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My mellow mood from the evening before didn’t last long unfortunately, as I was kept awake yet again by another group of rowdy lowlifes.

So, rising early, after a disturbed night, I was pleased to see a silky brume of mist, skulking around on the valley floors. So I decided to head back to Higger Tor to see if I could get a good view of it from up there.

As it happens, the mist around there was pretty minimal, but the sunrise was spectacular. Plus, despite it being a Saturday, the place was still relatively empty, just a handful of people

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After breakfast I took the drive south to Monsal Head, a spectacular viewpoint looking down Monsal Dale and up the Wye Valley. Where the river Wye carves its way through a high ridge of limestone, and winds its way through the deep sided, rocky valley.

It’s also home to the Headstone Viaduct, an elegant structure built in 1863 by the former Midland Railway, to cross 40 foot above the Wye River. It is now considered an essential part of the landscape, although there was some opposition to its original construction because of the damage it caused to the surrounding area.

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I traveled up to the Peak District on the Thursday, hopeing to have plenty of time to look about and get myself familiar with the area. Unfortunately the motorway Gods took an unfathomable dislike to me, and closed the M1 not long after I was discharged onto its clogged artery. So after a long detour and copious amounts of bumper to bumper action, I arrived at the campsite in Bamford four and half hours after setting off.

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Finding myself at a loose end a couple of weeks ago, I took a stroll down to Burford meadow, a relatively small patch of land that encompasses a section of the River Windrush, as it meanders on its picturesque journey through the Cotswolds, before spilling into the Thames at Newbridge.

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Day 3 in South Wales, and I visit the Garw Valley and Coity Castle.



Another truly miserable start to the day, the wind was stronger than ever and the sky as grey as pewter, so I did what was right and correct in such circumstances; I had a leisurely breakfast and watched a bit of morning television.

It didn’t take long for that distraction to wear thin, so I got my boots on and took a ride up to the Gawr Valley. This picturesque little vale is home to the River Garw, which runs the twelve miles from its source, Blaengarw, where I was ultimately heading to, to run into the River Ogmore, whose estuary I photographed next to on my first evening.

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Day 2 in South Wales featuring Waterfall Country and Dunraven Bay



With the night slowly succumbing to a muted and lacklustre dawn, the chance of a sunrise shoot was out of the question, but by eight o’clock it was brightening up a treat. I was off to waterfall country today, so as I jumped in the car I was in a chipper mood, and in short order, I was motoring up to the Vale of Neath to get me a torrent of goodness.

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Day 1 in South Wales at Dunraven Bay and Ogmore by Sea.



I took a leisurely drive to the Vale of Glamorgan, and to the small village of Llangan, near Bridgend, where I would be staying for the next three days, overlooking the lush Welsh countryside.

After unpacking, and despite the weather, I was keen to get out and visit the Glamorgan Heritage Coastline. This rugged stretch of shoreline is unique on the Celtic Sea coast (Cornwall, Wales, Ireland and Brittany). It was formed 200 million years ago when Wales lay underneath a warm, shallow, equatorial sea during the beginning of the Jurassic age.

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It was an atmospheric setting, as these settings often are, so it was no chore to spend some time trying to capture the perceived emptiness of the place, although I'm sure many eyes were upon me as I trampled over the the jumble of tree limbs that a multitude of insects and small animals called their home, and startled the few deer I happened upon.

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Day 3 in Dorset in foggy conditions at Swanage pier.



Woke up after another fitful night’s sleep, feeling as though the contents of my head were wallowing in a mucilaginous swamp, while my limbs were groaning in protest over some grievous offence they obviously felt very strongly about. Not sure if it was because of the immoderate exercise I’d subjected them to, or just because I was feeling a bit peaky. Either way I was feeling about as lively as this old fella.

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Day 2 in Dorset, featuring Peveril Point, Kimmeridge Bay and Durdle Door



After another sleep of the undead, as in, not a moments rest, I floundered to the window to see what the weather was doing, and got a face full of fog staring back at me. This was an opportunity not to be missed.

Clothes were attired, hairs were combed and tea was drunk all in double time, for if the fog were to break, letting the sun’s rays pour through, then it was the perfect time to be at Corfe Castle, that most impressive of ruins, situated not 20 minutes up the road.

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Day 1 in Dorset, featuring Swanage seafront, Peveril Point and Kimmeridge Bay



Rising at 5.30 am after a very fitful night’s sleep, thanks to the unpleasant effects of a bug I was suffering from, and stumbling into the bathroom to cough my guts up under the cold, florescent ambience, I was still trying to convince myself that driving down to Swanage the previous evening was preferable to staying home and, more importantly, leaving my comfortable bed behind.

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Part 2 of a tutorial on creating a time lapse video.



So now the images have been taken for the time lapse video, it’s on to part two of the tutorial and we look at how those images are processed and combined to create the finished movie. We’ll be using Adobe Bridge, Camera Raw and Photoshop, before moving onto Windows Movie Maker.

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Part 1 of a tutorial on creating a time lapse video

Asthal at Sunset v from Martyn Ferry on Vimeo.

I’ve recently been trying my hand at a bit of time lapse photography, I’d seen some amazing videos online so I thought I’d give it a bash. And although mine are not up to a particularly elevated standard, they were fun to do, and it was interesting to learn the process.

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I was feeling the need for a bit of history last weekend, so I thought I’d head over to Chastleton House, a grand old Jacobean pile owned by the National Trust, to get just that.

On the way there however I stopped off at St. Nicholas church in Lower Oddington, it had been a long time since I was last there, and as I was driving past anyway, it seemed a shame not to pop in on the way.

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I visited the Forest of Dean on a whim the other day, as I hadn’t been for quite a while, and I fancied a bit of peace and tranquility as only an idyllic woodland glade could provide.

Unfortunately I had picked the very day that the Wydean Forest Rally was taking place, the yearly motorsport event that roars its way along a twisting course through this ancient forest. And as such, pretty much all the usual parking spots had been commandeered by the rally, so those who couldn’t find a space had parked everywhere you could possibly fit a car, and a few places you couldn’t.

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I was out the other morning down by the local river, taking advantage of the weather. We’ve had a lot of rain recently, so the fields were flooded, but, there wasn’t any rain that morning, meaning I could get some pictures. It was the perfect storm, except without the storm.

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Some icy images from a chilly Cotswold morning



With the weather getting slightly chillier, but not by much, we haven’t seen a great deal of frost about, certainly no sign of that mighty frigid roarer; the hoarfrost, so until that Polar Vortex comes barging it’s way over here, I dug out a few frosty snaps to tide me over.

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Some Cotswold images under a blanket of snow.



There is no finer way to spend a day in the cold winter weather, than out in that very same cold winter weather. That is if you’re a landscape photographer looking for some striking images. Probably not so advisable if you’re trying to make bread, or raise meerkats, or even sunbathe. But if decent photos are what you’re after, then it’s time to wrap up and get chilly.

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A quick tutorial on taking a fairly flat image and creating a smooth black and white from it using masks and gradients.



I was recently in Dorset and visited the old pier in Swanage. This is a real favourite with photographers, especially at sunrise and sunset. Using a long exposure to smooth out the waves, along with some warm tones in the sky always works a treat. Unfortunately the weather while I was there wasn’t very accommodating, so I had to settle for overcast shoot.

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Day 2 in Dorset featuring Kingston Lacy trees and the New Forest



Woke up to the noise of rain sousing the window and I knew immediately, I was not going to get a sunrise shot. So after a leisurely breakfast we decided to take a trip to the New Forest, thinking either the weather might be slightly better inland, or perhaps the trees might offer us some flimsy protection from the deluge.

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