My OnLandscape 4×4 portfolio

You can see some of my shots in a 4×4 portfolio published by OnLandscape magazine this month at https://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2018/07/subscribers-4×4-portfolios-163/

Bessyboot sunrise

Sleeping inside a bivvy bag on a hilltop is an odd feeling. It’s usually too cold to leave your head outside the bag so you spend the night separated from the wonders of mountains and stars by a thin sheet of nylon. You hear everything, you feel the breeze across the fabric but it’s all outside. I usually pop my head out a couple of times just to see how it looks. It’s rarely black at night in summer and if you’re lucky sometimes you see a beautiful full moon over the mountain tops.

Bessyboot

Much of Cumbria is flooded by a green tide of bracken in summer. It isn’t my favourite plant and its a good place for ticks to hide. It usually stays low and I left it behind as I started the relentless slog straight up the steep flank of the hill.

Porth Or, Sunset

Porth Or

Seaside trips are at the mercy of the tides, as well as the light. High tides aren’t so useful as I like to see the exposed sand and rocks. The headlands and cliff tops along the coast of the Lleyn Peninsula are lovely but generally just grass-covered, difficult to get foreground interest. The light helped though, as the sun went down, and the sky was good. There was also a full moon, which you can just see in one shot.

Porth Or, Sunrise

Porth Or, Whistling Sands

The strange long run of hot and sunny weather has been making it easy to plan overnight wild camping trips. I chose the seaside this time because the hazy air isn’t so good for mountain views and anyway, I just like the seaside.