None shall pass!
A fell runner – head down as he battles against the latest moorland incline – is oblivious to the Sheep that’s slowly approaching him. If the runner’s lucky, the Sheep will scurry off as Sheep tend to do when faced with anything out of their ordinary grass-chewing day; on the other hand, if this Sheep turns out to be a male Ram, I feel sorry for the bloke in the unprotected shortest of shorts!
*Shot on a Canon 600d 18mp dSLR using a Tamron 55-200mm f/4-5.6 Di ll LD lens with settings at ISO-100, aperture at f/8, centre weighted metering mode and an exposure time of 1/80 seconds*
Winter’s arrived…
A lone figure out and exposed on high ground as Winter’s cold snap descends across the UK, finally bringing with it overdue snowfall to every borough.
*Shot on a Canon 350d 8.2mp dSLR using a Canon EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM lens set at ISO-200, aperture at f/18, pattern metering mode and an exposure time of 1/125 seconds*
Corrosion
The elements on the Pennine moors have seen fit to reduce this steel nut to an oxidised, flaking mess that not even a protective coating of the Water Board’s all-weather blue paint could hope to prevent.
*Shot on a Ricoh GRD ll 10mp digital camera with settings at ISO-200, fixed lens set at 28mm, aperture at f/4, centre average meter mode and an exposure time of 1/45 seconds*
Send and receive
Two communication towers standing on Oldham Edge, their cross-hatched metal stanchions silhouetted against a tumultuous sky of dying light.
*Shot on a Canon 600d 18mp dSLR using a Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS mkll lens with settings at ISO-200, aperture at f/9, centre weighted metering mode and an exposure time of 1/400 seconds*
Embers of my past
This burning pile of ash is all that remains of a group of Rhododendron bushes in Tandle Hills, Royton as of Thursday the 10th of January 2013 and it’s come as a bit of a shock, let me tell you. I myself am 42 years old and these overgrown bushes – their waxy green leaves bulging out on either side of a set of winding stone steps that lead up to the Tandle Hills’ War Monument – have been a fixture in the country park as long as I can remember. If you were hardy enough to clamber through the entwined branches and reach the middle, there was a clearing which as kids we knew as ‘The Witches Circle’; a wary place to a small child exploring, a scary place to a teenager under-age drinking and an even scarier one to an idiot tripping on Acid!
Anyway, yet another example of how things progress and move on in this so-called Life. At least someone in the local Oldham Council offices got paid for the idea to destroy a 50 year old beauty spot; me, I just felt myself age a little more as I stood and watched the smoking, fire-cracked embers of my past blowing away on the wind…
*Shot on a Canon 600d 18mp dSLR using a Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 mkll lens with settings at ISO-100, aperture at f/2.8, spot metering mode and an exposure time of 1/50 seconds*
1967 AC Cobra
Judging by the number plate, this is a 1967 AC Cobra that I managed to snap as it whizzed past me; however, if there are any classic car enthusiasts our there who can find fault in this statement – such as this Cobra’s actually a kit-car copy – please drop me a comment and I’ll adjust the facts.
*Shot on a Canon 350d 8.2mp dSLR using a Canon EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM lens set at ISO-200, aperture at f/5.6, pattern metering mode and an exposure time of 1/250 seconds*
Ogden reservoir
A wide-angle shot taken from the dam wall at Ogden reservoir in Piethorne valley, Newhey showing the pump tower and its walkway in the foreground, with the Nature Reserve’s tree-lined bank across the water in the distance.
*Shot on a Samsung WB500 10mp compact camera with settings at ISO-80, lens set at 24mm, aperture at f/7.5, centre weighted meter mode and an exposure time of 1/250 seconds*
Mirror image (slight return)
A Sheep munches her way around the banks of Hanging Lees reservoir in Piethorne Valley, Newhey and casts an almost distortion-free mirror image of herself onto the water’s calm surface.
*Shot on a Canon 40d 10mp dSLR using a Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS mkll lens with settings at ISO-160, aperture at f/5.6, partial metering mode and an exposure time of 1/60 seconds*
Rest in pieces
This graveyard statue of a winged Angel, kneeling whilst clutching a harp, has succumb to years of the elements and Time’s gradual passing, what with the loss of the left-hand index finger and more noticeably, the entire right hand and arm up to above the elbow.
I wonder what was to be found in the missing right hand of this stone-hewn Heavenly Messenger…?
*Shot on a Canon 600d 18mp dSLR using a Tamron 55-200mm f/4-5.6 Di ll LD lens with settings at ISO-200, aperture at f/5.6, spot metering mode and an exposure time of 1/200 seconds*
Ghostly trees
A slow shutter speed has resulted in this picture’s over-exposure, giving the appearance that ghostly apparitions are stretching from the sepia-stained trees…
*Shot on a Panasonic Lumix FZ38 12MP ‘super-zoom’ bridge camera set at ISO-200, aperture set at f/3, spot metering mode and an exposure time of 0.8 seconds*
Stretch the Horizon 