Mother and Child Northern sheep need to be hardy - especially if they live in Tideswell, 1100 feet up. On the Buxton plateau, farmers long ago built stone walled shelters where their sheep could huddle in snow storms. Nobody can guarantee when snow will or won't fall, even in June.
@ Mother and Child Shirley begins her photographic tour of Northern Light: Creatures.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Hershel.
Shirley shook paws with Hershel the Brown Rustic Rabbit. They both received one silver mole!
Natural Framing Ostensibly this picture is some cows in a field. But the tree trunk, branches and stone wall frame three sides. 'Natural framing' makes simple pictures look grand.
@ Natural Framing
Navy Flower Power Egg The first painted eggs came from Mesopotamia, and because eggs were forbidden food during Lent, people painted eggs while Lent was being observed—after Lent, they would eat the eggs on Easter Day.
Beautifully decorated eggs “pysanka” are associated with Ukraine, and the oldest painted egg that was unearthed in northern Ukraine is dated to the end of the 17th century.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Schnupfen.
Shirley shook paws with Schnupfen the Midnight Happy Dragon. They both received one silver mole!
Schnupfen gave you 1 "Navy Flower Power Egg" FULL SIZE
Peter Rabbit's Friends and Relations At Hill Top, Beatrix Potter's former home, only a wire fence stands between visitors and rabbits at play. They completely ignore humans, because they know they are safe. There is no better place to watch the descendants of Peter Rabbit at play.
@ Peter Rabbit's Friends and Relations For David, colour TV began with the Mexico world cup (1970), but he was allowed to stay up late to watch England win the previous one in 1966.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Shadow.
Shirley shook paws with Shadow the Black Lovable Labrador. They both received one silver mole!
Heilan Coo I don't know when or why these cattle were introduced to Derbyshire, but it certainly has highlands! I think it can not have been before 1990. They wander around the hillsides without hindrance. I cannot imagine they are being milked; farmers would have to travel miles just to round them up for milking. But because of their thick shaggy coats they do not need a layer of fat to keep them warm in winter, and thus their beef is very lean.
@ Heilan Coo David's father drove steam trains and his grandmother ran the village toy shop. As a small boy, David thought nothing could be better.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Azure Beauty.
Shirley shook paws with Azure Beauty the Blue Beautiful Unicorn. They both received one silver mole!
Thinking Backwards In summer, honey bees and other flying insects are on and off a flower as fast as they can. If you want a great shot on an exotic flower, you cannot chase the insect; focus is critical and you will never get the shot right in time.
Instead, wait by the flower you want an insect to land on; get the focus right, stand as still as you can, and wait for the right insect to come to you. The best place to go is a garden centre or public park, where the right kind of flowers are all around. This bee landed on a flower in Sheffield Botanical Gardens.
@ Thinking Backwards David got so enthusiastic about cycling he had a regular twenty mile training run over all the biggest hills near his home. One of the hill roads had two mastiffs on the other side of a thin hedge; David used this as an incentive to sprint up the hill instead of taking it easy.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Midnight.
Shirley shook paws with Midnight the Midnight Happy Dragon. They both received one silver mole!
Pollen All Over I love to do extreme macro work. For this you need a specialist macro lens, or extension rings, or both. I usually use both. A ring flash ensures enough light and thus enough depth of focus. If I can count the grains of pollen, I have got the shot right. Macro work is 90% equipment and the technique to use it properly.
@ Pollen All Over David was brought up in the English countryside in the 1960s. Outside toilets were still a thing, nobody had divorced parents, and illegal drugs had not even been heard of. He first realised people killed one another when JFK was assassinated just before his fourth birthday. His aunt lived in a nearby village and never locked her door at night until the 1980s; there was no crime.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Phimi ツ.
Shirley shook paws with Phimi ツ the Arctic Feisty Fox. They both received one silver mole!
Roaming Wild I found these horses near Elton, which is close to the middle of nowhere, but not quite the bullseye. All around are tumbled dry stone walls and derelict agricultural buildings.
The only things you can make money out of as a farmer up high are wild flowers. Government subsidies are assigned by bureaucrats with no idea about farming, and the way of life up in the hills depends entirely on what they decide.
When horses can wander onto the road, they are wild. Whether they once had a home, I have no idea; but nobody has the money to mend the walls unless the government decides they make the countryside more picturesque.
@ Roaming Wild David does not like modern programming languages. He thinks C, JavaScript and all their derivatives are an abomination, but unfortunately you can't get things done without JavaScript on the web.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot PufFy.
Shirley shook paws with PufFy the Green Happy Dragon. They both received one silver mole!
Tropical Butterfly The Tropical Butterfly House at (of all places!) Doncaster gives you the chance to see and photograph exotic insects which could never survive in the British climate. The climate inside the butterfly house is so much warmer and wetter than the world outside, it took twenty minutes for condensation to quit forming on my camera lenses (and spectacles!) But the wait is well worth it.
@ Tropical Butterfly David was born at home, which was his mother's preference. Home was above his grandmother's shop until a year later.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Andrew.
Shirley shook paws with Andrew the Green Happy Dragon. They both received one silver mole!
Middleton of Nowhere I said Elton was not the bullseye. Middleton, Derbyshire, is well named. It is the middle, the very centre of nowhere. The only inhabitants I saw in the village were this cat and a few chickens. I would love to retire there.
@ Middleton of Nowhere David gave up chess after nearly losing a game and then forcing his opponent to choose between stalemate and perpetual check. Though this was only a draw, he considered this far more of an achievement than winning. So he quit to save time playing long games. Unfortunately, he then found lots of worse ways to waste his time instead.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Choose a name.
Shirley shook paws with Choose a name the Tabby Cat. They both received one silver mole!
Snowdonia Pony Grazing on the undulating lowlands of Anglesey in front of the mountains of Snowdonia, this Welsh pony was probably the first animal of any kind which gave me the impression it wanted to be photographed. It posed more like a human than a horse. Once I had taken a photo it got on with grazing. I prefer the natural shot to the posed one!
@ Snowdonia Pony David's father drove steam trains and his grandmother ran the village toy shop. As a small boy, David thought nothing could be better.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Mungo.
Shirley shook paws with Mungo the Scottie Dog. They both received one silver mole!
Vivid Dragonfly I have often seen dragonflies in pastel shades. This just doesn't happen in the Lathkill Valley. Maybe they have all the minerals it takes to be so colourful here? I don't know. But for once the sun was out by the little pool at Monyash, and I caught this one lazing on a rock.
@ Vivid Dragonfly David was brought up in the English countryside in the 1960s. Outside toilets were still a thing, nobody had divorced parents, and illegal drugs had not even been heard of. He first realised people killed one another when JFK was assassinated just before his fourth birthday. His aunt lived in a nearby village and never locked her door at night until the 1980s; there was no crime.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Bella.
Shirley shook paws with Bella the Purple Cheerling. They both received one silver mole!
The Compleat River In later editions of "The Compleat Angler" (first published in 1653), Izaak Walton's young friend Charles Cotton described the "Lathkin" as "the purest and most transparent stream that I ever yet saw … and breeds, it is said, the reddest and the best trouts in England."
However the river often disappears into mines delved beneath it when there is little rain. Then the trout are stunned by electric shocks and transported downstream by dedicated conservationists. If that happens anywhere else in the world but here, I will be amazed.
@ The Compleat River The first time David went to an Italian restaurant he was very nervous, and especially afraid that he might pick something with garlic in it. He told his friends to make sure he did not do so! Then he ordered a Chicken Kiev. When he asked what the delicious sauce was, he found out it was garlic (and not to trust his friends again!)
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot in is the worm.
Shirley shook paws with in is the worm the Little Green Garden Snake. They both received one silver mole!
It's an Upside-down World Ladybirds, or lady bugs as they are known in the USA, are the gardener's friend, because they eat aphids. They can eat as many as fifty a day! My father taught me never to kill one. If you can't find one on top of a leaf during summer, try looking underneath it.
@ It's an Upside-down World David's favourite book of the Bible is Hosea.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Bentley.
Shirley shook paws with Bentley the Brown Lovable Labrador. They both received one silver mole!
Ravenous Caterpillar If it's ragwort for dinner, then this must be the caterpillar of the cinnabar moth. Anyone can get a picture of a caterpillar. But why not try to see the world from its point of view?
I like to show them with a sense of purpose, going somewhere or doing something, not just being looked at from far above. Their lives are filled with purpose. Eat!
@ Ravenous Caterpillar David did not cycle until he was 16. At college he got a bike to save on the bus fares and then spent all the money improving his bicycle.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Hoppy.
Shirley shook paws with Hoppy the Brown Rustic Rabbit. They both received one silver mole!
Cat's Eye Taking a picture of a cat's eye is easy with macro gear. But it is almost impossible to do so from the front without getting a reflection. Ring flashes can be dialled down to very low intensities - this ginger tom was not the least bit bothered when I shot this picture with a ring flash.
@ Cat's Eye Oh look ... you won a little pet!
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Emerald.
Shirley shook paws with Emerald the Green Happy Dragon. They both received one silver mole!
Carsington Fly I went out for the day to Carsington Water, a manmade reservoir that takes water from the rivers in winter and gives it back in summer. There are plenty of things to do there, but as usual the sky went iron grey as soon as I got near to it. So following my own advice, I looked for insects. Just look at the colours in those wings in an enlarged version of this picture! When you meet the very small on its own terms, there is so much to see.
@ Carsington Fly David comes from a very long-lived family. Every man born in his patrilineal line since 1800 has lived to at least 84 years of age. His grandfather was born in 1864 and died taking the cows to market on foot. Has anyone in PnF got a grandfather born earlier? David says no-one ever does things in a rush in his family!
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Delilah.
Shirley shook paws with Delilah the Grey Playful Kitten. They both received one silver mole!
Water Dog There are so many breeds of dog, I cannot keep track! I think this one is an English Setter. It was playing in and around the River Bradford with its owner.
@ Water Dog At the age of eight, David drove a massive steam locomotive for about five yards when his dad sneaked him onto the footplate whilst no-one was looking.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Frankie.
Shirley shook paws with Frankie the Ragdoll Kitten. They both received one silver mole!
Doncaster Meerkat The Doncaster Butterfly House is home to far more than butterflies. For meerkats, community is everything. This one appears to be making political judgments about who it should suck up to and whose beetles it can get away with stealing. They are very expressive creatures, and a lot of fun to watch.
@ Doncaster Meerkat David started programming on a mainframe in 1974. He has spent his adult life trying his best to avoid computers and trying to be a people person, but somehow he always finds there is a need to do more programming, no matter what he does.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Daphne Fluffster Tinklehoof.
Shirley shook paws with Daphne Fluffster Tinklehoof the Midnight Mauve Unicorn. They both received one silver mole!
Daphne Fluffster Tinklehoof and you found 5 Travel Tokens!
Border Collie I have a deep affection for this breed. They want a lot of exercise, but are very entertaining. My father owned one; it would be tied up on a rope so it could go inside the barn or lie outside. When there was rain, it invariably stayed outside because it could.
This one was playing in the River Bradford, and I got the camera set to a fast shutter speed ready for the inevitable shake!
@ Border Collie David freely tells anyone he was committed to killing a believer at the time he got saved. He also told everyone about this the day he was baptised. The guy he intended to kill was holding onto David's towel while he got dunked. They have been friends since about a month after David was saved (in 1987).
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Sugah.
Shirley shook paws with Sugah the Sugar glider. They both received one silver mole!
Bull in the Sun What a magnificent coat this bull has. The rare sun has picked out so many subtle shades.
My aunt kept cattle. My cousin showed me how to bring an entire herd in for milking with little effort. You need to know which is the 'boss cow', get her attention, and she knows what comes next. She starts moving and the rest of the herd follow her.
@ Bull in the Sun As a small boy, David read Winston Churchill's account of the Second World War, and concluded if you want anything done, ask an American.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Fluffy.
Shirley shook paws with Fluffy the Brown Lovable Labrador. They both received one silver mole!
Bradgate Stag One of the first brick built mansions in England, Bradgate Park was once the home of the De Grey family. They are best known for Lady Jane Grey, the nine day Queen, unwilling centre of a plot to prevent Queen Mary from taking the throne.
Bradgate Park is now preserved forever as a gift to the city of Leicester. It is a deer park where you can encounter red deer and fallow deer. The fallow deer are a gentle lot which like the woods. The red deer have a very strong sense of territory. If one of them gets up and looks at you, you go round it. After taking a picture, perhaps.
How big are they? I once walked out of the toilet block and nearly walked clean underneath one.
@ Bradgate Stag David came from a family with an endless supply of aunts and very few uncles. Two of the few uncles he had were called Granville. This made life quite confusing for him on occasions.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot mucki.
Shirley shook paws with mucki the Grey Playful Kitten. They both received one silver mole!
Fish Flash The River Wye at Bakewell runs fast and furious under the bridge. As a result it is very hard to see the large fish which swim beneath. But for the duration of a flash, a ten thousandth of a second, the water is almost perfectly still. Then the camera can see right through it, and all is revealed. You will need a powerful flash to get a result like this; not the midget mounted on your camera by the makers.
@ Fish Flash David never has writer's block. Instead, he has nowhere near enough time to write all the stories he has created plots for.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Dong Dong.
Shirley shook paws with Dong Dong the Grey Playful Kitten. They both received one silver mole!
Might is Right I have followed wild red deer round swamps and into them. After trying long enough, you realise it would be better to go to a deer park and watch them where they do not run away.
Once you do, you will be doing the running. This stag and many others could look down at me with their neck raised. When they get to their feet and hold their ground, you go where they want you to, not vice versa. But when they are solely concerned with one another, you can take all the shots you want.
@ Might is Right David heard 'Born to run' on the radio and thought Bruce Springsteen was from Birmingham (UK) because the radio station was based there. He went out and bought the album, which convinced him otherwise. Then he went out and bought the other two (there were no more than three then!) Until 'Born in the USA' he barely met anyone who had heard of Bruce. He was most grateful to Lisa for showing him Asbury Park, NJ, and laughed out loud when he saw what ‘Highway 9’ was really like.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Dani.
Shirley shook paws with Dani the Green Rapid Dragonfly. They both received one silver mole!
Winner Takes All Even more interested in the stags than the cameraman, the rest of the herd watches inter-stag conflicts attentively. Who wins, rules. Who rules, breeds.
@ Winner Takes All As a small boy, David read Winston Churchill's account of the Second World War, and concluded if you want anything done, ask an American.
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot MK.
Shirley shook paws with MK the Ragdoll Kitten. They both received one silver mole!
MK gave you 1 "'Northern Light' Travel Token" size 10
Pole Dancer Times were hard. I struggled over whether to buy a second hand macro lens on the internet. When it arrived, I thanked the Lord for it. That night, this strange beauty flew in through my barely open window. She then settled down for an hour, just twiddling with her feelers.
Those little balls are a sixth of an inch apart. I have never seen anything like her before or since.
@ Pole Dancer Shirley has now completed her viewing of Northern Light: Creatures. As she prepares to go home, she receives a wonderful gift!
Shirley has enjoyed her photographic tour of Northern Light: Creatures, but it is time to go home now! Please select another pet as visitor, so it can also enjoy a photographic tour of "Northern Light!"
While peeking through the viewfinder, you spot Seth.
Shirley shook paws with Seth the Blue Beautiful Unicorn. They both received one silver mole!