It's all Tan Hill from here

The Tan Hill Inn is the highest pub in the land at 1500ft and has a certain reputation for eccentricity. Well, when you're that far off the beaten track I guess anything goes! Anyway, the Tan Hill was my rendezvous spot for a recent assignment with TGO magazine for a winter walking feature - which is on the shelves now (March 2012). Weather-wise things were looking up. Early morning sun, reasonable forecast, good snow cover on the tops, it was all good.

Trail mix

Nova Events is Brendan Foster's event management company that organises the Great North Run, the World's biggest half marathon, and the Great North Swim. Now they've taken on the Karrimor Great Trail Challenge. Will this morph into the World's biggest something too? No idea, but I'm happy to say they asked me to shoot some trail running photos around the course for the pre-event PR and the website.

Take cover!

In my last post I made the point that photographers have to be ready to make the most of whatever opportunities present themselves and this cover shot is a case in point. It's the current TGO front cover for March 2012 edition and was shot in December, just days before Christmas. I awoke to a bright, shiny sun filtering through my bedroom skylight which was covered in fluffy white stuff; Snow, and plenty of it. This was not a day for hanging around in the office but I had to do the school run first! On the way back I rang round to see who was at home and willing to come out for a couple of hours to play - but got no answers. It seemed everyone was already out, or working, or away, or asleep??!! I left some messages and resigned myself to getting out anyway and maybe trying a few time-release self portraits or something.

Running commentary

I've been shooting running events for some time now for both event organisors and for event-photography providers but I've also found a handy market for nice, creative stock images in the running mags. They often use single shots as "inspiration" for great running locations or scene-setters for seasonal features. Luckily I have contacts - so I manage to line up keen athletes who are up for a bit of fun, some nice pics for their blog and the chance to appear in the magazines. Looks good down at the running club!

Photo-graphy=Light-painting

First go at lightpainting with LED torches

I'd read about lightpainting, seen some great examples and thought about using the technique somehow, but it was only recently when I acquired some great LED's that I got stuck in. After studying Dave Black's excellent and 'illuminating" tutorials on light-painting at his "Workshop at the Ranch" series

The long walk home

It seems like just yesterday we had full snow cover and great ice here in the Lakes but how quickly it disappears. A couple of days of warm southerlies and it's back to wet and windy, grey and drab and not a white patch to be seen on the hill. Which means that when conditions are here you got to get out there and shoot, right now.

Ice, ice, maybe?

Well, this was going to be interesting. My plan involved bribing a top ice climber to go out on a freezing, dark night to solo some steep ice, half way up a mountain so I could experiment with the concept of "lightpainting" a crag on the half-chance that it might produce an interesting shot.

Photographers don't get sick!

It's early December 2011 when I get a phone call from TGO magazine to see if I'm free on Friday. It's Wednesday now so it's short notice but yes I'm free and of course I'd love to help, I'm freelance after all and freelance's never turn work away! Actually I'm feeling under the weather (man flu?) but I'm sure I'll be fine. It seems that TGO's roving reporters/editors are on a mission to walk from pub to pub in the Lakes (nice work if you can get it) and we need some photos for the feature.