Michael Hilton

I have only just got round to looking at some pictures from last autumn in Cholmondeley’s gardens.  It was a chilly and grey day but the light suited the subjects perfectly.  Plants at the end of their lives or just shutting down for the winter.

The weather was a bit too cloudy around sunset on the solstice but it did clear just long enough for the moon to make a hazy appearance next to Beeston Castle in Cheshire.  Peckforton Castle also makes an appearance in this photo, just visible on the skyline towards the right.

This is late evening at Ploumanac’h on the coast of Brittany.  It has more interesting and colourful boulders than anywhere I’ve seen.  In fact there are so many that it can be difficult too get yourself to anywhere off the official pathways.  The lighthouse, made of the same local rose granite as the rocks, is a bonus.  The view in this panorama is about 180 degrees across.

I’m not a mountaineer so it was unusual for me to be at the top of a high mountain for sunrise, and fortunately the sun did make an appearance amongst the clouds above and below my position. This picture is exactly as it was recorded; no cropping or adjustments in Photoshop.  The picture was made from the Pic du Midi de Bigorre in the French Pyrenees.

Sometimes one doesn’t have the option of using a tripod, selecting the exact point of view, or even choosing the right exposure.  This was taken through a train window as it travelled across Rannoch Moor one evening.

The dirt on the train window somehow didn’t get in the way.  I used my compact camera on programme mode; every possible scene was past in a flash, time only to press the shutter and hope.  Most of the others were failures but this photograph worked.

Moral: take the picture whatever the problems.

This is a view from the top of a mountain where I am above even the circling vultures!

I keep reading that bad weather makes great pictures; it’s true up to a point but the scene above looked very boring until the sun struggled out and lit up the rainstorm.  It only lasted for a minute so it’s fortunate I was in the right place with the camera ready to go.

This is the result of a quick wander around out local allotments, which like many others are under threat by developers. I’d rather enjoy this than see more tarmac and bricks.

A post-sunset picture taken on an iPhone – it looks quite nice and it was easy to make this 180 degree panorama; but it is oh so very grainy.

The Christmas snow hasn’t all melted and gives the local fields an icing-like sprinkle of white as the sun rises.  Quite a late sunrise at this time of year so it’s not too hard to be out to see it!