Landscape
A good photograph is knowing where to stand - Ansell Adams
For me, landscape photography is all about lighting. Not the quantity of light but its quality, and needless to say this often means early mornings and evenings. I would far prefer spectacular lighting in an ordinary place than ordinary lighting in a spectacular place. These photographs show what I saw at that one moment in time, when the photgraph was born.
Click on the preview to see a larger image.
This image was taken
in October 1997 from Glacier Point, Yosemite NP, USA during one of those unpromising
overcast evenings. All of a sudden the low sun broke through the cloud for a brief instant
and miraculously illuminated the face of Half Dome. We all need a little luck like this
sometimes.
I find the quiver trees in
Namibia very photogenic, especially in silhouette. They remind me of candleabras sitting
handsomely on the dining table for all to admire. Strangely, they are not trees at all but
aloes and are said to have been used for quivers on the arrows of the local tribesmen.
Swaledale is undoubtedly one of
the most beautiful areas in England with its quaint little villages linked together by a
web of dry stone walls, all nestled in a lovely rolling valley. And during a long distance
walk in December 1997, the frosty dale was bathed in warm sunshine and my shutter was the
only thing to be heard for miles. Oh happy day!
It was dawn and I was amongst the
highest sand dunes in the world during a raging sandstorm. Sand found its way into
everything - food, camera equipment, clothing and me. But during that magical hour I was
oblivious to it all. The seductive shapes in the golden sand captivated me and still do
today. An awesome place which I hope to see again.
Fjordland in New Zealand is an area not to be
missed if you are travelling through this interesting and varied country. The weather is,
to put it mildly, damp and unpredictable but being from the UK I guess I'm quite used to
it! Clouds swirl menacingly all around and every so often reveal enormous mountains
towering overhead. I shall return.
Every landscape photographer needs patience
and perseverance in spades. We cannot control the weather conditions but if we wait long
enough and do our homework we will suceed. I visited this spot on South Island NZ four
times on four consecutive evenings to capture this scene, and the sheep were an added
bonus.
Imagine being all alone at
dawn in the Snowy Mountains in Australia with the mist eerily drifting across the valley
below and a family of kangaroos playing happily just a few yards down the hillside. I
remember it like yesterday and always will. This is the beauty of photography - images
take you back in time and evoke all sorts of emotions.
This image reminds me of a white
knuckle ride in a 4 by 4 whilst descending from the Tibetan plateau into Nepal. Our
vehicle had a deep 5 inch split in the front tyrewall with our driver casually steering
round hairpin after hairpin with nothing but good fortune between us and a sheer 2000 foot
drop. The tyre burst at the bottom and I lived to tell the story. Who says phototravel is
boring !
Either end of the day is the only
time to photgraph sand dunes successfully, with the added bonus of cooler temperatures.
Shapes and textures are emphasized whilst the colours are warmer, giving this image a
seductive and almost human quality.