As soon as the snow comes, we're limited by how far we can travel, so we headed to Cawthorne Woods, just 4 miles from home.

Our first visit saw us exploring the outer reaches of the Cawthorne woods, and there on the hill was the perfect pear-shaped tree, just crying out to be photographed. The next problem was finding some foreground interest. I found the remains of some thistles sticking out of the snow and tried to compose an image, but it wasn't the simple image I was looking for; it was too scruffy, so I decided to go back the following day and have another go.

It was snowing hard that day, and while I did find the grasses I was looking for, the horizontal snow meant I couldn't keep my lens dry long enough to make an image, so I was going to have to come back yet again another day. We were busy on the morning of the third day, and the weather was due to clear in the afternoon, so I was keen to get out straight after lunch.

I needed a grey, overcast sky for the image I had in mind, and the sky was clearing rapidly, so I had to work fast. I found my patch of grasses, then being careful not to trample in the snow, I set up and just managed to capture the tree before the overcast sky gave way to a sunny blue sky. Finally, I had the image I'd visualised all along, so I was able to go home happy.