| I was born in Derbyshire on the edge of the Peak District National Park and from early age I developed a deep appreciation of my natural surroundings. Walking in the local countryside became a favourite pastime and in later years this extended beyond my native Peak District to encompass the Lake District, Snowdonia and Scotland.Fortunate that my job involved extensive travel, I also spent long periods in the mountains, working on location in the Alps and amongst the dramatic scenery of Southern Spain. My passion for the outdoors grew, and skiing, mountain biking and rock climbing provided more adventurous ways of being intimate with the landscape. To record these adventures I always travelled with a camera but I never seemed to capture, to my satisfaction, the scale and magnificence of the scene.
I retired in 1996, and with more time at my disposal, photography became the main focus of my outdoor activities. In 2005, my wife and I moved to the Yorkshire Dales. Living in this area of unique landscape had a significant influence on my photography and I now perceive the landscape as a complex amalgamation of many individual yet essential components. It is these components that I try to capture in a style that conveys the mood, atmosphere and character of the greater view. I do not have a traditional or purist approach. I use digital cameras and modern editing techniques to manipulate images, enhance and emphasise the ambiance, and create a sense of being there. Although not entirely spontaneous, my images tend to be of scenes that naturally and randomly draw my attention. I rarely go out to photograph a specific subject. I do, however, take weather and time of day into consideration when planning a location. There are, of course, many revisits to subjects discovered under unfavourable conditions. Waiting for the right light, in the right place at the right time is all part of the experience. For me, this is the most rewarding part of the process. It provides time in which to determine the composition and exposure, consider the editing processes and to create a mental visualisation of the final image. In August 2009, we moved to the spectacular Isle of Skye in the north west Scottish Highlands. This area has a vast diversity of photographic potential, including the opportunity to open our own gallery. The gallery opened in April 2010 and is located on the scenic Harlosh peninsula, near Dunvegan (north west Skye).
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