Taking it to the edge

Based in the Peak District, landscape photographer Andy Gray has some of the UK's best views on his doorstep. Niall Hampton tags along for a guided tor

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Spanning a large part of Derbyshire, the Peak District National Park was the first national park to be established in the UK, in 1951.

Home to moors, peaks and valleys, it offers a veritable galaxy of opportunities for landscape photographers - just see how popular the Instagram tag #peakdistrict is. It has been a couple of years since Digital Camera last visited the Peak District, with a reader shootout at Winnats Pass and Mam Tor (issue 258), so when the opportunity arose to explore some different locations within the national park with a local photographer, we had our camera kit packed in less time than it would take to pull on a pair of hiking socks.

Andy Gray has lived in the area for 20 years and spends a lot of time in the landscapes near his home capturing images. His style leans towards fine art rather than straight 'record' shots, and he sells prints through his website. Last year, his work was given some major recognition, as he was the runner-up in Weather Photographer of the Year 2024 (for the full story about the photo, see issue 289's Shot of the Month). But this wasn't the first time Gray had won a photography prize.

In 2021, he was runner-up in the Your View category of Landscape Photographer of the Year, for a photo of woodland in the snow.

And woodland is going to be one of the subjects for this morning's shoot, as well as valleys - another of Gray's specialities.

Meeting just after sunrise, we make our way to Curbar Edge, the vantage point from where Gray captured his 'Hoarfrost Heaven' shot.