When it comes to improving their photography many photographers fall into the trap of placing the equipment at the top of the list. They presume that the latest upgrade or the next model up the range will be just what they need to take better photographs. Now don’t get me wrong, if you have great photographic craft then better equipment can capture better images but if you’re starting out in photography, struggling to achieve what you consider to be successful images or just simply feel you are not happy with your photography then buying a new body or lens(s) is not, I would suggest, the best solution.

The purpose of this article is not to be an in depth tutorial on how to improve the situation described in the previous paragraph but to give you a roadmap to point you in the right directions. From this I hope you can go off in these various directions and work at being a better, happier photographer. The stuff I am going to discuss is not all free, some of it could be as much or more than that new lens or body but I strongly believe that the benefits to your photography and your contentment as a photographer will outstrip by a long way the benefits you might obtain from that equipment purchase. This roadmap is aimed at landscape or outdoor photography but the principles apply to all types of photography.

So we will ignore camera’s and lens’s for the rest of this article and I will try and lay out this roadmap that I hope will help you achieve these improvements.

In that first paragraph I used the word ‘Craft’, I feel that consistent good photography comes in three main parts which I put under this umbrella of ‘Craft’. These are Knowledge, Practice and Patience. There is also another subject I wish to discuss which lies outside of this umbrella of craft and that is ‘other equipment’.

The first of those is Knowledge. When I use the term knowledge I don’t just mean the nuts and bolts of photography – the understanding of all the many technical things that are required in the taking, processing and outputting the photograph – I also mean things such as empathy with the subject, understanding the light and imparting emotion into the final image.

You can improve your knowledge in many ways but possibly the most effective is going on a course of some sort, either a short one or two day course or a longer holiday. If courses and holidays are out of reach financially then other ways of improving your knowledge are with tutorial DVD’s or reading books or searching the internet for articles and tutorials (and there are many good sites online such as that have very good information available). Some bits of this knowledge are perhaps easier to get to grips with than others, the easier bits are often the technical things such as the effect the aperture and shutter have on the image, the harder bits are usually things like getting emotion into the final image, these subtle and usually harder areas are often only mastered with the next part which is practice.

Practice makes perfect? Well that may not be entirely true but practice will improve your photography and nothing can really substitute for the good old graft of getting out and taking photographs. This is absolutely vital in improving your photography, not only will it enable you to put into action things you learn from the ‘Knowledge’ part, it will also feed information back into your knowledge. As you continue to learn how your equipment works, how light works its magic, how to read the weather, how to deal with tricky conditions, how to ‘see’ you will be constantly feeding information back into your knowledge. Never underestimate what you will gain from just getting out and being a photographer, you may not even realise you’re learning but you are, and this learning while working process is something that never really stops no matter how good you get.

Don’t forget that you can also stay at home and practice the ‘processing’ side of your photography, this is also a fundamental part of your photographic skills and while most photographers would much rather be outside taking photographs than sitting at home on the computer, putting into practice the knowledge you learn on the processing side is just as vital.

With practice, all the skills of photography will become second nature, the camera for instance will become an almost invisible part of you which will allow you to put all your thoughts and energy into your creative vision of the world, which is absolutely vital if you want to become a consistently better photographer. Practice will also help make you a calm photographer, and a calm photographer is more likely to bring home the goods than a stressed one.

Now we get to patience. Photographers generally need patience in bucket loads. We need it when we are standing by the tripod waiting for the light to change at the same location for the umpteenth morning in a row. We need it to put in the hours finding locations. We need it when the computer decides to throw a wobbly. And we need it at many other times along the road of photographic life. You need to develop a patient attitude towards photography, patience like practice will help you be a calmer photographer.

All of these three parts feed into each other, for instance if you are well practiced with your equipment and are patiently waiting for the light to change you will more than likely be in a calm state of mind. If you’re calm you are more likely to see something you would not have seen had you been stressed and this new something may well add to your knowledge.

Finally we come to ‘other equipment’. One of the most important pieces of other equipment is a good solid tripod and head, and for this item to be of any value at all you must actually carry it with you and use it. Most landscape photographers use one all the time and for good reason. A tripod does many things other than the obvious one of making sure there is no camera movement. A tripod will slow you down and help you think more about the shot, and if you’re thinking more then you have a better chance of creating something good. A tripod will help you adjust the viewpoint so it’s just right and then hold the camera in the same place while you wait for the light to reach perfection, which is important as often that little burst of perfect light will only last a few seconds and you don’t want to spend any of them framing up the shot again. A tripod is a very important bit of equipment, but as I said you have to carry it with you all the time to get the value of it so make sure you get one that is sturdy but light enough to carry wherever you go, as a tripod left in the boot of the car is no good to anyone.

Another piece of additional equipment are filters, these are important tools that allow the photographer to adjust, in some way or another, the light that hits the sensor (or film). Again there are many sources of information on the types and uses of filters but they should become an essential part of your gear as should a spare battery. How depressing would it be if you failed to get a great photograph because your camera battery died at just the wrong time.
A cable or remote release is also well worth having, this should help alleviate any vibration you might get as your excited finger stabs at the shutter release.

The next items of additional equipment relate more personally to you the photographer rather than your photography, but they can – and I believe do – have an effect on the quality of your images.
Most important of these is clothing. You should have appropriate clothing for the time of year and conditions that you are going out in. Apart from the potential dangers of not being adequately dressed it is also important for the quality of your photography. If you are cold and wet you naturally won’t be giving photography your full attention, and that means you are more than likely not achieving the best photography that you’re capable of, which is not the ideal situation to be in. So make sure that you have suitable clothing and footwear to keep you comfortable, as you can then put all your attention into your photography.
Food is also important, have a few rations with you as hunger can often be distraction but worse it can make you leave a location earlier than you perhaps should which may well cause you to miss the appearance of the perfect light.
Next it’s good to have a comfortable way of carrying all your equipment (especially the tripod!), you are more likely to explore further and be more relaxed when you get there if you have a good comfortable bag or rucksack that also keeps your equipment dry.

Finally good preparation should become part of your routine, if you are getting up early then get everything you need ready the night before, plan where you are going and allow plenty of time to get there and get set up. Things happen with light very quickly first thing in the morning so you do not want to be rushing about in the morning and getting stressed, as I have emphasised before its all about staying as calm and relaxed as possible. And don’t forget to set the alarm!

So I hope you can see that what I am trying to advocate with this article is that simply replacing a lens or body with a newer or higher spec version will not necessarily yield better results. If you fall into the categories I mentioned in the first paragraph then I feel your photography would be much better served spending time and money on improving your craft with the equipment you have – and perhaps some of the additional equipment mentioned – than it would be by spending that money on a new body, lens or camera. Once you have worked at improving your craft to a higher level you can review your position and see if you still think that new body, lens or camera is needed. I think you will be a better and happier photographer for making the effort.

You can visit Peter Cook’s website at http://www.seeingthelight.co.uk

I first went to Brittany in March 2010 for a short visit specifically to explore the Pink Granite Coast. The endless variety of wonderfully sculpted shapes was simply overwhelming and I was constantly torn between taking shots to show the folks back home, and taking a more measured approach with an artistic intent. I resolved that I had to come again. The opportunity arose in March of this year when I accompanied Nigel Halliwell and Paul Franklin in the guise of their recent venture, Taking Time (www.taking-time.co.uk). The workshop was almost twice as long as my solo visit and took in the southern coast of Brittany with Quiberon and the Côte Sauvage, Penmarc’h and La Pointe de la Torche, as well as my old stamping ground at Trégastel and Ploumanac’h in the north. A varied programme with lots of time to explore, think and talk photography and for culinary delights too: when the light was too harsh we visited crêperies – a good way of nurturing the creative spirit!!

Quite often, the serious landscape photographer, particularly the large format variety, is thought of as a typically male profession – however, when we do see many women picking up a camera they quite often show just what the men should have been doing all along. Mel Foster is very good example of someone who stepped into her photography with an almost perfectly formed style from day one (especially with her large format output). She is also another example of the musical photographer, I’ll let her tell you more about that.

In most photographers lives there are ‘epiphanic’ moments where things become clear, or new directions are formed. What were your two main moments and how did they change your photography?

For many years I pursued photography as a hobby, which gathered momentum quietly over the years. A major turning point for me was a 5 week photographic trip with my husband around several National Parks and Wilderness Areas in America. We witnessed many amazing places, and for the first time I was up for dawn and out for sunset pretty much every day in a row, with good ol’ Jeremy by my side! A lot of slide film later, and a big overdraft to boot, I had the most incredible memories and some images that I was really pleased with. I was definitely hooked. But what next?

On our travels we also spent time visiting book shops and galleries when the sun was too bright to make images. We saw work by Michael Fatali, Tom Till and David Muench but to name a few. I bought books by Dykinga, Linde Waidehofer and anything else of interest that came to hand. There were a few images that really took my breath away, and as I’d found previously, more often than not they seemed to be taken with large format cameras. Was there anything in this? I had wondered for some time about whether I was just hankering after the wooden box, or whether there was something in the nature of the way it worked that made these images so appealing to me.

A while later I came across an advert for Light & Land and a particular course they offered exclusively for large format cameras lead by Joe Cornish and David Ward. It seemed I could go and try out a camera on a 4 day course and see if the niggling idea that was burning a hole in my brain was actually worth pursuing. Needless to say it confirmed my suspicions, and my passion for photography hit a new high. It felt like the ideas and images I’d been wanting and trying to make for a while could come to fruition at last. Now the corner had been turned there was no looking back… (More about LF impact on my photography in later camera question.)

Tell me about why you love landscape photography? A little background on what your first passions were, what you studied and what job you ended up doing

I had an amazing childhood – I remember lots of playing outside, building camps (igloos in the years with lots of snow) and watching the garden birds from my bedroom window. (My brother and I even had a little Pentax compact each for Christmas one year.) My parents were always making things with us, whether it was a way to entertain us or as part of a school project, they both took lots of time to be creative with us. I never really thought much about how this might have sown some artistic seeds, as I didn’t even do art gcse – didn’t really think I was much good at drawing or painting. Besides, I got into music from an early age – and the clarinet lessons took over from messing around with a recorder at about the age of 9. It didn’t really start to get serious until my early teens when I went on my first NYWO (National Youth Wind Orchestra) course. I had already been enjoying the local music centre groups, but the level of playing on the course was so much better, and some of the older students were already at music college. It was inspiring to have a peek into a world where you rehearsed for few days and then did several concerts at this level, and I began to imagine myself as a musician…So obviously I ended up studying Spanish!?

When faced with a year abroad as part of my Spanish Degree my parents bought me an SLR. I enjoyed photography, but still really from a documentary stance – I wanted to be able to show friends and family back home what I’d seen on my travels. As the initial pictures came back, I was quite pleased with the results, and slowly the photography became the reason for making the images rather than the other way around. I travelled every month to Madrid for clarinet lessons, and visited the art galleries and exhibitions as I also had done back in London with my friends at music college. As the end of the course drew near I started (!) to think carefully about how I might actually make a living after University, and realised that if at all possible, I really wanted to be a musician. With the backing of my already bankrupt parents I auditioned for music college and got a place. Whilst studying music I met my now husband, who is also largely responsible for reawakening my love of the outdoors with trips to the Lake District and later on for agreeing to a 5 week photographic trip to the USA traveling around lots of National Parks and Wilderness Areas when my photography ‘hobby’ started to reach new obsession levels the year before I finally made the move up to large format…

I’m working now as a freelance musician, peripatetic music teacher and photographer – although the photography only forms a small part of my earnings. Being self-employed I don’t really see any boundaries between my musical and photographic endeavours, as they are all a fully integrated part of what I do (and who I am). So much that I ‘do’ (music practice, investigate new music/art, photograph the landscape) isn’t paid by the hour (or even paid at all!). Maybe that makes it easier to combine both my passions. I’m sure anyone who’s self-employed finds themselves in a similar state of evolution and development of ideas and skills.

I love landscape photography because it’s a way I can express my love of nature and the world around us. I find myself absorbed with a child-like fascination taking in the scene around me, exploring the possibilities and enjoying the discovery of details or elements from which an image might evolve. I find this voyage of discovery and the exploratory nature of making images stimulating and very addictive. I love the way that being a photographer encourages me to really see, and appreciate the detail in even the most common place or everyday situations – sometimes to the point where through the process of making an image I can transform it into something of beauty.

Does your music inform your photography in any way?

Even if they don’t directly inform one another, there is a lot that goes hand in hand. As with most things you usually start by learning a set of skills. I think working as a musician will have given me an important grounding in a type of unspoken coordination between technical skills and self expression that could be quite advantageous. Both music and photography are crafts which concentrate on a type of expression that is non-verbal, and when they are at their best are full of nuance, variation and character. Although they can both be broken down into simple underlying structures and shapes, these are not the essence of their art. In the same way that music and photography have fundamentals of technique and composition, neither amount to much without individual expression, interpretation and vision. I am often reminded of certain pieces of music, or indeed listening to music whilst out in the landscape making images, but more from a perspective of enjoying both my passions rather than one informing the other.

You’ve just started a family too (congratulations!) do you have plans for sherpa training in the near future? More seriously, will the whole family be coming out on photography trips?

An extra sherpa would be very useful, although in reality the current sherpa will be more heavily laden! I’d hope that the family would join me on most photography excursions – highly likely as Jeremy is just as keen on being outdoors and we both want our daughter to grow up with the same appreciation of the world around her that we have. I’ve read with interest some articles by Niall Benvie on not only combining family life and photography, but also our duty as parents to ensure our children connect with nature. ‘Rewilding Childhood’ is also a topic of concern for the National Trust, as besides the health reasons for being active and enjoying some fresh air, a proper connection with nature is of paramount importance – why would future generations want to work hard to safeguard something they don’t relate to?
Having a young (10 weeks old!) family will also push me to make more of my immediate surroundings from a practical point of view – rather than always looking to go further afield. The image Ice & Oak Leaves is a good example of how you can make an image on your doorstep!

There seems to be a surfeit of men ‘into’ landscape photography; Why do you think that is?

Hard to say. I don’t think it’s due to a lack of interest or artistic ability. I guess photography might initially be more appealing to gadget fans – there does seem to be more importance placed on what you use over the results sometimes. I can only speak for myself, but I’m certainly not as bothered with lots of things unless I can see how they effect the image. I do like to know how things work, but I’m maybe too focused on making the image over everything else. I love my new iPad – but that’s because it’s beautifully designed and the ‘workings’ aren’t so relevant to the user – unless it’s to submit a file to be viewed on one, I don’t feel the need to find out how many pixels the screen has! Maybe the women that are into landscape are happy purely doing it for themselves, and combined with a generalised lack of interest in computers, how would we ever know about them? It has occurred to me trying to think of an answer to this question how sometimes a website is the only means of viewing someone’s work (and that’s a big wake up call to update mine, after the best part of 2 years without an update – pretty disgraceful). I do also think that unless you’ve had the time and space to pursue a passion like landscape photography beforehand, it would be very difficult to start to do so whilst bringing up a family, especially if the partner is in a ‘normal’ full time job and not around to help with family life.

Could you tell us a little about the cameras and lenses you typically take on a trip and how they affect your photography.

All the images on my website and shown here were taken on an Ebony large format camera with either a 90mm, 120mm, or 150mm lens. (I’d love a Nikkor 270T if any turn up secondhand – the bellows on the camera don’t extend enough for longer lenses.) I also use a Lumix LX3 which I really enjoy, as both a digital notebook for the ‘High Impact’ camera (as my friends have nicknamed it) and to experiment with in its own right. Using large format has definitely changed the way I work. Firstly you have to slow down and go through the visual process of searching for the image without the camera stuck to your face! I love how this makes me interact more with my surroundings. Once the camera is out and I’m under the dark cloth the isolation it provides from the surroundings help to me focus solely on the image, and the further abstraction of it being upside down on the ground glass screen helps balance composition and colour. Having used this exclusively for several years, the Lumix has added more flexibility and freedom which I’m also enjoying.

What sort of post processing do you undertake on your pictures? Give me an idea of your workflow..

As they’re mostly transparencies, it’s mostly a case of scanning and doing a small amount of remedial work in photoshop so that the scan resemble the transparency again, or what I’d envisaged the image should look like when printed. I often rely on David Whistance’s expertise in this area.

Do you get many of your pictures printed and, if at all, where/how do you get them printed?

I think it’s really important to take images beyond the transparency or digital file. So much is virtual today, and I’m one of those old fashioned people who needs tangible things to hold. I still love looking at transparencies on a light box, but do also enjoy the further transformation to a print. I employ the expertise of David Whistance (who I very highly recommend) to print my images – especially if they are for my portfolio, exhibitions or for clients.

Tell me about the photographers that inspire you most. What books stimulated your interest in photography and who drove you forward, directly or indirectly, as you developed?

I’ll try and be brief! Early on I loved Adams, Muench, Weston, Fatali, Dykinga – all the usual suspects. I came across the work of Burkett in the gallery in Yosemite, Waidhofer in Arches, and enjoyed reading the writings of Galen Rowell – the first insight into some of the thought processes of the ‘The Inner Game of Landscape Photography’. Since then books or exhibitions by Kertesz, Kenna, Porter, Wakefield, Dombrovski (Simply), Bell (Primal Places), Norfolk, Töve (Speglingar is my current reading material), Cornish (First Light, Scotlands Coast, Scotlands Mountains and A Photographer at Work) and Ward (Landscape Within, Landscape Beyond) have all had an impact. I can’t really thank Joe Cornish and David Ward enough for the incredible inspiration and guidance they’ve been generous enough to give to me both on the fateful first large format course in Whitby and over the subsequent years. There’s no doubt in my mind that I wouldn’t have got to this point without them and I’m very grateful for the catalytic effect they had on my development and new levels of photography addiction! I’ve also learnt a tremendous amount from Eddie Ephraums and loved exploring new ways to think of making images and presenting them.

Tell me what your favourite two or three photographs are and a little bit about them.

Whitby Pier Railings has to be in this selection, even if just from a sentimental point of view as my first experience of large format. I still enjoy the composition and mood of this image even now.

Nanven Curves – Often “Keep it simple, stupid!” rings in my head (thanks David!), although jesting aside, it’s a serious and valuable point. I think it’s the simplicity of this image that I love, and I’m still surprised that despite how little is in it, I don’t seem to tire of it.

Northumberland Reflections – I like how the reflected sky in the water resembles a spilt ink pot. This was one of those times where the composition was instinctively seen and seemed to just make sense.

If you were told you couldn’t do anything art, photography or music related for a week, what would you end up doing? (i.e. Do you have a hobby other than photography..)

If art includes book binding, box making and rubber stamps, then I guess if at home I could get stuck into some fine food and wine, or go on holiday with Jeremy and Daisy without a camera (what not even for family photos!?).

What sorts of things do you think might challenge you in the future or do you have any photographs or styles that you want to investigate? Where do you see your photography going in terms of subject and style?

I’ve been revisiting some photographers work that I haven’t looked a for a while, as I’ve noticed over the years that as my own style develops my reaction or appreciation of others work has also changed. Here are few images that spring to mind that especially intrigue me. I love ‘Martinique‘ by André Kertesz – its mystery, beauty, simplicity and balance produce a dreamlike quality. ‘Untitled (from the series ‘The Loft From Inside In‘ by W Eugene Smith has lovely echoes of shape between the guitarist and the double bass because the photographer has chosen to only include part of them on opposite sides of the frame. There are images by Paul Wakefield that I know I wouldn’t previously have ‘understood’ and now I find they’re my favourites. They’ve been partly responsible for me making more sculptural images and with the others I mentioned previously, also thinking more about negative space and selective inclusion or exclusion. I’m also trying to make slightly more experimental images and push myself out of my comfort zone. These last couple of years I’ve also been working more on others ways of presenting my images, including handmade books and clamshell boxes. Watch this space!

Who do you think we should feature as our next photographer?

Nigel Halliwell and Anna Booth in no particular order!

Many thanks to Melanie Foster for her comments – you can find out more about her at http://www.melaniefoster.co.uk/ but we have have to privilege of showing many images here that have not been seen before or at a larger size for your greater appreciation.

Twisted Birches

If, like me, you spend time on photo-sharing websites, both sharing your own work and viewing what others are getting up to, you will doubtless be aware of the dangers of getting too comfortable – complacent, even. Once you get to a level of ability where you can reliably produce images which receive lots of positive comments from your peer group, there is a strong temptation to simply carry on feeding your audience what it is you think they want.  We all like a bit of praise, of course, but too much can actually be a hindrance to developing as a photographer since it’s usually criticism, not praise, that spurs us on to greater heights. Unmitigated praise, as enjoyable to soak in as a hot bath, can often act as a brake on creativity, offering us a warm and welcoming comfort-zone that can become increasingly difficult to leave. And leave it we must, if we are to improve – especially if personal expression is the goal.

This issue we ventured out to an exhibition in the 1066 gallery in Baldock nr Hitchin where Julian Calverley has been exhbiting his photographs of Scotland under the title Northwest Beginnings. We had a chance to record a conversation with Julian and to ask him about his work and he also talked us through the images on show.

Our last article on depth of field took an overview of all of the ‘techniques’. This article is the first one to look into depth of field in depth but don’t worry, we’ll also break out now and again to give you some simple ideas for use in the field.

The first thing to cover is “What is depth of field?”. A lot of people have the assumption that everything in the “depth of field” is sharp and everything outside it is blurry. Nothing could be further from the truth. In reality we only have less blurry and more blurry, only occasionally do we reach truly sharp. Depth of field is all about working out what ‘acceptably blurry’ is.

In a previous article about books and photography David Ward challenged us to come up with some helpful titles. One such could be Georgia O’Keeffe and Ansel Adams: Natural Affinities, published in 2008 to coincide with an exhibition in the USA of the same name.

The recent sale of Instagram for $1 billion to Facebook has got me thinking about how many people use cameras today and how we – as “photographers” – might learn something from the playful approach of ‘casual users’.

First, a little history: the rise of Instagram has been truly meteoric; the service was launched in March 2010 and by March this year had over 30 million subscribers and a billion images stored on its servers. Another aspect of the business was quite extraordinary; there was never any charge for the app or for sharing the files. Set up and run on just $7 million of venture capital and with no way of generating cash, sceptics might speculate that Instagram’s strategy was always to be bought by one of the big players. (No doubt the investors and the thirteen engineers who work at Instagram will be pleased with the pay out resulting from this strategy!) The creators of the Hipstamatic app have been hugely successful too, with more than 10 million downloads in less than two years. Numerous other camera apps, including Tadaa and Lo-Mob, are doing almost as well. The question is why?

I have a confession to make, before you read further, you should know the following article isn’t really about photography at all. It is about a place, a place I love and my personal history in that place and how and why I have come to love it. But if place isn’t important to landscape photography then I don’t really see the point; surely there is a reason we go out to capture what we do? Okay I’ll admit it is something to do with landscape photography really, but first I’m going to have to explain why I feel so close to this area and that’s quite a long story.

If you are sitting comfortably, then I shall begin.

In most photographers lives there are ‘epiphany’ moments where things become clear, or new directions are formed. What were your two main moments and how did they change your photography?

I think perhaps the first instance would have to be around the time I was first introduced to photography by my father when I was still quite young. He encouraged me to experiment and explore what the camera could do and the processes involved. One of my earliest memories – possibly the event that started it all – was standing over a developing tray in the converted downstairs loo, the strong odour of chemicals mixing in the darkened room, as an image began to emerge like magic on paper. I can’t remember what the image itself was but that experience clearly had a lasting effect, I knew that what ever I ended up doing I wanted to include photography somehow.
Another moment of particular clarity was when I decided to change my career as a research scientist to photographer. I recognised the opportunity to satisfy my creativity and inquisitive nature and am glad I made the transition.

Tell me about why you love landscape photography. A little background on what your first passions were, what you studied and what job you ended up doing.

I have always been fascinated by science and the natural world. I grew up with David Attenborough videos virtually on constant replay and a monthly feed of National Geographic so pursuing my interests in science, studying physiology at university up to MSc level seemed natural. Sadly my photography took a bit of a back-seat making way for academia, the camera was never far away but I didn’t devote enough time developing any skills or any hint of a style. I started working as a research scientist shortly after completing my second degree and reacquainted myself with photography but with much more intent to actually be creative rather than merely ‘take a picture’.

I allowed my inquisitive nature to investigate photography more thoroughly and realised it is a wonderful combination of being both incredibly technical, requiring a level of proficiency with the cameras and equipment, and an outlet for my creative side.

The pursuit of landscape photography is not a static one, you have to put yourself out there and experience the environment the subject exists in to create the image. I enjoy the physical challenge of getting to a location be it travel to another country, climb up a mountain or merely a stroll along the beach. You have to get away from the car park to see what’s out there, it’s an adventure to head off and discover for myself what secrets a location is able to reveal.

Countering all the activity and effort with the quiet contemplative moments of formulating and distilling everything in front of me to successfully work up a composition is a curious mix I find captivating. Once at a location I can spend hours poking around and investigating to see if I can craft something that I feel works. I have been known to get myself in precarious positions to make an image as a result of this blend of physical and investigative nature…occasionally.

There’s also the side of things that we cannot control that have more of an effect in landscape photography than perhaps any other form of photography, there’s only so much we can do, after that we’re just observers. There’s nothing new in saying light transforms the character of a subject from one moment to the next, the skill becomes how to balance what you can control with what you cannot. It’s a curious contrast but being immersed in this process is what I really love. There are many avenues of photography I enjoy, certainly as a professional photographer I end up shooting a huge variety of subjects for clients but it’s landscape photography that seems to combine my interests and passions, bringing the most satisfaction and sense of accomplishment when I end up with an image I’m really pleased with as a result of everything coming together just right. Even if I don’t get anything I’m still spending time enjoying the outdoors!

You’re working as a professional photographer, can you give me an idea of what your typical day is like (and what recent exceptions to that have been). Challenges over come?

The transition from research scientist to full time photographer did present a few challenges, not least overcoming the gnawing self-doubt of ‘is this really a good idea?’ but once I’d made a start there really was no question in my mind. I suppose the first rule is there are no rules and you really have to maintain a level of discipline to follow through on things in order to make any sort of return on the time and effort spent. No two days are the same which can be both rewarding and frustrating in varying measures, for example within a 7 day stretch recently I went from standing on a frozen lake in Norway watching the Northern Lights to shooting rowers on the Thames to shooting kids running around in some woods to a day of chasing up clients and contacts to plan the next few weeks. Some ideas turn out to be successful and others less so but the important thing is to keep pressing on.

If I’m on a trip, for either commercial or personal work, the day usually starts the night before with furious weather and sunrise-time checking, this could all amount to nothing when you open the curtains the next day to see ‘not as advertised’ rain lashing the window. This happened on my first major commission last September (2011) working in Norway for a global oil company putting together a book tie-in for a newly built off-shore oil platform. The brief required landscape images from the area surrounding the on-shore base and some of the base itself. For the first four days (of seven) it rained. A lot. But I was able to fulfil the more commercial aspects and do some location scouting in the meantime (I got very good at imagining huge peaks behind the low clouds). Good weather eventually arrived but as we all know ‘good weather’ isn’t for landscape photography and I had three very long days trying to get a cloudless sky fit with my compositions. Thankfully the client was very happy with what they got and a few more trips are being planned. I think that experience taught me that you just have to do all you can and go with it, not to stress if things don’t go according to plan but be ready to get going as soon as things improve.

Could you tell us a little about the cameras and lenses you typically take on a trip and how they affect your photography

I currently use Canon digital SLRs, the 1Ds mkII and the 5D mkII are my two main cameras, along with a selection of lenses covering 17 to 200mm. I think my approach verges on experimental, upon reaching a location I would dump the bag and just wander around for a short while, one camera and one lens just making small grab shots and working out what to settle on depending on what the situation calls for and the composition I want to work up. My most used lens is my 24-70mm which gives me a great range to start with when exploring a subject. If I need to get in a bit closer I use a 70-200mm but rarely do I go much wider than 24mm. I do have a 17-40mm but tend to leave that at home (unless required for a commercial reason) – although a great lens I find it just too wide for my tastes.

I also have a couple of tilt-shift lenses, the 24mm and 90mm, each of which have their purposes. The 24mm tilt-shift lens is perhaps my favourite for landscape ‘views’ as it combines both a reasonable field of view without being excessive and the tilt-control allows me to focus from inches away from the lens to infinity. The 90mm is a great ‘detail’ lens and comes into it’s own when shooting the close-up/intimate images, allowing me to get in close and has that control of focus plain that other lenses just don’t. A positive side effect of having lenses with such movements is they make you slow down. With careful use, get it right and the results are stunning but get it just a bit wrong and you kick yourself. I only got the 5dmkII with live view 10 months ago so doing it all by eye prior to that advantage really made me slow down!

What sort of post processing do you undertake on your pictures? Give me an idea of your workflow.

Although the intention is to get it right ‘in camera’ by the nature of digital capture at least some editing is required to get the best out of the files. I use Lightroom for 99% of my processing, as much as an image processor with all the raw processing controls of it’s bigger brother photoshop, it’s a fantastic tool for organising files and keeping track of things. My standard edit involves the usual temperature and colour corrections, contrast curves and general cleaning up. Adjustments I make tend to be fairly minimal beyond that, with an emphasis on ensuring the result is more of an optimisation rather than harsh editing and remains faithful to how I saw the scene at the time of capture. The advantage to having so much technology available is that I can easily go to photoshop for a much more precise edit if I need to, such as using the lasso tool to highlight specific areas needing attention or running it through the stitching processor in photoshop (beyond a crude edit brush on of lightroom’s limitations is that it lacks the ability for precise editing).

Tell me about the photographers that inspire you most. What books stimulated your interest in photography and who drove you forward, directly or indirectly, as you developed?

As a child I spent a lot of time drawing and was encouraged to appreciate and enjoy art which no doubt nurtured my passion for photography. As I became more aware of landscape photography as a discipline I picked up a copy of David Ward’s Landscape Within which certainly had an effect in the way I approach making an image (I read it during a 2 week holiday to Scotland. It rained a lot!). Not in the least thinking more about what I was doing but also the way photography differs from other artistic practices being subtractive as opposed to additive.

Certainly one side of things that I do need to improve on is my landscape photography library not just on photographers but artists in general. I do enjoy slowly wandering through museums, – particularly

Increasingly more photographers are turning to the web in the form of sites such as facebook and flickr to share their work. Unfortunately for the most part constructive criticism tends to be absent, more a back-patting exercise but through them I’ve met some talented photographers and made good friends who I do stay in touch with. The opinions of people you know and trust mean a lot and having someone dissect an image, whether good or bad – and give reasons – is worth more than any number of one line compliments. When I meet up with other photographers I thrive on the discussions thrown around, be it out shooting on location or later ‘back at base’ (red wine tends to be a contributing factor!), the sharing of experiences and ideas on such occasions I find truly inspiring.

Photography as Art… ?

The definition of ‘art’ is essentially as follows:

“The expression or application of creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power”

Clearly a great deal of photography falls within this definition and why wouldn’t it? A lot of work I see is both pleasing and, whilst may not be ‘emotionally powerful’, does elicit a response of some kind but to my mind there are limits. Inevitably there comes a point where people end up making either what’s expected of them, or bland clichés, with little or no thought behind the creation of the work itself. Ultimately it’s an interesting question that no doubt rages in the minds of photographers. Certainly for me the intent when creating an image is that the result will be of an artistic nature and appreciated for what it is, and hopefully connect on some level with the viewer. Photography in this country is gaining momentum as an ‘art form’, we are somewhat behind the US in this respect but it’s getting better. It is a question though that warrants further discussion beyond this Q and A

Tell me what your favourite two or three photographs are and a little bit about them.

The Lightening Tree. I made this image at the end of a walk along the river Dart in Devon, a few years ago at the end of January. I hadn’t made anything I was especially happy with during the walk until half way across a bridge beside the car park I saw a branch out over the water, it’s angular skeletal form contrasting with the rushing water below. I used my 70-200 lens and zoomed in to exclude all but some of the branch and water in the frame. The light levels by this stage were very low and even at f/5.6 I had to use over 10 seconds, I think my final frame ended up around 30 seconds. Thankfully the air was quite still and the branches came out sharp whilst the movement in the water below blurred all shape and form within it. The resulting image, to me at least, has a quirky oriental feel. The relationship between the two subjects is not an unnatural one but you still have to take a moment and look a bit closer to work out what’s happening.

The Misty Bridge. This was one of my earliest digital images and I remember the day I made it quite clearly. I used to live in Bristol not far from Clifton Suspension Bridge that spans the Avon Gorge, occasionally heavy mist would settle in the gorge creating a strangely quietening atmosphere on a typically busy part of town. This particular misty morning I crossed the bridge to take the dog for a walk before work in the nearby woods. The mist was so thick the bridge just disappeared into the cloud halfway along and I was compelled to make something of it. The view was quite monochromatic but I converted it to black and white to emphasise the structure of the bridge and the way it vanishes into nothingness.

My final image is from Norway made on my first trip to the Lofoten Islands in the north west of the country, famous for their dramatic landscape of towering peaks and deep fjords. It’s an environment that has precisely what I love in abundance: mountains and water. On arriving at one small fishing village – complete with fish-drying racks, red huts on stilts and boats slowly bobbing in the harbour – I climbed over a rocky outcrop beside the road and dropped down to the shore. I remember standing looking at the view quietly taking it in, the gentle waves across the rocks in front of me, the warmth of the autumn sun (even at 5oC) and the clarity of the air with the chain of mountains disappearing off into the distance. Perching on a rock I set up with the 24mm shift lens with half an eye on the waves and waited for one to wash over the ledge (without giving me a soaking!). Blurring the water with a moderate shutter speed gave me what I was after.

If you were told you couldn’t do anything art/photography related for a week, what would you end up doing?

I think my penchant for being active would drive me towards something physical. For many years I trained to quite a high level as a rower and although the sense of accomplishment is an entirely different dimension to that of photography, I loved the way at it’s most basic level exercise is a fantastic form of escapism. I think it’s important to have something with which you can completely detach from every day life in some way and makes you feel good about yourself at the end of it. If I didn’t jump in a boat I’d either go mountain biking, climbing or simply get out for long walks in an environment I just love spending time in.

What sorts of things do you think might challenge you in the future or do you have any photographs or styles that you want to investigate? Where do you see your photography going in terms of subject and style?

As a photographer I think I am always learning and evolving and I would like to be able to combine my interest and past research experience in extreme environments with my photography. I’ve already travelled a fair bit in cold countries, such as Norway and Iceland, maybe I should try somewhere warm next? In a slightly different direction I’m now making short films which is quite exciting and I’ve also recently returned from Iceland and begun planning trips leading small groups there – watch this space! I enjoy learning new things and developing ideas around them so, who knows what the future holds.

Thanks to Hamish for good answers and great pictures! You can see more of Hamish’s work at http://www.lightoverwater.co.uk/ or on his Flickr stream.