Landscape Interview….

Just been asked to do a piece for Ephotozine, on Landscape Photography. Thought it worth sharing on here with you all.

It’s just 3 questions, with my ramblings on each.

How did you get into landscape photography?

I’m from the countryside originally, rural Lancashire by Pendle Hill, so was always at home there.

When affordable digital came along around 10 years, and petrol was cheap, I used to spend most weekends in the car pottering around the dales and north York moors, places I’d been through but never really seen. Spending time on my own meant I could stop where ever I wanted, for however long I needed.

I started to work out what I enjoyed most, mainly waterfalls and rivers back then.

Also, city shooting all seemed a bit daunting back then – I didn’t really know what I was doing and people would be annoying, so getting away from it all in a field or on a hill was far more relaxing.

We’re lucky up here in yorks/lancs, lots of variety in landscape and coast line within one hour – from rolling dales to barren limestone pavements/

Talk us through how you set up and take a shot?

Around 2006 I found a formula which produced repeatable results – using a polariser, ND grad filters, cable release, tripod and anglefinder to get low down and create images with ultra-wide angled lenses (typically 17mm on full frame).

Most of the landscapes I’ve sold and have appeared in magazines follow the formula – and I’m sure many landscape photographers on Ephotozine do too.

I tend to look for something in the near ground as foreground interest, preferably with some kind of lead into the shot – a line in the sand, a rocky crevice, a road marking or just a rock and stick. Water does the trick too of course.

Then in the background, I’m after something as the focal point. Too often it’s a tree…. though in the lakes, the mountains themselves are interesting enough.

you’d shoot that at f16, focussing 1/3 way into the shot, so you’d get everything sharp and a longish shutter to blur motion.

Of course, only shooting at sunset to get the magic, warm toned light.

Now, a few years on, I’m less formulaic really – I’ve shot many landscapes with a 500mm F4.5 L lens, even had an EC with one! It’s more about reading the conditons and choosing the right kind of shot. If it’s a poor sky, then I’d use a long lens to find something interesting without the sky. I like long shadows, so look for those in photos – sometimes driving up a hill and looking down below gets you some really cool long shadows of trees.

What draws you to the photos you take?

Landscape is fun rather than work – so it tends to be done when I get spare time, or feel the urge to get out there. It’s often stop-offs on the way to places these days, maybe taking a longer route and setting off earlier to call into old haunts.

I still love water, wiers always look great, though when the light gets really low, you can end up with a silhouette and white water if you’re not careful… enter HDR!

What looks good to the eye often doesn’t look great on camera – I’ve had mates take me to these really wide exposed areas, bigging them up, only to find that there’s no photo there. It’s got the “wow that’s a huge open vista” appeal, but there’s nothing really discernible to shoot… Joe Cornish has his Roseberry Topping in every shot so he has that point of interest.

I’ve often used Drax/Eggborough/Ferrybridge power stations on the M62 for this. They’re huge, the biggest in Europe, so can be seen for miles around.

I think you need something to interest the eye, certainly intitally anyway, then they can have a wander around the shot.

So something with presence draws me, though not always the obvious tree or boulder!