A bit of Black and white.

 Whilst on a short walk up by Low Force today I was looking for something different. I go here quite often as it is only a short drive from home. However, it is easy to come to such places and take the same old shot. It turns out that both of the shots which I was most pleased with worked better in black and white.

The three trees.

I have photographed this small stand of trees often and in all seasons. It's not difficult to do so, they are just by the path that leads down to the falls. Today my eye was caught by the patch of sunlight on the grass which seemed to replicate the shape of the trees.

Going with the flow.

Right place right time, a couple of canoeists were having a run or two at this cascade, a good chance for me to try some of the faster settings on the camera and the light across the water really added to the effect.

It's great to come away from a favourite haunt with something new, all in all a success. 

Teesdale Meadows

 We took ourselves off to Middleton in Teesdale this morning to check out the hay meadows which lie adjacent to the River Tees in that area. It was not only a good excuse for a walk but also an opportunity to walk a short section of the Pennine Way for part of an idea which I am working on at the minute.
 It was a bright sunny morning and the meadows were looking rather good but I think it will be a week or so before they are at their peak. There were even still a few patches of late Bluebells which added that extra colour to the flowering vegetation.

 This is really a pleasant 6 mile walk and the full set of photographs will be up on the Teesdale Gallery website shortly, worth a look if ever you are up in the area. Even when out of season it is a nice route.

Spring Bluebells already?

 Just a short walk this morning with the dogs along the banks of the River Tees from Barney. Once again it was weather more akin to high Summer than an April day.Not only are the trees coming into lush green leaf but to my surprise I came across a bank of Bluebells almost in full flower. Combined with the bright yellow of nearby Gorse bloom it made a delightful sight.

Bluebells and Gorse

There are a couple of places here in Teesdale where the show of Bluebells is rather special and I have made a note to take a visit there in the next few weeks.

Snow returns

 I ventured out with the dogs up onto Holwick Moor this morning. Fresh overnight snow covered the high ground and with a touch of mist in the valley bottom it was a wonderful day to be out. By the time I reached the top of the moor the sun was fully out, the air was still and there is definetely a touch of Spring about. Grouse were displaying and I saw the first Curlew and Golden Plover.

Holwick Moor, sun and snow.

The Tees in Spate.

 We have had a few days of heavy rain and high winds recently and as I went into Barney (Barnard Castle) yesterday I could see that the water was up in the river. Even though it was continuing to rain today I decided it would be worth a visit up to Bowlees to see the river in that area. It is only a short walk from there to Low Force and then by following the south bank upstream along part of the Pennine Way its not long before you get to the viewing point for High Force.
 It was certainly dramatic, I have seen it like this in the past perhaps even more in flood but even so it was still a awesome sight.

High Force.

After viewing the Force from the south bank I then went to the High Force Hotel from where its a short walk down to High Force and get another perspective of the falls. The problem today was the spray and rain on the camera lens. Not much I could do about that though as there was plenty of it about.

Heres a short video of the walk.

A Teesdale Winter

I have just edited a small selection of photographs together from the recent wintery weather here in Teesdale. Hopefully it will give a sense of the beautiful scenery that has been produced even though the quality of the compressed photos on the clip is reduced compared to the originals.

Winter on the River Tees

 This afternoon looked promising for a bit of a walk up into Teesdale. The snow from the past few days showed no signs of thawing as the day time tempreatures hardly have been above freezing. There were bright blue skies as I headed up to Bowlees. I wasn't the only one who thought this would make a great subject as there were other photographers out making the most of the winter scene such as Brian Swales.



Gibson's Cave and Summerhill Force.




Low Force and ice on the Tees



High Force- not as much ice as I would have expected.




River Tees