And the snow came down

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With all the wintery weather this week, landscape photographers across the UK have been in their element (we just love snow and ice!).  Here on the low-lying and coast-hugging Wirral peninsula, we rarely see much of the white stuff, and so it was exciting to see snow falling here a few days ago.   We also braved the elements and took a day trip out to North Wales at the weekend to experience the snowy hills around Penyffordd.

I’m a great fan of keeping it simple when it comes to photographic composition – less is most definitely more, in my opinion – and snowy landscapes really lend themselves to minimalist compositions!  With the skies laden with snow, the light was very soft and subtle and really rather beautiful to experience.

So, a few wintery images from the Wirral and North Wales..

 

Trees at Willaston

Field below snowy skies, North Wales

West Kirby field

 

Impressions of Arran

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Pladda Lighthouse and Ailsa Craig from Arran

We took a trip up to the Isle of Arran a few weeks ago, our second visit to the west coast of Scotland this year.  Arran is easily reached by ferry from Ardrossan and, often described as ‘Scotland in miniature’, the island has a varied landscape with a mixture of granite peaks in the north and gentle, rolling hills in the south.  The coastal ring road is around 60 miles in circumference and with a couple of main roads that cross the island from east to west, most locations are within an easy drive.

We were only on the island for a few days and as this wasn’t primarily a photographic trip, time out with my camera was fairly limited.  With many miles of coastline (mainly rocky) to choose from, I was glad I’d done a little bit of research beforehand.  So, based on recommendations from other photographers, I headed to Imachar Point on the west coast of the island and the Corrie / Pirate Bay area on the east.

Imachar Point is basically a rocky beach with fine views over to the Kintyre peninsula. Photographically, it’s the rock formations that are of interest, they’re quite something to see, and very other-worldly..

Imachar Rocks at dusk (Canon 5D MKii)

Imachar Rocks at dusk (Canon 5D MKii)

Imachar Rocks at dusk (Canon 5D MKii)

Imachar Rock Detail

I also spent a couple of early mornings at Pirate Bay just south of Corrie on the east coast, and although the dawn light was pretty gloomy and overcast, I did get the opportunity to try out my new (well, second hand) medium format film camera – a Mamiya 7ii, for the first time.  Having only taken up photography seriously around 4 years ago, all my images so far have been made using digital equipment.  The Mamiya 7 is a rangefinder camera – with this sort of camera you never look through the lens.  You focus and compose through a window on the top right, turn a ring and when two superimposed images line up, you’re in perfect focus.  Also, as you don’t look through the lens, using graduated filters involves a bit of guesswork…

The couple of shots below are nothing special but I was at least relieved to have not completely messed up the exposure!  .

Pirate Bay at dawn (Mamiya 7, Velvia 50)

Pirate Bay at dawn (Mamiya 7, Velvia 50)

I’ll be posting some more detailed information on the Mamiya and my endeavours with film photography in the future, but have to admit that I am already hooked!  Getting my first Velvia transparencies back from the processing lab and seeing them on the lightbox was a much more satisfying experience than opening up a digital file from a memory card…

 

After the Storms

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Lots of dusky blues and pinks in the evening skies recently, making an appearance after stormy weather and really rather beautiful.

I’ve also been drawn to the more abstract shapes and patterns created by the incoming and receding tides at Hoylake.

Competition Win

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I was really thrilled to find out this week that one of my images, ‘Abandoned Boat’, has been selected as the winner of the Landscapes category of Photographer of the Year 2012, run by Practical Photography and Digital Photo magazines.

The image features in the July issues of both magazines and you can see the original image here.

The generous prize was a Nikon D7000 and a 12-24mm lens along with £500 of Jessops vouchers.  Although I currently use Canon cameras and lenses for my photographic work, I’m keen to try out the Nikon kit!

There are 6 rounds of the competition altogether and at the end of the year an overall winner will be chosen from the individual category winners.

Scotland and the beautiful isle of Eigg

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We recently returned from a ten day trip up to the West Coast of Scotland, three of which were spent on the small isle of Eigg, an hour’s ferry ride from Mallaig and part of the Inner Hebrides.  The island is tiny, only about 4 miles long. The small community of permanent residents are allowed to use cars on the island but all visitors have to leave their cars on the mainland and hire bikes, walk or make use of the island’s minibus service.

In good weather there are spectacular panoramic views of Rum, Skye, and the mountains of Lochaber on the mainland.

View of Rum from Eigg, wth the Bay of Laig on the left.

Although small in size, Eigg has arguably two of the most dramatic and photogenic beaches in Scotland – the Bay of Laig and Singing Sands. With the island of Rum forming a perfect backdrop and amazing rock formations on both beaches, it is a dream location for any landscape photographer!

If you can drag yourself away from the mesmerising sight of the Rum Cuillins, there’s plenty of abstract images to be found amongst the geology of both beaches.

As well as its magnificent view of Rum, the beach at Laig Bay is renowned for its fabulous sand patterns which form as the tide washes over it.  The sand is a mixture of quartz/black basalt and white, crushed shells, which combine to create an ever-changing visual effect.

Be prepared for all types of weather – after all, this is the West Coast of Scotland, where you can experience all the seasons in one day!  We had a mixture of blue skies, an overnight storm, hailstones and two rather good sunsets.

 

 

 

For any photographers considering a visit, www.isleofeigg.net is a great resource and lists all the accommodation options.  The Bay of Laig and Singing Sands are in the northern part of the island, in Cleadale, and there are several B&B’s and self-catering cottages in that area.  I would really recommend staying in the Cleadale area, unless you are prepared for a long, and dark, walk back to your accommodation after the inevitable sunset and twilight photography sessions!    We stayed in  small self-catering log cabin, run by Jackie and Mike, who couldn’t have given us a warmer welcome and were even on hand with a first aid kit when I fell off my bike!

We could happily have stayed on the island for longer than the three days we had booked – photographically there is at least enough material for several years worth of image-making!   A truly special place.

A New Year and still the beach beckons..

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So, 2012 is here and ’tis the season to reflect on the previous 12 months and make plans for the year ahead.  2011 was a busy year for me, and I had the opportunity to show some of my work at quite a number of local events including the Wirral Open Studio Tour, the Festival of Firsts and the Heswall Arts Festival.  It was fantastic to be part of these cultural events which showcased the work of so many talented Wirral artists and I’m hoping that all these will take place once again this year – watch this space!

Inevitably perhaps, increased opportunities to exhibit my work has involved spending lots of time preparing for each event and in recent months I have really struggled to find any time at all for photography. It was therefore extremely therapeutic to finally get my camera out earlier this week and make a few images.  Gale force winds, stormy skies and a low tide combined to create rather dramatic conditions down on the beach at Hoylake.  At low tide the beach stretches a good mile out from the shore before it reaches the sea and aside from a couple of solitary boats, there’s nothing to get in the way of the sand as it whips across the landscape.

Hopefully these images convey a little of what it felt like to be out on the windswept sands with just an old fishing boat for company!

For most of my life I have lived a stone’s throw from the coast and living here on the Wirral peninsula, surrounded as we are by the sea, it is this coastline that I am generally drawn to when it comes to making images.  Our west coast weather is pretty changeable and from a photographic point of view  we are spoilt with some wonderful light, dramatic skies and stunning sunsets.

I’m sure that this year will find me once again heading down to the beach to seek inspiration amongst the sand patterns, reflections and rock formations.  We have a trip planned to the small Scottish Isle of Eigg in April which I’m really excited about.  Laig Bay, with it’s dramatic rock formations and spectacular views across to the mountains of Rum, has long been a popular location for landscape photographers and will be a treat indeed.

However I hope this year will also see me having the time to explore new subjects and take on new photographic challenges. I have just started work on a new personal photographic project, ‘Amongst Trees’ – a chance for me to move away from my comfort zone of the beach and explore our local woodlands.  I  hope to be able to post some images very soon!

 

Open Eye Gallery Reopens

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The Open Eye Gallery has just officially unveiled its new premises down at Liverpool’s redeveloped waterfront.  Open Eye is the only dedicated photography gallery in the North West of England and was previously located in a  much smaller building in Wood Street.  The new gallery at Mann Island is modern, light and spacious, is spread over two floors and also includes a small shop.

The opening exhibition features work by two photographers, Mitch Epstein and Chris Steel-Perkins.  Mitch Epstein’s work, “American Power” examines the role of energy in the United States and his large format prints are certainly striking.  Upstairs is “The Pleasure Principle”, a portrait of England in the 1980′s by Chris Steele-Perkins.

As well as a full programme of exhibitions, the gallery has various photographic workshops planned, including a series covering large format film photography later this month.  For details check out their website at www.openeye.org.uk.

The new Open Eye Gallery building at Mann Island

"American Power" - Main Exhibition by Mitch Epstein

"The Pleasure Principle" Archive Exhibition by Chris Steele-Perkins