Blog
This is new... And a little bit scary-
I am lucky to be able to include Norfolk landscape photographer Jon Gibbs as one of my friends. On a recent visit to his website I noticed he now has a blog. Never tried blogging before but it was great to see what the old chap was up too, and how his resistance to those evil chocolate biscuits was going (minute on the lips Jon, lifetime on the hips).
I then thought why don't I give it a go.... Blogging that is!
Wednesday 25th January 2012
Masterchef or no Masterchef I decided to get this particular monkey of my back - I’ve decided – Image number 1000 is Ta Daa, Rannoch Moor - which to be honest was the next image to be processed from November’s Scotland trip anyway! I can hardly believe where the time’s gone, the image on the left is no 0001, processed back in November 2004 when I had a social life, the housework, DIY and gardening where all up to date, a holiday was a holiday, weekends where to be enjoyed and the marketplace wasn’t half as saturated with photographers as it is now. The image on the right is no 1000, taken in November 2011. That means an average of nearly 12 images a month for 7 years! Add in 3 books, lots and lots of craft shows and lots of workshops and I think it’s about time I did some serious thinking…..Again!
Tuesday 24th January 2012
A belated Happy New Year too you all, can hardly believe January is nearly over already.
Been a struggling of late – since returning from the stunning Isle of Skye in November I haven’t taken one single photo… Somehow a damp dull Norfolk really doesn’t cut it for me at the moment!
Another problem has been what image do a process next! You see, the thing is I’m a sentimental old sole and the next image I process will be number 1000 so I want to make it something a bit special. I’ve already alluded to my current lake of inspiration and with no decent haw frosts or snow due for Norfolk I can’t see me taking anything new for awhile. That leaves the archives, plenty of images still yet to be processed, but what do I choose. Norfolk (where I live), Scotland (my favourite location), a close-up (just too prove I can!)… Decisions, decisions… I’ve narrowed it down to one of two (I think, maybe three!) It will be either one of my favourite Norfolk locations, Happisburgh. Or a place in Scotland I’ve driven through time and time again buy only photographed properly for the first time in November, Rannoch Moor. (Or possible some orange buoys in a fishing net!)………
Other news – Tax return done, 2012 craft show invites coming in thick and fast, workshops time of year well and truly upon me, and finally I have a cunning plan for a new contemporary sister website.
One thing for certain though – until Masterchef is no longer on the telly not much will be getting done in the evenings in the Duckett household!
Monday 12th December 2011
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone..!
Been really busy of late so haven’t had much time to keep the old blog up to date, and to be honest still haven’t, but I just had to wish you all a Merry Christmas…
Just finished my last craft fair of the year yesterday with mixed feelings; Bad – no more money coming in from that source for awhile. Good – no more hearing (or more accurately overhearing!) the following;
“Yours are as good as this love, you should start selling them”
“Look, I’ve taken a picture exactly the same as this haven’t I”
“Maybe I should starting selling mine, my friends and family are always saying how good they are”
“They’re obviously done on the computer”
Off now to catch up on some processing of Isle of Skye images followed by a break from photography to enjoy a family Christmas so, until next year, a big thank you for reading my blog, have a great holiday season everyone, and see you all next year for a continuation of the grumpiness you’ve all become accustom to reading….
Wednesday 16th November 2011
This time last week I had just crossed over to the Isle of Skye, having already captured Rannoch Moor and Glen Etive on the way up and was about to debark on one of the best photo shoots I’ve ever experienced, 3 days of stunning locations, great weather, and the company of both Jon Gibbs and Dennis Bromage.
The experience really made me realise how lazy I had become when composing a shot, made me realise how impatient I had become when waiting for the right light, made me realise how ruddy expensive petrol has become (long way from Norfolk to The Isle of Skye)…
…and more then anything really made me realise how much I love my wife and son, and how much I miss them when I’m away! (Psst won’t stop me doing it again though…)
Note to self: - Slow down for pity’s sake – One good shot is a million times better then half a dozen mediocre ones.
Tuesday 25th October 2011
Well, that feels ruddy good I must say!
I am absolutely delighted that one of my images has been commended in the 2012 Landscape Photographer of the Year Competition, not only that but the image will also appear in the Landscape Photographer of the year Collection 5 book due out at the end of this month and will feature in an exhibition at the National Theatre in London which runs from 5th December 2011 till 28th January 2012. I had to read the email a couple of times just in case I read it wrong – but yes it did read ‘had been’ rather then hadn’t!
Wednesday 12th October 2011
Hello – been awhile.
I’m a very happy, nah privileged little fella. I’m off to the Isle of Skye for a few days on a photography trip sometime soon, that’s a treat in itself, but better then that I’ll be in the company of 3 renowned landscape photographers, Mr Jon Gibbs, Mr Adam Burton and Mr Dennis Bromage. This will be the first time I’ve ever managed to travel purely for the reason of photography. And I can’t wait!
Sunday I experimented – Now I’m not normally the one for odd camera effects (well not on purpose anyway) but on Sunday I was with Kate Barclay at Holkham (we should have been running a workshop but that was rained off earlier in the day (don’t worry, those on it will be coming along on a different date and it was their choice to abandon!)), anyway I digress (and have used far too many brackets already…ah, see what I mean). Anyway following Kate’s suggestion I tried an effect caused by zooming out whilst the shutter was open and to be honest was quite surprised by the result. If you zoom too far for too long then yes the image looks really weird but I’m quite chuffed by this one – not sure whether I’ll put it up for sale though….
Friday 23rd September 2011
I recently uploaded the shot below to an on-line photography site (why be coy – the site was Ephotozine) and it had the effect of finishing off a good run of well received work. But;
The blown out highlight is deliberate, as is the aperture which gave the rays of light and dof on the castle, as is the exposure which was a trade off between having the intense light very large in the shot or the dice very dark and losing the red colour all together as well as only having a silhouette of the castle, the composition is also deliberate – I didn’t want the sun behind the dice as for me the shot would have lost it’s eye-catchingness, if indeed that’s a word!
I used to take this type of shot all the type a few years ago, admittedly with film, and to be honest I’m chuffed how well my digital sensor copped with this. The shot may still not be everyone’s cup of tea which is fine, honest, but because it was technically a very difficult shot to get right I just wanted to make it clear that the image is deliberate and that hopefully I do know what I’m doing.
I hope the reaction it got on EPZ is not a reflection on what’s possible with HDR and computer manipulation and how much better it could have looked… because that’s not what I do… Yes I shoot in Raw and yes I process my images but I’m proud of the fact I’ve never used layers, HDR, weird filters or dropped in a sky to make an image from 2 shots in my life and I never will! To my mind there’s two schools of landscape photography out there these days – Firstly the ‘Conditions aren’t right but I can fix that latter in the computer’ school and secondly, and the one I’m proud to be a member of, the ‘Conditions aren’t right so I’ll do the best I can and if it doesn’t work I’ll come back another time’ school.
Wednesday 14th September 2011
Just got back from Northumberland, and finally got a few shots of Bamburgh I’m happy with, a nice series of pre-dawn, dawn and sunrise… captured Lindisfarne when last up there in 2008, now captured Bamburgh, but the elusive Dunstanburgh still frustrates me. Yet again this year I could only attempt it midday with flat sea and the tide nearly in… Oh well!
Had an extremely poor Aylsham show this year, thought last year was bad but this year only took half of that! I put it down to a change in the type of stalls in the surrounding area – it used to be all good quality crafty stuff, not this year – army surplus opposite me, mobile phone accessories close by and a stall flogging cheap and nasty large canvas prints for £12.99 not to far away to the left. Unfortunately after 6 years I think this year was my last.
On a non photography note – PASS ME MY BLOOD PRESSURE PILLS – ENGLAND ARE IN THE RUGBY WORLD CUP..!
Ps whilst at Bamburgh meet a fellow tog by the name of Peter Stevens. A superb style of work all on his own and his site is well worth a look,
peterstevenphotography
And finally here they are – pre-dawn, dawn and sunrise(my personnel favourite!)
Thursday 18th August 2011
If you haven’t read my previous blog you probably won’t get this, but - Ta Daa, Thornham post shots..!
Tuesday 16th August 2011
Done it – I've finally got my head straight, and it was quite simple in the end…. And a big thank you is owed to John Perriment, a photographer I was lucky enough to meet on one of our workshops last year.
“Landscape photographers don’t do it just because they want to, they have to; it’s part of their constitution, it’s in their blood. I’ll wager you can’t go anywhere without noticing the light, looking at the sky to see what’s happening or mentally framing a composition.” A quote taken directly from an email I received from John, which together with a great shoot at Thornham finally made me realise what I had been missing – I love landscape photography and no way can I stop, but, and it’s a big but (so tempted to put double t but managed to resist!) what I need to remember is I take pictures because I love it, if other people like my images and if I make money from it it’s a bonus and nothing more. Basically what will be will be! I am first and foremost a hobbyist and as soon as I forget this pretence about being a professional the better. I need to remember there is no kudos in the words ‘professional’ or ‘full-time’ – I’m in a visual field for pity’s sake, I need to enjoy what I do and just let my work speak for it’s self (or not as the case may be)..!
Anyway enough of that – Thornham, after what seems like years of trying I finally got a shot of those wonderful old posts I like. My mate and colleague Kate Barclay and I went to Thornham Sunday morning – dawn was rubbish, sunrise didn’t happen – and then, the sky started to break colour started to form and the tide came in perfectly for the posts…
It’s at this point you the reader normally gets ‘and here it is, a shot taken at bla bla – and you will – but just not yet. The images from Sunday are still sitting on the memory card, as soon as I get them processed they’ll be added to the ‘Recent Additions’ gallery, and of course, one will find it’s way onto the blog…
Thursday 28th July 2011
Had a great weekend just gone – a good friend of mine hit the big 60 and had a bash in his home town of Caernarvon to celebrate (glad to say I’m now 2 decades behind him, albeit half way through one of them!) Friday night was off to his place where as usual both he and his wife Mo were the perfect hosts, and the homebrew elderflower champagne went down a treat – cheers JJ.
Saturday after a hearty breakfast in the tent, yes to save money Ali and myself stayed on a campsite 10 minutes from the town centre – turns out we were a group of 14 mates from Norfolk in the end so much merriment and ale was enjoyed by all. Anyway as I was saying Saturday morning we drove into Snowdonia – got a couple of shots, which, I thought, wasn’t too bad for midday and harsh light, followed by a cracking lunch. That evening was the main birthday do – in the Welsh Royal Yacht club no less. The view of the sun setting behind Anglesey from the balcony was stunning.
The weekend and meeting up with friends (some of which haven’t been seen for a couple of years) has again really made me think about the large part photography now plays in my life – and where to go from here… It also made me think about the sacrifices I’ve made over the past few years. I have a difficult decision to make – do I pull back a bit (from craft shows and workshops mainly) and become too skint to see friends or carry on and not have time to catch up with them anyway… Tell you what rather then effectively doing 2 jobs life would be an awful lot easier if I had the bottle (and skill) to go professional. Or maybe I should just give up completely!!!
Anyway here’s a shot from the weekend – Llynnau Mymbyr near Capel Curig
Thursday 20th July 2011
Really am on a rollercoaster again at the moment and whether you read this drivel or not it’s a great release for me!
Friday night was off to Bacton to photograph the gas terminal at night against a client’s brief – Very large guards with guns so unless like me you’re lucky enough to have permission too don’t even think about trying to photograph the place. Got 3 decent images and the client liked all 3 – felt like a proper commercial photographer. Being so close from Bacton I then spent the night under canvas at Happisburgh ready for a dawn shot on the beach. The light was awful but just before the rain became too heavy I found a new composition the sky got a bit of definition and I got a shot I’m well chuffed with – felt like a proper landscape photographer. On the way home found some lovely faded wedding flower arrangements on an old wooded church gate (with a great lantern above) so knocked off a dozen or so shots for image libraries – felt like a proper full time professional photographer!
4 days on – 80 odd images uploaded to an image library all rejected because just one in the batch had a technical problem I missed. The closing date was Friday but no email from ‘Take a view’ to say I’m shortlisted. And I’m struggling to balance photography with family life. My confidence has started to ebb away again and I doubt whether I’ll ever crack it as a proper photographer.
Wednesday 13th July 2011 Head vs. Heart – FIGHT!!!
HEAD - If I sit at the computer and upload hundreds of images already taken to libraries and then spend countless hours key wording it will be mind numbingly boring but should generate income. If I do more craft fairs I’ll generate more income and if I find more outlets to sell my work again I’ll make more income, vs. HEART – If I go out every opportunity I can with the camera and take the images I want it will be brilliant. Years ago I used to be all heart (hobbyist) but nowadays I’m getting more and more head (professional) – I know, I know, I said “more and more head”, but please, no sniggering! Anyway earlier in the week I thought I know I’ll check out my images on a photo library – and to my embarrassment I hadn’t uploaded any new work since 2004!!! My HEART sunk and it went straight to my HEAD.
I’ve got a nice new outlet lined up in a quality craft shop opening in Wells-next-the-Sea soon (more to follow in the ‘news’ section in due course). Craft fairs, I work full time and have a great wife and a great 2 year old son – I’m not prepared to miss out on weekends with the family so I’ll not be increasing the number of craft fairs, guess where I’ll be for the foreseeable future then, yes, in front of the computer, But at least it’ll save a fortune in petrol!
Heart, shut up – I’m trying not to listen!
Friday 8th July 2011
Had a great weekend just gone, well if getting up at 03:15 can be described as great! Photographer Gareth Hacon popped round for a BBQ Saturday night, complete with some lovely 'tubby's' sausages, and rather slurpable cider. Next morning it was off to Morston for a shoot (that's where the 03:15 came in - Gareth's idea, and probably something to do with him normally sleeping on the floor in the back of his gallery!)... now then I recon if given a film camera I could still knock off some half decent shots but Gareth is a different league - ok he uses the most upto date equipment on the market - but the chap is pure talent.
As with Mr Gibbs (Chocolate Jon to Ollie, my 2 year old) being on a shoot with Mr Hacon (newly named Sausage Gareth by guess who) really is a treat.
In other news I've finally uploaded my entries to this year's Take A View competition... Really strange how I'm happy with my work right up until it's time to enter a competition - then struggle to find 15 shots I think are good enough. It really does bring you back to earth with a bump when you look at your shots through different eyes.
Friday 1st July 2011
Here I am – blinking cursor on a empty word document trying to write a blog entry (yes my spelling is so bad I have to write it in word for it’s spell check and paste into my website afterwards…!), all that keeps coming into my head are the items I want to mention but what doesn’t come into my head is the fluffy nice bits in between to make up the story. So here goes – a list.
• Asked to photograph Bacton gas terminal at night.
• More cake shots.
• Take a view – this is my year – not!
• Great evening at Brancaster Staithe Last weekend but one.
• Poppies poppies everywhere but not a focal point in sight.
There yah go – much easier! And this is an image from item 4 on the list...
Friday 17th June 2011
Off to Happisburgh tomorrow morning for what could be the last time, or even worse, for what could be too late to be the last time.
Happisburgh beach has got what must be some of the most photogenic and iconic old sea defences in the country, well judging from the number of photographers travelling there from all over the country it has. But, sometime before the end of June work will start to remove these amazing wooded structures – the rationale, they’re an eyesore, health & safety issue and putting off families from visiting the beach..! What’s wrong with that I hear you ask; families enjoying a beach must be a good thing, mustn’t it? Well to get to Happisburgh beach involves descending a large metal 4 flight staircase, which if the spring tide is in descends into the surf. There is a car park granted, but a stroll along an unfenced cliff top away and no toilets..!
Please, why not leave the old sea defences as they are and let them attract visitors from around the country, then, with the money you were going to spend – develop Cart Gap. It’s only a mile or two away, has a car park, has toilets, has a nice gentle sandy slope down to the beach and is ideal for a family day out to the beach..
Anyway rant over, here’s an image to remember Happisburgh by.
Friday 3rd June 2011
Now then I’ve never thought I was more then I am – a landscape photographer with a style liked by some and not others, and one with 3 books published which will never be huge sellers but of which I am proud…
To all those who’ve come up to me at shows and asked me to sign copies of the books you’d brought, to all those artists who requested permission to reproduce a photograph from the book your brought, to all those from other parts of the world who’ve taken the time to contact me to say how much you liked the lovely book somebody took out to you when visiting, to all those who contacted me to say you had brought the book to take to relatives/friends who now live elsewhere in the world (now wouldn’t it be a small world if these where the same people..!), to the local bookshop where I signed a dozen copies and on my last visit a few months ago seemed to only have a couple left, to the large independent department store who had piles of the books in their best sellers section for ages with one being half price, to the gentleman sailor who I learnt drop his copy of the book into the Broads but had loved thumbing through it so much had to buy a replacement and last but not least to all those with a copy of one of the books on your bookshelf – A great big thank you! Oh yes, of course and thank you National Trust for stocking my titles,
As with last year no royalties from ‘Romantic Norfolk’ or ‘The Romantic Norfolk Coast’ again this year but that’s not the be all and end all – It’s great to know people appreciate my work.
Anyway another record month for print sales, May this year around 25% up on last year. Thank you everyone who’s bought!
I leave with the latest image added to the site – Swanage from last month
Friday 13th May 2011
Well back from a holiday/photo shoot on the Dorset Coast – Absolutely brilliant family holiday with open top buses, steam trains, model villages and rock pooling. Absolutely so-so photo shoot with bad light most of the time, a scratched 70-200mm lens (caused by the lens protector shattering – ironic or what!!!), 300’ height differences between the sea and where I had to park (I do live in Norfolk you know, just not used to it!), locations missed and last but not least killer cows! Well they might have been – for a landscape photographer I have an unhealthy fear of cows so was too scared to get close enough to find out.
Did manage to get to Kimmeridge Bay, which I’ve wanted to do for quite a while, the light wasn’t looking to be good for that morning so got there pre-dawn, my rationale – the colour blue is better then no colour at all! Best light was actually on my first evening and staying in Swanage I was at Peveril point. Killer cows – well they were encountered on the way back from Chapmans Pool – and lead to a 300’ intrepid assent off piste!
Thursday 21st April 2011
Had a great shoot last Sunday-
Saturday night Jon Gibbs came over – after tea, a man’s size potion of Alison’s cottage pie, we all decamped to the living room (lounge to some) to lounge on the settees (ah – now I see where the term lounge comes from!). Anyway there we were – rapidly descending into a scene from Grumpy Old Men when, just in the nick of time, immediately after someone was heard to say ‘what is society come too’, we were saved – The IPod launched into Red Barchetta by Rush and off we went – great evening.
Sunday morning it was off to Thornham for high tide and dawn. The light wasn’t dramatic but it was lovely and subtle – and the thing about being with Mr Gibbs is it always makes me want to raise my game!
The tree shot had to be uploaded – who am I to argue with the great man! Until next time Jon, it was a pleasure.
Thursday 14th April 2011
Yet again I’m yearning for the olde days of film…
Don’t get me wrong I’m now well entrenched in digital SLR cameras, and I can’t really ever see me going back to film (commercially just not viable) but…
A couple of months ago I mentioned I was going to trawl through some images from a few years ago and upload more stuff from around the UK. Now in film days this would have been absolutely fine, what ever camera was used and whatever year it was taken it’s very difficult to distinguish one negative or slide from the next. The problem with digital is that even though a Fuji S2 Pro and Canon 30D were excellent cameras of their day the images have, to me, dated really badly. Compared to my 5D the images just look soft and not that good (and that’s the mkI so god only knows what will happen when I get the mkII…!). Probably just me but it seems if you don’t process an image from a digital SLR whilst you still have that camera you never will… a real shame, and something I never experienced with film.
Anyway – you now know why current Norfolk images still litter my ‘Recent Additions’ gallery.
Also going through are images origonally processed whist struggling with a LCD monitor and now revisited using a CRT monitor - and looking much more like it...!
Tuesday 29th March 2011
Well Saturday the 26th March will stick in my memory – the day I could have come a right cropper!
The lovely misty mornings disappeared on Friday so rather then my planned trip to the Norfolk Broads I decided to go to the coast, and with petrol as it is as close to home as possible…
Well I’ve been to Morston Quay hundreds of times and I know that low tide down at the waters edge can be pretty dammed dangerous unless you stick to the shale. Well, this time, one step too far to the left and my leg disappeared into the bottomless mud. Thankfully it was only the one leg the other was on firmer ground luckily. Some swift adaptations to tripod usage and I managed to lever myself out! Then it started – that slightly faint feeling that leaves you needing a poo (sorry if you’re eating)! What if it had been both legs and what if the tide had been on the way in…? I know it sounds melodramatic but at 5:45 in the morning nobody would have heard me shout, being the North Norfolk coast I had no mobile signal and being only 5’ 7” (nearly 8”) my head was way under the high tide water level… I honestly don’t think I would be here today… Oh well I am still here, I still love landscape photography and I quite like the shot I got (no I couldn't have walked further and got the boat more bottom right - that's what got me in the mess in the first place!).
Thursday 24th March 2011
We’ve had morning after misty moisty morning here in rural Norfolk and I can’t get to photograph it till Saturday morning, however I do have a composition all lined up in my mind – just down the road there’s a line of 3 little baby trees all still with reddy/brown leaves from last year, behind them a field away is a coppice of evergreens, which will hopefully still be practically obscured by the mist. As the early morning sun will be behind me it should work (weather permitting as always). That’s Sunday’s shot sorted as on Saturday I’m going to try a misty windmill shot on the Broads (weather permitting as always).
Processing is going much much better now I’m back to a CRT monitor and I’m slowly working my way through forgotten shots from around the country – trouble is the build up of Norfolk shots it’s causing!
Diary filling up nicely now for this year – 9 craft fairs booked (and 2 in reserve) 4 more workshops which are starting to fill up a treat and trips planned to Snowdonia, Dorset Coast, Northumberland Coast and The Peak District – I do still need to put more effort into commercial sales though!
Finally if you find yourselves in Wells-next-the-Sea this weekend please pop in the Saltmarsh Coast Gallery on Staithe Street and see Jon or Gareth – 2 very talented landscape photographers who, and this is not just because they’re good mates, really do deserve their gallery to be a must see for any visitor to the North Norfolk Coast.
Tuesday 22nd March 2011
This is likely to be the shortest blog entry in history - in 3 words,
I Hate Rugby!
Thursday 17th March 2011
Well trawling though my hard drives for images other then Norfolk has paid off in a very unexpected way - I’ve found a nice Norfolk coast image if that makes sense! What happened was I found a folder of images from a forgotten visit to Old Hunstanton that was saved in the wrong place. I can’t remember the light being this good in Norfolk so it couldn’t have been this year!!!
Off to Happisburgh this weekend for an exceptional high tide but other then that I’m busy trying to record sunrise/tide times and locations for trips to the Dorset and Northumberland coasts in the next few months.
Oh yes St Patrick’s Day or not – Come on England, I more game and it’s Grand Slam time again – well as long as young Mr Wilkinson comes on and turns the game around in minutes like last week it is!
Thursday 3rd March 2011
It’s been a month now since my public statement of intent to process 36 images from around the country – and I’ve managed the grand total of 2! Plumbing problems haven’t helped (the House not me I Hasten to add) but the main problem is the recent scheduling of Six Nations rugby and Masterchef slap bang in the middle of my processing time – Come on BBC you old temptress you – stop it!!
Anyway just before I go I must mention Adam Burton – there yah go done it, and if it wasn’t for the fact that every time I visit his website I feel like ‘why do I bother’ I would have said something nice about him. Joking aside if you’re new to landscape photography and want inspiration you could do far worse then to look at Adam’s work
Tuesday 15th February 2011
Well this week I dabbled with a spot of studio work, which to be honest is a dam site warmer, drier and, if a Norfolk resident so far this year, a hell of a lot better lit then landscape work! The job – photographing cakes for Hannah Rowberry, no pressure then – Hannah not only trained under Gordon Ramsey at Claridges but also won the EDP Food Awards Young Chef of the Future award in 2010.
You might remember last year my CRT monitor died, and I was delighted to replace it with an S-SPS panel LCD monitor – well 7 months of struggling later I’m even more delighted to say this piece of new technology is now up in the loft and I’m chuffed to bits to finally have an old CRT monitor again, nuff said!
Thursday 3rd February 2011
Well guess what – yes, I’ve just uploaded another couple of images of the North Norfolk Coast! Don’t get me wrong as I’ve said many a time before being Norfolk born and bred I do love the North Norfolk Coast – it’s just that I’m turning into a machine – Weekend take pictures of Norfolk Coast, beginning of week process images of Norfolk Coast, end of week upload images of Norfolk Coast onto website… I want a new challenge!
And I’ve found just that – I have a hard drive full of images both from around the UK, and some more abstract ‘arty’ shots. For the next 36 uploads onto the site I’m going to resist the temptation of processing images just taken of the coast and instead process images going back a couple of years (or more).
I will of course still be taking more images of my beloved North Norfolk Coast but my hope is the website will be all the better for a bit more diversity.
So this is it, below is the last Norfolk Coast shot for awhile
Now, changing the subject I just have to let you know about a chap called Nik Hill – Nik works in IT but as I found out by chance earlier this week he is dammed fine photographer. Nik specialises in portrait and wedding work but as you’ll probably agree after seeing the images below I’m sure he could make a living from fine art sales…
Tuesday 4th January 2011
Happy New Year everyone and this is it - 2011, the year I really give photography a big push and see where I end up. December was a record month for me, and gave me a much needed boast. For too long now I feel things have gone well despite my lack of commitment, well not any more - I fully intend to find out just where my photography can take me...
That said my family will always be the most important thing in my life and this has just given me another brilliant Christmas. The picture below was taken on a day out to Wells with wifey, Ollie and his grandparents. As it was a family day out all I had on me was my phone. Must admit, being surrounded by people brandishing there latest Christmas cameras and looking down in contempt at me as a little upstart taking pictures with a phone, I was rather chuffed with the result, and that none of them saw this composition!!! Expensive up to the minute gear isn't the be all and end all guys...!
Tuesday 21st December 2010
Well still haven’t made it out to photograph the snow this year but at last I have the one piece of equipment I need… I normally use a 17-40mm wide angle lens for my shots which is superb on the coast but not so good for Inland Norfolk with it’s ugly hedge rows and ugly trees deformed with ivy. For me the best way to capture Inland Norfolk in winter will be to concentrate on more singular compositions, you know what I mean – A tree and a gate, a single tree in a field of snow, a small group of hoarfrost covered trees etc etc… Well I’ve now got a 70-200 L lens for just that! Finally I can head off into the snow and hopefully capture me a half decent image.
For those who are interested below is the ONLY shot taken in November & December so far… A little group of Movember Moustaches. It’s taken against a white background and over exposed before you ask… And, other then a conversion to B&W, not done in Photoshop!!!
And finally all – A very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.
Ps the image was taken on self timer so I'm in it myself (hate having my picture taken, even if it's me taking it, so quess which one is me!)
Wednesday 8th December 2010
Well November is over and the moustache has finally gone, shame that after all the annoyance it had to go just as it became soft and strokable! Made a decent amount of cash for charity though.
Photography wise not much to report I’m afraid… Had lots of building work on at home so for over a month my office has been emergency storage for all our kitchen paraphernalia, not able to get to the computer let alone process images! Same with taking the shots, so much upheaval I just haven’t had time to get out once, in fact for a couple of weeks we even had to move out of the house… And yes that does mean I missed out on all that lovely snow and hoarfrost. Well maybe, Back home now and out this weekend to take shots at Kelling Heath if there’s any snow left that is…!
Tuesday 2nd November 2010
This Movember I've decided to donate my face to raising awareness about prostate cancer. My donation and commitment is the growth of a moustache for the entire month of Movember, which I know will generate conversation, controversy and laughter.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. One man dies every hour from the disease in the UK. This is a cause that I feel passionately about and I'm asking you to support my efforts by making a donation to The Prostate Cancer Charity. To help, you can either: Click this link and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account, Or, send cheques and CAF vouchers (made payable to 'The Prostate Cancer Charity Re Movember') directly to The Prostate Cancer Charity, First Floor, Cambridge House, Cambridge Grove, London W6 0LE. Be sure to include the person's name on the back of the cheque.
The Prostate Cancer Charity will use the money raised by Movember for the development of programs related to awareness, public education, advocacy, support of those affected, and research into the prevention, detection, treatment and cure of prostate cancer.
For more details on the impact Movember is having please visit Movember.
Thank you in advance for helping me to support men's health.
Tuesday 19th October 2010
Well happy now, well almost... All these people come from all over the country to photography the beach at Happisburgh and it's always annoyed me that these interlopers get better light then I, a local manages to get! WELL NOT ANY MORE! On Sunday the light was wonderful...
Now for the Well almost bit...I hate ‘puters… Well actually I hate not knowing much about them… I always shot in RAW and until recently have solely processed my images in Lightroom only then using Photoshop for removing dust. Well, ever since I got my new LCD monitor I’ve processed as before (Contrast Curve, Dodge & Burn, White Balance and a touch of Saturation) but when going into Photoshop the contrast had gone and the image looked flat and dark again… No boover I thought I’ll add a contrast curve again.
Well it turns out the image from lightroom is absolutely fine when printed, and the images I’ll reprocessed in Photoshop look way too heavy.
No idea what’s causing it but at least I now know not to trust the image I see in photoshop! Trouble is I need to re-visit lots of images.
Friday 15th October 2010
Meet my mate Gareth Hacon at Thornham Sunday morning, Kate and I had a workshop there and with a really high 4.1mtr tide expected it was too good an opportunity for Gareth to resist. In fact the tide was so high for awhile it severely restricted the choice of composition and completely blocked in the cars. Never mind whilst waiting we were joined by another ‘tog’ (hate that word but as I’ve only just learnt what it means I’m determined to use it a bit!), Rick Bowden, a dam good landscape photographer from Norwich, we chatted the time away over tea and sausage rolls until the tide had subsided a bit.
Well book number 3 is out and I have my ‘author copies’, to be honest (and you won’t read this in the more business like sections of the website) I’m not as excited as I had hoped. I wanted the book to be a stunner… I had dedicated it to Ollie my 2 year old son so I really wanted it to be something he would be proud of his old dad for in the future. I had supplied a good selection of panoramic images and to be honest if they had told me from the start they wanted some to be square I would have taken compositions to suit. I just don’t think that all the images cropped square for use in the book work! Oh well what I know about publishing it will probably end up a best seller!
Tuesday 5th October 2010
Has it really been over two months since my last blog! It does however give an insight as to how I'm feeling about landscape photography at the moment. I know I shouldn't, the workshops are going well, gallery sales are way up on last year (thank you Hare & Hen) and my third book is due out towards the end of this month but I really am frustrated... I just can't seem to get the shots I want! A lot of it is a lack of time behind the camera but increasingly it is also a need to discover new pastures. Hopefully the shorter days of autumn will give me fresh opportunities to travel a little further afield.
Friday 23rd July 2010
A weekend of chores beckons, payback! Last weekend I got out twice, once inland and once on my beloved coast, both times in the company of cracking landscape photographer Jon Gibbs. I'm not sure but I think my flower arranging may have made a lasting impression!!!
Remember last time I mentioned I needed a new cable release.... Well I now need a new cable release and a new Lee 2 stop soft grad, double doh!
Wednesday 14th July 2010
Well yesterday my new monitor turned up and I can now crack on with a backlog of processing... The first one (below) has been done, this is the one mentioned in my last blog!
Need a new shutter release cable again.... Another one dies after a quick dip in the sea, Doh!
Wednesday 7th July 2010
Haven't been on here for a while... Why I hear you ask! Simple I recon that not turning on my PCs for a week or two has cut the ruddy heat down in my house from completely and utterly unbearable to just utterly unbearable... At last that damed awful heat seems to have gone!
New monitor sorted... Got me one of those S-SPS panel LCDs, can't wait, should be hear Monday. Photography wise I got to Wells for dawn last weekend... The tide was low enough to allow me into the estuary and boy was I lucky with the light... When the monitor gets here I can process the shots and get them on the site.
Tuesday 15th June 2010
More of a grump then a blog this time I'm afraid.... Haven't been out with the camera for ages... That cracking poppyfield just down the road, the one I've been waiting for the right sky and light with, yep heavy rain on Sunday night and it's completely wiped out... Finally and by far the worst of all my trusty old CRT monitor has packed up... Gutted... Need to find another, and quick!!!
Friday 28th May 2010
The last time I wnt out with the camera was exactly 1 month ago. Come hell or high water I'm out at sunset today... I've been told of a couple of old barges aground on the North Norfolk Coast, if the tide is right there should be enough water for a nice reflection, all I need to do now is pray for a decent sky and decent light...
Friday 21st May 2010
Shall I shan’t I, Shall I shan’t I…. I Shall…. I know… Now I’ve gone and mentioned it out loud the image will be tinny and not one I like, but sod it, I’m as proud as punch anyway….
Last year I was commissioned by Rooms Outdoor to photography a superb garden room and landscaped garden they had produced for a client in North Norfolk. Well yesterday I got an email from them to say the Sunday Times had chosen them for a garden room feature in this Sunday’s paper. The Times had asked for one of my images to use in the feature…. As you can guess I am chuffed to bits…
Ps if on Sunday the paperboy doesn’t deliver your copy of the Sunday Times it’s probably because my mum has bought up all the copies…! I apologise in advance.
Wednesday 12th May2010
Just got back from holiday with the family (so camera equipment stayed in it's bag), went to North Wales... Note to self, I must photograph further afield! I do love the Norfolk Coast don't get me wrong... But I really must get into those there hills as often as I can this year, with the camera this time! Norfolk is a great county, rape seed, barley and wheat are very nice, and the bits of the Broads you can actual get to, very nice indeed. but none of it compares to hills, mountains and valleys...
Thursday 29th April 2010
Good night last night. On Sunday I popped in to see Gareth Hacon at his and Jon Gibb's gallery in Wells next the Sea(Cracking gallery in Staithe Street and always worth a plug! I digress). Anyway Gareth mentioned that high tide at Wells last night would be 3.5mtrs and around sunset time. i decided to try East Quay, got there a around 7:15pm and boy was the water high! I just managed to wade out to where I wanted to shoot from with the water lapping millimetres from the top of my wellies, but well worth it, got a nice selection of shots including some lovely pink in the sky at around 8:45pm.
Tuesday 20th April 2010
Another cracking morning at Happisburgh on Sunday. Our ‘one-to-one' client wasn’t getting there until just before sunrise so I decided to arrive at 5am, it was well worth the early start (who said landscape photography was easy, my alarm went off at 3:30am). I managed a complete series of images, ranging from early morning blues at 5:15am through to warmer orange tones as the sun started to come up. All have a really calm feel to them, and more importantly, not one vapour trail… All I need to do now is process them! The sunrise it’s self was amazing, I hastily got our client to put his 70-300mm lens on his camera and at 300mm got him a superb image of a huge orange sun above an empty sea. This made me think… Currently I’m only using a 17-40mm on a 5D and a 50mm prime on an old 30D, about time I looked at adding a 100-400mm to my kit for just this type of shot. With the value of the pound as it is Ebay here I come…
Wednesday 14th April 2010
Well I finally got a square format shot I like from Happisburgh. On Saturday Kate and myself had a one-to-one workshop starting from there at sunrise. I managed to get there a few minutes early and get a shot in the bag before they turned up, I also managed a nice panoramic which I'll again keep as a reserve for the book. We have another one-to-one this Sunday and again it's from Happisburgh. I'm getting there 1/2 an hour early and hope to get a shot or two.
Tuesday 6th April 2010
Yesterday was really good in the end. The sky started to clear at around 5:30pm so I made the short drive up to Blakeney again (for the second time that day). Had a really good sky this time and the tide was just perfect for those 3 little old posts just off the end of the quay. I managed to get a selection of shots I’m happy with, including both a panoramic and square composition. Happy Bunny (no Easter pun intended, honest)!
Monday 5th April 2010
Finally got out with the camera this morning. Got to Blakeney at 6:00am with a promising band of orange just coming on the horizon... Could have gone either way. 10 second sunrise, then grey, then rain, then left... On Saturday morning I was running a 'one to one' workshop with Kate so the camera had to stay in it's bag, wonderful strong light and superb stormy sky... Typical.!!! I did get one shot however, right at the end of the workshop we were in the old ruin at St Benet's Abbey. Lots of old graffiti on the walls including a heart shape, which somebody had recently coloured in with pink chalk. This looked wonderful against the old green stained stone walls of the abbey. I always keep a camera body with a f1.8 50mm fixed lens for just these occassions.
Tuesday 30th March 2010
Junior had a good two & half hour snooze yesterday afternoon so I managed to get a bit done, including processing a couple more 'just in-case' panoramics for the book. These are now on the website but I will decide whether or not to use them in the book once I've seen the proofs. As I've said before I now want to concentrate on square formats as much as I can. With more and more togs selling their prints I want to try and stay one step ahead. Hopefully if they find composing square shots half as difficult as I do it should be a market place far less crowded! I hope to process another taken at Holkham later on today. Then onto boring stuff (even more boring then processing that is), My plan this year was to reduce the number of craft fairs and instead increase submissions to magazines and image libraries. So far I've done the easy bit but not the latter.
Monday 29th March 2010
Well to be honest Sunday could have gone a lot better, never made it out with the camera again... The problem is if I don't get everything ready the night before there's no way I can leave early in the morning without disturbing my light sleeping wifey, and equally light sleeping 18 month old toddler Ollie. It just didn't happen. The next 3 weekends I have workshops on so who knows when I can try again. The frustrations of a landscape photographer!!!
Friday 26th March 2010
Not much to say today... Decided to set up a blog a few moments ago and now no idea what to put...! Oh yeah, off to Happisburgh for dawn on Sunday. I’ve started to take shots for square format prints recently (trying again to be a little bit different) and eventually plan to have a have a gallery of these images on the site covering all of the Norfolk Coast, but to try and build a bit of exclusivity in limited to just one or two shots per location. I love Happisburgh so that's my next mission... It's high tide at dawn on Sunday so I could get something really dramatic, or I could get very wet and grumpy. I'll let you know how I get on.
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I am lucky to be able to include Norfolk landscape photographer Jon Gibbs as one of my friends. On a recent visit to his website I noticed he now has a blog. Never tried blogging before but it was great to see what the old chap was up too, and how his resistance to those evil chocolate biscuits was going (minute on the lips Jon, lifetime on the hips).
I then thought why don't I give it a go.... Blogging that is!
Wednesday 25th January 2012
Masterchef or no Masterchef I decided to get this particular monkey of my back - I’ve decided – Image number 1000 is Ta Daa, Rannoch Moor - which to be honest was the next image to be processed from November’s Scotland trip anyway! I can hardly believe where the time’s gone, the image on the left is no 0001, processed back in November 2004 when I had a social life, the housework, DIY and gardening where all up to date, a holiday was a holiday, weekends where to be enjoyed and the marketplace wasn’t half as saturated with photographers as it is now. The image on the right is no 1000, taken in November 2011. That means an average of nearly 12 images a month for 7 years! Add in 3 books, lots and lots of craft shows and lots of workshops and I think it’s about time I did some serious thinking…..Again!
Tuesday 24th January 2012
A belated Happy New Year too you all, can hardly believe January is nearly over already.
Been a struggling of late – since returning from the stunning Isle of Skye in November I haven’t taken one single photo… Somehow a damp dull Norfolk really doesn’t cut it for me at the moment!
Another problem has been what image do a process next! You see, the thing is I’m a sentimental old sole and the next image I process will be number 1000 so I want to make it something a bit special. I’ve already alluded to my current lake of inspiration and with no decent haw frosts or snow due for Norfolk I can’t see me taking anything new for awhile. That leaves the archives, plenty of images still yet to be processed, but what do I choose. Norfolk (where I live), Scotland (my favourite location), a close-up (just too prove I can!)… Decisions, decisions… I’ve narrowed it down to one of two (I think, maybe three!) It will be either one of my favourite Norfolk locations, Happisburgh. Or a place in Scotland I’ve driven through time and time again buy only photographed properly for the first time in November, Rannoch Moor. (Or possible some orange buoys in a fishing net!)………
Other news – Tax return done, 2012 craft show invites coming in thick and fast, workshops time of year well and truly upon me, and finally I have a cunning plan for a new contemporary sister website.
One thing for certain though – until Masterchef is no longer on the telly not much will be getting done in the evenings in the Duckett household!
Monday 12th December 2011
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone..!
Been really busy of late so haven’t had much time to keep the old blog up to date, and to be honest still haven’t, but I just had to wish you all a Merry Christmas…
Just finished my last craft fair of the year yesterday with mixed feelings; Bad – no more money coming in from that source for awhile. Good – no more hearing (or more accurately overhearing!) the following;
“Yours are as good as this love, you should start selling them”
“Look, I’ve taken a picture exactly the same as this haven’t I”
“Maybe I should starting selling mine, my friends and family are always saying how good they are”
“They’re obviously done on the computer”
Off now to catch up on some processing of Isle of Skye images followed by a break from photography to enjoy a family Christmas so, until next year, a big thank you for reading my blog, have a great holiday season everyone, and see you all next year for a continuation of the grumpiness you’ve all become accustom to reading….
Wednesday 16th November 2011
This time last week I had just crossed over to the Isle of Skye, having already captured Rannoch Moor and Glen Etive on the way up and was about to debark on one of the best photo shoots I’ve ever experienced, 3 days of stunning locations, great weather, and the company of both Jon Gibbs and Dennis Bromage.
The experience really made me realise how lazy I had become when composing a shot, made me realise how impatient I had become when waiting for the right light, made me realise how ruddy expensive petrol has become (long way from Norfolk to The Isle of Skye)…
…and more then anything really made me realise how much I love my wife and son, and how much I miss them when I’m away! (Psst won’t stop me doing it again though…)
Note to self: - Slow down for pity’s sake – One good shot is a million times better then half a dozen mediocre ones.
Tuesday 25th October 2011
Well, that feels ruddy good I must say!
I am absolutely delighted that one of my images has been commended in the 2012 Landscape Photographer of the Year Competition, not only that but the image will also appear in the Landscape Photographer of the year Collection 5 book due out at the end of this month and will feature in an exhibition at the National Theatre in London which runs from 5th December 2011 till 28th January 2012. I had to read the email a couple of times just in case I read it wrong – but yes it did read ‘had been’ rather then hadn’t!
Wednesday 12th October 2011
Hello – been awhile.
I’m a very happy, nah privileged little fella. I’m off to the Isle of Skye for a few days on a photography trip sometime soon, that’s a treat in itself, but better then that I’ll be in the company of 3 renowned landscape photographers, Mr Jon Gibbs, Mr Adam Burton and Mr Dennis Bromage. This will be the first time I’ve ever managed to travel purely for the reason of photography. And I can’t wait!
Sunday I experimented – Now I’m not normally the one for odd camera effects (well not on purpose anyway) but on Sunday I was with Kate Barclay at Holkham (we should have been running a workshop but that was rained off earlier in the day (don’t worry, those on it will be coming along on a different date and it was their choice to abandon!)), anyway I digress (and have used far too many brackets already…ah, see what I mean). Anyway following Kate’s suggestion I tried an effect caused by zooming out whilst the shutter was open and to be honest was quite surprised by the result. If you zoom too far for too long then yes the image looks really weird but I’m quite chuffed by this one – not sure whether I’ll put it up for sale though….
Friday 23rd September 2011
I recently uploaded the shot below to an on-line photography site (why be coy – the site was Ephotozine) and it had the effect of finishing off a good run of well received work. But;
The blown out highlight is deliberate, as is the aperture which gave the rays of light and dof on the castle, as is the exposure which was a trade off between having the intense light very large in the shot or the dice very dark and losing the red colour all together as well as only having a silhouette of the castle, the composition is also deliberate – I didn’t want the sun behind the dice as for me the shot would have lost it’s eye-catchingness, if indeed that’s a word!
I used to take this type of shot all the type a few years ago, admittedly with film, and to be honest I’m chuffed how well my digital sensor copped with this. The shot may still not be everyone’s cup of tea which is fine, honest, but because it was technically a very difficult shot to get right I just wanted to make it clear that the image is deliberate and that hopefully I do know what I’m doing.
I hope the reaction it got on EPZ is not a reflection on what’s possible with HDR and computer manipulation and how much better it could have looked… because that’s not what I do… Yes I shoot in Raw and yes I process my images but I’m proud of the fact I’ve never used layers, HDR, weird filters or dropped in a sky to make an image from 2 shots in my life and I never will! To my mind there’s two schools of landscape photography out there these days – Firstly the ‘Conditions aren’t right but I can fix that latter in the computer’ school and secondly, and the one I’m proud to be a member of, the ‘Conditions aren’t right so I’ll do the best I can and if it doesn’t work I’ll come back another time’ school.
Wednesday 14th September 2011
Just got back from Northumberland, and finally got a few shots of Bamburgh I’m happy with, a nice series of pre-dawn, dawn and sunrise… captured Lindisfarne when last up there in 2008, now captured Bamburgh, but the elusive Dunstanburgh still frustrates me. Yet again this year I could only attempt it midday with flat sea and the tide nearly in… Oh well!
Had an extremely poor Aylsham show this year, thought last year was bad but this year only took half of that! I put it down to a change in the type of stalls in the surrounding area – it used to be all good quality crafty stuff, not this year – army surplus opposite me, mobile phone accessories close by and a stall flogging cheap and nasty large canvas prints for £12.99 not to far away to the left. Unfortunately after 6 years I think this year was my last.
On a non photography note – PASS ME MY BLOOD PRESSURE PILLS – ENGLAND ARE IN THE RUGBY WORLD CUP..!
Ps whilst at Bamburgh meet a fellow tog by the name of Peter Stevens. A superb style of work all on his own and his site is well worth a look,
peterstevenphotography
And finally here they are – pre-dawn, dawn and sunrise(my personnel favourite!)
Thursday 18th August 2011
If you haven’t read my previous blog you probably won’t get this, but - Ta Daa, Thornham post shots..!
Tuesday 16th August 2011
Done it – I've finally got my head straight, and it was quite simple in the end…. And a big thank you is owed to John Perriment, a photographer I was lucky enough to meet on one of our workshops last year.
“Landscape photographers don’t do it just because they want to, they have to; it’s part of their constitution, it’s in their blood. I’ll wager you can’t go anywhere without noticing the light, looking at the sky to see what’s happening or mentally framing a composition.” A quote taken directly from an email I received from John, which together with a great shoot at Thornham finally made me realise what I had been missing – I love landscape photography and no way can I stop, but, and it’s a big but (so tempted to put double t but managed to resist!) what I need to remember is I take pictures because I love it, if other people like my images and if I make money from it it’s a bonus and nothing more. Basically what will be will be! I am first and foremost a hobbyist and as soon as I forget this pretence about being a professional the better. I need to remember there is no kudos in the words ‘professional’ or ‘full-time’ – I’m in a visual field for pity’s sake, I need to enjoy what I do and just let my work speak for it’s self (or not as the case may be)..!
Anyway enough of that – Thornham, after what seems like years of trying I finally got a shot of those wonderful old posts I like. My mate and colleague Kate Barclay and I went to Thornham Sunday morning – dawn was rubbish, sunrise didn’t happen – and then, the sky started to break colour started to form and the tide came in perfectly for the posts…
It’s at this point you the reader normally gets ‘and here it is, a shot taken at bla bla – and you will – but just not yet. The images from Sunday are still sitting on the memory card, as soon as I get them processed they’ll be added to the ‘Recent Additions’ gallery, and of course, one will find it’s way onto the blog…
Thursday 28th July 2011
Had a great weekend just gone – a good friend of mine hit the big 60 and had a bash in his home town of Caernarvon to celebrate (glad to say I’m now 2 decades behind him, albeit half way through one of them!) Friday night was off to his place where as usual both he and his wife Mo were the perfect hosts, and the homebrew elderflower champagne went down a treat – cheers JJ.
Saturday after a hearty breakfast in the tent, yes to save money Ali and myself stayed on a campsite 10 minutes from the town centre – turns out we were a group of 14 mates from Norfolk in the end so much merriment and ale was enjoyed by all. Anyway as I was saying Saturday morning we drove into Snowdonia – got a couple of shots, which, I thought, wasn’t too bad for midday and harsh light, followed by a cracking lunch. That evening was the main birthday do – in the Welsh Royal Yacht club no less. The view of the sun setting behind Anglesey from the balcony was stunning.
The weekend and meeting up with friends (some of which haven’t been seen for a couple of years) has again really made me think about the large part photography now plays in my life – and where to go from here… It also made me think about the sacrifices I’ve made over the past few years. I have a difficult decision to make – do I pull back a bit (from craft shows and workshops mainly) and become too skint to see friends or carry on and not have time to catch up with them anyway… Tell you what rather then effectively doing 2 jobs life would be an awful lot easier if I had the bottle (and skill) to go professional. Or maybe I should just give up completely!!!
Anyway here’s a shot from the weekend – Llynnau Mymbyr near Capel Curig
Thursday 20th July 2011
Really am on a rollercoaster again at the moment and whether you read this drivel or not it’s a great release for me!
Friday night was off to Bacton to photograph the gas terminal at night against a client’s brief – Very large guards with guns so unless like me you’re lucky enough to have permission too don’t even think about trying to photograph the place. Got 3 decent images and the client liked all 3 – felt like a proper commercial photographer. Being so close from Bacton I then spent the night under canvas at Happisburgh ready for a dawn shot on the beach. The light was awful but just before the rain became too heavy I found a new composition the sky got a bit of definition and I got a shot I’m well chuffed with – felt like a proper landscape photographer. On the way home found some lovely faded wedding flower arrangements on an old wooded church gate (with a great lantern above) so knocked off a dozen or so shots for image libraries – felt like a proper full time professional photographer!
4 days on – 80 odd images uploaded to an image library all rejected because just one in the batch had a technical problem I missed. The closing date was Friday but no email from ‘Take a view’ to say I’m shortlisted. And I’m struggling to balance photography with family life. My confidence has started to ebb away again and I doubt whether I’ll ever crack it as a proper photographer.
Wednesday 13th July 2011 Head vs. Heart – FIGHT!!!
HEAD - If I sit at the computer and upload hundreds of images already taken to libraries and then spend countless hours key wording it will be mind numbingly boring but should generate income. If I do more craft fairs I’ll generate more income and if I find more outlets to sell my work again I’ll make more income, vs. HEART – If I go out every opportunity I can with the camera and take the images I want it will be brilliant. Years ago I used to be all heart (hobbyist) but nowadays I’m getting more and more head (professional) – I know, I know, I said “more and more head”, but please, no sniggering! Anyway earlier in the week I thought I know I’ll check out my images on a photo library – and to my embarrassment I hadn’t uploaded any new work since 2004!!! My HEART sunk and it went straight to my HEAD.
I’ve got a nice new outlet lined up in a quality craft shop opening in Wells-next-the-Sea soon (more to follow in the ‘news’ section in due course). Craft fairs, I work full time and have a great wife and a great 2 year old son – I’m not prepared to miss out on weekends with the family so I’ll not be increasing the number of craft fairs, guess where I’ll be for the foreseeable future then, yes, in front of the computer, But at least it’ll save a fortune in petrol!
Heart, shut up – I’m trying not to listen!
Friday 8th July 2011
Had a great weekend just gone, well if getting up at 03:15 can be described as great! Photographer Gareth Hacon popped round for a BBQ Saturday night, complete with some lovely 'tubby's' sausages, and rather slurpable cider. Next morning it was off to Morston for a shoot (that's where the 03:15 came in - Gareth's idea, and probably something to do with him normally sleeping on the floor in the back of his gallery!)... now then I recon if given a film camera I could still knock off some half decent shots but Gareth is a different league - ok he uses the most upto date equipment on the market - but the chap is pure talent.
As with Mr Gibbs (Chocolate Jon to Ollie, my 2 year old) being on a shoot with Mr Hacon (newly named Sausage Gareth by guess who) really is a treat.
In other news I've finally uploaded my entries to this year's Take A View competition... Really strange how I'm happy with my work right up until it's time to enter a competition - then struggle to find 15 shots I think are good enough. It really does bring you back to earth with a bump when you look at your shots through different eyes.
Friday 1st July 2011
Here I am – blinking cursor on a empty word document trying to write a blog entry (yes my spelling is so bad I have to write it in word for it’s spell check and paste into my website afterwards…!), all that keeps coming into my head are the items I want to mention but what doesn’t come into my head is the fluffy nice bits in between to make up the story. So here goes – a list.
• Asked to photograph Bacton gas terminal at night.
• More cake shots.
• Take a view – this is my year – not!
• Great evening at Brancaster Staithe Last weekend but one.
• Poppies poppies everywhere but not a focal point in sight.
There yah go – much easier! And this is an image from item 4 on the list...
Friday 17th June 2011
Off to Happisburgh tomorrow morning for what could be the last time, or even worse, for what could be too late to be the last time.
Happisburgh beach has got what must be some of the most photogenic and iconic old sea defences in the country, well judging from the number of photographers travelling there from all over the country it has. But, sometime before the end of June work will start to remove these amazing wooded structures – the rationale, they’re an eyesore, health & safety issue and putting off families from visiting the beach..! What’s wrong with that I hear you ask; families enjoying a beach must be a good thing, mustn’t it? Well to get to Happisburgh beach involves descending a large metal 4 flight staircase, which if the spring tide is in descends into the surf. There is a car park granted, but a stroll along an unfenced cliff top away and no toilets..!
Please, why not leave the old sea defences as they are and let them attract visitors from around the country, then, with the money you were going to spend – develop Cart Gap. It’s only a mile or two away, has a car park, has toilets, has a nice gentle sandy slope down to the beach and is ideal for a family day out to the beach..
Anyway rant over, here’s an image to remember Happisburgh by.
Friday 3rd June 2011
Now then I’ve never thought I was more then I am – a landscape photographer with a style liked by some and not others, and one with 3 books published which will never be huge sellers but of which I am proud…
To all those who’ve come up to me at shows and asked me to sign copies of the books you’d brought, to all those artists who requested permission to reproduce a photograph from the book your brought, to all those from other parts of the world who’ve taken the time to contact me to say how much you liked the lovely book somebody took out to you when visiting, to all those who contacted me to say you had brought the book to take to relatives/friends who now live elsewhere in the world (now wouldn’t it be a small world if these where the same people..!), to the local bookshop where I signed a dozen copies and on my last visit a few months ago seemed to only have a couple left, to the large independent department store who had piles of the books in their best sellers section for ages with one being half price, to the gentleman sailor who I learnt drop his copy of the book into the Broads but had loved thumbing through it so much had to buy a replacement and last but not least to all those with a copy of one of the books on your bookshelf – A great big thank you! Oh yes, of course and thank you National Trust for stocking my titles,
As with last year no royalties from ‘Romantic Norfolk’ or ‘The Romantic Norfolk Coast’ again this year but that’s not the be all and end all – It’s great to know people appreciate my work.
Anyway another record month for print sales, May this year around 25% up on last year. Thank you everyone who’s bought!
I leave with the latest image added to the site – Swanage from last month
Friday 13th May 2011
Well back from a holiday/photo shoot on the Dorset Coast – Absolutely brilliant family holiday with open top buses, steam trains, model villages and rock pooling. Absolutely so-so photo shoot with bad light most of the time, a scratched 70-200mm lens (caused by the lens protector shattering – ironic or what!!!), 300’ height differences between the sea and where I had to park (I do live in Norfolk you know, just not used to it!), locations missed and last but not least killer cows! Well they might have been – for a landscape photographer I have an unhealthy fear of cows so was too scared to get close enough to find out.
Did manage to get to Kimmeridge Bay, which I’ve wanted to do for quite a while, the light wasn’t looking to be good for that morning so got there pre-dawn, my rationale – the colour blue is better then no colour at all! Best light was actually on my first evening and staying in Swanage I was at Peveril point. Killer cows – well they were encountered on the way back from Chapmans Pool – and lead to a 300’ intrepid assent off piste!
Thursday 21st April 2011
Had a great shoot last Sunday-
Saturday night Jon Gibbs came over – after tea, a man’s size potion of Alison’s cottage pie, we all decamped to the living room (lounge to some) to lounge on the settees (ah – now I see where the term lounge comes from!). Anyway there we were – rapidly descending into a scene from Grumpy Old Men when, just in the nick of time, immediately after someone was heard to say ‘what is society come too’, we were saved – The IPod launched into Red Barchetta by Rush and off we went – great evening.
Sunday morning it was off to Thornham for high tide and dawn. The light wasn’t dramatic but it was lovely and subtle – and the thing about being with Mr Gibbs is it always makes me want to raise my game!
The tree shot had to be uploaded – who am I to argue with the great man! Until next time Jon, it was a pleasure.
Thursday 14th April 2011
Yet again I’m yearning for the olde days of film…
Don’t get me wrong I’m now well entrenched in digital SLR cameras, and I can’t really ever see me going back to film (commercially just not viable) but…
A couple of months ago I mentioned I was going to trawl through some images from a few years ago and upload more stuff from around the UK. Now in film days this would have been absolutely fine, what ever camera was used and whatever year it was taken it’s very difficult to distinguish one negative or slide from the next. The problem with digital is that even though a Fuji S2 Pro and Canon 30D were excellent cameras of their day the images have, to me, dated really badly. Compared to my 5D the images just look soft and not that good (and that’s the mkI so god only knows what will happen when I get the mkII…!). Probably just me but it seems if you don’t process an image from a digital SLR whilst you still have that camera you never will… a real shame, and something I never experienced with film.
Anyway – you now know why current Norfolk images still litter my ‘Recent Additions’ gallery.
Also going through are images origonally processed whist struggling with a LCD monitor and now revisited using a CRT monitor - and looking much more like it...!
Tuesday 29th March 2011
Well Saturday the 26th March will stick in my memory – the day I could have come a right cropper!
The lovely misty mornings disappeared on Friday so rather then my planned trip to the Norfolk Broads I decided to go to the coast, and with petrol as it is as close to home as possible…
Well I’ve been to Morston Quay hundreds of times and I know that low tide down at the waters edge can be pretty dammed dangerous unless you stick to the shale. Well, this time, one step too far to the left and my leg disappeared into the bottomless mud. Thankfully it was only the one leg the other was on firmer ground luckily. Some swift adaptations to tripod usage and I managed to lever myself out! Then it started – that slightly faint feeling that leaves you needing a poo (sorry if you’re eating)! What if it had been both legs and what if the tide had been on the way in…? I know it sounds melodramatic but at 5:45 in the morning nobody would have heard me shout, being the North Norfolk coast I had no mobile signal and being only 5’ 7” (nearly 8”) my head was way under the high tide water level… I honestly don’t think I would be here today… Oh well I am still here, I still love landscape photography and I quite like the shot I got (no I couldn't have walked further and got the boat more bottom right - that's what got me in the mess in the first place!).
Thursday 24th March 2011
We’ve had morning after misty moisty morning here in rural Norfolk and I can’t get to photograph it till Saturday morning, however I do have a composition all lined up in my mind – just down the road there’s a line of 3 little baby trees all still with reddy/brown leaves from last year, behind them a field away is a coppice of evergreens, which will hopefully still be practically obscured by the mist. As the early morning sun will be behind me it should work (weather permitting as always). That’s Sunday’s shot sorted as on Saturday I’m going to try a misty windmill shot on the Broads (weather permitting as always).
Processing is going much much better now I’m back to a CRT monitor and I’m slowly working my way through forgotten shots from around the country – trouble is the build up of Norfolk shots it’s causing!
Diary filling up nicely now for this year – 9 craft fairs booked (and 2 in reserve) 4 more workshops which are starting to fill up a treat and trips planned to Snowdonia, Dorset Coast, Northumberland Coast and The Peak District – I do still need to put more effort into commercial sales though!
Finally if you find yourselves in Wells-next-the-Sea this weekend please pop in the Saltmarsh Coast Gallery on Staithe Street and see Jon or Gareth – 2 very talented landscape photographers who, and this is not just because they’re good mates, really do deserve their gallery to be a must see for any visitor to the North Norfolk Coast.
Tuesday 22nd March 2011
This is likely to be the shortest blog entry in history - in 3 words,
I Hate Rugby!
Thursday 17th March 2011
Well trawling though my hard drives for images other then Norfolk has paid off in a very unexpected way - I’ve found a nice Norfolk coast image if that makes sense! What happened was I found a folder of images from a forgotten visit to Old Hunstanton that was saved in the wrong place. I can’t remember the light being this good in Norfolk so it couldn’t have been this year!!!
Off to Happisburgh this weekend for an exceptional high tide but other then that I’m busy trying to record sunrise/tide times and locations for trips to the Dorset and Northumberland coasts in the next few months.
Oh yes St Patrick’s Day or not – Come on England, I more game and it’s Grand Slam time again – well as long as young Mr Wilkinson comes on and turns the game around in minutes like last week it is!
Thursday 3rd March 2011
It’s been a month now since my public statement of intent to process 36 images from around the country – and I’ve managed the grand total of 2! Plumbing problems haven’t helped (the House not me I Hasten to add) but the main problem is the recent scheduling of Six Nations rugby and Masterchef slap bang in the middle of my processing time – Come on BBC you old temptress you – stop it!!
Anyway just before I go I must mention Adam Burton – there yah go done it, and if it wasn’t for the fact that every time I visit his website I feel like ‘why do I bother’ I would have said something nice about him. Joking aside if you’re new to landscape photography and want inspiration you could do far worse then to look at Adam’s work
Tuesday 15th February 2011
Well this week I dabbled with a spot of studio work, which to be honest is a dam site warmer, drier and, if a Norfolk resident so far this year, a hell of a lot better lit then landscape work! The job – photographing cakes for Hannah Rowberry, no pressure then – Hannah not only trained under Gordon Ramsey at Claridges but also won the EDP Food Awards Young Chef of the Future award in 2010.
You might remember last year my CRT monitor died, and I was delighted to replace it with an S-SPS panel LCD monitor – well 7 months of struggling later I’m even more delighted to say this piece of new technology is now up in the loft and I’m chuffed to bits to finally have an old CRT monitor again, nuff said!
Thursday 3rd February 2011
Well guess what – yes, I’ve just uploaded another couple of images of the North Norfolk Coast! Don’t get me wrong as I’ve said many a time before being Norfolk born and bred I do love the North Norfolk Coast – it’s just that I’m turning into a machine – Weekend take pictures of Norfolk Coast, beginning of week process images of Norfolk Coast, end of week upload images of Norfolk Coast onto website… I want a new challenge!
And I’ve found just that – I have a hard drive full of images both from around the UK, and some more abstract ‘arty’ shots. For the next 36 uploads onto the site I’m going to resist the temptation of processing images just taken of the coast and instead process images going back a couple of years (or more).
I will of course still be taking more images of my beloved North Norfolk Coast but my hope is the website will be all the better for a bit more diversity.
So this is it, below is the last Norfolk Coast shot for awhile
Now, changing the subject I just have to let you know about a chap called Nik Hill – Nik works in IT but as I found out by chance earlier this week he is dammed fine photographer. Nik specialises in portrait and wedding work but as you’ll probably agree after seeing the images below I’m sure he could make a living from fine art sales…
Tuesday 4th January 2011
Happy New Year everyone and this is it - 2011, the year I really give photography a big push and see where I end up. December was a record month for me, and gave me a much needed boast. For too long now I feel things have gone well despite my lack of commitment, well not any more - I fully intend to find out just where my photography can take me...
That said my family will always be the most important thing in my life and this has just given me another brilliant Christmas. The picture below was taken on a day out to Wells with wifey, Ollie and his grandparents. As it was a family day out all I had on me was my phone. Must admit, being surrounded by people brandishing there latest Christmas cameras and looking down in contempt at me as a little upstart taking pictures with a phone, I was rather chuffed with the result, and that none of them saw this composition!!! Expensive up to the minute gear isn't the be all and end all guys...!
Tuesday 21st December 2010
Well still haven’t made it out to photograph the snow this year but at last I have the one piece of equipment I need… I normally use a 17-40mm wide angle lens for my shots which is superb on the coast but not so good for Inland Norfolk with it’s ugly hedge rows and ugly trees deformed with ivy. For me the best way to capture Inland Norfolk in winter will be to concentrate on more singular compositions, you know what I mean – A tree and a gate, a single tree in a field of snow, a small group of hoarfrost covered trees etc etc… Well I’ve now got a 70-200 L lens for just that! Finally I can head off into the snow and hopefully capture me a half decent image.
For those who are interested below is the ONLY shot taken in November & December so far… A little group of Movember Moustaches. It’s taken against a white background and over exposed before you ask… And, other then a conversion to B&W, not done in Photoshop!!!
And finally all – A very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.
Ps the image was taken on self timer so I'm in it myself (hate having my picture taken, even if it's me taking it, so quess which one is me!)
Wednesday 8th December 2010
Well November is over and the moustache has finally gone, shame that after all the annoyance it had to go just as it became soft and strokable! Made a decent amount of cash for charity though.
Photography wise not much to report I’m afraid… Had lots of building work on at home so for over a month my office has been emergency storage for all our kitchen paraphernalia, not able to get to the computer let alone process images! Same with taking the shots, so much upheaval I just haven’t had time to get out once, in fact for a couple of weeks we even had to move out of the house… And yes that does mean I missed out on all that lovely snow and hoarfrost. Well maybe, Back home now and out this weekend to take shots at Kelling Heath if there’s any snow left that is…!
Tuesday 2nd November 2010
This Movember I've decided to donate my face to raising awareness about prostate cancer. My donation and commitment is the growth of a moustache for the entire month of Movember, which I know will generate conversation, controversy and laughter.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. One man dies every hour from the disease in the UK. This is a cause that I feel passionately about and I'm asking you to support my efforts by making a donation to The Prostate Cancer Charity. To help, you can either: Click this link and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account, Or, send cheques and CAF vouchers (made payable to 'The Prostate Cancer Charity Re Movember') directly to The Prostate Cancer Charity, First Floor, Cambridge House, Cambridge Grove, London W6 0LE. Be sure to include the person's name on the back of the cheque.
The Prostate Cancer Charity will use the money raised by Movember for the development of programs related to awareness, public education, advocacy, support of those affected, and research into the prevention, detection, treatment and cure of prostate cancer.
For more details on the impact Movember is having please visit Movember.
Thank you in advance for helping me to support men's health.
Tuesday 19th October 2010
Well happy now, well almost... All these people come from all over the country to photography the beach at Happisburgh and it's always annoyed me that these interlopers get better light then I, a local manages to get! WELL NOT ANY MORE! On Sunday the light was wonderful...
Now for the Well almost bit...I hate ‘puters… Well actually I hate not knowing much about them… I always shot in RAW and until recently have solely processed my images in Lightroom only then using Photoshop for removing dust. Well, ever since I got my new LCD monitor I’ve processed as before (Contrast Curve, Dodge & Burn, White Balance and a touch of Saturation) but when going into Photoshop the contrast had gone and the image looked flat and dark again… No boover I thought I’ll add a contrast curve again.
Well it turns out the image from lightroom is absolutely fine when printed, and the images I’ll reprocessed in Photoshop look way too heavy.
No idea what’s causing it but at least I now know not to trust the image I see in photoshop! Trouble is I need to re-visit lots of images.
Friday 15th October 2010
Meet my mate Gareth Hacon at Thornham Sunday morning, Kate and I had a workshop there and with a really high 4.1mtr tide expected it was too good an opportunity for Gareth to resist. In fact the tide was so high for awhile it severely restricted the choice of composition and completely blocked in the cars. Never mind whilst waiting we were joined by another ‘tog’ (hate that word but as I’ve only just learnt what it means I’m determined to use it a bit!), Rick Bowden, a dam good landscape photographer from Norwich, we chatted the time away over tea and sausage rolls until the tide had subsided a bit.
Well book number 3 is out and I have my ‘author copies’, to be honest (and you won’t read this in the more business like sections of the website) I’m not as excited as I had hoped. I wanted the book to be a stunner… I had dedicated it to Ollie my 2 year old son so I really wanted it to be something he would be proud of his old dad for in the future. I had supplied a good selection of panoramic images and to be honest if they had told me from the start they wanted some to be square I would have taken compositions to suit. I just don’t think that all the images cropped square for use in the book work! Oh well what I know about publishing it will probably end up a best seller!
Tuesday 5th October 2010
Has it really been over two months since my last blog! It does however give an insight as to how I'm feeling about landscape photography at the moment. I know I shouldn't, the workshops are going well, gallery sales are way up on last year (thank you Hare & Hen) and my third book is due out towards the end of this month but I really am frustrated... I just can't seem to get the shots I want! A lot of it is a lack of time behind the camera but increasingly it is also a need to discover new pastures. Hopefully the shorter days of autumn will give me fresh opportunities to travel a little further afield.
Friday 23rd July 2010
A weekend of chores beckons, payback! Last weekend I got out twice, once inland and once on my beloved coast, both times in the company of cracking landscape photographer Jon Gibbs. I'm not sure but I think my flower arranging may have made a lasting impression!!!
Remember last time I mentioned I needed a new cable release.... Well I now need a new cable release and a new Lee 2 stop soft grad, double doh!
Wednesday 14th July 2010
Well yesterday my new monitor turned up and I can now crack on with a backlog of processing... The first one (below) has been done, this is the one mentioned in my last blog!
Need a new shutter release cable again.... Another one dies after a quick dip in the sea, Doh!
Wednesday 7th July 2010
Haven't been on here for a while... Why I hear you ask! Simple I recon that not turning on my PCs for a week or two has cut the ruddy heat down in my house from completely and utterly unbearable to just utterly unbearable... At last that damed awful heat seems to have gone!
New monitor sorted... Got me one of those S-SPS panel LCDs, can't wait, should be hear Monday. Photography wise I got to Wells for dawn last weekend... The tide was low enough to allow me into the estuary and boy was I lucky with the light... When the monitor gets here I can process the shots and get them on the site.
Tuesday 15th June 2010
More of a grump then a blog this time I'm afraid.... Haven't been out with the camera for ages... That cracking poppyfield just down the road, the one I've been waiting for the right sky and light with, yep heavy rain on Sunday night and it's completely wiped out... Finally and by far the worst of all my trusty old CRT monitor has packed up... Gutted... Need to find another, and quick!!!
Friday 28th May 2010
The last time I wnt out with the camera was exactly 1 month ago. Come hell or high water I'm out at sunset today... I've been told of a couple of old barges aground on the North Norfolk Coast, if the tide is right there should be enough water for a nice reflection, all I need to do now is pray for a decent sky and decent light...
Friday 21st May 2010
Shall I shan’t I, Shall I shan’t I…. I Shall…. I know… Now I’ve gone and mentioned it out loud the image will be tinny and not one I like, but sod it, I’m as proud as punch anyway….
Last year I was commissioned by Rooms Outdoor to photography a superb garden room and landscaped garden they had produced for a client in North Norfolk. Well yesterday I got an email from them to say the Sunday Times had chosen them for a garden room feature in this Sunday’s paper. The Times had asked for one of my images to use in the feature…. As you can guess I am chuffed to bits…
Ps if on Sunday the paperboy doesn’t deliver your copy of the Sunday Times it’s probably because my mum has bought up all the copies…! I apologise in advance.
Wednesday 12th May2010
Just got back from holiday with the family (so camera equipment stayed in it's bag), went to North Wales... Note to self, I must photograph further afield! I do love the Norfolk Coast don't get me wrong... But I really must get into those there hills as often as I can this year, with the camera this time! Norfolk is a great county, rape seed, barley and wheat are very nice, and the bits of the Broads you can actual get to, very nice indeed. but none of it compares to hills, mountains and valleys...
Thursday 29th April 2010
Good night last night. On Sunday I popped in to see Gareth Hacon at his and Jon Gibb's gallery in Wells next the Sea(Cracking gallery in Staithe Street and always worth a plug! I digress). Anyway Gareth mentioned that high tide at Wells last night would be 3.5mtrs and around sunset time. i decided to try East Quay, got there a around 7:15pm and boy was the water high! I just managed to wade out to where I wanted to shoot from with the water lapping millimetres from the top of my wellies, but well worth it, got a nice selection of shots including some lovely pink in the sky at around 8:45pm.
Tuesday 20th April 2010
Another cracking morning at Happisburgh on Sunday. Our ‘one-to-one' client wasn’t getting there until just before sunrise so I decided to arrive at 5am, it was well worth the early start (who said landscape photography was easy, my alarm went off at 3:30am). I managed a complete series of images, ranging from early morning blues at 5:15am through to warmer orange tones as the sun started to come up. All have a really calm feel to them, and more importantly, not one vapour trail… All I need to do now is process them! The sunrise it’s self was amazing, I hastily got our client to put his 70-300mm lens on his camera and at 300mm got him a superb image of a huge orange sun above an empty sea. This made me think… Currently I’m only using a 17-40mm on a 5D and a 50mm prime on an old 30D, about time I looked at adding a 100-400mm to my kit for just this type of shot. With the value of the pound as it is Ebay here I come…
Wednesday 14th April 2010
Well I finally got a square format shot I like from Happisburgh. On Saturday Kate and myself had a one-to-one workshop starting from there at sunrise. I managed to get there a few minutes early and get a shot in the bag before they turned up, I also managed a nice panoramic which I'll again keep as a reserve for the book. We have another one-to-one this Sunday and again it's from Happisburgh. I'm getting there 1/2 an hour early and hope to get a shot or two.
Tuesday 6th April 2010
Yesterday was really good in the end. The sky started to clear at around 5:30pm so I made the short drive up to Blakeney again (for the second time that day). Had a really good sky this time and the tide was just perfect for those 3 little old posts just off the end of the quay. I managed to get a selection of shots I’m happy with, including both a panoramic and square composition. Happy Bunny (no Easter pun intended, honest)!
Monday 5th April 2010
Finally got out with the camera this morning. Got to Blakeney at 6:00am with a promising band of orange just coming on the horizon... Could have gone either way. 10 second sunrise, then grey, then rain, then left... On Saturday morning I was running a 'one to one' workshop with Kate so the camera had to stay in it's bag, wonderful strong light and superb stormy sky... Typical.!!! I did get one shot however, right at the end of the workshop we were in the old ruin at St Benet's Abbey. Lots of old graffiti on the walls including a heart shape, which somebody had recently coloured in with pink chalk. This looked wonderful against the old green stained stone walls of the abbey. I always keep a camera body with a f1.8 50mm fixed lens for just these occassions.
Tuesday 30th March 2010
Junior had a good two & half hour snooze yesterday afternoon so I managed to get a bit done, including processing a couple more 'just in-case' panoramics for the book. These are now on the website but I will decide whether or not to use them in the book once I've seen the proofs. As I've said before I now want to concentrate on square formats as much as I can. With more and more togs selling their prints I want to try and stay one step ahead. Hopefully if they find composing square shots half as difficult as I do it should be a market place far less crowded! I hope to process another taken at Holkham later on today. Then onto boring stuff (even more boring then processing that is), My plan this year was to reduce the number of craft fairs and instead increase submissions to magazines and image libraries. So far I've done the easy bit but not the latter.
Monday 29th March 2010
Well to be honest Sunday could have gone a lot better, never made it out with the camera again... The problem is if I don't get everything ready the night before there's no way I can leave early in the morning without disturbing my light sleeping wifey, and equally light sleeping 18 month old toddler Ollie. It just didn't happen. The next 3 weekends I have workshops on so who knows when I can try again. The frustrations of a landscape photographer!!!
Friday 26th March 2010
Not much to say today... Decided to set up a blog a few moments ago and now no idea what to put...! Oh yeah, off to Happisburgh for dawn on Sunday. I’ve started to take shots for square format prints recently (trying again to be a little bit different) and eventually plan to have a have a gallery of these images on the site covering all of the Norfolk Coast, but to try and build a bit of exclusivity in limited to just one or two shots per location. I love Happisburgh so that's my next mission... It's high tide at dawn on Sunday so I could get something really dramatic, or I could get very wet and grumpy. I'll let you know how I get on.
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