I have always used the word ‘longing’ to described the feeling that perpetuates my pursuit of landscape photography. A sense of emptiness and homesickness for a place or land I have never even visited. If you are someone who enjoys photographing the landscape, or just someone who enjoys nature, I am sure you will have experienced the feeling I am describing. Some may ascribe the term ‘wanderlust’ as a suitable description of this emotion, but that always seemed quite a positive, outgoing emotion, rather than one that has its roots in a dull, gnawing sadness. I have searched for a word that des ..read more

Photographs serve many purposes. I will not set out to bore you with a tedious list of these because I don’t want to patronise you. However, I do want to discuss the personal connection to our photography and dive into the feelings and emotions that hide within those most special images of ours. Before I start, I am not claiming to be some enlightened purveyor of the artistic and emotional depth of photography. Quite the opposite. I’m just thinking through the keyboard, trying to learn more about myself. Writing really helps me. I cannot tell you what your photography means to you. Nor would I ..read more

I’m not sure if photography found me or if I found it. However, what I do know is that without photography I think my life would’ve taken a dark turn. I like being outdoors. Free time spent sat at home is free time wasted in my eyes; this feeling exemplified by the events of the last two years. As Gandalf so poignantly told Bilbo Baggins “the world is not in your books and maps, it’s out there…“ I first picked up a camera in January 2018 when the inspiration of a new year led me to make active the desire I have long harboured to stop wasting my life. I’m not sure what specifically drew to phot ..read more

Landscape Photography Equipment Fujifilm GFX 100S - I absolutely love this camera. This is a digital medium format camera, meaning it has a very large 4:3 ratio 102 MP sensor. This gives the camera wonderful dynamic range as well as capturing immense detail. Also, with it being a Fujifilm camera, the colour rendition is just sublime. The usability of the camera is excellent, with customisable buttons and satisfying dials that click beautifully. This is pretty much the perfect camera for landscape photography. Fujifilm 100-200mm f5.6 lens - This is my favourite lens. It is ridiculously sharp a ..read more

Well, this year did not start well.  Lockdown from January - March.  Testing my mental stamina to breaking point.  Just about made it.  But, we all know what that’s like now.  It was horrible, but we did it together.  Find strength in that. I made one or two trips out, two of which really stick in my mind.  One was in early March to the coast in the evening time.  Stood on dunes testing out my new prime lenses.  Soaking in the early spring breeze coming in off the Atlantic.  Freedom.  That’s what art it, right?  Freedom. Tidal Textur ..read more

Plan to Fail At the time of writing, I am just over two weeks away from embarking on my Autumn trip to the north of Scotland.  During the run up I have been skipping in-and-out of different states of mind: pre-planning, not pre-planning, visualising compositions, not visualisation compositions, considering experimental methods of making woodland images and disregarding experimental methods for making woodland images.  If you are a landscape photographer you will have, no doubt, set off on a trip with certain parameters of expectation, be they your own or those subconsciously installe ..read more

The greatest temptations, the worst possible paths to follow, the different ways one expresses, the feelings you keep hidden. All driven by the choices we make. I find myself reflecting on past choices of late. Lamenting the choices that have led to unsatisfactory situations I now find myself in. The choices that determine the outcomes of my life. But, not all choices are bad. It’s just we often choose only to reflect on ‘bad’ choices the most. A ‘bad’ or ‘good’ choice can only be labelled as such when considered in the context of my life when the choice was first made. This paragraph may seem ..read more

Summer 2021 At the end of July 2021 I embarked upon a summer trip to Scotland. The main goal of this trip was to camp by the sea with a friend and just depressurise from what has been a horrific start to the year. I really struggled with the second UK lockdown in January and February this year, compiled with the stresses of working during the pandemic after the restrictions were eased. It hasn’t been all too fun. I imagine many of you reading this have felt the same way. So a coastal camping trip to Scotland was just what was needed. I didn’t take much with me at all, but I chose not to leave ..read more

Landscape Photography Equipment Fujifilm GFX 50R - I absolutely love this camera and can’t imagine a world where I’d ever want a new one. This is a digital medium format camera, meaning it has a very large 4:3 ratio 51.3 MP sensor. This gives the camera wonderful dynamic range and depth of field, as well as capturing immense detail. Also, with it being a Fujifilm camera, the colour rendition is just sublime. I love the rangefinder style body too. I have always shot manual since I started with photography, and Fujifilm just make this so easy with big dials and an aperture ring on all their lens ..read more

In the spring of 2020 I purchased a professional printer so I could finally make my own prints - something I feel is a huge part of my landscape photography; it doesn’t feel complete until I have something tangible at the end and printing my own work continues the process for me. I also very much enjoy the craft of printing, almost as much as I enjoy being out making the photographs. So, naturally I wanted to have accuracy in my printing. This accuracy is achieved in many ways, editing effectively as well as paper selection and printer calibration. However, this is all done through my computer ..read more