Favourite Image – My Lightroom Library comprises over 44,000 photos, so picking just one is pretty arbitrary. 

I guess one that does stand out is a shot taken many years ago tramping the hills of the Northern Highlands in Scotland.  The day had been one of sunshine and showers, which is not the best for hill walking, but can give dramatic lighting for photography.  It had been a long day, slowed down by constantly putting the camera bagdown to take yet another photo, and I was on my way down from my last Munro summit of the day, resolving to keep moving.  It was already 6.30pm, would be 2 hours further back to the car, and then an hour plus drive to my tent.  It was also raining hard.  However, on breasting a small rise, still 800m up, there was a sudden view of a rainbow, arching over a small mountain lochan.  The camera had to come out.

When I came to process it, I was initially disappointed.  All seemed very bland and lacking in impact.  However, with some judicial selective editing in Lightroom, I managed to make the sky as dark and moody as I remember, and to bring out the warm low-angled sunlight on the bottom of the corrie.

What made this image one to remember was that in my first year as a member of Devizes Camera Club, it won the Annual Landscape PI competition, and I heard other members mutter as we left ‘who’s Dave Gray’.  In those days, the trophies were not handed out until the AGM, so on the night, I hadn’t been called to the front to receive a trophy.  Winning the competition gave me the confidence to start the Landscape Group, which ran very successfully for over 10 years, until Covid disrupted the field trips and people lost interest.

Camera Equipment – Canon 5DMk4 (succeeding the Mk3 and Mk2)

Favourite Subjects – Landscapes, especially when I’m out walking in upland Britain.  I do sometimes plan where to go based on sunrise times, tide times etc, and then go fully equipped with tripod, but I’m often happiest just relying on serendipity, seeing photo opportunities as I go.  If I encounter any Nature, such as birds, insects, flowers, fungi, that’s a bonus. 

Indispensable Item – I always have a large bin liner in my camera bag, so I can kneel down to take a shot without getting a wet knee.

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