l i g h t
Folded Schist
Imacher Point, Isle of Arran, Scotland. There's lots of this folded schist, a kind of metamorphic rock called Dalradian, at Imachar Point. The beautiful summer light falling across it compelled me to make this picture.
Byers Lake
Denali State Park, Alaska, USA. In the warm May sunshine, the last few remnants of the winter ice cover slowly melted into the clear sparkling waters.
Last Light
Bryce Canyon, Utah, USA. I spotted this distant tree highlighted against a rim of hoodoos lit up by the sun, which was setting fast. I managed one exposure before the light moved on from the tree.
Achnahaird
Achnahaird Bay, Scotland. A shaft of late winter sunlight found its way to the grasses on this dune. I underexposed a little to enhance the effect.
August
Hesworth Common, West Sussex, England.
Pico do Arieiro
Pico do Arieiro, Madeira. Above cloud level at the second highest point on this island, the air is clear and the light vivid and dramatic on the volcanic mountains.
Shoshone Shadows
Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA. The low and refracted light at sunrise is perfect to accentuate the colours and textures of the Grand Canyon. Taken near Shoshone Point on the south rim.
Illuminate
Isle of Skye, Scotland. Hiking down from Blaven, one of the Cuillin outlier mountains, I noticed how the late afternoon sun was reaching across the sides of the steep valley at just the right angle to illuminate the young green foilage and branches of the trees whilst keeping the valley itself in shade.
Pukaki Sunrise
Lake Pukaki, Canterbury, New Zealand. The boulders at edges of this lake may be man made but that didn't stop me from capturing the wonderful light across them looking towards the Ben Ohau mountains.
God Beams
Laig Bay, Isle of Eigg, Scotland. This image has a multitude of soft colour: subtle orange rock; blue refletions, lent from the clear sky overhead; white salty lichen; wet green seaweed; and yellow beams moving like searchlights as the sun slid down between the peaks of the Cuillin on the Isle of Rhum.
Fall in Zion
Zion National Park, Utah, USA. A tapestry of cottonwoods, pines and maples in autumnal colours under the imposing canyon walls. Sometimes flat light is best, and it was certainly key to the success of this image; with direct sunlight, the colours would have been diminished under heavy contrast.
Marloes Spray
Marloes Sands, Pembrokeshire, Wales.
Summer Isles
Polbain, Coigach, Scotland. I scrambled up the highest hill, Meall an Fheadain, out on the Coigach peninsular, above Polbain at sunrise to look over towards the Summer Isles.
Water Chute
Glen Orchy, Highlands, Scotland. The low angled winter sun provides a contrasting warm light to the cool blue of the sky reflected in water and ice.
Zebra
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah, USA. The Zebra slot canyon is reached by an hour's hike from the sandy Hole In The Rock backroad. Although exploration is short, the narrowest chamber is stunningly beautiful in the right light: smooth sandstone walls streaked with horizontal striations and punctuated with embedded Moqui marbles.
Ridges
Elim dune, Sesriem, Namibia.
Zion Gold
Zion National Park, Utah, USA. The massive canyon walls towering above were brightly lit by the morning sunshine and reflecting in this shaded part of the Virgin River.
Paria Fall
Paria River, Utah, USA. The branches of this Tamarisk tree in full autumnal splendour reached upwards like outstretched limbs.
Red
Westdale Bay, Pembrokeshire, Wales.
Sheigra
Sunset light on the far north west coast of Scotland; a wilderness of windswept rock, clinging lichen and wild seas.
Freezing Fog
Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales.
Cloudstream
Pico du Arieiro, Madeira. This column of cloud on the upper slopes of Madeira's volcanic peaks caught my eye as it streamed through the trees and down the shaded valley.
Portage Valley
Alaska, USA.
Fleeting
Cerro Paine Grande, Torres Del Paine National Park, Patagonia. The sunrise light on this mountain in Chile was brief but beautiful.
Pa'rus Trail
Cottonwoods lit up moments before the sun slid behind the canyon walls to my left.
Teklanika
Teklanika River, Denali National Park, Alaska, USA. Ribbons of glacier melt reflecting a bloodshot sky.
Grand Sunrise
Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA.
Ullswater
Lake District, Cumbria, England. Timed exposures can build up colour onto the surface of water, but a normal snapshot can be equally effective if the palette of the scene is mixed and vibrant. In this shot of Ullswater lake in the Lake District of northern England, the vibrancy and contrast of the autumnal foilage were boosted by the backlight from the low-angled morning sunshine, giving it a watercolour-like palette. I stitched 6 photos together to create this panorama.
Naukluft
Sesriem, Namibia. A view of the Naukluft mountains from the top of the Elim dune near Sesriem. This image was made just at the very dying rays of sunlight to accentuate the colour of the sand. All the little circles on the valley floor are called 'fairy circles' - they're barren patches where the grass doesn't grow, and nobody truly knows why.
Deadvlei Morning
Namib Desert, Namibia. An unusual morning drapes over the red dunes of the Namib.