End of year reflections and plans for 2023
Sorry for the radio silence and lack of updates to my website over the last few weeks. My only excuse is being busy with the run up to Christmas, with all that entails, finishing off outstanding school stuff, uploading images and videos to libraries and producing two vlogs a week.
Photography wise, which is the most important thing, I’ve fitted in a 5 day trip to the Scottish Highlands and at the time of writing one of those vlogs is up on YouTube. More thoughts on this trip a bit later. I’ve also really enjoyed photographing a couple of woodland compositions I spotted a few years ago, bi-weekly to watch the autumn colours arrive. You can see these progressing in my Woodland Wednesdays playlist over on YouTube, a link here And then, in the middle of December, magic fell across Essex in the form of a hoar frost. The great thing about having 5 days during most weeks to photograph the landscape is the fact that I can drop everything and go out if conditions look promising. However, on this particular occasion the fun happened on a Sunday so I was not alone! And what an occasion it was! On these days, when the stars align, it is very easy to run about deciding what to shoot with that nagging doubt looming large about whether you are in the right place, is there something better further along the river? What about another location? Why have you only got three photographs, there must be loads? I have learned, through experience though that it is more important than ever on these occasions to just slow down, calm the adrenaline and concentrate on shooting the compositions you do find (and there were loads) correctly. Looking back I can proudly say I did that. You can watch the video of the day Here
Back now to a lovely trip to the Scottish Highlands. I was lucky enough to know someone with the most marvellous holiday home right in the middle of the highlands and I’d planned a couple of locations for shoots. The idea though was to just go up and react to what I was seeing, depending on conditions and also spend time with my wife. She loves photographs and enjoys following the work of Stuart McGlennon, Thomas Heaton and Nigel Danson on various social media channels. More about that a bit later too! On the way up we stopped at the Lakes to break up the 9 hour journey which meant that we passed through Loch Lomond early on the Saturday. Again, the urge to stop was great but I had other plans. We carried on to my first planned stop at Rannoch Moor. This is an area I have driven through on quite a few occasions but never stopped. It has a great deal of potential. We stopped to stretch our legs and I enjoyed capturing some drone footage but the light was pretty ordinary (again, this is a location I’ve been to 5 times with no photographs of note to show for it) so we carried on up to Glencoe.
Glencoe must be one of the most photographed locations in the UK and part of me felt disappointed that I was photographing there, but another bigger part of me was really enjoying it; it really is a fantastic location. The only disappointment was when we found the Glen Etive road closed; I was hoping to introduce my wife to the herds of deer that spend their time along this valley.
After shooting Black Rock Cottage, the Buckle and the Pap of Glencoe (and a video for my YouTube channel) we moved up to Roy Bridge to settle in for the next few days.
The rest of the trip (which you can catch on YouTube over the next month) taught me a couple of things. Firstly, I am turning into more of a woodland photographer than I ever imagined I would. I put this down to a few things namely, spending some time looking at the work of Simon Baxter when we were in North Yorkshire. I wouldn’t say I’ve learned any techniques from Simon but watching his process and seeing the final image has certainly trained my eye to a certain extent. Secondly the amazing Beard lichen hanging off the trees around the lochs we toured I found fascinating and really enjoyed photographing. Lastly I have learned from the discipline of shooting my compositions for Woodland Wednesday that I can cut out distractions using a 65x24 crop, which I can easily change on my GFX50R. This allows me to cut out sky and focuses the eye on the interesting branches and light. I’ve also confirmed something I discovered a while ago but haven’t really put into practise, namely photographing in the rain. I have had many a lovely day lately photographing in the rain. Nowadays, camera equipment is a lot more waterproof than ever before and I am waterproof as well so both photographer and equipment are easily able to cope in these conditions when everything is saturated and rich.
The other thing I’ve learned is some days I can see images everywhere and some days I can’t and both are fine! I would rather spend everyday seeing photos everywhere but it just doesn’t happen. At home, in your own familiar surroundings you may struggle to see anything interesting, that’s the same with your photos after a while. The more we see a composition the less we see it, if that makes sense?! It’s the reason we photographers like travelling to other locations. I bet that any of the photographers I admire could come to my house and produce some photographs they are pleased with within a mile of my home, some of which I wouldn’t consider photographing. In the same way, photographers in the Highlands may not regard my work on the trip as valuable. But to me, I loved the trip and was really pleased with the images you will see some in my portfolio once I sit down properly on my laptop.
I came away with 4 decent vlogs and really enjoyed both the images, memories and the time I spent with my wife.
Back then to talking about the photographers I mentioned earlier. My mission, since I went part time, was to concentrate fully on my photography, mainly the images but almost as important is my YouTube channel. I want to build this up enough to be monetised and then, hopefully enough recognition to massage my ego into shape and the photography will build from there. It’s very easy to watch videos of the three guys mentioned (and others) and feel very inadequate, substandard etc. However, ironically enough Nigel Danson has just produced a video stating he feels the same quite often and it’s important to keep focussing on your work and being the best at what you do. I’m learning to ‘stick to your lane’. I’m proud of my videos over the last four months and I’ve produced some images that I’m really proud of since the channel launched at the end of August. Just as other locations look attractive when you first see them and your own photographs start to look not as good as you first thought, I’ve come to realise that this is just familiarity and good work is still good work. Yes of course we are all ultra critical of our own work and this is important if we are to progress and improve the art we are producing but we must also recognise the huge progress we are making.
So my plans for 2023? Well first up is a visit to the Lakes at the start of January. There will probably be a visit to Scotland again and I plan, finally to visit a place I’ve longed to visit for ages but have never had the time; Lofoten in Norway. Stay tuned for that.
On the photography technique front I want to explore black and white landscapes and long exposure fine art photography. That’s twice I’ve used the word ‘art’ in this blog. Can/is photography art? I have some thoughts…which gives me an idea for a vlog!
Until next time… happy new year.
Dave
