I was born in 1948 in Derbyshire on the edge of the Peak District National Park. From an early age I developed a keen interest in the great outdoors and a deep appreciation of my natural surroundings. Though the years I have taken part in a variety of outdoor activities ranging from the adrenaline driven sports of rock climbing, skiing, mountain biking and white water kayaking to the gentler pastime of fell walking – all in the pursuit of being intimate with the landscape and not just an observer.

Of all these activities exploring hills and mountains became my life long passion.
This extended beyond my native Peak District to encompass the grandeur of the Lake District, Snowdonia, and Scotland. I explored the Alps and the foothills of the Spanish Sierra Nevada. These were places where I could find solitude and relaxation away from the pressures of my work in the automotive industry and modern life in general. They became my best friends.

The all consuming attraction of these adventures was, of course, the fabulous variety of landscape and weather. To record these outings I always travelled with a camera but I never seemed to be able to capture to my satisfaction the scale, magnificence and mood of the scene. The fundamental error I made was that I was trying to ‘get it all in’.

In 2005, I moved to the Yorkshire Dales, an area I had never previously explored. I soon learnt that this area is special and unique - a never ending source of photographic opportunities. The Dales has influenced how I now view and approach landscape photography. These days I see the landscape as a compilation of many small but beautiful elements, and it is these elements of the landscape that I now try to capture in a way that reflects the feel of the bigger picture.

Like most people these days I use a digital camera, a computer and editing software. The old adage ‘the camera never lies’ no longer applies! I use technology to bend reality a little, sometimes quite a lot. The aim is not to deceive the viewer but to emphasise the atmosphere of the day, and to enhance and accentuate specific components of the landscape. I call it ‘painting with pixels’.