gazza77

Nice shot. Always helps make a good photo when you have a good vantage point. Wish I'd managed to get some better ones of Cape Town when I was at the top of Table Mountain a couple of years ago.

Not just me wondering then.

A couple of this morning's efforts. _CSC1700 by 77gazza, on Flickr _CSC1695 by 77gazza, on Flickr

And how many times will that have happened?

I dragged myself out of bed at 6am this morning (same time as in the week to be fair!) so that I could head down into town and get a few shots before it got light and too many people were about. There's a couple here, and about another 12 on flickr if anyone wants to browse through the rest and give a bit of feedback. _CSC1544 by 77gazza, on Flickr _CSC1553 by 77gazza, on Flickr

I've seen em stuck a few times round here, steep hills and narrow roads isn't really condusive to vehicles that size. Tractors are often used up on the hillside roads and tracks, but this wasn't that far out of the town centre. I'm sure he'd have got it shifted fairly quickly, but speaking to the driver, I don't think he was being helped by the fact he was loosing compression on the mechanism to operate the plough. It has melted fairly quickly today, but it's still well over a foot deep in places. I can foresee issues later on if it does get really wet and consequently melts quickly, as the ground has never dried out from the summer flooding, so it will all head down the valley pretty quickly.

I went down into Hebden Bridge early this morning to take some photos. We'd had about 4 inches up in the village, but it was fairly clear on the roads down in the valley bottom. The only thing that caused me any issues was having to find an alternate route home because a gritter was stuck halfway up the hill on a bit of road where you can't get past.

it was just starting as I set off home. Interestingly, as I headed over higher ground, the roads were in places covered with snow, even though it hadn't been snowing; it was simply from the wind blowing it from where it's been sat for days on the roadside.

Been looking through a few old ones today whilst doing a bit of electronic filing. This is one for the bikers out there, taken at the TT in 2005 as I watched from the end of Sulby straight. Richard Britten, sadly no longer with us. Richard Britten by 77gazza, on Flickr Hopefully I'll one day be back, with better technique and obviously better equipment than I had back in the day.

Interesting commute for me this morning. My first "will I or won't I" moment was to get off our lane, where there was a drift that was probably a good couple of feet deep. Managed to get through that without any problem. Next was the approx 1 in 5 hill I had to climb to get into the village, which had a covering of about 3 inches or so. Once clear of that, over Cock Hill between Peckett Well & Oxenhope, which was particularly slippery in place, with a decent covering of snow and dense fog not helping. Oxenhope to Steeton was pretty clear. I have to admit, the standard of driving in general didn't seem to bad today. I wasn't tailgated down any snow covered hills, I didn't see any cars that were still covered in snow beyong a pinhole for the driver to peer through and only one car I passed hadn't cleared their headlights of snow, given it was still dark.

Seeing that everything has been white and grey all weekend, I thought I'd try experimenting with B&W. Thoughts? Hebden Water by 77gazza, on Flickr Aire & Calder Navigation Canal by 77gazza, on Flickr River Calder by 77gazza, on Flickr

I've been quite happy with my 2nd car, (Nissan X-Trail with winter tyres on) for the last couple of winters. You just need to remember that gravity has a bigger effect on a heavier car when going downhill, especially in slippery conditions.

That's not a bad idea. Or alternatively, the monthly winners of the photo comp?

Nowt as yet in Keefley.

I have 2 cars, so my MX5 sits in the garage all winter as it gets stuck easily on the track to our house due to the low ground clearance and can be a bit of a handful if you're not giving it 110% concentration, as it has none of these new fangled electronic driver aids. Someone in our village however uses one, which at 13 years old is a similar vintage to mine, all year round and simply fits winter tyres to it. If I only had the one car, that's what I'd be doing: the bit that touches the road is probably more important than which of the axles are driven.

Don't be a wuss. You scared of the 23mph winds?

I remember driving to Birmingham and back a couple of years ago, was -19 when we set off from Pontefract and never got above -11 all day.

Today's efforts. View of home by 77gazza, on Flickr On the way home by 77gazza, on Flickr Oxenhope by 77gazza, on Flickr Can you tell I've not got bored of the new toy yet?

Also had a wonder down to Fairburn Ings on the way to the Wakey v Fev game yesterday. Didn't get to spend that long there, but did get a few shots. Goldfinch by 77gazza, on Flickr Black Headed Gull by 77gazza, on Flickr Goldfinch by 77gazza, on Flickr Roll on a few more nice days at weekends to get out and about.

I just about managed to get home in time to catch a bit of light over the Calder Valley this evening. Heptonstall & Stoodley Pike by 77gazza, on Flickr Calder Valley by 77gazza, on Flickr

You got a job on the side as a private investigator Chris?

There's been some belters on here recently. I've just added a few new ones to my Flickr account, ones that I particularly like for one reason or another that bring back memories or are just some of my favourite shots of the last few years, all taken on a point and shoot of some description before my recent move to a DSLR. This is one of the ones I stumbled upon, a view of the 7 colours earth in Mauritius, which is one of the strangest natural sights I've ever seen. That's the natural colour(s) of the earth there, and they just wash around into different seams when it rains. 7 Colours Earth by 77gazza, on Flickr

I'd possibly be up for that at some point Chris. Got any locations in mind?

Well the wife went for a ride this afternoon, so I took myself up to Redcar Tarn just outside Keighley for an hour, before heading back to meet her at the in-laws just up the road from home. Today's theme therefore is animals. There are a few more I took in addition to these on my Flickr account. Coot by 77gazza, on Flickr Gulls in flight by 77gazza, on Flickr Mallard by 77gazza, on Flickr SIobhan & Comic by 77gazza, on Flickr

Thanks for all the positive feedback people. My issue with the weather when the photo was taken wasn't so much the sky, more the wind and drizzle that meant the reflection was not as clear as it could have been. Photos of the mill do look good with a vivid sky, however they'd need to be with a wider angle lens than I was using, or be from further away to capture more of it. It's a very popular subject to photograph, so there are lots of photos and paintings of it on display in pubs, cafes, shops, etc. I've plenty to compare against.