Berkshires finest

Most of the pictures I capture in the morning are from Langley Mead - a walking spot just outside of Shinfield which is where I live in the UK. It's a purpose built walking area frequented mostly by dog walkers. Having an easterly aspect makes it the perfect location to capture the sunrise. In Autumn and early winter the half hour before the sun starts to break are perfect for capturing tree silhouettes [on a clear day]. I always say that when I die they will find a multitude of photos of Benson and trees on my mobile.

Glorious Ireland

My house is in Kilkenny just on the Laois/Tipperary border. This photo was taken at Kilcooley Abbey in Co. Tipperary. It's such a beautiful location steeped in history. The stone carvings in the abbey are quite spectacular as is some of the remaining structural work. There's a really nice gothic arch as you enter the buidling. Unfortunately like a lot of older buildings it is not kept as well as it should be and is starting to crumble. The result being that some of the areas are now closed off to the public. I'll set up a gallery of pics that I've take here and share it sometime.

That special moment

Sometimes you see something that you know is a now or never moment. This is an example of one of those times. We were on Gran Canaria for a few weeks and had taken the hire car into the hills for a day trip to find a fabled restaurant carved out into the side of a mountain. We found it and enjoyed the usual Canarian fare of Caranian potatoes with that creamy sauce and deep fried padron peppers with cracked sea salt...yum! Anyway on the way back we passed this outstanding view and pulled over. It was well worth it. Something you don't see on many of the tourist posts.

December skies

I love it around early December when it's dark enough in the morning and you get clear skies in the morning. Especially after there has been a big storm passing through the twilight offers up some spectacular views. This is one of my favourite times of the year, second only to Autum.

Chasing the sunrise

Most of my sunrise photo's are captured on the spur of the moment as I am making my way around the field. This one however I had to work for. In Ireland I walk Benson at various locations. One in particular is quite spectacular as there is a viewing platform at the top of the walk with a 360degree uninterrupted view of the surrounding area. To capture this sunrise I had to leave the house in complete darkness [it was October so the temp was pretty low too] and hike up to the viewing tower - luckily Benson has an illuminated jacket otherwise I would have no idea where he was. I captured this one just as the sun was rising - it was amazing watching the changes in light across the land as it made its way up.

Misty mornings

As we move towards the end of Autumn there are also the lovely fresh mornings where there is mist on the field. I guess being so close to the river Loddon helps with the moisture build-up overnight. Either way we do get our fair share of misty morning lovliness here in Shinfield.

Shepherds warning

September is the time of year for the best red skies - especially at Sunrise. I guess it has something to do with where the sun sits in the sky at that time of year. I could say this image is a rare occurrance but to be honest for the most of September you'll see something similar to this as long as there's not a storm passing through.

Winter Solstice Sunrise

Captured this one on the shortest day. I would have loved to be at Stonehenge to witness it as the lack of cloud cover. Every Solstice I've been to there has been a lot of cloud cover when the sun comes up.

Frosty Winter mornings

Winter is upon us and the frosts have set in. This is one of the last proper cold winter morning shots I captured before the rains set in. I love it when it's cold and you are all wrapped up and cosy. Now it's just wet and muddy.... not the most photogenic time of year..