In September 2005 my wife and I traveled up to the Lake District for a holiday where we stayed in the small village of Troutbeck for two weeks which is just outside of Windermere. Troutbeck itself is a very small picturesque village consisting largely of one road, a post office and two pubs and is surrounded by mountains and beautiful countryside. The entire Lake District region has, in my opinion, some of the most stunning scenery anywhere in the UK and during our time there I took nearly 1000 photographs in an attempt to capture some of it's beauty.

Photos from my trip are now in my gallery.

Without doubt the Lake District is a must visit location for all photographers and artists as wherever you turn there is something to make you reach for your camera. It's easy to understand why it has inspired so many poets and painters over the years and why, in the autumn months, the Lake District becomes a Mecca for landscape photographers as the unspoiled landscape is rich with colour and the mountains and lakes make for memorable compositions. The Lake District isn't just about landscape photography though as it's also home to a wide range of wildlife much of it rare and endangered. Whilst visiting the waterfalls at Aira Force I spotted a Red Squirrel and later found that there are a number of breeding pairs in the area and that there is a program to protect them by spotting and eliminating any Grey Squirrels that may also be in the area. Also whilst in the area of Aira Force we spotted a very large bird of prey that swooped down over our heads and across to Ullswater. Sadly the bird was too fast to identify it or to grab a photo of it but based purely on it's size I would think it was one of the many breeds of Eagle that live in the Lake District.

It's impossible to say what the best part of The Lake District was but one of favourite locations for us both was Ullswater which is incredibly beautiful and worth the trip alone. Ullswater is, in my opinion the most beautiful of all the great lakes and thankfully doesn't appear to have been spoilt by all the tourists that flock to it each year unlike Lake Windermere. Like all the great lakes you can take a trip on various boats which helps to give you access to beauty spots around the lake that would otherwise require an hour or more hike including one that we took to the village of Pooley Bridge where, if you are lucky, you can spot Kingfishers along the river there as we did. There are two problems with photographing Kingfishers in the wild, 1) They are very fast. 2) They are very small. So, in order to stand any chance of photographing them you need to use your ears as much as your eyes as you can often hear there high pitched call before you see them. Needless to say it is also best to spend time searching for any perches they hint from and then to set-up your camera next to one (using a very long lens so as not to scare them off) and wait.....and wait!

Although this was my first trip to the Lake District it certainly will not be my last.