We have done this short walking route in Northumberland National Park once before. The first time, it was in a thick soup like fog. When we set off this time, it was a clear day at home, and by the time we got to the walk it looked something like this:

As a result, my ironic what3words starting point of choice is ///upstarts.foggy.free

Luckily though, for most of the walk visibility was much better than our first attempt on this route. The first time, that hill wouldn’t have been visible, never mind the trees to the right of frame.

This was the first hike after [sort of] a few weeks away from photography. This was in part due family time over the holidays, but also due to going out with the camera from my last entry and needing it to be replaced due to malfunction. This trips led to some nice days out, but no photographs as a result. The camera is under warranty though, and the customer service was nice and swift. I already have the replacement and I am looking forward to hopefully sharing some images with it soon.

As a result though, I probably have less images from this first hike back than I would normally be happy with. Hopefully though it will have blown the cobwebs away and normal service will resume shortly.

One of the first sights on the walk is the stone above. The rock is decorated with prehistoric rock art. This is in the form of cups and rings carved into the surface of the stone. I’m sure on less foggy days there is probably a really nice view behind it as well!

As we walked on towards the hillfort we were greeted by some guests.

If you have read any of my posts before, or follow my instagram page you’ll probably already be aware that I can’t walk past sheep and not take a photograph, that would just be plain rude!

Walking down the hill at the other side of the fort, you follow a path that winds down towards a style. Whilst I’m not normally one for taking photos of trees, this was the best light we’d had on the walk, and they were the only subject around so I stopped to take a snap.

I think one of the things I struggle with when photographing trees, is that sometimes it’s hard to get a tidy composition. Especially in winter when the branches are bare and messy (although bare branches when makes really interesting shapes is a different story).

With the following pair of images, whilst very similar and of the same subject, I liked both for different reasons. I ended up pairing them together. I think I like the vertical more, but I’m not 100% sold.

In both images I like that there is enough mist to provide atmosphere, but not too much that the subject (the barn) becomes obstructed even though its a slight distance away. I think that distance is what makes me lean towards the vertical. Although the barn is a similar size in both images, the composition in the vertical makes it feel more prominent to me in the frame.

One thing that pair of photos starts to demonstrate, and the following three images continue, is my love affair with rural buildings.

In the below image I like that the barn and shed poking out from behind the trees. There is that subtle hint of mist in the background on the hill rising up behind. The lack of foliage on the trees and large frozen puddle in the field show that even though there is no snow, it is firmly a winter scene.

The frozen puddle was cool (pun intended). I’ve cut a large chunk of it off to focus on the barn, but the puddle itself was rather large, almost pond like. You can see to the left of the image what appears to be a section that isn’t frozen, but the water here was sat on top of a layer of ice, rather than marking where there was no ice. I would maybe have liked a stronger foreground, but given that I like the colour pallet and it’s one of my favourite subjects to photograph I can’t really complain.

My last two images (excluding the gallery below) were along a lane from each other, just before you start to ascend back up towards Lordenshaw and Garleigh Hill.

With the first image, much like the barn in the previous image I liked how the building seemed to peer out from behind the trees/bushes. I experimented with a crop quite bit on that second image, the original 2:3 is in the gallery below. I think tightening up the left hand side of the image makes it feel more balanced.

I’m quite proud of myself for this blog entry. I managed to get all the way to the end and finish it without pointing out that my wife fell over in thick mud halfway around the walk and ended up covered in mud from her ankle all the way up to her shoulder! I so wish I got that on camera….

There is a further selection of images below in a gallery format from our walk around the Lordenshaw Loop.

If you would like to see more of my landscape work, moving forward most of the images will be here in blog format, but I will notify of new entries on my Instagram page for landscapes - @photog.righ

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