Search results for ""Author Jon Sparks""

In "Hike and Bike Bowland" Jon Sparks will show you around. On his well chosen 24 walks, 7 road bike and 4 mountain bike rides he will take you to places high and low, by river, through woods and onto the tops. In these fine landscapes you can lean back on a warm rock and listen to the call of the curlew or amble through meadows glowing with buttercups or, for those of you with a zest for something more daring, take a white-knuckle ride on the rocky mountain bike trails of Gisburn Forest. There's even a long distance route, which can be broken up into six linear walks, with good transport links making it straightforward to tackle them individually. The author provides fascinating background information on flora and fauna, history, legend and literature. The book is sumptuously illustrated with the author's photographs and simple but clear full-colour mapping. Award winning photographer and writer Jon Sparks founded his career on photographing Lancashire and the Lake District. Today his library encompasses images from five continents, with specialist coverage of the Scottish Islands, Finland, and major Baltic destinations. He has written many highly successful guidebooks for walkers, climbers and cyclists, an acclaimed book on outdoor photography, and travel guides to Finland and to the Baltic. He writes regularly on photography and is responsible for an ongoing series of Nikon camera guides. Jon's high photographic ability turns "Hike and Bike Bowland" into a splendid celebration of the Forest of Bowland's extreme beauty and, being a local (Jon lives in Garstang), he has the experience to show his readers all the best routes to the best places. Although it is a guidebook, "Hike and Bike Bowland's" high quality printing and illustrations will make this desirable winter fireside reading and a popular gift.

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An easy-to-use pocket-book format, Off-Road Rides gives a series of expertly chosen cycle routes, featuring delightful tracks and trails in and around the Lake District National Park. With Ordnance Survey mapping, clear route directions and professional photography throughout, this little guide book presents some of the most enjoyable riding in the district, suitable for a wide range of riders (and bikes!). Featured rides include: Askham Fell and Ullswater; Blawith and Subberthwaite Common; The Cartmel Valley; Coniston and Tilberthwaite; Crosby Ravensworth Fell; Lorton and Loweswater; A Loughrigg Circuit; Staveley and Kentmere; The Secret South; Windermere and Hawkshead.

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The 265 mile (425km) Lancashire Cycleway showcases the idyllic scenery of England's historic Red Rose County. Comprising of two distinct loops that intersect at Whalley in the Ribble Valley, the Northern Loop contrasts the quiet lanes and peaceful countryside of northwestern Lancashire with the thrill of the open moors of the Forest of Bowland AONB; the Southern weaves its way between the villages and towns in the south of the county, an area rich in social history. Easily accessible from the region's rail network, the route - which is all on-road - can be cycled either as a tour or a series of day rides. This guidebook presents the Lancashire Cycleway in 11 stages of 16.5 - 30.9 miles (26.6 - 49.7km), plus two short connections to link the loops to the major regional stations at Lancaster and Wigan, as well as 17 varied day rides for those wishing to explore the county further. Detailed route description and 1:200,000 mapping is presented alongside a wealth of information on local points of interest and facilities, and the magnificent colour photography offers a small taste of what the routes have to offer. The guide also includes useful advice for those new to cycling or cycle touring.

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Nikon's D5500 DSLR is an update to the popular D5300, featuring a touch-sensitive rear LCD screen and improved ergonomics. In almost every other respect, it's a compact, lightweight 24MP entry-level DSLR similar to its predecessor. This is a comprehensive step-by-step guide to the Nikon D5500 that includes a pull-out reference card. Author Jon Sparks provides practical tips on how to get the best from this versatile camera.

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This is the updated 2nd edition, now in full colour. "Scrambles & Easy Climbs in the Lake District" is about the appreciation of rock, the exhilaration of climbing, and the sheer pleasure of doing it in some of the most beautiful places on earth. By discarding the arbitrary division between scrambles and rock-climbs, the books makes its readers free to explore all the Lake District's rocky places. This book, by two experienced rock-climbers, Jon Sparks and Judith Brown, also offers sound advice on how to get started and how to progress; routes that are safe in the wet, and those that should be saved for perfect conditions; and, where to eat, drink and sleep between the ascents. But above all you'll find 69 routes, from scrambling Grade 1 to rock-climbing V.Diff, which explore the many faces of Lakeland rock. There is no better way to spend a Lakeland day than climbing Scafell Pike via the Esk Gorge, Thor's Buttress and Ill Crags. "Scrambles & Easy Climbs" offers a score of such expeditions, from valley floor to airy summit, with hands on rock almost all the way. Less arduous, but equally enjoyable, are days on valley crags like Shepherd's or stand-alone scrambles like Cam Crag Ridge. You can clamber on sunny Pikes Crag high above Wasdale Head; potter about above the oak woods of the Duddon valley; or climb Kirk Fell the wet way, through the waterfalls of Ill Gill.

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Photography and the outdoors could have been made for each other. This book is about making the most of that connection. Outdoor enthusiasts who want their photographs to do full justice to the quality of their outdoor experiences need look no further. Building on the foundations of the original Cicerone guide to outdoor photography, this second edition has been rewritten from the ground up, and expanded to cover a wide range of outdoor activities on land, in and on the water, in the air and in extreme environments. Professional outdoor photographers Jon Sparks and Chiz Dakin introduce and explain essential technical concepts in the clearest possible language. The emphasis is on practical, realistic advice for people who want to take better photographs of what they like doing best, while still enjoying it to the max.

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This book is intended for entry-level digital SLR users. It is a comprehensive step-by-step guide that includes a pullout quick reference card. UK author Jon Sparks provides practical tips on how to get the best from this versatile camera. The D3300 is Nikon's latest entry-level DSLR. It is designed to marry the versatility and image quality of an SLR with the simplicity and ease of handling of the best digital compacts. Nikon has always valued continuity as well as innovation; e.g, it has retained its tried and tested F lens-mount (originally introduced in 1959). This means it's possible to use many classic Nikon lenses with the D3300. At first glance, the D3300 may look like a modest upgrade to the D3200, but there are some significant changes under the surface. The camera is almost exactly the same size as its predecessor, but significantly lighter. It has a 24-megapixel sensor; the pixel count may be the same as the D3200, but there's a major difference as the D3300 has dispensed with an 'anti-aliasing' filter in front of its sensor to make images even sharper.

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