For Daniel.........?

I headed over to Shropshire today, dropping my wife of at friends for a late birthday get together.  I wanted to pop over to Church Stretton to an outdoor store to check out some Paramo jackets.  Unfortunately, despite my appreciation of their clothing, it isn't easy to see them in the flesh in our area.  I've learnt that sizing is difficult, with wide variation between the different styles.  

The store owner was really helpful, explaining the reason for the variation and it is dependent on the type of use (e.g. climbing, walking, trekking, etc) and the expected body type (I'm not a climber's physique as I carry too much timber!).  Unfortunately, he didn't have the style I wanted in stock so another visit will be needed.  We got chatting when he realised I was looking for a Halcon jacket, which is very useful for landscape photographers.  He is also a photographer only taking it seriously in the last 18 months.  After looking at some of his images from the local area, all I can say is that I was impressed.

On the way back I took a short detour up Hope Bowdler Hill.  This kissing gate is just below the Gaer Stone and is etched with the words 'For Daniel' although a quick search of the internet was unable to shed any more light on who Daniel was.

Technical: A very bright and contrasty day.  I was shooting slightly into the sun which only amplified the contrast.  I used a 2 stop hard neutral density grad to control the sky's exposure.  Quickly processed with basic sliders before converting to black and white in Silver Efex Pro.