I walked along the vast expanse of featureless sand desperately trying to think of something that would make a picture interesting. Litter, logs and burnt tree trunks seemed to spoil many of the spots I’d found. After a while my mind moved further inland to the sand dunes that divide the beach from the scrubland behind. I explored a few dunes before settling on the one pictured; luckily no-one had set foot on it that afternoon so it had that smooth finish that only the wind can create.

Like a forensic scientist investigating a crime scene, I noted the foreground sand I wanted to include and trod a path well clear of it to set up my camera. I took some time to compose my shot, considering the flow of the grasses through the frame and out to sea. With the foreground grass less than a metre from my camera, I knew I would need to use my 24mm tilt-shift lens to obtain enough depth of field. Using the tilt control of the lens, I tilted the front of it downward, making the plane of focus run parallel with the subject plane. This achieved sharpness throughout the frame.

With the sun nearing the horizon the light became more and more diffuse which prevented the sun from causing lens flare. The hazy atmosphere also had the useful effect of hiding Hinkley Point Power Station from view! Noticing a man walking his dog along the beach, I thought it would be nice to include him in the picture so I pressed the shutter just as he crossed the sun’s reflection. For a few moments I imagined I was on some remote beach in the Scottish Highlands. If only I hadn’t turned round to see an estate agent’s ‘for sale’ sign dumped in the scrubland right behind me.

This article featured in the viewpoints section of Outdoor Photography magazine in March 2012

Holy Sunrise

Unfortunately this view of the Holy Thorn tree at the top of Wearyall Hill was diminished by vandals who cut the top off of the tree. I captured this image in 2007 on a very frosty morning when fog was shrouding the fields around Glastonbury Tor. Just before the sun broke over the horizon the light was wonderful and the tree appeared as a silhouette against the cool sky.

Across the Isles

Several miles north of Glastonbury is a spot on the Mendip hills known as Deerleap. It is well known by local artists because of the far reaching views it provides over the Somerset Levels and of Glastonbury Tor nestled in amongst the hills. On misty mornings it is the perfect spot to appreciate just how flat the landscape is and how it would’ve looked thousands of years ago when the area was under water. On mornings like this it becomes an island once again.

The morning on which I made this picture was quite special. Having witnessed the misty landscape from Deerleap many times since, I haven’t yet photographed it on another morning where the mist was in the right place. By this I mean that it wasn’t too thick or too thin. When it’s too thick Glastonbury Tor becomes a dot in a sea of white with all other landmarks shrouded in mist. When it’s too thin the ‘island’ effect isn’t as pronounced and much of the atmosphere is missing.

It was later on that same morning that I also made this panoramic picture of Glastonbury Tor:

The Glory of Avalon

The way the mist gradually thickens as it gets closer to Glastonbury is wonderful. I have since made other panoramic pictures with a similar composition but this is my favourite.

In Constant Motion

Taking a completely different approach to photographing Glastonbury Tor, this is a much more dramatic, surreal picture. I often get asked how the effect in the sky was achieved as I guess most people assume it is a computer generated effect. The answer is that I spent a lot of time planning and trying out ideas before settling on a composition that would show St Michael’s tower appearing to be sucked into the sky.

The circular lines in the sky are called star trails. They are achieved by allowing the camera to expose the picture over a length of time – in this case 1 hour and 20 minutes. During this time the earth’s movement causes the position of the stars to change, turning anti-clockwise around the pole star. This movement creates trails, mapping the movement of the stars through the night sky.

I made this picture on a clear (and very cold) evening when the moon was full. The white light hitting the right side of the tower is moonlight. The orange light hitting the left face is light pollution from the town (you can also see light pollution lighting the clouds in the bottom left slightly).

The Open Doorway

For a period during spring, at the right time in the morning the sun can be seen shining straight through the archway of St Michael’s Tower. I planned this image very carefully, working out when would be the best date range to try the picture. The sun needed to reach the right height at the right time to be positioned in the middle of the entrance to the tower. Luckily a window of clear skies coincided with the right time of year so I was able to successfully photograph my idea.

Golden Days

There are few views of Glastonbury Tor that combine reed beds and wetland habitats in such an ornate way. Sharpham Nature Reserve is one such place, yet it hasn’t been established all that long. I have pictures of this area taken not so long ago when it was still used for peat digging. Consequently the trees planted neatly in rows are still young and haven’t yet grown tall enough to break the outline of Glastonbury Tor.

…end of Tor

I hope you have enjoyed this short tour of my Glastonbury Tor photographs. If you happen to visit the area I highly recommend going to some of the places I’ve mentioned. All the better if you get there early and see some mist!

January

The fields on this side of Burrow Mump flood regularly. As the snow of the Christmas period melted it left plenty of water in the fields way into January. I made the most of the opportunity to get some pictures of the Mump reflected in the water. Having purchased a 24mm tilt-shift lens over the holidays this was my first outing with it in the field; the beginning of a slippery slope as it is now my most frequently used lens.

February

Wanting to expand my collection of pictures of the Quantocks, I visited Cothelstone Hill for sunrise one February morning. At first I was annoyed that a band of cloud was blocking the sun but once I saw the potential of this picture I wasn’t bothered. One thing I constantly have to remind myself of is to have an open mind when looking for potential pictures.

March

You’d think this was taken in the summer if I hadn’t given it away, wouldn’t you? However, if it was summer then the beach here at Berrow would have been much more crowded, perhaps with the odd car getting swallowed by the rising tide (something that seems to be an annual occurence along this stretch of coastline).

April

As the sun started to set in a more northerly bearing I started photographing the Exmoor coastline again. I began by capturing the weathered groynes along Bossington Beach. I printed a large version of this image for my exhibition in September and was amazed by the detail retained even with it enlarged.

May

I saw the potential of this Hawthorn tree one autumn and decided that a return visit in the spring would be a good idea. I remember this being a wonderful morning; I knew exactly where I was headed, there was a band of clear sky lined up just over Winsford Hill and the ferns and bluebells were starting to unfurl.

June

A trip to the South Hams gave me chance to visit many coastal locations. On this evening a band of rain passed overhead just before sunset. I got soaked in the process but as the storm passed it left the sky clear and a little light broke through to just touch the beach at Bigbury-on-Sea.

July

Mid-summer for most people is the time of holidays. It is one of the least productive times for landscape photographers as much of the land is parched from the sun (sun, in the UK, I hear you cry?) so I changed tack and visited Bristol. Shortly after sunset the lights came on in all the buildings around the waterfront and this concrete monstrosity fired my imagination.

August

This Hawthorn tree on Porlock Common is a favourite subject for landscape photographers. I saw the potential to produce a picture of it at sunrise so spent time planning when to visit to catch both the right light and the vibrant colour of the heather. After three trips everything came together and I captured the picture pretty much as I’d envisaged it back in the spring.

October

September wasn’t a very productive month for creating new photographs as I was busy preparing for my Somerset Art Weeks exhibition. Consequently, I didn’t have time to take many pictures. To make up for that October turned out to be a fruitful month. Autumn is always one of my favourite times as there are so many natural changes taking place in the landscape. Over the Somerset Levels mist often forms as the air is very humid. On one morning I visited Crook Peak and made several pictures, this abstract view being my favourite of the lot. The resulting photos made the Daily Mail website and newspaper and the Daily Telegraph newspaper. Thanks to everyone who emailed and contacted me having seeing the pictures.

November

As the leaves dropped from most of the trees, a group of us photographers visited the Elan Valley in mid-Wales. The sun emerged briefly late in the day but throughout the morning atmospheric mist lingered over the area. I stood on dam to take in this view of Penygarreg reservoir.

December

Most recently – barely a week ago in fact – I headed down to Dorset to a place that has been on my ‘to-visit’ list for quite a while. I had hopes for frosts or even perhaps snow this December but mother nature decided to gives us a warm winter. Regardless of the weather inland, the coast is an inspiring place to be, so I visited Mupe Rocks. As one of the least easily accessible parts of the Dorset coastline, Mupe Rocks is a tough shoot but worthwhile to experience its ruggedness and isolated beauty. I struggled to find a composition that felt right but as dusk set in I found some inspiration and settled on this view.

Looking forward

Thanks for your support throughout 2011, whether you have followed my pictures, bought my cards or prints, commented on my photos or chatted to me out in the landscape. I hope to bring you some exciting new pictures this year. Here’s to 2012!

On this particular November morning I made my way to a spot on the Mendip Hills called Deerleap which is one of my favourite viewpoints with far reaching views over the levels. Thick fog had formed overnight and the temperature had dropped to several degrees below zero, leaving the ground white with frost. After a short drive high up onto the hills I stood overlooking the landscape. My view comprised of several hills rising out of the white mist so I started thinking of new compositions that would be interesting. I was already very familiar with the landscape seen from this spot as I have photographed here before many times. The conditions this morning however were the most interesting I’d witnessed, due to the hard frost, so I thought that some of the otherwise less interesting hills would make a picture.

As the sun rose the mist started to very slowly lift and the land was touched with light. Chalcroft Hill, also known as the Devil’s Bedstead, caught my eye in amongst the patchwork of hedgerows so I started composing a picture of it. The surrounding fields and buildings dictated my framing but I wanted to capture the sense of mystery created by the fog. I therefore chose to include the long hill and houses dotted along the top of the frame as it created an intriguing boundary. In order to frame the picture as I wished I used my 70-200mm lens at 200mm and added a 1.7x teleconverter to bring the focal length to 340mm. Using this focal length I found I could capture three frames in portrait orientation which I could stitch together like a mini-panoramic, increasing the resolution of the final image and allowing room for cropping afterward. I used a cable release coupled with the mirror lock-up on my Nikon D700 to minimise camera shake. Due to the focal length and required shutter speed any camera shake would have been obvious and ruined the sharpness of fine details in the picture. Somehow I find that holding my breath and adopting a zen-like posture whilst pressing the cable release shutter helps in these situations! I carefully checked each frame after shooting to make sure there was indeed no movement.

The low sun cut through the freezing fog, picking out shapes in the landscape

Shortly after capturing this image I moved on to a panoramic view of the levels with Glastonbury Tor dominating the horizon. By this time the sun was high enough to create interesting shadows throughout the scene. The mist had also risen enough to reveal detail in the now thawing fields. After wondering at the magnificent view I decided my work was done and returned to my car. I will no doubt return here many times in the future as the varying density of mist or fog hides and reveals different features each time.

When photographing misty scenes with a telephoto lens I find that atmospheric haze reduces contrast in the scene dramatically. Consequently, straight out of the camera the images I captured looked very flat and subdued with a fairly cool colour cast. I chose to correct this in Photoshop by adjusting the white balance and using various levels adjustment layers on different sections of the image. This allowed me to recreate the scene as I saw it on the morning.

This article featured in the viewpoints section of Outdoor Photography magazine in November 2011

The drive down into the valley containing the lake reminded me of the Lake District; the surrounding fells created a beautiful backdrop to the water. As a large band of cloud started to block the sun I wondered if I would miss the light for the evening. Nevertheless I continued on to the shore as I thought it would give me the best opportunity to photograph the surrounding landscape reflected in the vast expanse of water. The light by now was muted and I struggled to find a composition that might work. After noting the boulders featured in the final picture I worked around the shoreline looking for other elements to work with.

Some time later I noticed a warm glow on the fells the other side of the lake. The sun had emerged beneath its veil of cloud and an interesting sunset was unfolding, though with little time left before it would set completely. Returning to the boulders I’d found earlier, I composed a fairly minimal picture with only two boulders and a rock in the foreground. I felt the reflected sky should do all the talking and to clutter the scene with any more foreground interest would weaken the overall picture.

My chosen wide angle lens, the Nikon 14-24mm, doesn’t have a lens thread to accept filters, so when photographing scenes that require an ND grad filter I take two or more varied exposures and then blend them together in Photoshop afterwards. Filter limitations aside, the scene had a great deal of contrast, from the highlight in the clouds near the sun to the autumnal trees on the shoreline below. Using an ND grad here would have turned the band of fells on the horizon into a silhouette, losing important detail from the picture.

This article featured in the viewpoints section of Outdoor Photography magazine in September 2011.

What feels like aeons ago at the start of 2011, I started planning my part in a group exhibition in Glastonbury Galleries as part of Somerset Art Weeks. Ruth Morland, the owner of the galleries, invited me along with six other artists to hold an exhibition for just over two weeks. The range of styles on show would make the exhibition unique and interesting as everything from abstract painting to glasswork would be on offer. I was excited to be involved in this event, especially because it would be my first exhibition for Somerset Art Weeks.

Fast forward six months and the exhibition closed a week ago. I think I can safely say that all seven of us artists have enjoyed exhibiting our work and found it a rewarding experience. I have spoken to many visitors and received some very kind compliments on my work. Many people were truly thrilled to see my photographs in print, and that made it all worthwhile. I would like to thank everyone that visited.

Whilst ‘on duty’ in the gallery (each artist took it in turns to be present to speak to people browsing the exhibition) I had chance to admire the work of the other artists. I thought it would be nice to link to each of them here:

• Wendy Andrew produces vibrant mythical and goddess art. Her pictures are like stories in themselves, often depicting fantasy people and animals. I found her images to be very gentle and inviting.
• Norman Parker describes himself as a surrealist artist, one of a small minority. His paintings are incredibly detailed and precise, featuring escher-like puzzles and optical illusions.
• Carol Hazelwood works with glass, creating unique bowls, plates, jewellery and other items. Amongst her collection were some interesting melted bottles which she achieved by taking a glass bottle and putting it in her kiln for a while.
• Jennie Thomas paints using oils, watercolours and other mixed media. She favours nature as a subject and I found her scenes to be very similar to those that I’d choose to photograph. She captures the essence of scenes beautifully.
• Phyllis Tuxill is an abstract painter with a very gentle style. I felt the work she exhibited was subtle, revealing itself after looking at and digesting it.
• Christopher Fry produces very energetic and dramatic paintings and objects using intriguing combinations of colour and materials. Alongside his large paintings he also exhibited some beautifully crafted wooden books made of oak. Few of these remained at the end of the exhibition!

As I mentioned, I also spoke to many people, quite a few of whom were photographers: Bob Small (who took the photo of me, above), Tristan Martin, Caroline Shipsey, Janet Miles and Julie Avenell (who provided valuable feedback pre-exhibition).

I am relieved yet also slightly sad that the exhibition is over; relieved as it required a lot of preparation, yet sad because the atmosphere during the two weeks was wonderful and it was very enjoyable to meet so many different artists and members of the public. I am, however, very much looking forward to getting back out in the field and capturing some autumn colours. Watch this space for new pictures!

My latest exhibition of landscape photographs is being held in Glastonbury Galleries from 17th September to 2nd October as part of Somerset Art Weeks (SAW) 2011. Entitled “South West… ish” the exhibition will feature new images from the bottom left corner of the UK – places such as Dartmoor, Exmoor and the Somerset Levels through to the Brecon Beacons. Expect to see dramatic sunrises, mysterious mist, glorious waterfalls and some very atmospheric scenes. I will be in the gallery to talk to visitors on certain days (to be confirmed – watch this space). Please come along as you’ll receive a warm welcome!

Glastonbury Galleries will also be hosting the work of 6 other artists, featuring painting, printing, mixed media, drawing, printmaking and glasswork. Full details can be found on the SAW website. It is venue 55 if you have a SAW brochure.

Follow these steps to allow you to print on Matte paper with a Photo Black cartridge or vice versa:

1. Right click on the printer in Windows’ control panel (in Windows 7 click Start > Devices and Printers). Click Printing Preferences.

2. Click on the Utility tab and then on Speed and Progress.

3. Tick the box next to “DISABLE Epson Status Monitor 3″ then click OK

4. Now you can click on Printer and Option Information and manually set the ink type installed. This will override whatever cartridge is installed in the printer.

I hope that sharing this info will save anyone else a lot of wasted time if they encounter a similar problem or want to override the ink type in an Epson printer (R2880 or otherwise).

Since my last blog update I’ve been looking at more coastal scenery, exploring the interesting Somerset coastline now that it’s once again in line for sunset and sunrise. I started off this project by visiting Berrow Beach near Burnham-on-sea.

The sand dunes in the foreground of this picture caught my eye and I realised that standing there I could’ve been standing in a much more remote location like Scotland (provided I didn’t look behind me). A hazy afternoon blocked the view of Hinkley Point power station further along the coast and gave a warm touch to the colour of the sky.

Kilve Beach

A few weeks later I returned to what I think is one of the most interesting beaches in the south west – Kilve Beach. Every time I go to Kilve I end up with completely different images as the tide reveals or hides different parts of the beach. And there are so many features to explore that it’s hard to repeat the same shot.

This sunset coincided with high tide. I was hopeful that some of the limestone ledges that Kilve is famed for would still be visible but alas I was wrong. Nevertheless an impressive sunset was brewing so I position myself to capture a more ‘landscape’ like image looking west along the coastline.

After the sun had gone down I waited for quite some time wracking my brain for other ideas for pictures. As the light grew dimmer and dimmer the tide gradually revealed some of the limestone ledges. Some interesting cracked rocks seemed to make a good picture so I made a long exposure capturing the afterglow of the sunset.

Talks by Stephen Spraggon

At the start of April I gave a talk to Burnham-on-sea Camera Club on my photos, kit and approach to photography. I’d like to thank the club for inviting me and providing a welcoming atmosphere. The club is holding its third annual exhibition on the 17th April 2011 so pop in if you’re in the area. Read more on the Burnham-on-sea.com website.

If your camera club or organisation would be interested in me giving a talk to them please send me an email to discuss what you have in mind.

And finally…

If you have a copy of the May issue of Outdoor Photography I’ve got two pictures published on page 43 in the viewpoints section. One of the locations featured is West Woods in Wiltshire which is a beautiful managed woodland that gets carpeted in bluebells at this time of year. In fact I’ll probably be returning there very shortly.

Burrow Mump

Heavy rain left the fields near Burrow Mump on the Somerset Levels flooded. I normally find Burrow Mump to be a difficult subject as the fields surrounding it aren’t particularly photogenic. However, the flood water created a kind of moat and from past experience I knew this would make for interesting pictures with the mump reflected in the water.

The weather was rubbish at the time but for one day the skies cleared so I made a visit at sunset to capture what I hoped would turn out to be some nice colours in the sky.

The Seven Sisters of Cothelstone Hill

Most recently I made an early start before sunrise to explore Cothelstone Hill on the Quantocks, Somerset. Having watched the weather forecast intently I decided that the effort of getting up early was worth the gamble. The Met Office forecasted that a weather front would be clearing from the west so there was some chance that the sun might not be visible for an hour or so after sunrise. I was impressed when I arrived at the Seven Sisters on Cothelstone Hill to find the predicted weather front doing exactly what the Met Office had said. After a 15 minute wait the sun broke through a thin gap in the cloud. I felt the brief glimpse of light made a special backdrop to the trees.

And finally, if you’re in a newsagents…

…look out for the March issue of Country Walking magazine as my picture of Bossington Hill and Porlock Bay has been used as a double page spread on pages 10-11.