Photo 1/25

Northern Dawn
I got back into photography in 2007. At last, the hardware could do what I wanted without needing chemicals to edit my own work.

I went out at dawn with my new prosumer Nikon and looked above the smokestacks of Rotherham. Most landscape photographers use wide angle lenses a lot. I expected to do the same. But a really big telephoto can be used to pick out the little details that would otherwise make no impact.

@ Northern Dawn
Ivory Champion begins her photographic tour of Northern Light: Landscapes.

Photo 2/25

Parkhouse Hill
Sharp as a blade, this unusual hill formation can be seen from Derbyshire, but lies in Staffordshire. For once, the sun is out.

The old hill walkers used to say the best parts of Derbyshire were in Staffordshire. For sheer visual impact, this has to be one of them.

Right down the road is a dairy farm where the farmer leads his cows down the road each day. Places like this are the last holdout of real old time farming … too hilly to turn into a prairie, but low enough and fertile enough to grow crops or herd cows.

@ Parkhouse Hill

White Daisy Egg
My pets are in awe of these beautiful eggs—they would love to try to paint their own one year. Easter and spring are times of joy as the earth awakens, plants are pushing forth from the soil, and the days are becoming warmer. Many baby animals are born in the spring, and life is burgeoning. May these eggs bring you joy and be a reminder of the earth renewing itself.

Photo 3/25

Tales of the Riverbank
This little idyll is on the bank of the River Rother, between a car park and a factory. Amidst all the urban sprawl and derelict industrial sites, one can still find a little piece of heaven. On the other bank, kingfishers were spearing lunch for their chicks. Six feet from either riverbank, the north of England reverts to what people think it is. But beauty lies hidden in tiny corners.

@ Tales of the Riverbank
David used to do his own colour photo printing in the 1980s using equipment he built himself, but he got sick of the smell of the chemicals, the time it took and the cost. He only took up photography again in 2007.

Photo 4/25

Scarborough Castle
Sitting atop three hundred foot cliffs by the sea, this site has been fortified in one way or another since the Iron Age. The current castle was built by Henry II in the twelfth century.

If, as I once did, you think the ruined castles of England have simply crumbled from lack of care, think again. Following the English Civil War (1642-1652), any fortification which had held out for the King was not only rendered incapable of doing so again, it was destroyed as an act of propaganda; oppose the winning side, and this is what happens. So you can immediately tell which side the lord of a castle fought for; if it is still in one piece, it had declared for Parliament.

@ Scarborough Castle
David once cycled 120 miles in a day (a lot of it over 1000 feet up) and was barely able to stand when he got home. He thought he had only ridden about 80 miles and must be ill! Next day he worked out how far he had ridden and everything became clear.

Photo 5/25

Scarborough Harbour
Harbours make appealing pictures and even better jigsaws. But few of them can compare with this one as a tonguetwister!

Having been brought up in the very centre of England, it is all too easy for me to forget my country is an island. But you cannot drive far in any direction without reaching the sea.

@ Scarborough Harbour
David's first computer was a ZX Spectrum. If anyone told you David was 'on the spectrum' he would think they were referring to a time in his life when he spent all his free time programming!

Photo 6/25

Sepia Sky
Sepia toning was a common technique for adding impact to black and white photos long ago. However this sky has sepia toned itself. I never recolour photos; I go and look for pictures where the earth and sky have recoloured themselves.

@ Sepia Sky
As a small boy, David believed he was going to marry his mother's sister when he grew up, because she was so nice.

Photo 7/25

Sheffield Supertram in Winter
The further north you go, the deeper the snows get; but in the lower parts of Sheffield, snow like this is no longer common.

The Supertram has an unusual route map, connecting two shopping centres to a mental hospital. A western extension was planned, but would have to climb some serious hills. Time was when Sheffield had a heavily subsidised bus system (85% off!) extending all the way to the Derbyshire border. The subsidies are long gone; but the city still has the hilliest roads any row of houses was ever built on.

@ Sheffield Supertram in Winter
David hates London and most other English cities. The only city he has ever been happy in is Sheffield, where he was at university.

Photo 8/25

Playing with Light
The Sheffield trams come down the hill very slowly to make sure they can stop here. This platform is a great place to see what you can do with a time exposure. The Christmas lights helped make this a memorable picture, too. It took me years to realise the rising streaks between the upper and lower tram lights were reflections off the windscreen.

@ Playing with Light
David invented the 'gap year' by forgetting to fill out his forms for university. Instead, he spent the year cycling about ten thousand miles.

Photo 9/25

Northern Light: Strines Moor
There are places in the Pennines where you can feel close to God, and even closer to a thunderbolt. Golden shafts emerge from sepia clouds, illuminating grim wastelands. When the fences have not been mended, you know the land is not even fit for sheep. But to stand beneath such a cloud is to be in awe of creation … as long as you are wearing the right gear to stay dry!

@ Northern Light: Strines Moor
David's Native American name is "Dances with Rabbis".

Photo 10/25

Monochrome Oddity
'Old John' is a folly, built long after the name was used to identify the spinney to its right. The archway serves no purpose other than to be picturesque. In 1784, landed gentry could afford to play with the landscape.

It is a lot easier to convey a sense of age with a black and white photo than with colour.

@ Monochrome Oddity
David was brought up in a Methodist family. As a child he used to think God lived in the rafters of the old church building. When the congregation put in a new ceiling to save heating costs, he felt they had shut God out.

Photo 11/25

Coniston Water and ‘Old Man’
Cumbria’s lakes are set between grim hills thousands of feet high. Coniston is a small village. Coniston Water is a long, thin lake. The Old Man of Coniston is the high hill behind it; its picturesque name derives from ‘Alt Maen’ - Celtic, ‘High Stone’, or Viking, ‘High Mine’. Over 2600 feet high, it towers over the area.

You can walk to the top up a path in a few hours, only to find the clouds close in just before you get there. I have often been to the top, but have never seen the view. Old mines scar the surface in places. You can tell there is copper around just by looking at the deep blue lake on the other side. Without great care you could end up at the bottom of it, because the paths have no safety rails. When the clouds come down, you could fall hundreds of feet down a cliff into that lake before you can see the cliff edge. I once nearly did so.

@ Coniston Water and ‘Old Man’
David was trained as a Systems Analyst in the steel industry and would have loved to stay in that role forever.

Photo 12/25

Hill Top, Near Sawrey
Once the home of Beatrix Potter, and the inspiration for many of her tales, this was the farmhouse from which she ran a 34 acre farm.

Miss Potter was not just a writer; her book sales paid for the purchase of several local farms, which she left to the National Trust. By doing so she preserved the landscapes she loved for many generations.

You can visit Hill Top today and view wild rabbits frolicking without concern behind a wire fence. They are only afraid of Mr Tod; the sandy-whiskered gentleman is just as much at home here as the rabbits.

@ Hill Top, Near Sawrey
David's favourite book of the Bible is Hosea.

Photo 13/25

Just Another Farm in Cumbria
If you go exploring down narrow lanes in Cumbria, you will see many sights like this. You might also find your car has a choice of an impossible turn between high stone walls, or ending up in a forbidding farmyard before you can make a U turn. I tried to make the Y turn between stone walls and got a scratched door to remind me of the photo.

@ Just Another Farm in Cumbria
David can still remember the registration number of his parent's first car (ENU 362 C) after over fifty years and can remember his grandmother's telephone number after just as long, but most days he cannot remember what day it is.

Photo 14/25

Elterwater
This little village is now mostly a home to tourists. Agriculture is no longer as labour intensive as it was, and few farms in the high hills are economic. On this journey I slept in a tent. Next time I am going to stay somewhere in Elterwater; I am too old for tents now.

@ Elterwater
David hated secondary school (11 to 16) intensely and was so badly bullied he never finished his time there. He went to a 'college of further education' and rebuilt his education from scratch in a place where students were treated like human beings.

Photo 15/25

Cockley Beck
The River Duddon rises in the mountains between Eskdale and Langdale, before flowing into the Irish Sea near Broughton in Furness. Here at Cockley Beck, the bridge separates Wrynose Pass from the Hardknott Pass, one of the toughest driving roads in Britain.

@ Cockley Beck
Oh look ... you won a little pet!

Photo 16/25

Sunlight in Cumbria
In April 2011 I put my tent in the back of my car and prayed that I would go to Cumbria as soon as there was a forecast of three clear days of sunshine. I kept my word, and got there in the last week of September.

Cumbria is not known as the Lake District for nothing. Most of the year, the skies spend their time filling those lakes as clouds scud in from the Irish Sea. When the clouds part, the views are breathtaking. But Northern Light is usually grimmer and greyer here than anywhere else.

@ Sunlight in Cumbria
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).

Photo 17/25

Cumbrian Fells
A fell is a mountainous area above the tree line. Much of Cumbria is just such a land. Roads cut between the fells, but sometimes have no choice but to go over them. This cyclist is between, and about to go over. The best of luck! The weather here can change in minutes.

@ Cumbrian Fells
David says he has learned more about Christianity from the local rabbi than from any Christian minister in the last 25 years, and the rabbi isn't even trying.

Photo 18/25

Hardknott Pass
Hardknott is as hard as it sounds. Near the bottom, the road has a gradient of one-in-three (33%). I looked at this, stopped, put the car in first gear ... and could not get up. I had to back off and storm the rise with all the engine had got. This view was my reward.

@ Hardknott Pass
David's uncle Walter used to ride a motorcycle out to Matlock thirty miles away and take pictures of the Derbyshire countryside. David took this as inspiration and rode to the same places on a bicycle, commonly clocking up sixty to ninety miles in a day.

Photo 19/25

A Refuge for Henry VI
After the Battle of Hexham (1464) Henry VI wandered the northern hills until he was taken in at Muncaster Castle, near the west coast of Cumbria.

The history of Britain was written not in books, but in hard high places far from help, where small armies determined the future of an Empire that went on to cover a quarter of the earth's surface. Who is King? The man who can survive these pitiless hills in all weather and find a friendly shelter. Henry VI was king again before he died. But he could just as easily have died out here in adverse weather.

@ A Refuge for Henry VI
David's favourite place is Lathkill Dale in Derbyshire, England.

Photo 20/25

Red Squirrel's Refuge
Aira Force has a Viking name ('fors' means 'waterfall'). This is only natural in what was once known as the 'Danelaw', the north and west of Britain once controlled by the Vikings.

The red squirrel is oppressed by another invader; the grey squirrel. Here in the heights it still thrives, whilst the bigger grey squirrel bosses the lowland trees.

A wonderful view and one of my favourite shots. Take a look if you travel in Cumbria ... if you fancy a 450 foot climb to see it!

@ Red Squirrel's Refuge
David cannot swim. He cut his knee just before taking lessons, and ended up with a condition that nearly killed him. He never went back to a swimming bath after that.

Photo 21/25

Lost in the Gorse
Anglesey is a lowland island off the north west coast of Wales. Today it is a place to grow crops. But the Romans probably invaded Britain specifically to get rid of the druids, whose culture was centred there and affected the Celtic regions of Europe.

This is one of the lesser-known standing stones on Anglesey, disappearing into the gorse which dominates the wild areas of the island.

@ Lost in the Gorse
David says he has learned more about Christianity from the local rabbi than from any Christian minister in the last 25 years, and the rabbi isn't even trying.

Photo 22/25

A Beautiful Place
The name Beauly is thought to come from the words of Mary Queen of Scots when she stayed there in 1564; 'un beau lieu' (a beautiful place).

The Firth of Beauly is a magnificent body of water. I had to use an adapted telescope to get this shot of the surrounding hills.

@ A Beautiful Place
David still thinks prog rock is great. He shares this belief with Jeremy Clarkson and probably no-one else alive.

Photo 23/25

The Blue River
The River Moriston (Scottish Gaelic: Abhainn Mhoireastain) flows out of wild mountains into the bottom end of Loch Ness. There is much to explore here, but I never had the opportunity to go further.

Northern skies can be a very deep blue with the sun in the faraway south, and it is this deep blue which the pristine river reflects.

@ The Blue River
David was born in the 1950s (just 13 days short of the 60s!) The US number one was “Heartaches by the Number” by Guy Mitchell. There were TWO UK number ones: "What Do You Want?" by Adam Faith, and "What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?" by Emile Ford and The Checkmates.

Photo 24/25

Eternal Snows
You won’t find anything like this in England. The Cairngorms reach up to 4300 feet and due to their height, host eternal snows. Looking out over Loch Ness, the Englishman has to concede he is in a land unlike his own; wilder, unconquerable, and resolute.

@ Eternal Snows
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.

Photo 25/25

Northern Moonlight
The moon shines just the same on the south as on the north; but it is easier to find a dark place to view it from in the north. 'Light pollution', as astronomers call it, dims the night sky in the south.

The moon is a tantalizing quarry at the best of times for a photographer; never the right shape when the sky is clear, and never on view when its phase is full. Clouds conspire to hide her; but when she comes out, she is clearer and brighter in the wild north than in the civilized south.

@ Northern Moonlight
Ivory Champion has now completed her viewing of Northern Light: Landscapes. As she prepares to go home, she receives a wonderful gift!

Ivory Champion has enjoyed her photographic tour of Northern Light: Landscapes, but it is time to go home now! "Northern Light" is over now, but there will be more events in PnF soon!