. The temperature had been below freezing for several days, partially freezing the stream and was followed by a light dusting of snow for this lovely rustic winters scene.
I visited this location on the east coast of Coromandel on New Zealands North Island in mid summer, a very early start, but well worth the commitment, to see the day start in such a glorious manner.
Landscape photography is often a frustrating pasttime. You cross your fingers that when you arrive at your location, the weather will deliver the light you had hoped for. All too often, you leave disappointed, with pictures lacking that special final touch.
Whilst walking to this wondrous location on the Faroe Islands I was crossing my fingers that the cloud on the horizon would lift and offer a hole for the setting sun to shine through and under-light the clouds above me. My wishes were granted and I was treated to an amazing sunset and a long, but satisfied, walk back to the car in the dark knowing that I had witnessed and captured a rare moment in time.
Cathedral Cove on the Coromandel Peninsula of New Zealand is a jewell of the North Island. Even though it was about 7 o’clock in the morning, I had to wait over 10 minutes to grab this picture, as the beach and sea arch was already busy with tourists. Eventually, for a short few minutes the beach in view was deserted and I was able to fire the shutter.
A walk in Bidstup Forrest close to my home is always a pleasure, but especially in the autumn. These small two trees on the edge of the boggy hollow caught low raking morning light beautifully.
After a long hot hike along the Abel Tasman coast of New Zealands North Island we arrived at Anchorage Bay from where we would get the ferry back to Motueka.
We sat down on the golden sand, exhausted and thirsty having walked hard for the last 3 kilometers, as we weren’t sure we would arrive in time for the last ferry back to civilisation and took in the scene. This piece of driftwood caught my eye and even though my whole body ached from the days exertion, I knew I needed to take this picture.
The ferry was already arriving in the bay (just out of shot) and my family were calling me to pack up my rucksack so as not to miss our ride back. I only had time to make 2 exposures, varying the shutter speed for the long exposure effect I wanted and I picked up my tripod and bag and ran along the beach to join the rest of the tourists boarding the boat.
Fortunately my intuition of the required shutter speed paid off and I got the shot!
The Faroe Islands are very rugged and the fishermen who fish its waters more so.
The fishermen of Gjógv winch their boats up the steep slipway from the deep sided inlet using the same method as their forefathers.
The Millenium Bridge, known a little unkindly as the Wobbly Bridge has become an ikon of the London Landscape, with its view to the south of the Tate Modern Gallery (formally the Bankside Power Station) and this view of St. Pauls Cathedral to the North. The graphic nature of the composition lends itself to a black and white treatment and the symmetry of the picture is broken by the figure walking on the left.
In Denmark in winter, the sun never really rises high over the horizon, giving beautiful directional light throughout the day.
I love the way that the directional light is softened by the light snow covering reflecting the light back into the shadows of this stand of pine trees and the warm but almost monotone colour palette.
The island of Bornholm is not like the rest of Denmark.
Whilst it too was crafted by the ice sheets of the last ice age, its bedrock geology has left it with towering granite cliffs plunging down into the Baltic Sea.
The north of the island was extensively quarried and after the heavy industry left, the area was turned over to nature.
When I saw the way the light was falling on this young tree, trying to establish itself in the thin soil at the base of the quarry, with the granite cliff towering over it in shadow, I knew instantly the composition I wanted. I hastily dialled in the settings on my camera and grabbed the shot, as within minutes the tree was also in the shade cast by the massive cliff.
In the past, when visiting the Faroe Islands, I hire a car and drive to the trailheads of glorious viewpoints around the Islands. On this particular trip, as I only had one day off from my day job, I decided to explore the Thorshavn area on foot. Behind the hotel where we stayed on the outskirts of the town there is a valley that is designated a nature park. I of course headed there first, without knowing what I would find. At the entrance to the park there was a sign with a map, showing the various footpaths and a cross marking Svarti Fossur. I of course made a bee-line for the waterfall.
It is by no means the biggest waterfall on the Faroes and photographing it in the not ideal conditions of blue skys and high contrast was not easy, but I’m more than satisfied with the result of this shot, which was not more that ½ km walk from the hotel!