RICHARD COOPER

Since buying his first SLR camera in 2005, Richard had well and truly been bitten by the photography bug and fortunate to live close to the Peak District, with its huge range of photographic opportunities. Richard now stages a number of exhibitions each year, and takes part in shows and events throughout Derbyshire, alongside offering tuition to budding landscape photographers.

The aspiration of Richard's photography is to illustrate the diversity of the landscape within the Peak, and also the changing face of the area throughout the seasons. Through his photographs, Richard hopes to capture the true essence of the Peak.

"For me the real character of the region is revealed not on sunny summer’s days, but in far more challenging conditions. For every blue sky sighted in the Park, there are countless bleak, dramatic, and windswept vistas which I find to be far more representative of the “real” Peak District. The photographs shown on this page are the product of many hours spent exploring the countryside, and visiting and revisiting these locations at different times of the day and the year to capture the Park in its best and most appropriate light."

As a landscape photographer nature provides us with all the ingredients we need to make beautiful images. However, more often than not all of these ingredients do not “come together” to form a whole. Occasionally though, the landscape, quality and direction of light can combine to create breathtaking moments which I feel privileged to be witness to. My aim is simple - to record these moments of beauty as faithfully as possible.