Some years ago a friend introduced me to the Banff Mountain Film Festival.  The festival tours the world and visits my home town of Bristol in the Spring of each year.  Its an enjoyable selection of short films celebrating the outdoors.  If outdoor adventure and mountain culture is your thing I can heartily recommend going.  One year there was a short film from some guys surfing big waves in the far North at the dead of Winter.

I recall that it had been a long, hot August day with clear skies and bright sunlight, but as the sun set it just caught a few thin, high clouds which reflected in the calm of Derwent water.  What's more a full moon was rising from behind the distant line of hills and it was also casting a reflection.  Hence this short post is called 'Derwent water reflections'.

Black Tor on Dartmoor lies just South of Princetown on the B3212.  It's not a large Tor, in fact, it's a rather small, non-descript Tor easily missed as its set back off the road just over the brow of a hill.  It's on a rise and stands just a little higher than the surrounding landscape so offers some nice views.

Buttermere in the English Lake District is another of my favourite places.  One November a while back, I spent a few days there and had some beautiful weather.  The photograph to the left was captured in the early morning as the sun rose.  It was one of those winter mornings where the air was absolutely still, clear and a light frost covered the ground.

This post is about something a little different, something much closer to home.  Although not originally from Bristol, I've lived in the area for a little over 20 years and don't see myself moving.  Its a great city with a rich and varied history.  Its connected to the sea via a long tidal channel and in the past had a large commercial harbour from which ships laden with goods and rather notoriously, people sailed the world.

Wastwater in Wasdale is one of my favourite English lakes. Catch it in the right light and it just looks fantastic. This photograph was made during November 2006 at the end of a long and cloudy day. I don't remember much about the day other than I certainly hadn't planned to end it at Wastwater as I was staying over the hills to the East at Langdale!

Often big open moorland vistas can look good to the eye especially if covered in purple heather as is so common during August.  But translating it to something that works in a two dimensional format, a photograph, can be hard.  

Sometimes whilst browsing through my Lightroom catalogue I stumble across something, which for some reason, was discounted or never processed but which on re-inspection is actually quite nice :-)

Last week I did something I've been meaning to do for several years and that's spend some time in the Yorkshire Dales photographing landscapes.
The Dales is somewhere I've only been a handful of times and then to rock climb. I have fond memories of places such as Giggleswick and even a trip to the all to hard but amazing Kilnsey but that's another tale.

Announcing the launch…