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First frost

Today saw the first hard frost of the winter, and a beautful sunny morning in Northumberland National Park. This Christmas card shows the Tarset valley, near Greenhaugh, and a similarly fine frosty day with bright sunshine. The Northumberland Winter range of Christmas cards are supplied in packs of ten cards, and there are over forty designs to choose from.

November

November is a wonderful month, a turning point between the colourful days of autumn and the increasing darkness of winter. This year the autumn seems to have been very long and gradual, with the colours lingering much later than normal, and not too much wind. I always enjoy selecting images for the Seasons of Northumberland calendar every year, and November is an especially rich month for photography, with the a climax of autumn colour occurring in the first week of November and the last week of October in this part of the world. The North Tyne valley in Northumberland National Park has many scattered woodlands with a range of native species such as oak, birch and larch, as well as plantations of conifers. For details of woodlands, soft overcast light is ideal, as this kind of underrated photographic light is perfect for good colour saturation and the recording of detail. This image was made of medium format 6 x 7 cm transparency film in the pre-digital era,  not all that long ago. It shows a beautiful maple tree at Sidwood near Greenhaugh in the Tarset valley, with the glorious colour of maple leaves contrasting with the subdued background of greys and greens. This image appears in the 2016 calendar.

Northumberland National Park

The autumn season this year has been magnificent. A long, sunny spell of weather, followed by some colder days, and not much wind, has kept the leaves on the trees for longer than normal, and the colours seem to have peaked a few days later than average. Northumberland National Park often looks at its best late in the year when the low angled sun catches the gold, yellow and warm brown colours of the hills, and the wooded valleys are filled with autumn colour. This image shows the dazzling colours of a bright November day in the Tarset valley near Greenhaugh and Bellingham.