Female mallard with leucisism, a genetic disorder that causes a partial loss of pigmentation in the feathers, seen on Hexham Reservoir in Northumberland, England... #wildlifephotography #birdphotography #northumberland #unitedkingdom #mallard #duck #nature

The remains of the ruined jetty on Holy Island, silhouetted against a stormy winter sky... #Northumberland #HolyIsland #Lindisfarne #longexposure #winter #seascape #unitedkingdom

On 9 February I'm on Holy Island, running the first 2025 Northumberland Landscape Photography Workshop with fellow landscape photographer Jason Friend. If you're interested in joining us on this or another workshop, please visit my website... #NorthumberlandPhotography #LandscapePhotography

Wintry twigs backlit against a sun-dappled Loch Assynt in the Scottish Highlands. Shot with a 45mm f/1.8 lens, set to f/2.5 for minimum depth of field for soft out-of-focus highlights... #scottishhighlands #lochassynt #scotland #bokehballs #nature #sunlight

Feeling blue... Rocks on Loch Broom near Rhue in Sutherland, Scotland, shot during the blue hour before dawn on a cold winter's morning... #scottishhighlands #sutherland #bluehour #scotland #scottishlandscapes #landscapephotography #longexposure #ullapool

Flats in Newcastle er... flattened visually through the use of a telephoto lens... #newcastleupontyne #newcastle #olympus #omsystem

A (waning) moon playing peek-a-boo in the clouds first thing this morning... #moon #fullmoon #northumberland #hexham #landscapephotography #nightsky

Took the opportunity to head up to Hadrian's Wall before the temperature rises this week and the snow melts. I ended up shooting at the curiously named 'Limestone Corner' at Teppermore... #hadrianswallcountry #northumberlandnationalpark #northumberland #limestonecorner #winter

I work in the loft space of my house. It's not freezing up here, but it is colder than the rest of the house. My dilemma is whether to move downstairs where it's less frigid. Which will be a faff. Or just wrap up well, work on photos that have fire in them and just pretend that I'm warm...

I guess when you're fully waterproof (and have useful layer of insulating blubber), you don't have to worry about large waves right behind you... #whitleybay #seals #northumberland #stmarysisland #unitedkingdom #marinemammals #landscapephotography

Here's to 2025 and a new year (not long now...). Hopefully next year you'll find a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow... #hexhamabbey #hexham #northumberland #tynevalley #tynedale #happynewyear2025

24/24 / And so, Merry Christmas. I hope you and yours have a marvellous few days! #christmascountdown #adventcalendar #hexham #northumberland

23/24 / Every winter the ICEHOTEL in Sweden is rebuilt from scratch using around 1,000 tonnes of ice, the equivalent of 700 million snowballs... #christmascountdown #adventcalendar #icehotel #sweden

22/24 / Electric Christmas tree lights were first used in 1882 by Edward H Johnson, a colleague of inventor Thomas Edison. Before then it was traditional to decorate trees with lit candles, which doesn't bear thinking about... #christmascountdown #adventcalendar #hexham #christmaslights

21/24 / Today (21 December) is the winter solstice (shortest day/longest night) in the northern hemisphere and summer solstice (longest day/shortest night) in the southern... #christmascountdown #adventcalendar #wintersolstice #isleofskye #scottishhighlands #landscapephotography

20/24 / The black hellebore is also known as the Christmas rose as it flowers in midwinter. One legend associated with the plant is that it grew from the tears of a young girl, who cried as she had no gift for the Christ child in Bethlehem... #christmascountdown #adventcalendar #christmasrose

19/24 / After the Queen's Speech, it was a tradition on Christmas Day for UK lighthouse keepers to serenade their neighbouring light with a carol. The songs were broadcast over radio using a special frequency... #landscapephotography #adventcalendar #stmarysisland #whitleybay #northumberland

18/24 / There is compelling geological evidence that some 600-700 million years ago or so our planet was entirely covered in ice, a time known to geologists as 'Snowball Earth'... #christmascountdown #adventcalendar #ice #northumberland #macrophotography #science

17/24 / The Vikings gave Britain the word 'Yule', which is derived from Jól - an old Norse term for the Vikings' twelve-day winter solstice festival... #christmascountdown #adventcalendar #seatonsluice #northumberland #tomnewstead #shantiart #landscapephotography #photography

16/24 / A surprising 64% of people don't know what to buy their photography-obsessed partners for Christmas. Probably. If you're stuck then help is at hand. Vouchers are available for my 2025 Northumberland workshops. Details on my website... #christmascountdown #adventcalendar #northumberland

15/24 / In the UK, it's considered to be a white Christmas if a Met Office observer (or automated weather station) sees at least one snowflake falling on the 25 December... #christmascountdown #adventcalendar #northumberland #hexham #whitechristmas

14/24 / Modern huskies are descended from Chutlotka sled dogs, bred some 4,000 years ago by the Chukchi people of Siberia... #adventcalendar #christmascountdown #husky #sweden

13/24 / In the UK (excluding upland areas), it's statistically more likely that you'll see snow at Easter than on Christmas Day BUT only when Easter is in March... #hexhamabbey #northumberland #adventcalendar #christmascountdown #northumberland #photography #unitedkingdom #winterweather

12/24 / The UK toy market is worth £3.4 billion, with a roughly half of toy sales happening in the three month run-up to Christmas and a quarter of those sales in December... #adventcalendar #christmascountdown #beamishopenairmusuem #countydurham #nostalgia

11/24 / In the UK, Christmas Day is the only day of the year when electricity use peaks in the early afternoon and not at teatime. Demand drops off once the nation's Christmas lunches are cooked... #adventcalendar #christmascountdown #hexham #northumberland #architecturalphotography

10/24 / You wouldn't have found breeds of sheep such as the Swaledale in Bethlehem 2000 years ago. These hardy animals were bred more recently for the harsh winters in the upland areas of northern Britain #christmascountdown #adventcalendar #britishsheep #landscapephotography #northumberland

9/24 / Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, is credited with introducing the Christmas tree to Britain. However, there is evidence that a Christmas tree was set up in a street in London in the 15th century #christmascountdown #adventcalendar #christmastree #landscapephotography #northumberland

8/24 / The ancient Romans celebrated Saturnalia in honour of Saturn, the god of agriculture and time. Saturnalia was a week-long festival that began on 17 December... #christmascountdown #adventcalendar #hadrianswall #hadrianswallcountry #northumberland #landscapephotography #photography

7/24 / It was made illegal to celebrate Christmas in Scotland in 1640. Scots had to wait until 1958 before Christmas Day was finally made a public holiday... #christmascountdown #adventcalendar #braemore #scottishhighlands #landscapephotography #scotlandphotography

6/24 / Forty-seven cm (18.5 inches) of snow fell on Kindrogan, Perthshire on Christmas Day in 1981, a UK record... #ukweather #landscapephotography #snowfall #christmascountdown #adventcalendar #hexham

5/24 / A tendon in reindeer hooves 'clicks' over a bone in their feet as they walk. This helps reindeer herds stay together during snow storms or when visibility is otherwise marginal... #reindeer #christmascountdown #adventcalendar

4/24 / Christmas in Hexham just got a bit merrier this year. The town – rightly, but I'm biased! – is number three on the 2024 list of 'The happiest places to live in the UK', according to Rightmove... #hexham #hexhamabbey #tynedale #christmascountdown #adventcalendar #architecturalphotography

Gainford in County Durham holds the record for the coldest Christmas Day in the UK. In 1878 the temperature in the Teesdale village hit a decidedly chilly -18.3°C... #christmascountdown #landscapephotography #snow #ice #ukweatherrecord

2/24 / LED Christmas lights are 80-90% more efficient than the traditional incandescent variety... #christmascountdown #christmaslights #adventcalendar

1/24 Why are robins associated with Christmas? One possible explanation is that Victorian postmen wore red uniforms and so were nicknamed 'robin redbreasts'. The posting of Christmas cards had caught on in the 19th century and the link may have been made then... #christmascountdown #christmasrobin

It’s the Hexham Christmas Fair at the Wentworth Leisure Centre this weekend and I’m here both days. If you feel like braving the winter weather, pop in and say hello! #hexham #northumberland #wentworthleisurecentre #christmasfair

It's been cold here in Hexham, Northumberland, but hardly a winter wonderland. So I guess I'm going to have to wait to see conditions in the Tyne Valley like these in 2021... #hexham #northumberland #winter #winterwondlerland #snow #unitedkingdom

This year I've been shooting a lot of outdoor macro and close-up photography. There's something about discovering tiny details in the bigger landscape that really appeals... #macrophotography #autumn #englishwoodland #northumberland #landscapephotography

I've learned one or two things in my eighteen years as a pro landscape photographer. The most important lesson (and one I'm willing to share) is not to stand in a rock pool in wellies and then kneel down when setting up a composition close to the ground... #bamburghcastle #northumberland

I live and (largely) work in the county of Northumberland in England. I'm obviously biased, but it's a very photogenic county. My favourite place? There are too many to choose from, though the Coquet Valley on a summer's evening is hard to beat... #northumberland #coquetvalley #landscapephotography

What landscape photographer doesn't live for moments like these, when the weather puts on a show? #langdalepikes #lakedistrict #englishlandscapephotography #landscape photography