Photography Blog

Shooting in the field, editing and printing

Some of the ideas held here have been superseded or revised. If you would like up-to-date thoughts on photography – both shooting and editing and my thoughts about the art, please consider subscribing to my mailing list at the foot of this page.

Photography in Cornwall

April 5, 2022

I just came back from staying with friends in Cornwall. It was exhausting—staying in Cornwall always is. Though I should be sensible, I’m an early riser, and I’m out on the beaches taking photos for several hours before anyone else wakes. With full days exploring and late evenings socialising, after a few nights away, I start to feel thinly drawn. I like to think that if I lived in Cornwall, I would develop a more mature relationship with landscape photography. But

Is Instagram Dead for Photographers?

March 22, 2022

4 things Instagram taught me A few months ago, l wrote about quitting social media. I was unsuccessful. An active Instagram group chat drew me back, and addiction kept me there. Nevertheless, despite still spending some time on Instagram, I have progressed with my goals for leaving. During a few days of annual leave, I redesigned my website, and I am working on my search engine presence. I will do more of that this year. Most importantly, perhaps, I have rekindled my love of

A Somerset Landscape Photography Guide

February 26, 2022

What is there for a landscape photographer in Somerset? With rare birds in the wetland marshes and red deer roaming the hills, wildlife is perhaps the most natural draw in our county. Yet, despite lacking charismatic mountains and rugged coastline, after watching light rays through the mist of the Levels, rambling over purple moorland and standing on the edge of a brutal gorge, you too will agree – there is plenty here to satisfy landscape photographers too. Wondering where to start

Stop Chasing Sunrises

February 12, 2022

I’m an early riser. I naturally wake between 4 and 6 and a lie in sees me up no later than 7.30. As a landscape photographer, this can be a strategic advantage. However it can also be exhausting. For a few weeks each year, the sun rises so that from a clearing on the Polden Hills you can use a telephoto lens and it forms a halo behind Glastonbury Tor. In 2020 I was after this image. When I say ‘after’ I

The Motorway to Pen y Fan

January 24, 2022

Last week I had the pleasure of walking up Pen y Fan with a couple of fellow Bristol photographers. Oddly, although over the last year I have explored the Brecons a fair amount, this was the first time I have summited Pen y Fan. I think a mountain looks better from lower down than from the top, but last week’s expedition changed my mind. As I say, this was the first time I’ve climbed this mountain. Last summer, I did a

Scared of Direct Light?

October 30, 2021

Early after first picking up a camera, photographers learn to recognise of good light. As landscape photographers we wake up early and stay out past sunset in search of the perfect golden hour light. I used to return to locations again and again to understand how the light interacts with my subject. This was good training. It taught me anticipation and adaptation. However, more and more. I like it when the light is subdued. I prefer now to shoot in indirect