It is far too easy to ruin an otherwise beautiful shot by overthinking it.How do I know this? I’ve done it, loads of times! And quite often, I’ve done it in pursuit of things unnecessary for the shot the landscape has presented.
Yep, I’ve been THAT photographer. You know the one….
One of the bad photography habits I've gotten myself into over the last few years is 'whatifid-ism'. Basically the habit of looking back on a photograph, a photograph that I'd once been really happy with, and had loads of great memories of creating, and tearing it apart as I now have new found knowledge or a different way of doing things…….
The beautiful view from midway up Chrome Hill in the Peak District National Park - my first shoot of 2022
….The truth of the matter is that I did far less landscape photography in the second half of the year than the first. There is no doubt that I lost some of my mojo for it. I love the adventure of landscape photography as much as the actual photography itself. Going somewhere I’ve never been before. Exploring and finding a view point that makes me go wow! That’s the part I love, far more so than pressing the shutter on my camera…..
A beautiful cloud inversion over Castleton and the Hope Valley in the Peak District National Park
This week I finally managed to photograph a Cloud Inversion. A Landscape Photography aim of mine for quite some time, and I thought I'd share some tips so you could have the best chance of forecasting one for yourself
Yep, that’s correct. the Lake District National Park only has one official lake; Bassenthwaite Lake. the rest are all tarns, meres or waters by name…..there’s one for your pub quiz bank!
In reality of course, there are many more, with sixteen large bodies of water and seventy six smaller ones that could still typically be classed as a lake.
And so let’s take a look at a few that, as a photographer, you should not miss.
‘Can I ask a stupid question’?…….But it rarely is a stupid question.
Something that I’ve come to understand over the last couple of years is that if you don’t know, you don’t know. And that actually makes the question itself really difficult to even ask. Why would you ask how, for example, you would set up a tripod, if you don’t know that you are setting it up incorrectly in the first place?……….
The view from Higger Tor across Hope Valley. Mam Tor, The Great Ridge, Win Hill and Lose Hill all visible rising up over Castleton and it’s Slate Mine
However, despite checking the weather forecast thoroughly the night before, I arrived to find nothing but grey low cloud blocking any light and reducing visibility down to not much. So another bust…..all part of the landscape photography deal here in the UK.
And so to the third visit. We had almost clear skies. There was a bank of cloud low on the horizon, but this would just serve to diffuse some of the light and create haze rather than block the light completely.
Great family days out plus stunning photography: Part 2 of 2 - So onto part two of our location guide for some great photography, where the family will also have plenty to keep them occupied. Just as in part 1, these are in no particular order, and the parking places are named as they are listed in Google Maps, to make it easier to search for your destination. As you may have guessed by the title, this is the second of this two part feature, but there may be a BONUS article with a couple more suggestions before the summer is over…..
Summer is in full bloom, although looking out the window at the pouring rain and dark grey skies as I write this, you wouldn’t quite believe it. Another thing now in full bloom is the school summer holidays, this year though, you’d be forgiven for not noticing them even start. However now that we are officially in the summer holidays, and 2020 having being what it has been, it is likely that many of us will be taking day trips out, or shorter trips within the UK. So with that in mind, I’ve put together a few locations around the North West of England and North Wales which not only make for fantastic landscape photography locations, but double up as great adventures for the family.
Dovestone Reservoir in the Peak District, Greater Manchester during Golden Hour - the warmth in the image down to the time of day
It’s summer in the UK - hooray!! We can finally leave the house without our rain jacket, well on some days at least. The temperature is up, the natural world is buzzing with activity, the nights are short and the days are long. What a great time to be a landscape photographer. And it is…..well kinda!
You see, it’s that ‘the days are long’ bit, that can cause some issues for landscape photographers…..
…..Throughout the journey there the conditions looked perfectly set for such a shot. Wave clouds were high in the sky, the horizon was hazy but clear of low cloud formations and it was fairly still. We hit a bit of a delay as a coach had come off the road near Devoke Water and whilst waiting to get moving again, a weather front moved in from the west coast. Upon arriving at Wastwater, the sky had completely covered……
…….So do photographers just going around plagiarising each others shots? Or is it just that the shot is so obvious, every photographer who walks that walk stops to take that shot?
In truth, in the age of the internet, it is likely that it is a bit of both………..