FOR this month's feature, Kirkbymoorside Camera Club has decided to focus on the work of just one of its members, John Clifton.

John participates in club competitions and shares his knowledge and expertise with other club members.

"When asked I call myself a 'landscape photographer'," said John. "As Joe Cornish would put it, I’m a ‘hard-wired introvert’ - so people photography was never going to work for me.

"Landscape, for me, is solid, dependable, comforting. This may sound like I have chosen a safe option, and I must admit that I feel most at home creatively when out alone, or with my dog, meditating on the visual aspects of our local moorland and woodland landscapes. But this doesn’t mean that I simply capture what is in front of the camera, unmediated.

"Rather, for me, landscape really comes alive when photographer and subject interact to produce an image greater than the sum of its parts - revealing in the process something new about both.

"So while many of my images fit within standard expectations of classic landscape photography - large views, big skies, sweeping vistas - I am increasingly drawn to capture the more intimate, less celebrated details, that are often overlooked.

"I think this is something that only comes with time spent within a particular landscape. When you first visit a place you see the big picture and try to record that first impression.

"As familiarity grows you start to notice the minutiae that make up the whole, and appreciate what might be called the ‘quiet beauty’ in a scene.

"And with this growing perception my style and photographic techniques have also developed. Now I am more aware of the constant motion - landscapes are rarely static. Light changes second by second - both in intensity and colour. And then there is the vision of the photographer - who chose to stand in this one place, at this time of day, using this camera with this particular lens, set to a certain aperture and shutter speed.

"All of these decisions lead to a specific photographic outcome, and that’s all before we have started to edit, and maybe print, the resulting image."

You can see more of John's work at pcphotographic.co.uk, and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Kirkbymoorside and District Camera Club meets on the first and third Thursdays of the month at the Moorside Bar and Club, Shaw Drive, Kirkbymoorside at 7.30pm.

New members of all standards welcome. For details, go to kirkbymoorside-camera-club.co.uk or follow them on Facebook.

1. Hole of Horcum - Autumn Gold

This is probably the most straightforward image here - taken as late afternoon Autumn sun casts long mellow shadows over Low Horcum, emphasising the sinuous shape of this iconic valley on the North York Moors.

2. Twisted - Dundale Griff

Delve further into that marvellously sinuous valley and a wealth of graphic possibilities is revealed. Here a fog bound day left much of our usual walk shrouded in mist, but this just added to the atmosphere in the hidden side valley of Dundale Griff. Trees twist and tangle into contorted shapes within this narrow notch, searching for scarce light. It is a complex challenge to capture photographically, but Autumn mists help to soften and simplify the scene - revealing the dominant structures.

3. Lost Sheep - Dundale Griff

This shot was made on the Moorsview 2017 Photowalk around the Hole of Horcum. I had taken a group of photographers down into Dundale Griff to look for gnarly trees. It is not a deep valley, or in any way a treacherous place. But it is hidden away, rarely visited, and has an atmosphere of stillness and isolation. Our poignant find of a sheep’s carcass emphasised the loneliness of the location.

4. Moorland Blues

This shot was made in the fog of a January afternoon on Spaunton Moor, as the weak winter sun faded to dusk. Conventional distant views were impossibly obscured. But my eye was drawn to the russet remains of star moss, and the way it contrasted with the blue winter light reflected by standing water, coupled with the graphic tracery created by charred stems of heather burned in the previous year.

5. Intricate

I have always been fascinated by the intricate structures of plants, and in particular their seed heads. These are a feature on many of the woodland walks we take through the forestry and woodlands that punctuate the landscape of the North York Moors National Park. This shot was made in Dalby Forest in early Autumn, as the afternoon sun shafted through the tree cover to hi light details on the forest floor like so many theatre ‘follow spots’.

6. Farndale Ice Sculpture

Shot on a January day above Farndale on the North York Moors, when the distant views were monochromed by frost, ice, and the glare of a low sun. Moving in closer a magical world of pattern and colour revealed itself in that most mundane of things - a frozen puddle. As I made the shot, a line from T. S. Elliot’s ‘Little Gidding’ was running through my head:

“When the short day is brightest, with frost and fire,

The brief sun flames the ice, on pond and ditches…”

7. Sparkler

A favourite walk of ours around The Bridestones (preserved by the National Trust within Dalby Forest, North Yorkshire) yields breathtaking views. Below lies the secluded valley of Dovedale, where a tiny beck gently babbles and meanders through a carpet of wild flowers in summer. Here the quiet beauty of nature holds sway, and natural jewels like this dandelion head sparkle in the early morning dew.

8. Fields of Gold

Waving ears of wheat and barley are a feature of much of the lowland landscape of our region in summer. I wanted to capture both the texture of the crop, but also its motion as it swayed in the wind. I used a multiple exposure technique - where the camera blends a series of shots taken in quick succession.

9. Blizzard

This shot was made as snow was swirled around by gusting winds last winter. I wanted to capture the energy of the weather and the movement of both snow and trees. Again I used a multiple exposure technique, but in this case each image was made with a slow shutter speed, and the camera was moved throughout - producing an ‘impressionistic’ result.