Out and about in Duffield

With the children still sleeping and my brother's family down with colds, I step out into the morning sunlight to make the most of the weather. By the early afternoon it will be bucketing it down again.

I take my new D3200; it has a host of welcome advances over the old D40 and D80. It's as small and light as the D40 yet it has twice the number of megapixels as the heavier D80. Sitting comfortably in the hand, the D3200's controls are well-positioned for anyone having gotten used to Nikon DSLRs. The new camera's high dynamic range gives greater shadow and highlight detail than in my older ones, the 11-point autofocus is a huge advance over the three-point system in the D40. While there's no viewfinder grid option, there's in-camera software to straighten horizons, compensate for parallax and automatically override distortions in each (Nikkor) lens. And a nice landscape mode that makes blues and greens more vivid and gets as much of scene into focus as possible.

In the old days, one had to think hard about taking a technically good photo; now the camera does more and more of the thinking to ensure you don't take duff shots. Of course, it's good to have the technical ABCs of photography under one's belt, but it's better to concentrate on composition without having to worry too much about f-stops, shutter speeds, hyperfocal distance and ISO settings.

A Derbyshire lane wends its way over rolling countryside

Drainage ditch runs along the valley bottom, crossing the golf course

Boxing Day golfers. Everyone greeted me with a cheerful 'Good morning!'

Dampness and wet fields

Cycling is a popular pursuit in Derbyshire; many road bikes out today.