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My name is Barry Wakelin, I am 37, Technical Director for an IT company and live in Hampshire, England. My interest in the landscape and in particular that of The English Lake District goes back over many years but it has only been since late 2002 that I have been honing my landscape photography skills.

I bought a Fuji S2 Pro digital SLR camera, ostensibly for astrophotography but soon realised the camera's potential as a superb photography tool. I simply adore the facility to review one's work immediately after taking a photograph. The ability to read a histogram means there is far less chance of a failed shot in difficult lighting conditions and that colours are likely to be far closer to those one might expect to achieve.

My initial efforts at landscape photography were disappointing and it took much research in magazines and, in particular, through Joe Cornish's amazing 'First Light', a book that for me re-defines what is possible in landscape photography without straying into the vulgarities of image manipulation. I believe that landscape photography is all about capturing exceptional light and the moment, often fleeting, and that digital manipulation should be kept to a minimum. With this in mind I use my digital tools to adjust levels, sharpen the image and, if required, to apply the equivalent of a warm-up filter since I don't use a physical warm-up as this is too hit and miss. Talking of physical filters, I use neutral density graduated filters to balance light and dark where necessary and I often employ a circular polariser on the basis that both of these filters do important things that are difficult or impossible to replicate in software.

The greatest compliment that I ever receive is when people say something like 'some people are so lucky to have just the right light' or 'some people are so lucky, they always seem to know how to frame a shot'. Of course although there is an element of luck when it comes to lighting, there's also a lot of planning or waiting and, perhaps most importantly, of seeing. Many people do not see the landscape unless it is presented to them in photographs. They will walk right past an incredible detail or beautifully lit view and then take a picture of a bland hillside in flat light.

I hope you enjoy looking at my landscape images and please feel free to e-mail your comments.