It’s been an awful day today! It’s been wet and windy and cold and generally the usual miserable British winter weather. We eventually decided to brave a walk along the Leeds Liverpool canal to give the dog (and us) some much needed fresh air.

The rain stayed away, but it was still blustery and cold. We pulled up our hoods against the wind and put our best feet forward. The light, for the most part was flat and dull behind the blanket of cloud, but just every now and then it would find a chink and remind us that it was still daylight! Looking up the canal towards the light was beautiful, but beyond the camera to capture completely, so I went for the silhouette!

Winter Light – there’s a softness to the light during winter, even in the middle of the day. There was a lot of cloud cover on this afternoon, but thankfully most of it was behind me, with just enough light to bring out some detail in the foreground…

It’s a rare sight to see the tide right in along the Southport and Ainsdale coast (well, twice a day, I suppose, but it goes in and out so fast…). When the tide is right up close to the dunes there is a wonderful simplicity to the view. The sea splits the sky from the marram grass with a sliver of smoothness and light.

This landscape shot was captured during one of those rare moments when the light breaks through the clouds illuminating just the sea.

I’ve added this photo to my shop page on Photobox.

Southport Marine Lake is generally a fairly flat, uninviting expanse of water, but just as the sun dips behind the Marine Way Bridge and the lights come on in the Ramada Hotel and the Funfair the water comes to life with reflections. If you time it right, the sky will have just enough light to balance the electric lights and the reflections on the water. This shot was taken at dusk, just in that magic moment when the light was perfectly balanced.