Fire and smoke.

  The spell of recent dry weather has meant that the local gamekeepers have been busying themselves on the moor burning off the old heather. Today was no exception, time is limited for this activity which encourages the re-generation of healthy young shoots of heather which helps the population of Red Grouse.
From my studio window this afternoon I could see the plumes of smoke on the skyline and as they were quite close I took a wander to get some photographs.

Its a dramatic sight as the clouds of smoke drift skywards as the dry heather burns fiercely. The burning is controlled by sectioning the moor into blocks which once burnt leave the patchwork effect of the typical Grouse Moor.

Well worth the effort to leave my studio as I have future plans for paintings featuring the operation of the upland moors of Teesdale.

A Special day on Haystacks

  After my frustrating day on Friday where I failed to get the reference for a haystacks painting I decided to get over to Buttermere today to make the most of the current good weather and hopefully "bag" the photo required.
 I set off quite early from home in the hope of getting good early light on the fells. The effort paid off as the fells were nicely lit as I drove alongside Buttermere.

Haystacks in Early Morning Light.

Two things would have made this photo opportunity better, a more advanced camera and a completely still morning for better reflections on the water. Still, you cant have everything. The rest of the photos from this set and others can be found on the website: http://www.theteesdalegallery.co.uk/ and visit the "On Location" section.

Great day on Great Gable

The forecast looked pretty good for a day out on the fells so I headed off towards Honister at the head of Borrowdale. I had planned a decent walk up over three other fells before reaching Great Gable in conditions which were decidedly Spring-like.
 I was torn between two cameras today, my compact Samsung with its 10MP and wide angle lens or my old faithful Fuji S5500. The Fuji is only 4MP but it has the advantage of being able to shoot in RAW and also it can acommadate filters which came in handy with some of the lighting conditions today.

I was still pretty happy with the resulting photographs and the comments from Flickr and facebook have been really positive.
Still, not long now hopefully before I upgrade to the new DSLR, I can't wait.

A carpet of Spring

 Perhaps we are just seeing the last throws of Winter with dusting of snow on the fell tops but the sun is definetely getting warmer. Whilst other parts of the country are already enjoying the later Spring flowers such as Daffodils and Crocus we here in Teesdale are still in the Snowdrop stage. I often pass this small woodland as I drive home and follow the progress of the blooming flowers and today it seems to be at its peak.

It was well worth stopping off and grabbing a couple of shots as the flowers were nicely lit in the Spring sunshine. In a couple of days they will be past their best.

Second 'ain't bad.

 Quite pleased with myself today. Recently I entered a small photo competition for Scenes of Winter and as I only found out about it at the last moment I hastily entered a couple of shots. Even though the number of entries wasn't huge I was still pretty pleased to come second with this shot.

Spindrift- Brim Fell

Mind you, I can't really complain as I was beaten by a cracking shot of a snowcovered field by Paul Morton:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulmorton/5304556012/in/pool-tbilaw

nice one Paul.

Barney Streetscape

  It is easy to miss a good shot thats right on your doorstep. Even though this scene is just a few steps from the gallery front door and one which to me is so familiar, it was the warm evening light that made the scene tonight. The old historic buildings that line this steep road known as The Bank give a real charactar to this part of town. Sure it would be better if the cars weren't there but we can't put back time.

Evening Light, The Bank, Barnard Castle