Landscapes:
So what is a landscape and how do you see it?
Most landscapes that we see are made by people - farmers, foresters, builders, landscape architects, gardeners, etc. Some though are helped along by animals, munching the vegetation, moving seeds around and so on.
If you ever are in Derbyshire, head for the Peak District National Park and specifically Dove Dale and Wolfscote Dale near Ashbourne.
Dove Dale has had the hand of humans help create the landscape - strangely what you see though is self-sown not planted! The help from humans comes from stopping sheep grazing all the young tree seedlings. Now the trees can grow and hide much of the distant views of wonderful rock outcrops!
Travel further up the valley to Wolfscote Dale though and here the sheep have continued to graze, so what we see are grasses and very few trees. The valley is therefore seen in all its glory. [Well, glory is in the eye of the beholder of course!]
Urban landscapes provide a very different experience, plenty of challenges and lots to photograph.
Look at the reflections, the shapes and patterns, the contrasts and the colour. Looking up can provide as much photographic opportunity as looking down. Paving patterns, stonework, the small details that often seems to be missing in modern cities may well be lying below your feet in the older towns.
Forestry in Britain has progressed a long way over the last twenty years or so. The massed patternwork of coniferous forests have been edged in deciduous woodland, stream valleys planted with natural blends of rowan, alder and other native trees to create interesting shapes within the mass of evergreen. The Lake District and Northumbria have plenty of good examples of forests that climb up hillsides with glancing slashes of deciduous trees cutting patterns into the mass of dark green. The beautiful light green needles of the deciduous larch in spring are later followed by the fantastic mellow orangy brown of its autumn colour.
Look out too for the special areas such as Westonbirt Arboretum with its range of wonderful autumn colours creating a tremendous climax to the end of the growing season.
In Britain, we are lucky - we rarely have to travel more than an hour from our homes before we come to amazing scenery.
So look around you, and enjoy the landscape!
Durham Cathedral reflected in the River Wear, Co. Durham
Durham Cathedral reflected in the River Wear, Co. Durham
Warkworth Castle, Northumberland
Château de La Ferté-Saint-Aubin, France
Rocamadour, France
Castelnaud and River Dordogne, France
View from Chateau de Commarque, Dordogne, France
River Dordogne viewed from the terraced Jardins de Marqueyssac
Jardins de Marqueyssac, Dordogne, France
The Matterhorn from Zermatt, Switzerland
The Matterhorn from the cablecar up to Klein Matterhorn, Switzerland
The Matterhorn in the early hours of a beautiful summer's morning - sunrise
Glaciers joining near Gornegrat, with lots of morraine being formed. Switzerland
Cabanes du Breuil, near Sarlat, Dordogne, France