Outdoor Portraits in Cheshire

It's been a great a start to the year for outdoor lifetstyle portraits. Even though we've had a cold winter, February and March have been mostly dry and bright. Perfect!

Here is a small selection of images from recent outdoor portrait shoots in Cheadle and Whaley Bridge.....

T-shirts....in February!

A Walk Around Mellor

For the past twenty years or so I've been going on a monthly walk with a small group of friends. We take it in turns to organise the walk, which is usually somewhere in Wales, the Peak District, the Lakes or the Yorkshire Dales. For the March walk we decided to do something much closer to home, on the east side of Stockport, and were blessed with a fantastic day. Today was all about fresh air, beautiful colours, warm Spring sunshine and, especially, strong light and crisp shadows. The variety of shots I managed today (all on my Canon G9 compact) was amazing. Here's hoping for more kind weather and beautiful light for the photo-rambles I'll be organizing later in the year.

The striking simplicity of this majestic old tree against the March sky.....

Beautiful colours and shadows in Mellor churchyard....

Playing with shadows at Cobden Cross....

Totally unstaged, a couple of locals enjoying the Spring sunshine outside the pub....

One of the many railway tunnels on the route....

Probably my favourite image from the day. Beautifully subtle colours in this detail from an old wooden railway truck being used for storage on a farm near to Roman Lakes.... As the sun sinks slowly in the west.....

Glorious low evening sunlight on this farmyard....

A classic sunset image to finish....

An Easter Break

Janet and I have had a very pleasant and relaxing Easter break. The weekend kicked off with a visit to our god-daughter Sarah. As you know, Sarah has more than her fair share of problems and a recent virus hasn't helped. She still manages to cheer everyone up with her gummy smile though, and is doing well. She has a major heart op coming soon - no one has told her yet!

Then followed a couple of days staying with our friends Jo and Martyn Pearson and their boys in St Annes on the Fylde. After a wet and windy day on Friday we were blessed with a beautiful morning on Saturday, perfect for a walk down the dunes towards Lytham. The combination of dunes and cloud was a photographer's dream, captured here on my trusty Canon G9.

Back at home for Sunday, an Easter day roast with friends and family was followed by a catch-up day on Monday, nicely rounding off a very 'chilled out' break.