My fascination with the juxtaposition of light and dark has been enduring.

As a child, I fondly remember those retro, incandescent, warm white bulbs cloaked in multicoloured, paint-dipped, tinted surrounds on a Christmas tree.

As a young man, I would enjoy late evening walks under an umbrella in light rain and gaze into the comforting luminance of an old-style street lamp along a riverside path.

Indeed, my favourite painting by Belgian surrealist artist, René Magritte, is L'Empire des Lumières (The Empire of Lights), which brings together day and night in the same scene.

I should have known where this was all headed.

"We must not fear daylight just because it almost always illuminates a miserable world." - Magritte

My first "proper" camera, a gift from my grandparents, was a Polaroid One 600 Instant Film Camera, which documented everything from family holidays to day trips, birthdays and Christmas.

From technologically humble beginnings (by modern standards), I learnt to slow down and be thoughtful when composing an image. (These were the days when instant, hand-holdable prints came at the cost of second chances without incurring further cost!)

But my love of photography really took off when I made the move from Lancashire to Cumbria. Starting as a Wainwright bagger, wandering up and over the English Lake District fells with my trekking poles, I soon realised that I was setting out with the sole intention of snapping an awesome image that would be thrust in the faces of friends and family. So, I "splashed out" on a 100MP camera...(phone).

Introducing my first DSLR: Nikon D3300 complete with 18-55 kit lens.

A short time later, I upgraded to a Nikon D7200.

Then to a Nikon D500.

I began acquiring lenses as well as other equipment.

Funny how my spirits went up whilst my bank balance went down!

Photography has helped me enormously over the years in terms of my mental health. I believe in the photographic principles of subject, composition, and, most importantly, light! Was it not Dumbledore who professed, "Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light"?

From landscapes to night photography, astro to macro, and, of course, wildlife(!), join me as I "Cast a Light" on the beauty of this captivating corner of the world I inhabit and now call home.