First post on this blog for almost a year. It's fair to say we've been busy, as in the intervening period we made a long-planned house move to Ilkley, I started back at University part-time, and Elodie, our now-nine month old baby girl joined the family in October.

As far as photography is concerned, I've not stopped taking pictures, but the subjects tend to be family stuff which I don't tend to feature much of here. That's why a rare trip out today has given me a good excuse to post some images.

Brimham Rocks, North Yorkshire - Canon 5D Mark II - 24-105mm L

Today's destination was Brimham Rocks, a Natural Trust operated site in Nidderdale, near Harrogate. The drive there in good conditions was nothing short of spectacular at times, with the Washburn Valley particularly wonderful. Gone are the days however, where I can insist we stop the car to take a photo (our kids are like the bomb on the bus in the 90's film thriller 'Speed')

It's fair to say, the weather was changeable. No rain, but cloud cover was thick at times, with the sun only breaking through sporadically. This doesn't make for brilliant landscapes in this case as the lack of 'good light' led to fairly flat scenes. I'm probably guilty of over processing these images as a result, but hey ho.

Brimham Rocks, North Yorkshire - Canon 5D MK II - 24-105mm L

The rock formations at Brimham are fantastic, uncanny and often appear to be defying the laws of physics. The rocks themselves are made of Gritstone, a type of sandstone very common in Yorkshire.

As a place to visit, Brimham has got to be one of the best places for a young family to go. Not too expensive, good facilities for picnics, lots of space for kids to run around, and of course, rocks to climb!

Brimham Rocks, North Yorkshire - Canon 5D MK2 - 24-105mm L

From a purely photo perspective, I'd like to come back early morning or late evening with some low sun and raking light. The textures that that sort of lighting reveal would bring the best out of the final image.

So, I've got this Tumblr that I've been updating since the turn of the year. I bought myself a new camera in December (a Fujifilm XE-1) and set about with high intentions to photograph something new and upload it every day. This soon turned into a general commitment to uploading 'something' every day. Simply speaking, I didn't have the time or opportunity to get out there and get something new EVERYDAY. It's just not practical.

There are a few rules that exist with the blog and points that have developed as I've gone, now roughly 1/3 into the project. These being -

I decided to stick to a 5x4 crop throughout. I often use this crop and it's a favourite, though Duncan's 16x9 landscapes are something I intend to explore at some point
Editing has been almost exclusively done on the fly via iPad. Using the Apple Camera connection kit, I can plug my camera directly to the iPad and use the excellent selection of editing apps to get the photos looking as I'd like. Even if I'm shooting in RAW.
While they aren't strictly chronologically true, I try not to have anything too jarring. Things like snow shots when it's clear and sunny out are a no-no

All said, it's been a fun project so far and, most importantly, it has got me out and about with my camera. It goes everywhere with me now - a clear result of having something smaller and lighter than my SLR.