Landscape Photographer of the Year, plus new images

To start with, some good news! I am very happy to say that one of my pictures, In Constant Motion, has been shortlisted in the Take a View Landscape Photographer of the Year competition 2010. The results of the competition will be announced later in the year so it will be interesting to see what gets through this time.

South Wales

After a recent trip to Carmarthenshire in Wales I’ve added several new pictures to my portfolio. One of my favourites from the trip is this view of St David’s Cathedral from under some trees in the grounds:

I aimed to capture the movement in the trees by using a Lee ‘Big Stopper’ filter which cuts down the amount of light entering the camera so that any movement during the exposure is blurred. You can see the rest of the pictures from my trip in the Wales section of my portfolio.

North Somerset

More recently I have been capturing some scenes of the Mendip Hills and North Somerset. From the top of Beacon Batch, the highest point on the Mendips, one can see for miles across the Bristol Channel and to south Wales. Shortly after sunset I captured this image of ferns being blown by winds near the top of the hill:

On a separate day I made this photo of a line of pylons running through fields near Chew Valley lake:

And most recently I visited Velvet Bottom Nature Reserve and captured this section of drystone wall running through the hills:

Perseid Meteor shower

Finally, did you see the Perseid meteor shower on Thursday or Friday (12th/13th August)? It was beautiful to watch even though a little neck-aching. The forecast for clear skies in the south west was accurate so I managed to get out and capture a meteor amongst myriad stars in the sky that night. The picture I made at Kingweston, Somerset, is featured on the Telegraph website.

Glastonbury, minus the festival

Well the annual exodus from the Glastonbury Festival site is well underway here in Somerset. I didn’t go to the festival this year but I did head out with some friends to watch Glastonbury Tor being illuminated as part of the festival’s 40th anniversary. Sadly the power cable to the lights was slashed that night and our visit was cut short.

A few weeks ago, however, I visited the Tor at sunrise to try an idea for a photograph I’ve had for a while. I managed to capture the sun rising directly through the archway of the tower of the Tor on a beautiful morning with a clear sky. I think you’ll agree that the resulting image is stunning:

Bossington Hill

Bossington Hill has been on my ever growing to-do list for a while and I picked a great weekend to visit it while the spring flowers were still out. After clambering down the steep slopes of the hill I found a clump of sea campion and thrift growing in a beautiful location with a great view west towards Bossington Beach, Porlock and off into the distance. The sun was setting very fast and I moved quickly to find a graceful composition.

The last bluebells of 2010

Finally I have finished processing my bluebell images for 2010. I captured this scene during my second sunrise visit to West Woods, Wiltshire.

Roll on the bluebell hunt for 2011!

Incidentally, does anyone know of any good poppy fields in the south west? If so I’d be pleased to hear from you!

Epson Pano Awards 2010

I recently entered my picture The Glory of Avalon in the 2010 Epson Pano Awards competition. This international competition is specifically for images taken in a panoramic format. I received an email once judging was complete informing me that my picture received a bronze award! More info can be found on the awards’ website www.thepanoawards.com.

Overdue spring/summer update

April and May seem to have flown by and I’ve been able to get some great new work branching out from my local area. A couple of weeks ago I had time to explore Dartmoor and the Brecon Beacons. Before that I was hunting misty spring sunrises around Somerset. So, working from the top:

Crook Peak

Before the sun started coming up ridiculously early I made a trip to Crook Peak to see the sunrise. All was peaceful at the time as all flights over the UK had been grounded due to the ash cloud. A beautiful sunrise ensued, unmarred by any jet streams in the sky

Burrow Mump

Thick fog covered the south west as I drove to Burrowbridge, Somerset, to try and get some pictures of Burrow Mump at sunrise. Unfortunately the fog was a little too thick for the viewpoint I’d picked to work but I nevertheless managed to make some interesting pictures of Willow trees and wild flowers. I thought that a view of the mump had alluded me until I spotted this composition just as I was about to drive off.

Bluebells in West Woods

The annual pilgrimage to photograph bluebells seems to appear on every landscape photographer’s calendar. Last year I explored West Woods near Marlborough, Wiltshire, for the first time. I was amazed by the beauty of the thick carpet of blue that covered the woods and so I earmarked it as a location for sunrise pictures this year. My first outing went well although I didn’t get what I had in mind before the day. I did however find some interesting and very peaceful scenes as the sun climbed higher in the sky and caused long shadows to cut through the trees.

A week and a half later I had some time to attempt a second sunrise outing and I wanted to put in to practice what I’d learnt from my last trip. I still didn’t get quite what I’d pictured in my head (do we ever?) but I was pleased with the pictures I made.

Bowerman’s Nose, Dartmoor

After visiting Tavy Cleave back in December I promised myself that I would visit Dartmoor again to explore other parts. I chose Bowerman’s Nose as the location and I picked a perfectly sunny day to go out on. I don’t normally like photographing in late morning sunshine but I was forced to work with it here and I’m pleased with the compositions I made.

Incidentally, I’ve called this picture “Super Mario” as I think the rock looks like an outline of Mario’s head.

Brecon Beacons

I’ve driven past the Brecon Beacons many times and always wanted to climb the highest peaks and photograph them. Recently I had the opportunity to do this and I had a great day walking the southern horseshoe route which takes in the peaks of Corn Du, Pen Y Fan, Cribyn and Fan Y Big. Mixed weather gave me a variety of picture opportunities. I wouldn’t have been in Wales if I hadn’t got wet!

And finally…

My exhibition currently on display in West Mendip Hospital has been extended until the start of June. If you haven’t been along to see it yet please do!

Exhibition now on! Spring update

I’ve had a busy few weeks recently, what with finishing pictures for my exhibition and doing DIY at home. Not only am I proud of my pictures but of the bathroom decorating I did too!

Exhibition at West Mendip Hospital, on now until 27th May 2010

My latest exhibition “The Magic of the Levels” is now on display in West Mendip Hospital, Glastonbury. If you’d like more information please see exhibitions.

If you’ve been to see it I hope you enjoyed it. I’ve received many lovely comments so far and had a lot of interest in the pictures. If you’re interested in buying a picture please contact me. A donation will be made to the friends of West Mendip Hospital for all pictures sold.

Latest images: Burnham lighthouse and Clevedon Pier

As the year rolls on the position of the setting sun has been moving further westward meaning that the whole of the Somerset coastline becomes interesting for coastal sunset pictures again. I’m sure the Dorset coastline photographers are missing the sunsets…

I visited Burnham-on-Sea to take pictures of the lighthouse a few weeks ago. Whilst there I met fellow photographer Greg Stewart. It’s always nice to meet other people by chance.

Clevedon has been my most recent location as I wanted to capture the sun setting behind the pier and try some long exposures. One of my favourite pictures from my trip there is this 30 second exposure just after sunset with the pier in silhouette against a clear orange sky and pale blue sea. I used a Lee ‘Big Stopper’ filter to cut down the amount of light entering the camera so that I could use an exposure of 30 seconds, thus blurring all detail from the water.

Spring is well and truly here now so everything is starting to come back to life. Watch this space for more images soon!

The Magic of the Levels exhibition: change of venue

Due to unforeseen circumstances Annie’s Tea Rooms is unfortunately not reopening this year, so my exhibition with them has been cancelled. Fear not though because an alternative venue has been found in West Mendip Hospital in Glastonbury!

The relocated exhibition will be open from Friday 26th March and will be on display until May. Here’s a google map showing the hospital’s location http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=west+mendip+hospital&hl=en&cd=2&ei=WtWnS7HoPMyg_gaQv_ijDA&ie=UTF8&view=map&cid=11391242598086162058&ved=0CBoQpQY&hq=west+mendip+hospital&hnear=&t=h&z=16&iwloc=A

Cheese and Fairytales

It truly feels like spring is in the air at the moment. February has been a pretty good month and March is looking promising.

I spent some time exploring Burrowbridge at the start of the month, looking for interesting views of Burrow Mump. The moors around the mump are interesting but pretty difficult to work with I think. Because the land is so flat it’s hard to find interesting compositions for photographs. There are a maze of rhynes to get around and then a row of telegraph poles to try and avoid. I eventually found a clump of Willow trees which made an interesting and original picture.

I still need to do a bit more exploring before I feel happy that I’m familiar with the area though.

I also wanted to capture some different landmarks in Somerset. Cheddar Gorge seemed like a good place to start from! This view is from the eastern side of the gorge looking towards Cheddar Reservoir and the Bristol Channel in the distance.

Finally, I’ve also been waiting for a foggy morning to explore the hills. I’ve anticipated foggy mornings so much that I know pretty much how many we’ve had over the winter and there don’t seem to be as many as in previous years. Maybe that’s because of the cold weather? However, as the weather has become warmer there’s been more rain and thus some fog! Not only was there fog but there was also sun (if one climbed high enough). My plan sprung into action and I managed to get just high enough to be above the fog on a hill near Wells. The experience of seeing such thick fog coating the Somerset levels was mesmerising. I watched as slowly the fog drifted along, lapping the Mendips. It really is a wondrous sight and the only way I can describe it is it’s like watching waves coming in at sea in slow motion but on a bigger scale.

Because the landscape near Wells is quite flat I had trouble photographing any landmarks – Glastonbury Tor was just a blip in a grey sea and the tips of Wells Cathedral only just poked through the fog. But this was all I needed and as I stood there waiting for the sun to rise I imagined that there could be all sorts of things beneath the thick fog. The tips of Wells Cathedral and St Cuthbert’s Church seemed like castle turrets… a hidden kingdom.

Of course as soon as the sun had risen above the horizon the fog expanded and rose, swallowing whatever view I had of the cathedral with it.

The Billy Palmer Chronicles book cover

I recently received the finished copies of the book “The Billy Palmer Chronicles” by Derek Johns. Portobello books contacted me as they wanted to use my image Holy Sunrise as the background for the book cover. I was really pleased with the way they’ve used it and edited in a boy reading a book under the holy thorn. I have taken a photo of the finished book so that you can see it!

It’s on sale now and available online from Amazon and other stores.

Exhibition update

I’m getting very busy in preparation for my forthcoming exhibition at Annie’s Tea Rooms. Pretty soon I will have many prints to mount and frame and canvases to wrap.

Things not to do when taking landscape photos

During my photographic adventures I have learnt quite a few things, most of which are probably common sense but didn’t seem to be to me at the time! The majority of these have been learnt whilst taking landscape photos but they may apply to other situations too. Here’s a list of my top what not to dos:

1. Wear inappropriate footwear.
   When it’s a dewey morning and you know you’re probably going to have to walk across fields, don’t wear shoes that let water in. I have, in the past, got soaking wet feet all because I left my boots at home thinking that I’d be fine. Tip: pack spare socks.
2. Linked to the above, if the ground looks too muddy to walk through, find another way round.
   Many times I get lost in the moment, see something that looks interesting, and think to myself that that soft patch of mud between me and the interesting thing is just a little squealchy and not the mud equivalent of quicksand. Before I know it, I’m walking through 5 inch deep mud. This isn’t too bad as long as I haven’t listened to point 1. Recently, in November, I repeated this problem when taking the photo Bubbles and Bark. In the moment I just wanted to get the photo I saw and didn’t really worry that the ground ahead was very boggy. I was wearing boots and gaiters but my foot sank in to the ground by about a foot. I could feel the cold water running into my boots and thought to myself “I’m in the middle of nowhere and I could potentially get stuck here”…. Nevertheless I repeated this process at least two more times that day.   
3. Walk straight up a difficult hill.
   When presented with a hill – and I don’t mean a straight hill here, I mean one with slippery mud, trees, leaves or other obstacles on it – don’t just walk straight up it without thinking through the most efficient route. In the excitement of the moment (and me being an Aries) I tend to impatiently tackle hills head on. I end up not thinking it through properly and get half way up the hill before thinking “where the hell do I go from here?”
4. Climb farm gates whilst carrying a tripod.
   When carrying a tripod, the sensible approach is to splay the legs of the tripod and rest it on stable ground near to the gate before climbing over it so that you can lift the tripod over to you once you’re on the other side of the gate. I once went all gung-ho tackling a gate to a field on the way to photograph a lone tree lit by the rising sun. Because it was a cold morning, the metal bars of the gate were a bit slippery. In my haste I decided to climb to the second from top rung then jump over the gate. I slipped and went head first into the field, bruising my leg and sending my bag and tripod flying. Luckily I was able to hobble on and hadn’t hurt myself seriously. I have been very careful with climbing gates since though.I did learn another lesson more recently when I splayed the legs of my tripod (as per the lesson learnt above) and lifted it over a gate before climbing over myself. Prior to climbing over, I carefully rested the tripod on the ground and let go before realising that the ground was uneven and I watched as, in slow motion, the tripod toppled over… straight into a cowpat. Tip: bring tissues with you to wipe off any crap in such situations. I was getting over a cold at the time so I had some in my pocket. The shot I wanted to get was so amazing though that I wouldn’t have cared about working with shitty hands. That’s dedication for you (or stupidity)!
5. Breathe on the LCD screen whilst framing your shot.
   This one really gets me although it may just apply to people who use an SLR and look through the viewfinder with their left eye (I’m not comfortable framing things using my right eye). So, I’ve set up my tripod and start to compose the picture I want to take. I tend to go through a process of look through camera, adjust tripod, look, adjust, look, adjust until I’ve got the framing I’m happy with. Sometimes I’ll take a couple of shots then recompose as I want to try a few things. However, the problem is that whilst looking through the viewfinder my mouth and nose are pretty much pressed up against the LCD display. So every time I take a breath out it clouds up the screen. This is fine in warm weather but during cold starts it’s a nightmare because everything is so damp. When I come to review the histogram for the shot I’ve just taken I can’t see a thing without wiping the screen. This is where a microfibre cloth would be useful.
6. Adjust your tripod with your nose to the camera.
   I use a three-way tripod head – y’know, the ones with three handles to adjust tilt in all directions. I put my eye to the viewfinder and compose my picture and then decide that the camera needs to tilt upward towards the sky a touch. If this is a small adjustment then it’s fine. However, if I’ve tightened the tilt handle too much then, in my haste, I pull the handle harder to get it to move and, all of a sudden, the camera moves and hits me on the nose. Then I curse.
7. Carry your tripod (with camera mounted) by the head when the head is loose.
   This may apply to ball head tripods too but, in my case, it’s a three-way head problem. I’ll sometimes have my camera mounted and decide to reposition the tripod slightly before taking a shot. This only poses a problem if the handles of the tripod head have been loosened (to allow me to adjust the head before fixing it off to take a picture). I tend to pick the tripod up by holding the metal around the adjusting handles and, quite a few times as I’ve done this, the weight of the camera has caused it to tilt on its side (as if I were shooting a portrait picture) and trap my fingers. This effect is made worse by a heavy lens. Tip: before moving your tripod, make sure all the head’s adjustable handles are tight. Or just pick the tripod up by its legs.
8. Get your camera’s strap and/or cable release tangled together or around any other objects.
   In some situations my camera becomes a mess of bits and bobs. If I’m shooting a landscape then I’ll probably be using a cable release. I’ve also got the standard Nikon camera strap on my camera so I’ve potentially got two ways to get tangled up. The biggest problem I’ve found is that in these sort of situations when I want to move my tripod-mounted camera I close the tripod legs and carry the whole thing on my shoulder. This works quite well but often when I come to unfold the tripod legs again I find that both the camera strap and the cable release have become tangled around and in-between the tripod’s legs or the tripod head’s handles. If it’s windy the camera strap will often billow and just get in the way. When this happens I usually wrap it around a suitable part of the tripod or tripod head to stop it causing any camera shake. This is fine while I’m taking a photo but it becomes a real pain when I want to move on to another place. And, by the time I want to dismantle the whole thing to put the camera back in my backpack, it’s like a small spaghetti junction.
9. Edit pictures when you’re in a bad mood.
   This is a really good point. I often get back and look at my pictures and decide which ones are any good to use. I usually have a good idea of what’s worked or what hasn’t when I’m taking the picture and that’s often confirmed when I get home. But if, for some reason, something puts me in a bad mood it affects how I perceive those images. So I can look at a great image and think it’s crap just because my day isn’t going too well. I suppose the opposite is true in that I could be having a brilliant day and get over enthusiastic about an otherwise mediocre image. But mostly I find that the effects of a bad mood are greater than those of a good mood. 
10. Walk backwards on beaches when the water’s coming in.
    My most recent experience whilst photographing on Burton Bradstock beach is the reason for this entry. If you’re stood on a beach and are perhaps a little way out (far enough for the water to reach the middle of your shins when it’s in) then it’s probably not a good idea to move backwards when you see the water coming to you. In my case this resulted in me falling over backwards and getting soaked. I was, however, more worried about my camera as that had also taken a good splash of sea water. Salt water and cameras do not mix! I also found that the lowest section of leg on my tripod had snapped off cleanly. I can now confirm two things: that the D700’s water seals are pretty good and that manfrotto’s service department is excellent (the replacement tripod leg arrived next working day). 

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