Sometimes it's nice to know a bit more....

Me:
Joan Thirlaway – mature in years, not yet a pensioner but on that slope of life.
Married with an indoor cat, Trouble and an outdoors foster cat, Rascal.
Living in Gilsland, a Hadrian’s Wall village with heart, that divides itself between two counties, Northumberland & Cumbria.
A really great place to live :)
A really great base for a holiday ;)
If you do come, be prepared to buy a raffle ticket – as one finishes, another begins (or so it seems).

Gear:
Nikon D300 & D200 camera – I love Nikon!
Nikkor 18-70mm kit lens – my favourite landscape lens.
I now also have the Nikkor 17-55mm f2.8 and as I suspected it's too heavy for my weak wrists. Make me an offer :)
Nikkor 70-180mm micro lens – a beast of a lens but most of my macro work is done at home so it doesn’t go far.
Lee neutral density (ND) graduated filters – soft version – expensive but worth every penny IMHO.
Velbon CF tripod with a Velbon tripod head – easy to carry so it’s always with me and I always use it!
Also use the camera’s mirror up setting and a remote release – as it’s normally blowing a gale up on Hadrian’s Wall I need all the help I can get.
2gb CF cards which give me 123 Raw images.
Whistle – just in case – mobile phone reception here is patchy at best.

Not too much equipment and if I carry the camera I can get the filters into a Kata pack that slings across my chest.


Software:
Photoshop Elements 6.
Useless at Photoshop so I try to get it as right as I can in the picture taking stage.

Images:
Most of the images on my website are for sale as limited edition art canvas or prints.
Edition size is 150.

Photographs are professionally printed on Fuji paper with inks that should last 180 years.
Sizes quoted are the photograph unmounted.
Art Canvas prints are on xativia art canvas, lustre laminated, framed and ready to hang.
Inks are guaranteed for 200 years.

Postage is charged at cost. As an example a 36" canvas print will be £8 for courier service.

Calendars:
Hand made using 250gsm card and an inkjet printer.
I considered having them professionally printed but I like the flexibility of being able to offer customised calendars.

Greetings Cards:
My hand made cards are stocked by:

Gilsland Post Office
House of Meg Tea Room – Gilsland
Willowford Farm B&B
Olde Forge Tea Room – Greenhead
Walltown Café - Walltown
Water Tower Café – Haltwhistle Station
Hexham Tourist Information Centre
Brampton Tourist Information Centre
Saughy Rigg Farm B&B.
The National Parks information Centre at Once Brewed.
The Old Repeater Station.

I support the Gilsland Air Ambulance Collection Fund – which helps keep the ‘Pride of Cumbria’ Air Ambulance flying.