Photo 1/25

Mother and Child
Northern sheep need to be hardy - especially if they live in Tideswell, 1100 feet up. On the Buxton plateau, farmers long ago built stone walled shelters where their sheep could huddle in snow storms. Nobody can guarantee when snow will or won't fall, even in June.

@ Mother and Child
Archie begins his photographic tour of Northern Light: Creatures.

Photo 2/25

Natural Framing
Ostensibly this picture is some cows in a field. But the tree trunk, branches and stone wall frame three sides. 'Natural framing' makes simple pictures look grand.

@ Natural Framing

White Daisy Egg
My pets are in awe of these beautiful eggs—they would love to try to paint their own one year. Easter and spring are times of joy as the earth awakens, plants are pushing forth from the soil, and the days are becoming warmer. Many baby animals are born in the spring, and life is burgeoning. May these eggs bring you joy and be a reminder of the earth renewing itself.

Photo 3/25

Peter Rabbit's Friends and Relations
At Hill Top, Beatrix Potter's former home, only a wire fence stands between visitors and rabbits at play. They completely ignore humans, because they know they are safe. There is no better place to watch the descendants of Peter Rabbit at play.

@ Peter Rabbit's Friends and Relations
David’s parents tried to have a child for seven years, then gave up and left the matter to God. David arrived shortly afterwards. They chose his name from the bible to give thanks for being given a son.

Photo 4/25

Heilan Coo
I don't know when or why these cattle were introduced to Derbyshire, but it certainly has highlands! I think it can not have been before 1990. They wander around the hillsides without hindrance. I cannot imagine they are being milked; farmers would have to travel miles just to round them up for milking. But because of their thick shaggy coats they do not need a layer of fat to keep them warm in winter, and thus their beef is very lean.

@ Heilan Coo
David invented the 'gap year' by forgetting to fill out his forms for university. Instead, he spent the year cycling about ten thousand miles.

Photo 5/25

Thinking Backwards
In summer, honey bees and other flying insects are on and off a flower as fast as they can. If you want a great shot on an exotic flower, you cannot chase the insect; focus is critical and you will never get the shot right in time.

Instead, wait by the flower you want an insect to land on; get the focus right, stand as still as you can, and wait for the right insect to come to you. The best place to go is a garden centre or public park, where the right kind of flowers are all around. This bee landed on a flower in Sheffield Botanical Gardens.

@ Thinking Backwards
As a small boy, David read Winston Churchill's account of the Second World War, and concluded if you want anything done, ask an American.

Photo 6/25

Pollen All Over
I love to do extreme macro work. For this you need a specialist macro lens, or extension rings, or both. I usually use both. A ring flash ensures enough light and thus enough depth of focus. If I can count the grains of pollen, I have got the shot right. Macro work is 90% equipment and the technique to use it properly.

@ Pollen All Over
David's favourite book is "The Silmarillion" by JRR Tolkien. He says you have to get past the first third, then it makes LOTR look unimaginative by comparison.

Photo 7/25

Roaming Wild
I found these horses near Elton, which is close to the middle of nowhere, but not quite the bullseye. All around are tumbled dry stone walls and derelict agricultural buildings.

The only things you can make money out of as a farmer up high are wild flowers. Government subsidies are assigned by bureaucrats with no idea about farming, and the way of life up in the hills depends entirely on what they decide.

When horses can wander onto the road, they are wild. Whether they once had a home, I have no idea; but nobody has the money to mend the walls unless the government decides they make the countryside more picturesque.

@ Roaming Wild
David's favourite TV programme ever was Top Gear (British version). The cars have almost nothing to do with that. His favourite movies are the "Pink Panther" series. He drives Lisa wild by laughing his head off at the same old jokes over and over again.

Photo 8/25

Tropical Butterfly
The Tropical Butterfly House at (of all places!) Doncaster gives you the chance to see and photograph exotic insects which could never survive in the British climate. The climate inside the butterfly house is so much warmer and wetter than the world outside, it took twenty minutes for condensation to quit forming on my camera lenses (and spectacles!) But the wait is well worth it.

@ Tropical Butterfly
David cannot swim. He cut his knee just before taking lessons, and ended up with a condition that nearly killed him. He never went back to a swimming bath after that.

Photo 9/25

Middleton of Nowhere
I said Elton was not the bullseye. Middleton, Derbyshire, is well named. It is the middle, the very centre of nowhere. The only inhabitants I saw in the village were this cat and a few chickens. I would love to retire there.

@ Middleton of Nowhere
David once cycled 120 miles in a day (a lot of it over 1000 feet up) and was barely able to stand when he got home. He thought he had only ridden about 80 miles and must be ill! Next day he worked out how far he had ridden and everything became clear.

Photo 10/25

Snowdonia Pony
Grazing on the undulating lowlands of Anglesey in front of the mountains of Snowdonia, this Welsh pony was probably the first animal of any kind which gave me the impression it wanted to be photographed. It posed more like a human than a horse. Once I had taken a photo it got on with grazing. I prefer the natural shot to the posed one!

@ Snowdonia Pony
David hates London and most other English cities. The only city he has ever been happy in is Sheffield, where he was at university.

Photo 11/25

Vivid Dragonfly
I have often seen dragonflies in pastel shades. This just doesn't happen in the Lathkill Valley. Maybe they have all the minerals it takes to be so colourful here? I don't know. But for once the sun was out by the little pool at Monyash, and I caught this one lazing on a rock.

@ Vivid Dragonfly
David's math lecturers at college were Joe Cerkeliunas and Richard Wyszecki. He was so good at Richard's class he used to say "Wyszecki's homework is easier done than said".

Photo 12/25

The Compleat River
In later editions of "The Compleat Angler" (first published in 1653), Izaak Walton's young friend Charles Cotton described the "Lathkin" as "the purest and most transparent stream that I ever yet saw … and breeds, it is said, the reddest and the best trouts in England."

However the river often disappears into mines delved beneath it when there is little rain. Then the trout are stunned by electric shocks and transported downstream by dedicated conservationists. If that happens anywhere else in the world but here, I will be amazed.

@ The Compleat River
David cannot swim. He cut his knee just before taking lessons, and ended up with a condition that nearly killed him. He never went back to a swimming bath after that.

Photo 13/25

It's an Upside-down World
Ladybirds, or lady bugs as they are known in the USA, are the gardener's friend, because they eat aphids. They can eat as many as fifty a day! My father taught me never to kill one. If you can't find one on top of a leaf during summer, try looking underneath it.

@ It's an Upside-down World
David did not cycle until he was 16. At college he got a bike to save on the bus fares and then spent all the money improving his bicycle.

Photo 14/25

Ravenous Caterpillar
If it's ragwort for dinner, then this must be the caterpillar of the cinnabar moth. Anyone can get a picture of a caterpillar. But why not try to see the world from its point of view?

I like to show them with a sense of purpose, going somewhere or doing something, not just being looked at from far above. Their lives are filled with purpose. Eat!

@ Ravenous Caterpillar
David invented the 'gap year' by forgetting to fill out his forms for university. Instead, he spent the year cycling about ten thousand miles.

Photo 15/25

Cat's Eye
Taking a picture of a cat's eye is easy with macro gear. But it is almost impossible to do so from the front without getting a reflection. Ring flashes can be dialled down to very low intensities - this ginger tom was not the least bit bothered when I shot this picture with a ring flash.

@ Cat's Eye
Oh look ... you won a little pet!

Photo 16/25

Carsington Fly
I went out for the day to Carsington Water, a manmade reservoir that takes water from the rivers in winter and gives it back in summer. There are plenty of things to do there, but as usual the sky went iron grey as soon as I got near to it. So following my own advice, I looked for insects. Just look at the colours in those wings in an enlarged version of this picture! When you meet the very small on its own terms, there is so much to see.

@ Carsington Fly
David gave up chess after nearly losing a game and then forcing his opponent to choose between stalemate and perpetual check. Though this was only a draw, he considered this far more of an achievement than winning. So he quit to save time playing long games. Unfortunately, he then found lots of worse ways to waste his time instead.

Photo 17/25

Water Dog
There are so many breeds of dog, I cannot keep track! I think this one is an English Setter. It was playing in and around the River Bradford with its owner.

@ Water Dog
As a small boy, David read Winston Churchill's account of the Second World War, and concluded if you want anything done, ask an American.

Photo 18/25

Doncaster Meerkat
The Doncaster Butterfly House is home to far more than butterflies. For meerkats, community is everything. This one appears to be making political judgments about who it should suck up to and whose beetles it can get away with stealing. They are very expressive creatures, and a lot of fun to watch.

@ Doncaster Meerkat
David came from a family with an endless supply of aunts and very few uncles. Two of the few uncles he had were called Granville. This made life quite confusing for him on occasions.

Photo 19/25

Border Collie
I have a deep affection for this breed. They want a lot of exercise, but are very entertaining. My father owned one; it would be tied up on a rope so it could go inside the barn or lie outside. When there was rain, it invariably stayed outside because it could.

This one was playing in the River Bradford, and I got the camera set to a fast shutter speed ready for the inevitable shake!

@ Border Collie
David has been living by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ since 1990. This has meant something entirely new almost every five years or so. In that whole period he has never had a job for anyone else and has often had no idea where the money was coming from. If he had not trusted the Lord to provide, PnF would never have existed. After 33 years he still doesn't know what happens next, but for all 33 years, the Lord has provided him with what he needs.

Photo 20/25

Bull in the Sun
What a magnificent coat this bull has. The rare sun has picked out so many subtle shades.

My aunt kept cattle. My cousin showed me how to bring an entire herd in for milking with little effort. You need to know which is the 'boss cow', get her attention, and she knows what comes next. She starts moving and the rest of the herd follow her.

@ Bull in the Sun
David would like a model railway, but in 63 years he has never had one of his own that worked.

Photo 21/25

Bradgate Stag
One of the first brick built mansions in England, Bradgate Park was once the home of the De Grey family. They are best known for Lady Jane Grey, the nine day Queen, unwilling centre of a plot to prevent Queen Mary from taking the throne.

Bradgate Park is now preserved forever as a gift to the city of Leicester. It is a deer park where you can encounter red deer and fallow deer. The fallow deer are a gentle lot which like the woods. The red deer have a very strong sense of territory. If one of them gets up and looks at you, you go round it. After taking a picture, perhaps.

How big are they? I once walked out of the toilet block and nearly walked clean underneath one.

@ Bradgate Stag
David does not like modern programming languages. He thinks C, JavaScript and all their derivatives are an abomination, but unfortunately you can't get things done without JavaScript on the web.

Photo 22/25

Fish Flash
The River Wye at Bakewell runs fast and furious under the bridge. As a result it is very hard to see the large fish which swim beneath. But for the duration of a flash, a ten thousandth of a second, the water is almost perfectly still. Then the camera can see right through it, and all is revealed. You will need a powerful flash to get a result like this; not the midget mounted on your camera by the makers.

@ Fish Flash
David ran away from home on his tricycle aged three, because his mother had snapped at him. He went straight to his grandmother's shop a mile away and announced his mother did not love him anymore. His grandmother made him a nice cup of tea and rang his mother. Everything was settled without fuss or further consequences inside an hour.

Photo 23/25

Might is Right
I have followed wild red deer round swamps and into them. After trying long enough, you realise it would be better to go to a deer park and watch them where they do not run away.

Once you do, you will be doing the running. This stag and many others could look down at me with their neck raised. When they get to their feet and hold their ground, you go where they want you to, not vice versa. But when they are solely concerned with one another, you can take all the shots you want.

@ Might is Right
David would like a model railway, but in 63 years he has never had one of his own that worked.

Photo 24/25

Winner Takes All
Even more interested in the stags than the cameraman, the rest of the herd watches inter-stag conflicts attentively. Who wins, rules. Who rules, breeds.

@ Winner Takes All
David was so good at early video games that students formed a queue just to watch him. David developed a sly habit of sticking his elbows out at unexpected moments to make them keep out of his field of view.

Photo 25/25

Pole Dancer
Times were hard. I struggled over whether to buy a second hand macro lens on the internet. When it arrived, I thanked the Lord for it. That night, this strange beauty flew in through my barely open window. She then settled down for an hour, just twiddling with her feelers.

Those little balls are a sixth of an inch apart. I have never seen anything like her before or since.

@ Pole Dancer
Archie has now completed his viewing of Northern Light: Creatures. As he prepares to go home, he receives a wonderful gift!

Archie has enjoyed his photographic tour of Northern Light: Creatures, but it is time to go home now! Please select another pet as visitor, so it can also enjoy a photographic tour of "Northern Light!"