FIA
My FIA is about my journey into landscape photography and how I aim to deliver that idea into it's final concept and sales. The project will allow me to explore history, my childhood memories and an area long forgotten.
"The Bernica Project" is about a history of our land, a childs memories and an adults passion in landscape photography, turning that passion into sales and a profession.
How did I develop the concept?
The Scottish borders and Northumberland are an inherent part of my own personal history. With a family from Northumberland and many holidays in Scotland and Northumberland as a child it is an area I am familliar with and an area of natural beauty, steeped in history.
The one thing that ties my memories of this area is "Bernica" because Bernica geographically fits my area of exploration.
The History Of Bernica
Bernicia was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian
settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East
England.
The Anglian territory of Bernicia was approximately
equivalent to the modern English counties of Northumberland and Durham, and the
Scottish counties of Berwickshire and East Lothian, stretching from the Forth
to the Tees. In the early 7th century, it merged with its southern neighbour,
Deira, to form the kingdom of Northumbria and its borders subsequently expanded
considerably.
Situated around modern Durham and Northumberland, the
kingdom was based on one called Bernaccia which seems to have been founded during
the break-up of Romano-British administration in fifth century Britain. A group
of Angles took it over, in AD 547 according to tradition, and pronounced the
existing name as Bernicia.
This group of Angles claimed descent from Benoc's Folk in
Angeln, their homeland in what is now Denmark. They were probably hired and
settled as mercenaries, or laeti, on the north-east coast of Britain in the
very late fifth century, and possibly in the region between the Forth and the
Tyne. It seems possible that they arrived to fulfil the same role as the Jutes
originally had in Kent, to help defend the borders against devastating Pictish
and Scotti raids. The fact that it seems to have taken them so long to mount a
takeover bid probably speaks volumes of the readiness of the Northern British
to defend their territory.
While the Angles seemed to have taken over with very little
fuss, during a power gap, according to later tradition the former British ruler
continued to fight on from outside his former lands until at least 590. It also
seems possible that the Bernician Angles had a hand in founding neighbouring
Deira as an independent kingdom, as tradition and King Ida's date of death
indicate fighting against the British kingdom of Ebrauc was undertaken. Nennius
(whatever his unreliability) seems to back this up in 550 and 561.
Bernician royal residences were at Bamborough and Yeavering
(known originally as Ad-gefrin, no doubt from the Brythonic 'hill of goats').
An impressive assembly of wooden structures has been excavated there.
For three and a half centuries Britain was under Roman rule.
The Romans built roads, towns, forts and temples, bringing with them soldiers
and cultures from across Europe. They conquered the native 'Celtic' tribes of Britain
and established military control in the North with the construction of
Hadrian's Wall and the huge legionary fortress at York. In the reign of
Constantine the Great, they also brought Christianity. Constantine, who was
proclaimed Emperor at no less a place than York, would himself become the first
Emperor to convert to Christianity.
By 314 York was one of a number of important places in the
Roman empire with a Christian bishop. Christianity was however, only one of a
number of religions accepted within the Roman empire and it is not known how
many Britons were actually Christians. The native people of Britain were
ancient Britons, speaking a Celtic language resembling Welsh, but of course
many would also learn to speak the Latin of the Romans. Many of these people
continued to practice their native Celtic 'pagan' religions, while others may
have adopted more exotic religions introduced from other parts of the Roman
empire. One thing is certain however, in 300 years of occupation the Britons
had intermixed with the multicultural Romans to form a 'Romano-British'
society, quite different from the Celtic culture of pre-Roman times.
In the vicinity of Roman forts, native Britons intermarried
with Roman soldiers enlisted from far flung corners of the Roman empire like
Iraq or North Africa. At Housesteads on the Roman Wall, they may even have
intermarried with members of the Roman garrison of Anglo-Saxon soldiers
stationed at that particular fort. But we should remember that these
Anglo-Saxons were not yet native to our shores and originated from the Germanic
lands of the continent.
By 399 AD, three and half centuries of Roman rule in Britain
were drawing to an end as the Romans commenced the removal of their troops from
Britain. Attacks on Rome by the Visigoths from eastern Europe meant that
reinforcements were desperately needed elsewhere and the Romans could no longer
hold on to Britain as a military province. In the North of Britain, the
depletion of the Roman army left the northern frontier of Hadrian's Wall
severely exposed and revolts against the small scattering of Romans who
remained soon gained momentum.
ANGLO-SAXONS
Virtually all Roman troops had departed from Britain by 410
AD, leaving our shores and internal borders defenceless. The north was particularly
vulnerable to attack, not just from Picts and Scots in the north, but from
Anglo-Saxon raiders from across the North Sea. These Germanic raiders consisted
of two main groups, the Angles (or Anglians) from what is now the border of
Germany and Denmark (Schleswig Hosltein) and the Saxons from what is now
Northern Germany.
During the later centuries of Roman occupation, the Romans
had built several defensive watch towers along the coast to defend against the
Anglo-Saxon raiders. In the north, examples could be found at Scarborough,
Goldsborough, Filey and Saltburn, but there were almost certainly others. When
Roman rule came to an end the Anglo-Saxons no doubt continued to raid the coast
but some found themselves employed by the native Britions as mercenaries to
defend Britain against the Scots and Picts. Many Anglo-Saxons were given land
in Britain as a return for their protection, but it became increasingly
apparent to the new settlers, that Britain was now a vulnerable province that
was there for the taking.
The Angles had begun to invade and settle all parts our
eastern shores, seizing the region they called East Anglia by 440, along with
Lincolnshire and regions further inland. It is likely that the North East was
already under attack or at least bracing itself for invasion, but some aspects
of the Roman way of life still persisted. It is known, for example, that in 445
AD, Newcastle upon Tyne was still known by its Roman name of Pons Aelius - the
site of a fort adjoining a bridge over the Tyne.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS
By 450 AD, the Angles had begun their invasion of the north,
colonising land in the Yorkshire Wolds, just to the north of the Humber in a
land they called Deira. This name was probably an adapatation of an exisiting
Celtic tribal region or kingdom. Gradually the Angles would invade territory
further north and began settling the lowland river valleys of the east coast
including possibly the Tyne, Wear and Tees. Excavations at Norton on Teesside,
have revealed evidence of Anglo-Saxon settlement in this early period. It is
also possible that one group of Angles from Lincolnshire - a region then known
as Lindis feorna (later Lindsey) colonised and named the island we know today
as Lindisfarne. Lindisfarne was certainly known in early times as Lindis feorna.
Much further south on the southern shores of Britain, the
Saxons were settling and establishing new kingdoms like Essex, Sussex and
Wessex, whilst a similar Germanic people called the Jutes were colonising Kent
and the Isle of Wight. There was of course native British resistance to their
attacks, but it is recorded that the Britons were heavily defeated by the
Anglo-Saxon invaders at a Battle located at some identified spot called Mons
Badonicus.
The early Anglo-Saxon period was undoubtedly an age of war
and turmoil and our knowledge of this period is scanty. It is this early age of
Anglo-Saxon invasion that is often associated with King Arthur, a Briton who is
said to have fought against the Anglo-Saxons. He is reputed to have died in
537, perhaps on the Roman Wall, but little can be said of Arthur, since so
little is known. He may not have existed at all. To give too much attention to
a shadowy figure like Arthur, himself largely a creation of later Medieval
writers would give a distorted and unreliable view of Anglo-Saxon history. It
is largely the stuff of fiction and can cast doubt, quite wrongly, on the whole
Anglo-Saxon period that follows. The so called 'Age of Arthur' is one period of
British history about which we know very, very little and yet so much has been
written, perhaps because it stretches the imaginations of writers.
Our limited knowledge of this early period has led to the
term 'Dark Ages' but it would be quite wrong to apply this term to the whole
Anglo-Saxon age, since the Anglo-Saxon era is in fact a period about which we
know a great deal. However, in the earliest period of Anglo-Saxon history it is
very much a case of history's gradual emergence from darkness.
One important clue to the early settlement of Anglo-Saxons
is in place names, as most of the place names of our region and indeed of
England as a whole, are of Anglo-Saxon origin and often tell us the names and
activities of the first Anglo-Saxon settlers. Significantly, almost all places
ending in 'ton' or 'ham' are of Anglo-Saxon origin, but there are many other
types of Anglo-Saxon place names. Interstingly the original Celtic and
Romano-Celtic places names are very rare in England.
We know, that before the Anglo-Saxons arrived, the North
East, like the rest of Britain was occupied by the descendants of the Romanised
Celts and earlier peoples. In the far north, one group of these Celtic people
had developed into a tribal kingdom called the Goddodin in the Lothians with
their tribal fort and capital located at Din Eidyn (Edinburgh). The Goddodin
are thought to have been the descendants of the Votadini, a tribe that
inhabited this territory along with Northumberland in the early days of the
Roman invasion. In 538 AD the Gododdin were not yet under siege from the
Anglo-Saxons but they were defeated in a great battle at Edinburgh after an
onslaught by the Caledonians, a massive confederation of highland tribes from
northern Scotland.
BERNICIA AND DEIRA
The most important date in this otherwise dark period of
nortern history was 547 AD. In this year, the ancient British coastal
stronghold of Din Guyaroi (Bamburgh) on the North East coast was seized by the
Angle chief called Ida the Flamebearer. His seizure of this important British
stronghold was an important event in the Angles' political and military seizure
of the North. It is is a year often regarded as the first real date in the
history of the kingdom that would come to be known as Northumbria. It is likely
that Ida already had a foothold in the Tyne, Wear and Tees region, but the
populous native British lands in the vicinity of Din Guyardi were an important
addition to Ida's expanding Kingdom of Bernicia. The name of this emerging
kingdom, was like Deira, probably an adaptation of an existing Celtic name and
would come to be synonymous with the North Eastern region in the centuries to
come.
Ida had conquered huge areas of land in the North East by
550 including some territory south of the Tees. He was now undisputedly the
most powerful leader in the northern Angle Land (later England) and Din Guyardi
or Bamburgh was the capital of his kingdom. In 560 he was succeeded by his son
Theodoric, whose domain was confined to Bernicia, north of the Tees, but some
of the remaining Celtic kingdoms that existed in the north, saw him as a weaker
leader than his father and refused to accept his rule.
Meanwhile, in the Yorkshire Wolds (known to the Angles as
Deira) an Anglian chief called Aelle was rising to power and conducting his
people against the native Britons. Aelle can be regarded as the first king of
Deira. Rivalry between Deira and Bernicia would be a long running feature of
Anglo-Saxon history in the north. However, the native Celts were not yet completely
subdued. Urien, the leader of the British kingdom of Rheged (based in Cumbria)
was determined to fight for the Celtic cause. In 575 AD, he besieged King
Theodoric of Bernicia on the island of Lindisfarne in a siege that lasted three
days, but victory could not be claimed.
The island of Lindisfarne, in close proximity to the
Bernician capital of Bamburgh seems to have been an important location in the
early battles between Britons and Angles in the North. Little is known of this
period but it was on Lindisfarne in 590 AD that Urien of Rheged would meet his
end fighting against the Anglo-Saxons. It is thought that he was betrayed by
Morgan, a leader of the Goddodin tribe from north of the Tweed.
KING AETHELFRITH
In 593, Aethelfrith, the grandson of Ida the Flamebearer,
became the new King of Bernicia in the North-East of England. Without a
formidable, like Urien, his power seemed assured even in the Celtic regions. In
598 Aethelfrith's men heavily defeated the native Britons in a great battle at
Catterick. Here was located the ancient British kingdom called Catraeth centred
on the Tees and Swale. The battle was the result of a major campaign and a huge
army of Britons had marched there after assembling at Edinburgh. The Britons
included the people of Gododdin, Rheged and Northern Wales. It was as if the
Britons were engaging in a last stand against the Anglo-Saxons. But they were
heavily defeated by Aethelfrith. The kingdom of Catraeth was seized.
Aethelfrith's power was now beyond dispute and the Celts
were forced to accept his rule. That is not to say that large areas of the
north instantly became Anglo-Saxon. The settlement of Anglo-Saxons was
extensive, but Celts were still predominant in Cumbria, the Pennines, the
Celtic Kingdoms of Loidis (Leeds), Elmet and Meicen (in Hatfield, the marshy
country near Doncaster).
In 603 Aethelfrith turned his attention to the Celts of the
far north, going into battle with Aidan MacGabrain, King of the Dalriada Scots.
The Dalriada Scots lived in western Caledonia but originated from Hibernia
(Ireland). During the battle, the Scots were assisted by a large force of
Ulstermen, but were defeated in battle at Degastan, an unknown location,
possibly in Liddesdale. Aethelfrith's victory forced the Kingdoms of
Strathclyde in the west, Rheged in Cumbria and Gododdin in the Lothians to
recognise Bernician superiority once again. With his power and prestige assured
Aethelfrith usurped the crown of Deira in Yorkshire. He thus became King of
both Deira and Bernicia, uniting all the Angle territory north of the River
Humber into one kingdom called Northumbria. Bernicia and Deira were reduced to
mere sub kingdoms.
Of course there were many in Deira who disliked Bernician
rule, so Aethelfrith encouraged Deiran support by marrying Acha, a member of
the Deiran royal family. It was unlikely to stop Acha's brother Edwin from
claiming the kingdom of Deira but it was too dangerous for Edwin to remain in
Northumbria and he sought protection at the court of King Cearl of Mercia (an
Angle kingdom based in the Midlands). Edwin's presence in Mercia was a constant
threat to Aethelfrith.
In 615, the Bernician capital Din Guyardi, was renamed
Bebbanburgh in honour of Bebba, Aethelfrith's new wife. The name meant the fort
of Bebba, but it would gradually come to be pronounced Bamburgh. This was
perhaps one of many Celtic place names that were replaced by Anglo-Saxon names
in this period and may reflect the gradual replacement of Celtic with
Anglo-Saxon speech. It seemed that the native Celts were no longer the major
threat to the expansion of the Angles and Aethelfrith for one was now
preoccupied with defeating his Anglian rival.
Later in 615 AD, he ousted King Cearl from the Kingdom of
Mercia and took virtual control of the midland kingdom, although he employed a
Mercian to look after Northumbrian interests here. Edwin, Aethefrith's major
Northumbria rival fled from Mercia and took refuge with the King of East
Anglia. Edwin was still a threat to Aethelfrith, but a seemingly more distant
one and it seemed there would be no end to Aethelfrith's expansion. In 615,
Aethelfrith defeated the Welsh in battle at Chester and once again seized
Cumbria, bringing it firmly under Northumbria rule. It was a significant event
as it isolated the Britons of North Wales from those of Strathclyde and the
Lothians, although that is not to say that the Britons were exterminated in the
District of the Lakes.
However, Aethelfrith's expansion would not remain unchecked
forever. In 616 he finally met his end in battle against Raedwald King of East
Anglia at Bawtry on the River Idle. This site lies close to the present borders
of Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire. In Aethelfrith's time this area
lay on the southern reaches of Northumbria, a dangerous marshy region close to
the border with Lindsey and easily accessible from the East Anglian kingdom.
KING EDWIN
Upon Aethelfrith's death, Edwin, son of Aelle and prince of
Deira seized the Northumbrian kingdom. A Deiran was now in charge of the
Northumbrian kingdom, but there was still rivalry between Deiran and Bernician
factions. The Bernician claimant was Aethelfrith's son Prince Oswald, who fled
from Northumbria for safety. Oswald took refuge on the island monastery of Iona
off the western Scottish coast. Political expansion and victory in battle was a
necessary part of being an Anglo-Saxon king if he wished to gain support and
respect and this was as true for Edwin as it had beeen for Aethelfrith.
Much of Edwin's early military activity seems to have
concentrated on the southern borders of Northumbria where there was still
strong Celtic influence. Around 626 he evicted a client king called Ceretic
from the ancient British kingdom of Elmet near Leeds and followed this with the
capture of the Celtic kingdom of Meicen (Hatfield) near Doncaster. His
expansion also extended south into the Angliankingdom of Lindsey
(Lincolnshire).
Since Edwin already had control over much of the land
acquired by Aethelfrith, Edwin's power in the north was unequalled by any
Anglian predecessor. But power and expansion naturally aroused jealousy and
fear amongst rivals including Cuichelm, King of the West Saxons. In 626
Cuichelm sent north an assassin called Eumer, who attempted to kill Edwin as he
celebrated the Pagan festival of Easter at his royal palace somewhere close to
the River Derwent on the edge of the Yorkshire wolds. The assassin entered the
King's court and asked to speak with the king on the pretence of having an
important message from the West Saxon King. On seeing the king, Eumer produced
a poisoned dagger from beneath his cloak with which he attempted to stab Edwin.
Fortunately one of Edwin's men, Lillam jumped in the way and suffered a blow
from which he was killed. A fight followed in which Edwin was injured but Eumer
was eventually put to death. On the same night of the assasination attempt King
Edwin's queen, Ethelburga gave birth. Angered by the assasination attempt,
Edwin sought revenge and defeated the West Saxons in a great battle in Wessex.
As a result Edwin proclaimed himself 'overking' of all England.
EDWIN'S CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY
Until this point, all the Northumbrian kings, including
Edwin, had been solidly Pagan in their outlook, but this was about to change.
Edwin had already formed an important alliance with the Kingdom of Kent, an
Anglo-Saxon Kingdom that had converted to Christianity through the influence of
St Augustine. In 625 a marriage had been arranged between Edwin and the
Christian Princess of Kent called Ethelberga. Edwin was already considering his
own conversion to Christianity and Edwin took the opportunity to attribute his
victory in Wessex to the new Christian faith.
On April 11 627, Edwin converted to Christianity,
undertaking a baptism at York performed by a Roman missionary called Paulinus.
The ceremony took place in a new, wooden church dedicated to St Peter. This
humble little building was the predecessor of York Minster. Coifi, the Pagan
high priest under Edwin, followed the king's example and he too converted to
Christianity. To demonstrate his new faith Coifi destroyed the great heathen
temple of Goodmanham near the River Derwent in East Yorkshire.
Paulinus was appointed as Bishop of York, a post redundant
since Roman times. He travelled throughout Northumbria converting Edwin's
people at important locations associated with the Royal household. He is said
to have baptised thousands of Northumbrians in the Swale near Catterick and in
the River Glen near Yeavering.
At Yeavering the outline of one Edwin's Royal Palaces can
still be seen in the fields. It is only visible from the air but includes the
clear outline of several buildings including a great hall and an auditorium. It
is thought that Northumbrians assembled here to hear the words of influential
speakers. Perhaps Edwin and Paulinus addressed an audience on this spot.
Interestingly the palace lies at the foot of a prominent hill called Yeavering
Bell, itself the site of a large Celtic fort. Was this perhaps one of many
locations where Celtic and Anglian cultures merged together. Perhaps some of the
Celtic peoples of the region had even held onto Christian beliefs since Roman
times and it is just possible that in some cases Paulinus was preaching to the
converted.
It is very tempting to look for the continuous presence of
Christianity in England since Roman times. It may be significant that York, so
closely associated with the great Christian Emperor Constantine and the site of
a Roman bishopric was chosen by Edwin as the centre for his Christian activity.
The new wooden minster built by Edwin at York lay within what had been the
headquarters building of the Roman legionary fortress. In 628 AD Edwin rebuilt
the church of St Peter's in stone and he may have used rubble from the Roman
fortess in its construction. Anglo-Saxon churches certainly made use of Roman
stone as is demonstrated by the Anglo-Saxon church at Escomb in County Durham.
Of course it is also known for certain, that the very name of the minster at
York - its dedication to St Peter - was chosen to reflect its links with St
Peter's in Rome. The church was given sealed approval by the Pope.
It would be wrong, however, to assume that Roman
Christianity was now firmly re-established in the north. Its future was only
assured as long as Edwin remained in power. On October 12, 633, Edwin was killed.
As with Aethelfrith, Edwin's death took place in a battle within the marshy low
country near Doncaster. On this occasion the battle was at Heathfield (or
Hatfield) where Edwin's forces were crushed by the Mercians in alliance with
the Welsh. The Mercians fought under the leadership of a chieftain called Penda
and the Welsh assisted under the their king Caedwalla. Osric, a possible
successor to Edwin was also killed in the battle whilst Edwin's son Edfrith
surrendered.
Penda was appointed King of the Mercians and along with his
Welsh ally Caedwalla could now claim to be one of the most powerful kings in
the north. Caedwalla had his eye on Northumbrian territory and claimed the
throne of Deira. It may sound sound strange that a Welshman would claim Anglian
territory in Yorkshire, but many parts of this region will have still
encompassed Welsh speaking territory and peoples particularly in the Pennines
and in the former Celtic kingdoms near Leeds and Doncaster.
So what was the future for Christianity in the North? In
Bernicia, Eanfrith, the pagan son of Aethelfrith was crowned King of the
Northumbrians and those who had converted to Christianity during Edwin's reign
may have thought it wise to revert to Eanfrith's Pagan ways. St Paulinus, the
Christian Bishop of York returned to Kent.
KING OSWALD
There was still hope for the Christian cause. In 634
Eanfrith was killed by his younger brother Oswald, who had returned from his
exile on the Christian island of Iona. Oswald became King. The following year
Oswald heavily defeated Penda and Caedwalla in battle at Heavenfield just to
the south of Hexham. The event resulted in Caedwalla's death. Oswald's victory
over Penda at the Battle of Heavenfield made him the undisputed overking (or
Bretwalda) of England. This was a title that had also been held by Edwin, but
was more of a recognised status of 'top king' than an absolute king of all
England. Oswald attributed his victory at Heavenfield to the work of God. As an
expriment he had asked his men to pray to God prior to the battle and was now
convinced that the Christian faith had brought him victory.
Oswald was determined to continue the reintroduction of
Christianity to the North East and employed St Aidan, an Irish monk from the
Scottish island of Iona to convert his people. This would, however, be a Celtic
Christianity, different to the Roman style of Christianity introduced by Edwin
and Paulinus. Aidan, perhaps trying to recreate the atmosphere of Iona, chose
Lindisfarne as the centre for his bishopric and established a monastery on the
island. He was the first Bishop of Lindisfarne.
Other monasteries would follow and in 640 a monastery was
established on the coastal headland at Hartlepool by Hieu an Irish princess who
became the first abbess there. Like Lindisfarne this too, had an island like
location, as the Hartlepool headland was virtually cut off from the mainland.
Further south York's Christian credentials were not forgotten and in 642 AD
Oswald completed the work begun by King Edwin on St Peter's Minster church.
Also in Yorkshire Lastingham Priory established in 654 by St Cedd.
One lesser known monastic site of the period was Gateshead.
This was known to the Anglo-Saxons as 'Goat's Head' as translated from Bede's
Latin name for the site 'Ad Caprae Caput'. Little is known about the monastery
her except that it was under the jurisdiction of an abbot called Uttan in 653.
The name Goat's Head may have been taken from some kind of totem or emblem,
perhaps of Roman origin, that may have existed on the Roman Tyne Bridge.
Christianity did not of course bring an end to Northumbria's
political expansion. In 638, the Lothian region was besieged by Oswald who
brought it under Northumbrian control. Din Eidyn, once the chief fortress of
the Gododdin, was brought under Northumbrian control and it was the
Northumbrians that gave the fortress its Anglian name 'Edinburgh', perhaps in
an attempt to associate it with king Edwin. The 'burgh' in Edinburgh is
certainly an Anglian word and means 'stronghold'. Extensive
Northumbrian-Anglian settlement must have taken place here since most of the
place names in this region are still Anglo-Saxon to this day. Interestingly the
form of English spoken in Scotland would also develop from the
Northumbria-Angle speech introduced to the Lothians rather than the earlier
Welsh-Celtic type of language spoken by the Gododdin or the Gaelic type of
Celtic language spoken by the Scots.
There was to be no peaceful break from military conflict in
the North and it seemed certain that Oswald would eventually, like his
predecessors, lose his life on the battlefield. And so it was on August 5, 642
AD, Oswald, King of Northumbria died in battle at Maserfelth against Penda of
Mercia. The location of the battle is uncertain, with the two main suggestions
being Makerfield in Lancashire or Oswestry in Shropshire.
KING OSWY
Oswald was succeeded by his brother Oswy in Bernicia (the
North East region north of the Tees) and by a rival called Oswine in Deira
(Yorkshire). This meant that Northumbria was split into two parts once again.
The split weakened the kingdom and Penda of Mercia took the opportunity to
seize certain Northumbrian lands in Deira, Lincolnshire and Elmet near Leeds.
Oswine of Deira was now under threat from all sides and was eventually murdered
after backing down from military confrontation with Oswy at Wilfar's Hill near
Catterick. Oswine's hiding place at Gilling was discovered by one of Oswy's
men.
So Oswy seized the Deiran crown, making his claim on the
strength of his marriage to Eanfled, daughter of the late King Edwin. So
Northumbria was once again united. Ethelwald, the son of the late King Oswald
was employed by Oswy to take care of the king's affairs in Deira, but he
betrayed Oswy, siding with Penda of Mercia in an attack in 653. This attack
that took the raiders as far north as Bamburgh.
War raged between Mercia and Northumbria and on November 15,
655, the Mercians and Welsh were defeated in a great battle. Its location is
not certain, but the battle is described as being near the River Winwaed. The
river is unidentified so its name must have changed at some later point in
time, but it is generally agreed that it was somehwere near Leeds. It was a
very important battle since Penda, the King of Mercia and thirty enemy
chieftains were killed. Many of the Mercians were drowned in the river as they
tried to escape.
Oswy's victory placed him in a position of great prominence
in England. Not only was he now the undisputed King of Northumbria but he was
also proclaimed 'Bretwalda' - the 'top king' of all England. Oswy's control of
Deira was assured but now he also had a say in Mercian affairs, appointing
Penda's son Peada (after whom Peterborough is named) as King of Mercia south of
the Trent. Oswy seized northern Mercia for himself.
SAINT WILFRID
The defeat and death of King Penda of Mercia at the Battle
of Winwaed in 655 seemed to mark the beginning of a new period of Northumbrian
greatness. It was certainly an age of important Christian developments in the
region. The establishment of new monasteries continued, such as that at Ripon
founded in 657 by Irish monks from Melrose. At around the same time St Hilda,
abbess of Hartlepool founded a monastery at Streanashalch (Whitby).
This was also a period of great debate about the kind of
Christianity that should be practised in the North. In the reign of Edwin,
Roman Christianity had been introduced to the North, but during Oswald's reign
a Celtic form of Christianity was preferred. This meant that Northumbria was
out of touch with the rest of England and Europe.
In the year 664 a great synod was held at Whitby to discuss
the controversy regarding the timing of the Easter festival. Much dispute had
arisen between the practices of the Celtic church in Northumbria and the
beliefs of the Roman church. The main supporters of the Celtic Christianity at
Whitby were Colman of Lindisfarne, Hilda of Whitby and Cedd, the Bishop of
Essex. St Wilfrid, a well travelled man championed the Roman Christian cause
and successfully persuaded the Northumbrians to reject their old ways.
Colman, the Bishop of Lindisfarne resigned and returned to
Iona and was replaced by Bishop Tuda, the first Bishop of Lindisfarne to
practice the Roman ways. Tuda's reign as bishop was short lived and later in
the year he died of plague. Wilfrid was chosen as his successor and although
Wilfrid agreed to take up the post, he transferred the bishopric from
Lindisfarne to York, perhaps to distance himself from the Christian Celtic
traditions of the Northumbrian island.
Wilfrid was keen to prove a point with a staunch adherence
to the strict rules of the Roman church. He claimed that there was no person in
England who could consecrate him as bishop and so headed off to France to be
ordained. This infuriated King Oswy who replaced the absent bishop with St Chad
of Lastingham.
KING ECGFRITH
King Oswy died in 669 and was succeeded by his son Ecgfrith
who allowed St. Wilfrid to return to England and take up the post of Bishop of
York. Wilfrid established a grammar school at St Peters in York and commenced
the building of a new minster in the city. He also established a new monastery
at Ripon.
In the background to these Christian developments
Northumbrian military and political expansion continued and by 672 the Celts of
Cumbria and Dumfries were conquered by the Northumbrians under Ecgfrith's
leadership, whilst the Picts of Caledonia were defeated in battle. In the
following year Ecgfrith would also defeat the Mercians (Midlanders) in battle.
Northumbrian supremacy was once again confirmed, but Ecgfrith was soon to find
himself involved in conflict away from the battlefield. In 673 he divorced his
virgin queen Ethelreda of Ely in order to marry his new love Ermenburga. The
chaste Ethelreda, under the influence of St. Wilfrid, chose to become a nun and
was given land at Hexham by her former husband. Ethelreda chose to give her new
land to Wilfrid for the building of a monastery. She herself opted for the
coast and established a new monastery at St Abbs Head (north of Berwick).
The year 674 saw the establishment of what would become one
of the most important Roman Christian monasteries in the north. The monastery
of St Peters, Monkwearmouth was founded by a noble called Benedict Biscop on
land granted by King Ecgfrith. A great library would develop here, with books
from France and Rome and the first coloured glass in England would be
introduced to the monastery by continental glaziers. Gregorian chanting was
introduced and many other advanced aspects of Christian culture hitherto
unknown in the north came to Monkwearmouth under Biscop's influence.
Meanwhile tensions between King Ecgfrith and Wilfrid continued
to rise and in 678 the king banished Wilfrid from Northumbria. It is possible
that Ecgfrith may have been jealous of Wilfrid's long standing friendship with
his former wife, now a nun at St Abbs Head. The king broke up Wilfrid's York
based bishopric into two parts with two separate sees centred on York and
Hexham. The bishopric of Hexham extended from the River Tweed to the River Tees
whilst that of York extended from the Tees to the Humber.
Wilfrid, in exile in Europe, turned his attention to the
conversion of the Frisian people of North West Germany. He would return to
Northumbria in 680 but was arrested after landing at Dunbar. Wilfrid had
brought with him papal documents overthrowing the division of the Northumbrian
bishoprics, but the king of Northumbria would not take orders from the Pope and
Wilfrid was imprisoned. He was later released and fled to Sussex where he
converetd the last pagan kingdom in England to Christianity. Wilfrid claimed
that King Ecgfrith had no right to divide the Northumbrian bishopric, but the
king was unmoved by the papal orders. In fact, in the year 681 Ecgfrith made a
further division dividing the new Bishopric of Hexham into two parts with the
re-establishment of a separate bishopric at Lindisfarne. Hexham's diocese would
now extend from the River Aln to the River Tees.
With his control over the church firmly recognised, King
Ecgfrith turned his attention once more to military matters and for the first
time attempted to take Northumbrian expansion overseas by sending an army into
Meath in Northern Ireland in 684. He may have hoped to expand his empire into
these new lands but nothing seems to have developed from this particular
campaign. One person who had advised the king against this particular campaign
was St Cuthbert. In his younger days Cuthbert, had become a popular and well
respected figure noted, apparently, for his gift of working miracles and
healing the sick.
Cuthbert had retreated to the island of Inner Farne in 676
to live as a hermit - once a common practice among those who wished to be
closer to God. Despite his hermit lifestyle, Cuthbert was visited by many, many
people in search of healing. The respect he commanded amongst the people made
him an ideal choice for a bishop. In 685 he was elected as the Bishop of Hexham
at a synod near Alnmouth, but he requested a transfer to Lindisfarne. Cuthbert
was consecrated Bishop of Lindisfarne at York on April 7th in the presence of
King Ecgfrith.
KING ALDFRITH
On May 20 685, King Ecgfrith of Northumbria was killed
fighting Brude, King of Caledonia. It symbolised an end to the period of
Northumbrian expansion. One result of the defeat was the abandonment of yet
another Northumbrian bishopric at Abercorn near Edinburgh. Aldfrith the
illegitimate son of the late King Oswy and an Irish princess, became the new
King of Northumbria and although his reign seemed to signify and end to
political expansion, art and learning would flourish under his rule. Great
works of Celtic art would be encouraged by the new King who had been educated
in Ireland.
The year in which Aldfrith succeeded as king, saw Benedict
Biscop's completion of the monastery of St Pauls at Jarrow, a twin monastery to
Monkwearmouth. Among the new students at Jarrow was Bede, a young boy of nine
years old, who had been transferred from Wearmouth to the new site.
Unfortunately plague hit the two monasteries of Wearmouth and Jarrow in 686,
while their founder Benedict Biscop was in Rome. Fortunately Bede and the Abbot
Ceolfrith of Jarrow were among the few survivors of the plague.
On March 30, 686 St Cuthbert, perhaps sensing his time was
nearing an end, resigned from the post of Bishop of Lindisfarne and returned to
the island of Inner Farne as a hermit. Later that year Cuthbert died on his
lonely island with only sea birds and seals for company. Northumbria mourned
the loss of its best loved saints. St Wilfrid returned to Northumbria in that
year to become Bishop of Lindisfarne but within two years had transferred to
Hexham. He succeeded St. John of Beverley who retired to become a hermit.
Eadbert replaced Wilfrid at Lindisfarne.
Only four years passed before St Wilfrid found himself once
more at the centre of contoversy. Once again the issue was over the creation of
a bishopric with Wilfrid refusing to allow the creation of a new bishopric
based at Ripon. Wilfrid was banished from Northumbria and John of Beverley was
reinstated as Bishop of Hexham. Wilfrid turned his attentions to Mercia where
he founded at least six monasteries in the period 691 to 703, but his influence
was being felt further affield. In November 695, a Northumbrian monk called
Willibrord, a former pupil of Wilfrid at Ripon, was consecrated Bishop of the
Frisians. Wilfrid's fortunes in Northumbria would improvd on December 4, 705
when Aldfrith King of Northumbria died at Driffield in the Yorkshire Wolds.
BEDE AND THE GOLDEN AGE
Weak leadership was beginning to characterise Northumbrian
affairs, but the church was growing from stength to stength and no religious
house was perhaps more influential than the joint monastery of
Wearmouth-Jarrow. On January 12, 690 Benedict Biscop, the founder of
Monkwearmouth and Jarrow monasteries died of palsy. He was succeeded by
Ceolfrith who became abbot of both monasteries. Two years later in 692 Bede, a
sholar at Jarrow monastery was ordained as a deacon at the age of nineteen. By
703 Bede progressed to the rank of priest.
Bede was something of a star pupil and was fortunate enough
to be growing up in one of the most influential and learned monasteries in
Europe. The monks of this monastery were well travelled and their opinions were
respected. In 716 Ceolfrith, the Abbot persuaded the island monastery of Iona
in Caledonia to abandon its Celtic Christian ways in favour of the Roman style
of Christianity. Ceolfrith's successor continued this work persuading Nechtan,
the King of the Picts to convert to Roman Christianty.
This was an era of great art and literature, which saw the
publication of an illuminated bible called the Codex Amiatinus at Jarrow and
the completion of the beautiful Lindisfarne Gospels at Lindisfarne in 721. At
Jarrow, Bede was writing the Life of St Cuthbert, a work specially written for
the monks of Lindisfarne, but there were other works for which he would achieve
greater fame. A chronolgical work published by Bede in 725 introduced dating
from Christ's birth - Anno Domini and this was eventually adopted by the entire
Christian world. He did not invent the concept of AD but it is widely due to
him that this system of dating was so widely adopted.
But Bede's greatest work was undoubtedly his History of the
English Church and People completed in the year 731 at Jarrow. He dedicated
this work to King Ceolwulf of Northumbria. It was to become one of the most
important sources of information about the history of the Anglo-Saxon period
and was undoubtedly the first history of England ever to be written. Bede was
one of the most respected figures of his day and such was his influence that
his presence in Northumbria helped to persuade the pope to upgrade the
Bishopric of York to the status of an Archbishopric in 734. The first Archbishop,
Egbert, a former pupil of Bede would now be independent of Canterbury.
When Bede passed away at Jarrow on May 25, 735 Northumbria
would mourn the loss of its greatest scholar and historian. His name would be
remembered in history for centuries to come. He was the greatest man of
learning of the Anglo-Saxon age and his works would be known throughout Europe.
The joint monasteries of Wearmouth and Jarrow were the brightest lights of
learning in 'Dark Age' Europe. The age of Bede was something of a heyday for
the Kingdom of Northumbria, but in the late eighth century Northumbria was
plagued with weak leadership and collapsed into a state of anarchy caused by
rivalry between the royal houses of Deira and Bernicia.
WEAKER KINGS
King Aldfrith of Northumbria, who died in 705 was succeeded
by his son Osred who was only a boy. The boy king was besieged at Bamburgh, but
his attacker Eardulph was captured and beheaded. St. Wilfrid soon emerged as
the young king's protector and adopted faher and was reinstated as Bishop of
Hexham after a synod was held near the River Nidd in North Yorkshire. But
Wilfrid was now well into old age and in the year 709, he died while visiting
his Mercian monastery at Oundle, Northamptonshire.
Wilfrid was succeeded by Acca as the new Bishop of Hexham
and received burial at Ripon. Remarkably, Osred the boy king held on to power
in the north and in 711 the Northumbrians even managed to defeat the Picts in
battle, preventing the expansion of the Pictish kingdom. That this was a
campaign of defense is perhaps telling, the days of Northumbrian expansion were
now over and as the decades passed the history of the kingdom would be plagued
by infighting.
In 716 Osred, was assasinated at the age of nineteen, near
the southern borders of his kingdom by his kinsmen Cenred and Osric. Cenred
became the new King of Northumbria. He would would only live for two years
before he was succeeded by Osric. Nothing remarkable can be noted about these
two murderous kings and in 729 Osric died and was succeeded King Ceolwulf,
brother of Cenred. Ceolwulf's reign was characterised by his obsessive
religious interests, he was more monk like than king like and was sometimes
ridculed by his people. On one occasion in 732 he was captured and focibly
tonsured - his hair cut in the style of a monk.
From 737 AD to 806 AD Northumbria had ten kings, of which
three were murdered, five were expelled and two retired to become monks. It
brought an instability to the Kingdom which may well have encouraged the first
Viking raiders to attack the Northumbrian coast from 793 AD. King Ceolwulf was
one of the first of these weaker leaders retiring from the kingdom in 737 to
become a monk. He was succeeded by Eadbert, an unremarkable king with an
unremarkable reign. In 750, Eadbert is known to have imprisoned the Bishop of
Lindisfarne at Bamburgh for plotting against him. Eventually, like Ceolwulf,
hewould retire from his kingdom in in 758 to become a monk at York.
Eadbert was succeeded by his son Oswulf, the following year
but Oswulf reign for only a few months before assassination at Corbridge on
Tyne on August 5th 759. He was succeeded by the Deiran, called Athelwald Moll
of Catterick, who may have been responsible for his death. Moll was certainly
capable of cold blooded murder, killing a Bernician noble called Oswin at High
Coniscliffe on the Tees in 761. Moll was not popular with everyone in the north
and was eventually forced out of power on October 30 765 after a meeting was
held at Finchale (near Durham) to decide his future. Moll was succeeded by
Alhred but he too was forced out in less than a decade, by Moll's son Athelred.
And so it goes on, the period seems to be characterised by little more than one
regime ousting another. Athelred was ousted by a Bernician called Alfwold and a
number of royal nobles were murdered at High Coniscliffe during the coup.
In 788 King Alfwold was murdered by his uncle Sicga at
Chesters on Hadrian's Wall and was buried at Hexham. He was succeeded by his
boy nephew Osred II, but the child fled to the Isle of Man to escape his
enemies and Athelred commenced a second period as King. By the end of the
summer 792 Athelred had drowned a rival Prince in Windermere and beheaded Osred
II at Maryport on the Cumbrian when Osred returned to the mainland. He then
attempted to form an alliance with Mercia by marrying the daughter of King Offa
at Catterick.
Perhaps the ruthless Athelred was the strongest in this
sucession of weak kings, but the kingdom of Northumbria was now a shadow of its
former self. It no longer seemed to have the military might of the past and its
religious affairs were in a state of collapse. In 782 and 789 emergency
meetings or synods were held at Aycliffe regarding religious matters and church
discipline. Similar meetings were held at Finchale in 792, 798 and 810. The
inherent weaknesses in Northumbria probably did not escape the attention of
people from far across the North Sea, who soon began to raid the Northumbrian
coast.
VIKING RAIDS
On June 8th 793, in an unprecedented attack which shocked
the whole of Europe, a raiding party of Vikings from Norway attacked
Lindisfarne. Monks fled in fear and many were slaughtered. Bishop Higbald
sought refuge on the mainland and a chronicler would record- "On the 8th
June, the harrying of the heathen miserably destroyed God's church by rapine
and slaughter. " In a letter from Charlemagne's court in France, Alcuin
the former head of York School blamed the Viking attack on a fall in moral
standards in Northumbria. He was well aware of Northumbria's state of disaray
and he for one clearly saw the raid as a punishment from God.
More attacks would follow in 794 with the Vikings attacking
the famous monastery at Jarrow, although on this occasion the Northumbrians
were prepared for the attack and managed to surprise and utterly destroy the
Viking attackers. But further Viking raids on Lindisfarne and Jarrow would
continue throughout the year and by 800 monasteries at Whitby, Hartlepool and
Tynemouth were also targets. The monasteries exposed on the eastern coast of
Northumbria were wealthy treasure houses that were an irresistable target for
the Vikings.
King Athelred's reaction to the Viking raids is not
recorded, but by April 18th 796 he was dead, murdered at Corbridge as the
result of a plot by a Northumbrian noble called Osbald who succeded Athlred as
king for just over a month before he was forced out by a new king called
Eardwulf. Eardwulf was ousted in 806 by Alfwold II, but was restored to power
in 808 following Alfwold's death. Eardwulf was ousted again in 811 and succeeded
by Eanred.
Northumbria was by this time a backwater, no longer a big
player in English affairs. This became blatantly clear in 829 when the most
powerful king in England, Egbert King of Wessex and Mercia called a meeting
with Eanred of Northumbria at Dore near Sheffield on the Northumbria-Mercia
border. Dore was literally Northumbria's 'doorway' to the south.The aim of the
meeting was to ensure peace, and the result was that Eanred was forced to
accept Wessex supremacy and recognise Egbert as the 'overking' of England.
Wessex was now firmly established as the most powerful Anglo-Saxon kingdom in
England and would remain so until 1066.
In Northumbria, King Eanred's reign would outlast many other
kings of this period and he remained in power until his death in 840, when he
was succeded by his son Athelred II. Throughout this period Viking raids
continued to be a problem on the Northumbrian coast. In 830 the monks of
Lindisfarne were forced to flee the island with the coffin of St Cuthbert to
escape further raids. They settled inland at Norham on Tweed where a church was
built for the saint's shrine, but this was only the beginning of a long journey
that would see them travel widely throughout the North.
Vikings raids were by a now problem almost everywhere in the
British Isles. In 841 Vikings from Norway established Dublin as their chief
coastal stronghold in the British Isles and Viking colonies were developing on
the islands off the norther Scotish coast. The first Northumbrian king to fall
victim of the Vikings was Raedwulf, who was killed by Vikings, probably in a
coastal attack in 844 shortly after he had ousted Athelred II from the
Northumbrian throne. The fortunate Athelred was restored and reigned until his
death in 848 when he was succeeded by King Osbert, one of the last AnglIan
kings of Northumbria. In 866 Osbert, the Anglo-Saxon King of Northumbria was
overthrown by his people and replaced by Aelle II. Osbert and Aelle were
perhaps brothers, but they were linked respectively to the Bernician and Deiran
factions of the Northumbrian royal family and their rivalry was one aspect of a
long running civil war.
Holding onto leadership was a major challenge for the
Northumbrian kings in this era, but in 866 an even greater threat to the
stability of leadership was about to emerge. For seven decades the Vikings had
been raiding the coast of Britain and it seemed inevitable that they would
eventually launch a full scale invasion of our shores. This is precisely what
occurred in the year 866, when a huge army of Danes, invaded East Anglia from
their well established bases in the Low Countries of the Continent. They arived
under the leadership of Ivar the Boneless and his brothers, Halfdene and Hubba
and after camping the winter, turned their attention to Northumbria.
Landscape Practitioners
I wanted to look for landscape photographers who captured the northeast like I remember it as a child.
Mark Banks
Joe Cornish
After over thirty years as a working photographer, and
nearly twenty years leading tours and workshops, Joe's love of and enthusiasm
for photography remain undimmed. "Every day out with the camera is a good
day, especially if it involves a spot of walking." Joe says, emphasising
that passion for the landscape is integral to his photography. Supporting
others to improve their photography is also an important part of his life, one
in which he is still constantly learning. Initially a reluctant convert to digital
technology, having been a passionate large format film photographer, he has
learned digital the hard way on medium format backs and through printing, and
has become an enthusiast. "The potential of digital photography is
limitless, but it does require thought, practice, passion and commitment to
make it work for you," he says, "Understanding the links between
fieldwork, light, composition and how that can best be served by suitable
post-production and interpretation is where the process becomes an art."
Joe's own photography has been widely exhibited and he has contributed to large
numbers of books as well as writing land illustrating a number of his own,
including First Light, a landscape photographer's Art, one of the most
influential books of its kind. Joe has been involved in a number of high
profile roles including the Distinction panels of the RPS, the judging team of
Wildlife Photographer of the Year, and as host of the Natural History Museum's
annual Understanding Photography events. However, these do not distract from
his main preference in life, to be outside with his camera, and to encourage
others to do the same.
SMC: Where in the UK do you live?
JC. North Yorkshire, England.
SMC: Age?
JC. 43.
SMC: What is your background?
JC. I’m from the South West of England, born in
Exeter, Devon. I was raised &
educated in Devon and then went to Reading University, where I studied Fine
Art, and it was here that I discovered photography. I had never touched a camera before. After graduating, in which I concentrated on
photography though the Uni didn’t like me doing that, I then worked as an
assistant in Washington DC for two years and then as an assistant in London for
another year.
SMC: What is your current job? Or current jobs?
JC. Well I’m a freelance photographer
concentrating on landscape photography.
Most of which I set myself to do for my own publishing company,
joeGraphic (for details or information on joeGraphic or on Joe's range of
calendars & publications ring 01642 713444 or fax 01642 711177. Have a look at Joe's website -
www.joecornish.com ). But I also do
commissioned work, mainly for the National Trust and other environmental
agencies. That’s the sort of client I
prefer to work for.
SMC: I’ve heard you also run photographic
workshops. What is your main motivation
for doing this?
JC. That’s a very difficult question; it
certainly isn’t money because it isn’t very well paid. I suppose I do it for the sense of
fulfilment. I don’t really regard it as
teaching. I can perhaps point out some
things people might not have noticed and by being there, sharing my vision of
lighting, composition and timing, might help the participants to get a greater
sense of achievement in the work they produce.
That gives me a lot of pleasure!
All images © Joe Cornish 2001
Your Work:
SMC: Lots of people regard you as a master of
landscape photography. Do you feel more
motivated to do more and better or are you scared to be disappointing?
JC. I feel very motivated to do more and better,
I feel very much that the best is yet to come and I don’t think there is any
photograph that I’ve ever done that I would say is on a level with an Ansel
Adams or an Edward Weston. For me they
remain a kind of benchmark that I aspire to.
I would like to take pictures that move people in the way they did, or
make people think about why they live the way they do. There is certainly a long, long way for me to
go. But I’ve never been scared of disappointing.
SMC: Do you think Mother Nature
is fussier, more unpredictable and more versatile than a Top Model?
JC. I’ve never worked with a top model! I know photographers who say top models
always turn up 5 hours late though I’m sure when they do turn up, they are
predictably superb! Mother Nature is a
ferocious God in that she gives with one hand and takes with the other and you
have to learn that you will not often get what you set out for. It’s very often the case that however hard
you plan, you always need to be able to think sideways. The best-planned shot sometimes works as you
had hoped, but when it doesn’t, often a better solution arises behind your back
whilst you are not looking. It’s a very
special kind of relationship. You are
subservient to Mother Nature but at the same time she gives you opportunities
you just can’t predict!
SMC: Because you mainly shoot landscapes, did you
have to learn new virtues: patience? Humility? Or something else?
JC. I’m as impatient as most people are. I’m a driven kind of individual and very
competitive with myself and in my early days I used to get to really get down
on myself when I’d missed something. Over the years I’ve learned that there
will always be something I’ll miss and that I’ll go on missing things. It’s not so much a philosophy of patience but
more a philosophy of acceptance and even of humility! We are very, very insignificant but at the
same time If you bring the right attitude to the situation, your chances of
success are improved. It’s like the old
golfers saying, “the more I practise, the luckier I get”. I think that’s very true in landscape
photography!
SMC: Is your dedication to
“Landscape a way to resist against modernity?
JC. I think that modernity is a word that can be
misinterpreted but if by modernity you mean the industrialisation of
agriculture and by the creeping addiction to comfort and the material world, by
which we are all affected, then yes! It
is an antidote to that. But I also
believe that what is truly modern, is to look into the future and see a way
forward for all humanity. I feel that my work is about that; it is about
reconnecting with nature. I feel strongly that the only future is one in which
we learn to live in some kind of harmonious relationship with the natural world,
because the way we live at the moment is not sustainable for long.
SMC: Along your photographic career, did you go
though different phases, different styles?
JC. I have had to do many different kinds of jobs
over the years. Simply because of the imperative
to make a living! I had very little
money when I lived in London and I did almost everything, anything clients
would give me to do! Many, many boring
jobs but as to whether they changed my style, the answer is no! I think there is a direct link between the
pictures that I did as a degree student and the pictures that I do now. There is the same sense of composition and
lighting that I use today, except then it was all B/W whereas I now work in
colour.
All images © Joe Cornish 2001
SMC: What is the strangest thing you had to shoot?
JC. OK, well it won’t sound very interesting but
you remember the 80’s? When computer
paper had sprocket holes down each side.
One of my clients needed a really gorgeous shot of this paper. I set it up on a huge sheet of black Perspex
as a kind of zigzag line. It was lit in
an interesting way, almost like a landscape if you like! Like a mountain range! That’s the strangest shot I can think of
anyway!
SMC: What changes would you make in your method of
work, if any?
JC. I think the answer to that is that I wish I
could take the unreliability out of film processing! If I could, I would be more secure about the
whole experience with labs, which I find a bit worrying. Shifting no blame onto any particular lab, I
know all labs’ get occasional problems with chemistry. I love film, but there is a hit or miss
element to it’s processing. Not that I
would want to get involved in processing it myself!
SMC: As we said, the category “Landscape” is your
first choice. What would be your second?
JC. Tough question. I also love shooting architecture and
people. But I think I’m not so good at
people! Whereas I’m reasonably good at
architecture, I think it would be a tougher challenge for me to shoot
people. Editors note: Regarding Architecture, Joe chose to show us
his shot of Tomar, Portugal, which
brings him fond memories of that building.
All images © Joe Cornish 2001
Your Gear:
SMC: Your equipment?
JC. I do almost everything on a lightweight 5x4
Ebony view camera. I take as many lenses as I feel I would need on a shoot,
might be two or three, but sometimes five or six, if I feel I need more scope
on a shot Editors note: Joe told us that
on a difficult shoot he might take as many as ten lenses for his 5x4 view
camera but these six are the most used 58mm XL f 5.6, 90mm f 4.5, 120mm f 8,
150mm f 5.6, 210mm f 5.6, and 300mm f 8 (telephoto).
SMC: Black/White or colour? What
do you prefer?
JC. That is an impossible question to
answer! I love B/W, I was brought up
shooting B/W and I feel a deep attachment to the great American photographers
of the Mid-West. But having said that,
since Fuji Velvia appeared in 1989, I believe that this was a significant
development for landscape photography.
This film has such a magnificent emulsion for recording colour
landscapes it’s actually inspired a new wave of colour photography which I
certainly feel part of!
All images © Joe Cornish 2001
SMC: Do you have a digital
camera? Why yes, why not?
JC. I don’t have a digital camera. If I wanted to buy a snap shot camera I would
be perfectly happy with a digital, I have no prejudice against digital
technology it’s a matter of the right tool for the job. After all that’s what a camera is! At the moment I require two things from my
equipment – one is very high quality reproduction and the other is the
flexibility and control of the view camera.
The digital solution means much more weight and a huge investment
because high quality digital backs are so expensive. Also they aren’t actually practical for short
exposures, they require longer scanning times.
So, at present, the technology doesn’t suit my needs!
YOUR PICTURES
SMC: What was your first step in
photography?
JC. I remember my Father had a camera and it used
to take him a year or two to get one film through! He would only take pictures at holiday time. I always wanted to take pictures which was
considered “inappropriate” at my age then.
I never touched a camera until my gap year, before going to
University. My Father actually lent me
his, when I went to New Zealand where I took snaps with it. But photography didn’t really start for me
until I bought an SLR when I was at University.
SMC: What is your favourite
picture? Can you tell us the little
story to go with?
JC. I don’t have a particular
favourite; I’m not very good at making that kind of selection. My pictures represent a particular experience
for me, I have perhaps ten that are my favourites because they are associated
with happy memories.
SMC: Are you the type of
photographer who just takes one shot on a subject?
JC. Simple answer yes, but also no! There are times when I do more. That phrase of Edward Weston, you know, the
“climax of emotion” that’s what I am aiming for. I try to get the best moment at any given
time, the best perspective, the best composition, best timing. So I focus on one thing at a time. I don’t rush around trying to get lots of
shots. I try and make every shot the
best shot I can do. I might take three
or four different shots at a good dawn with two exposures of each. If the light was very difficult I might end
up taking two more at a different exposure.
SMC: Do you like to show your
pictures?
JC. Yes I do, I’m unashamedly proud of my
pictures! I love showing my work and
generally I get good feedback about it.
I think it’s because I feel a passion about the places I shoot, I tend
to go to places I like and that I have a feeling for. It gives me a chance to talk about the place
as much as my work.
SMC: Do you think you have a fair
opinion on others photographer’s work?
JC. I believe I do. I have a great respect for other
photographers and I have been highly influenced by a number of photographers
who have given me guidance, deliberately or otherwise, in the past. I have been inspired by the work of Charlie
Waite, Paul Wakefield and Denis Waugh.
Also the Americans David Muench, and Michael Fatali. However, the one I hold in greatest esteem is
Peter Dombrovskis. And as to whether I
exaggerate the importance of other photographers, as some suggest, I’m not
sure. I’m confident in my own work but I
hope I’m also scrupulously fair about others work. I try never to denigrate another photographer’s
work!
SMC: Do you keep all your
photographs even the junk?
JC. No!
SMC: Your “biggest
disappointment” in photography?
JC. The most recent huge disappointment I’ve had,
is that we had superb snow conditions for landscape photography just a couple
of weeks ago. I’m sure all landscape
photographers reading this will remember!
But because of the Foot & Mouth outbreak and restrictions, I was
unable to go out onto the hills near my home or to go to Scotland where I would
have loved to have been. Obviously my
disappointment is irrelevant compared to the suffering of the farmers but
that’s my example!
SMC: What is your favourite
“ingredient “ for a good photo?
JC. It has to be a lighting thing. If I look at other peoples work there’s a
little thing with me, if I see something about the lighting that moves me or
lifts my spirit then that’s what I go for every time!
SMC: Do you have a secret little trick to make
your photo always so stunning? You can
answer Yes or No!
JC. No because it’s an accumulative thing, a
combination of a huge number of different elements. I am aware of the factors that come into
play, sometimes though things don’t always combine correctly but basically it’s
about space, light and composition. It
is an unpredictable medium and this makes it exciting however many times you go
out. You can accumulate this vast body
of experience in your brain and yet if you follow a formula in landscape
photography, you get found out very quickly.
You constantly have to renew yourself and your creativity.
All images © Joe Cornish 2001
Your Inspiration:
SMC: Are you just suddenly
inspired? Or do you plan a project?
JC. I’m very much a planner though I’m very
inspired by light! If it’s a beautiful
afternoon and I’m working in my office and I see an interesting lighting event
unfolding across the hills, I’ll then stop everything, throw a pack in the car,
walk up the hill and I’ll see what I find.
Even if its just pure sky with a tree silhouetted. But that’s unusual, often I work out in
advance what I want to do. Combinations
of elements and events to do with the seasons, types of weather, still water or
changing leaves, any number of things that you can imagine. I try to catch those things at their most beautiful.
SMC: what are your:
Favourite photographer – Black
& White, Ansel Adams, Colour, Peter Dombrovskis.
Favourite subjects – Coastal
landscapes
All images © Joe Cornish 2001
Favourite spots - Colorado
Plateau
Favourite mood –
Interesting! Light out of darkness. In a way I can transfer that to myself,
having often been despondent because of the weather. And I’m frequently affected by the weather. Then seeing the light changing I find my mood
physically change as well.
SMC: Do you think overexposed
locations have nothing to say anymore, or new talents, new technique can make a
difference?
JC. I
absolutely believe that overexposed locations usually become overexposed
because they are the most graphic and dramatic places. Take Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, in fact the
whole Colorado Plateau! I believe there
are always more things to do. The
challenge to the photographer is to go to these places with a completely open
mind and not to feel jaded by the pictures they’ve already seen. It is harder, much harder to go to those
places and be original but that’s what that experience is about, trying to see
it for the first time with fresh eyes.
SMC: Are you perpetually out and about to find new
spots?
JC. No I’m not.
I guess if I were a single guy with no family commitments I think I
would enjoy travelling a lot more than I do.
I’ve come to accept that I’m not single.
My family matter a great deal to me; I would be a remiss Father if I
travelled anymore than I do.
Your view on
SMC: What do you think about Contemporary Art
Photography?
JC. My interest in Contemporary Art photography
waned about seven or eight years ago because I realised that I could never be
part of it. Whether that’s because I’m
too stupid to understand it or because it is a con, I’m not certain! I didn’t see anything that touched me when I
lived in London and I did go and see a lot of Contemporary Art shows. Very little of it affected me on a personal
level. I can only say no, I don’t think
about it.
SMC: What changes has fame made
in your life?
JC. It terms of my daily life it has made no
difference at all. I don’t feel any
different and fortunately, as a photographer, fame is relative! Fame is only the exposure you have to other
photographers and to be appreciated by your contemporaries and your peers gives
real fulfillment. Fortunately it doesn’t
mean having to cope with being recognised all over the place like celebrities
are. I would hate that.
SMC: Can you describe yourself in
3 words?
JC. Persistent, driven, hopeful.
SMC: What would be your advice to a beginner in
photography?
JC. Don’t do it for the money! Only be a photographer if you feel passionate
about it. That’s especially true for
landscape photography. If you are
passionate about it then you will have the drive to take you through the
inevitable disappointments.
Your dream
SMC: What is your dream as a
photographer?
JC. My dream is to be able to make a
difference. You can interpret that in anyway
you like. I try to connect with the
landscape but on a personal level and by doing so I try to express my own
spiritual connection or experience of it.
If I can do that and move others in that way, if it makes a difference
to them then that’s my dream I guess.
Michael Kenna
Charlie Waite
Charlie Waite is an English landscape photographer, noted for his “painterly” approach in using light and shade.
Charlie Waite is an English landscape photographer, noted for his “painterly” approach in using light and shade.
Faye Godwin
Faye Goodwin was a British photographer known for her black-and-white landscapes of the British countryside and coast.
Hyperfocal distance focusing
The traditional way of using it is to focus on the subject and then use the lens’ depth of field scale (or a tape measure and depth of field tables) to find out where the nearest acceptably sharp point is.
This point, where the depth of field starts in front of the focus point, is known as the hyperfocal point.
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Alternatively, you can rely on the principle that depth of field extends roughly twice as far behind the point of focus as it does in front and focus approximately one third of the way into the scene.
Hyperfocal distance focusing is popular in landscape photography and whenever you need lots of depth of field.
Faye Goodwin was a British photographer known for her black-and-white landscapes of the British countryside and coast.
Professional Practice and Technique for Landscape Photography
This is a popular camera focusing technique that is designed to get the maximum amount of a scene sharp at any given aperture.
Once the hyperfocal point is found/calculated, the lens is refocused to it so that the subject remains sharp and greater use is made of the depth of field
The popularity of zoom lenses and consequent loss of depth of field scales has made it harder to apply this technique precisely, but you can still measure or estimate the focus distance and use smartphone apps such as DOF Master to tell you the hyperfocal distance.
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Focus stacking
This is a digital technique in which several images taken with different focus distances are combined into one image that is sharp from the foreground all the way through the background.
Although it can be applied to landscape photography, it is especially useful for macro photography because depth of field is very limited when subjects are extremely close.
With the camera firmly mounted on a tripod, take the first shot with the nearest part of the scene in focus. Then, without moving the camera, refocus just a little further into the scene and take the second shot before focusing further in again.
Repeat this until you have a shot with the focus on the furthest part of the scene.
Now all the shots can be combined to create one image that is sharp throughout. This can be done manually using any image editing software that supports layers – Photoshop Elements is fine.
But it can also be done automatically using software like Combine ZM, which is free to download and use, or using Photoshop’s Photo Merge function.
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Tent
The light on the beach made this shot interesting as the sun rose in the sky. I had to use a polorisor to deter reflections and flare in the lens alongside a soft graduated filter to bring down the light in the sky. The polorisor helped to keep the colour of the rising sun in what was quite harsh lighting conditions.Stacked from two exposures to create the light in the sky and the light on the beach, blended using photoshop.
Tripod Used
iso 100
32mm
F13
1/30sec and 1/100th second
Edit Photoshop
Taken before sunrise and photostacked using 6 images. I wanted to capture the light on teh rocks and emphasise the colours it was creating. I stacked the images to capture the light and textures and blended them in photoshop.
I decided to make a book about The Bernica Project using the images I took but also adding a little historical content about the places I visited to give the book a more educational feel.
Landscape Photography Guide
I have been planning to write this landscape photography guide for a long time, but held it off for a while, thinking that I could do a better job after learning about it more. My landscape photography journey has been a big learning curve and I have been enhancing my skills so much during the last few years, I realized that I could spend the rest of my life learning. Therefore, I decided to write what I know today and keep on enhancing this guide in the future with new techniques and tips.
1) Preface
It is amazing to see how quickly the world is changing around us. What seemed to be intact and perfect just several years ago is getting destroyed by us humans. One of the reasons why I fell in love with photographing nature, is because it is not only my way of connecting with nature, but also my way of showing people that the beauty around us is very fragile and volatile. And if we don’t take any action now, all this beauty will someday cease to exist, not giving a chance for our future generations to enjoy it the same way we can today. Hundreds of movies have been filmed, thousands and thousands of great pictures taken and yet the world is not listening. What can we do and is there hope? It is very unfortunate that we only act when a disaster of a great scale hits us and the unbalanced force of nature enrages upon us. But we as photographers must continue to show the world the real picture out there – the deforestation of our rich lands, the pollution that is poisoning our fresh waters and causing widespread diseases, the melting of glaciers, the extinction of species and many other large-scale problems that are affecting the lives of millions of people and animals around the world. Therefore, it is our responsibility as photographers to show the real picture.
2) Introduction to Landscape Photography
Landscape photography is a form of landscape art. While landscape art was popularized by Western painting and Chinese art more than a thousand years ago, the word “landscape” apparently entered the English dictionary only in the 19th century, purely as a term for works of art (according to Wikipedia). Landscape photography conveys the appreciation of the world through beautiful imagery of the nature that can be comprised of mountains, deserts, rivers, oceans, waterfalls, plants, animals and other God-made scenery or life. While most landscape photographers strive to show the pureness of nature without any human influence, given how much of the world has been changed by humans, depicting the nature together with man-made objects can also be considered a form of landscape photography. For example, the famous Mormon Row at the Grand Teton National Park has been a popular spot for photographing the beautiful Tetons in the background, with the old barns serving as foreground elements.
Photographing landscapes involves three key elements: photo equipment, skill/technique and light. Let’s look at all three elements one by one.
3) Photo Equipment
Good and reliable photo equipment is extremely important to achieve the best results for landscape photography. If your camera can take exceptional photographs, but cannot withstand extremely cold or hot temperatures, it will certainly limit you in what you can do. Therefore, it is best to have a camera that can both take good pictures and withstand tough weather conditions. Why is the latter important? Because some of the best landscape photographs are taken in very challenging weather – during a storm, after a heavy snowfall, early in the morning at below freezing temperatures, etc. Take a look at the following picture of sand dunes that I captured last year:
A desktop wallpaper version of the above image can be downloaded from here.
At first, you might think that the weather was nice and pleasant when I captured this photo. But the reality of the situation was quite the opposite – it was extremely cold and windy, with the sand hitting me on my face like those icy snowflakes hit you when you ski. The Nikon D700 I carried that day suffered pretty badly, with the sand piling up in every dent and hole. My Nikon 24-70mm zoom ring was full of dust and I remember the screeching sound I had for months, because I could not get the sand out of it. My 24-70mm is still alive today and I have taken over 200,000 pictures with my D700 and it is still working perfectly fine. And this is just one example; I abused my camera gear like that countless times and always relied on it in the most challenging situations.
What about camera capabilities? No matter how weather-resistant your camera is, it must be able to deliver images that are sharp and vibrant, with good contrast. That’s where having a camera with a large sensor/film, good support and a selection of good lenses/filters is important. Let’s talk about the gear in more details.
3.1) Camera Selection – Film or Digital?
The question of digital vs film is a never-ending debate and I do not have any intentions to bring up another heated debate over which one is better. I will simply state what is true for landscape photography today and what works best. If you want to print wall-sized pictures, film is the way to go at the moment. To get an equivalent of medium format film, you would need to get a 40-50+ Megapixel medium-format digital camera that starts at around $20-25K+. Even then, many photographers claim that medium format digital does not have the same dynamic range as medium format film. Check out this great “Digital vs Film” article from Wikipedia that explains this in more detail, with advantages and disadvantages of both. Combining medium/large format together with good post-processing skills (more on that below) can yield exceptionally sharp and colorful commercial-grade results. But film is certainly not for everyone, since it has its own challenges and the cost of owning and operating a film system can get quite high overtime.
3.1.1) Film Systems
There are many different film systems out there at different price points that all work great. If you shoot medium format, Mamiya, Rollei and Hasselbladmedium-format systems are quite popular. There are many large format systems out there and the more popular ones seem to be by Sinar and Linhof, but there are many more great choices and sizes. The selection of lenses for both medium and large format systems is also huge with big names such as Nikon, Rodenstock and Schneider providing a good selection for all kinds of needs.
3.1.2) Digital Systems
Despite the above-mentioned advantages of film, small format digital is the most popular system for photographing landscapes today. Easiness of use, low cost, relatively short learning curve, immediate results, free unlimited exposures and much shorter post-processing time are the reasons why small format (full-frame and cropped sensor) systems became so popular. An entry-level DSLR with all required accessories for photographing landscapes can be purchased for under $1,000 today. To get around the problem of large prints, photographers employ special digital techniques to stitch single-row and multi-row frames to get large panoramas and some even combine bracketing and stitching hundreds of frames to create High Dynamic Range Panoramas. Obviously, multi-row panoramas do not always work, especially for sunrise/sunset shots where light changes quickly and clouds move too fast, but single-row panoramas generally work quite well for the most part. Here is an example of a single-row panorama:
A desktop wallpaper version of the above image can be downloaded from here.
The popularity of small format digital cameras and the latest technology developments allowed some camera manufacturers like Hasselblad, Phase One and Mamiya to retain their image in medium format niche and create large sensors with lots of pixels, for those who do not want to bother messing with film. These expensive camera systems are primarily targeted for landscape and fashion photography, where large print size is important. As I have pointed out earlier, these systems are extremely expensive and only a few photographers can afford such high-end cameras.
The second best alternative to medium format today is 35mm or “full-frame” digital cameras. Nikon D3x, for example, is currently considered to be the top choice for landscape photographers that have budgets less than $10K. Some photographers even compare it to medium format quality and websites such as DxOMark place D3x’s sensor performance higher than most medium-format sensors in terms of dynamic range and color depth. The 24mp sensor of the Nikon D3x can deliver exceptionally good images that can print as large as 14×20 inches at 300 PPI. With some good photo enlarging techniques, you could easily double that print size without much loss of detail.
For those on tighter budgets, cheaper full-frame/cropped sensor cameras are less preferred, but most popular choice for landscape photography. Most popular because of cost and less preferred because low price means less ruggedness/minimal weather-sealing and in most cases, less dynamic range and color depth. Let’s look at both. As I have stated earlier, you could buy a brand new entry-level DSLR with a lens, a tripod and all other accessories for under $1,000. At this price point, I know that many film shooters will claim that you might as well go with cheap film and get a lot more resolution and print sizes, which is true – a 35mm film camera will give you larger prints than a 12 Megapixel digital camera. However, the biggest issue is convenience, or lack thereof, and complexity of use – film requires time-consuming development (which you could do for less than $5 a film) and if you needed to post-process images in Photoshop, you would need to scan it first. Since you cannot see what you are photographing, you need to be relatively good with the equipment and need to know how to control the exposure. I typically post images from my trips on my blog as soon as I come back and sometimes even while I’m on the road. I import my images into Lightroom, spend very minimal time editing images and then directly post them to my blog online. With film, this process would have been considerably longer. What about construction and weather sealing? Cheaper DSLRs have much less resistance (or none) to tough weather conditions and you have to be extra careful while photographing in dust, under rain/snow and sub-zero temperatures. Cropped-sensor DSLR cameras also generally have less dynamic range and color depth, due to their small sizes.
To sum it all up, here is how I would categorize cameras, in the order of preference for landscape photography:
- Large format/Medium format film cameras
- Medium format digital cameras
- High-resolution full-frame digital cameras such as Nikon D3x and Canon 1Ds Mark III
- Lower cost full-frame digital cameras such as Nikon D700, Canon 5D Mark II and Sony Alpha A900
- High-end cropped-sensor cameras such as Nikon D7000, Canon EOS 60D and Sony Alpha A580
- Low-end cropped-sensor cameras such as Nikon D3100, Canon EOS T1i and Sony Alpha A33
For those, who are wondering about the difference between full-frame and cropped sensor cameras, I highly recommend reading my DX vs FX article.
Let’s now move on to lenses – a key part of the photography setup for landscapes.
3.2) Lenses and why they are important
No matter how good your camera is, if the lens you have mounted on it is poor, you will get equally poor results. Lenses are like your eyes – if you have bad vision, the picture you see is going to be soft and blurry. Therefore, it is extremely important to use lenses that have high contrast, great color reproduction and sharpness across the frame. When photographing portraits, the corner performance of the lenses is typically not important – your subject is going to be close to the center of the frame most of the time. However, when it comes to landscape photography, corner sharpness becomes almost equally important as center sharpness, since foreground elements can be located on the lower frame and sometimes touch corners. That’s why I pay a lot of attention to corner sharpness in my lens reviews.
While selecting lenses, you have two selections – zoom lenses and prime/fixed lenses. For landscape photography, prime lenses used to be the number one choice (and still are for large/medium format film). However, with the latest advancements in optical technology, manufacturers are able to produce exceptionally good zoom lenses that match and sometimes even surpass the quality and sharpness of prime lenses. For example, the legendary Nikon 14-24mm (although not the top choice for landscapes due to inability to support external filters) is the sharpest ultra-wide angle zoom lens that is actually sharper than most other Nikon prime lenses in the 14mm to 24mm focal range. Zoom lenses have a big advantage over prime lenses due to their ability to zoom in/out, which I personally find very important for landscape photography. I have been in many situations, where I had to stand at a particular spot and could not move to frame my shot. Without a zoom lens, I would have to crop a lot, which would negatively affect my ability to print large. So you have to weigh in these factors for your landscape photography. I personally carry both with me, which gives me greater flexibility.
For large and medium format, prime lenses are the way to go. For full-frame and cropped sensor formats, the landscape photography world is divided to 2 parts – those who shoot Zeiss prime lenses and those who shoot everything else. Zeiss lenses are popular for their sharpness and color rendition, but they are all manual focus lenses (Nikon and Canon mount), which means that you have to know how to properly manually focus the lens under different conditions. Gladly, most landscape photography is shot at infinity, so it is usually not a problem. Some landscape photographers swear by Zeiss glass and others like me are fairly comfortable working with other brand lenses. I personally prefer Nikon lenses, but do not have a problem using Sigma or Tamron lenses.
3.2.1) Best Lenses for Landscape Photography
So, what are the best lenses for landscape photography? I personally do not have much experience with large and medium format lenses, so I will only talk about lenses for 35mm film and full-frame/cropped sensor cameras. In terms of brands, I will only include Nikon and Canon, because the list can get pretty long if I include others.
3.2.1.1) Best Nikon FX Lenses for Landscape Photography
Here is the list of lenses that I personally consider to be the best for Nikon format, in my subjective view:
- Nikon 24mm f/1.4G – the sharpest Nikon lens you can find today. Exceptional detail, color rendition and high contrast make this lens my #1 choice for landscape photography. I really like working with the 24mm focal length and I find it to be wide enough for most situations. Its biggest drawback is the fixed focal length, which means that you will have to move a lot to properly frame your shot. Read my Nikon 24mm f/1.4G Review.
- Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G – my second most favorite lens for photographing landscapes. It does have a few problems, specifically some distortion at 24mm and corner softness when shooting at large apertures, but since I shoot at f/8 and higher most of the time, this is not that big of a deal for me. Distortion is easy to fix in Lightroom, especially with the Lightroom 3 Lens Correction feature that fully supports this lens. In addition, the lens is built like a tank and can withstand pretty much any challenging weather. I have used it extensively in all kinds of cold/moist/sandy conditions and it has never failed me once. Read my Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G Review.
- Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II – for longer-range telephoto shots, the 70-200mm is the best lens you can find. It is sharp across the frame and the color rendition is top of the class. I always take the 70-200mm with me and use it quite a bit, even with teleconverters. Read my Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G Review.
- Nikon PC-E 24mm f/3.5D Tilt/Shift – a special purpose tilt/shift lens that can be immensely helpful for photographing landscapes. It allows you to change perspective directly on the camera, delivering results no other regular lens can. The lens certainly requires some skill to use it properly.
- Nikon 24-120mm f/4G VR – a cheaper alternative to the 24-70mm. I have recently used this lens for some landscape work and found the extra focal length and VR to be very useful when compared to the 24-70mm. Its construction and weather resistance are certainly much weaker than of the 24-70mm. I don’t think it would survive a hit on the front side of the lens when it is extended, so I would use it with care. Similar to the 24-70mm, it also has some corner softness, distortion and vignetting, although the latter is certainly better controlled on the 24-70mm. Read my Nikon 24-120mm f/4 Review.
- Nikon 16-35mm f/4G VR – another relatively inexpensive lens with excellent sharpness and color rendition. It is a great choice for situations, where you need to go wider than 24mm and would be a great lens to go with the 24-120mm. I found the older 17-35mm f/2.8D to be softer in the corners at large apertures, so given the cost of the 17-35mm, it is no longer in my list of the best lenses for landscape photography. Read my Nikon 16-35mm f/4 Review.
Another lens worth mentioning is the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G, which did not make it to my list, because it cannot take regular filters (read about filters below). It is certainly one hell of a lens when it comes to sharpness, contrast and color. Its inability to use filters is its biggest drawback, although if you do not mind paying extra, Lee filters designed a filter system for this particular lens. It is by no means a cheap solution, but certainly solves the filter limitation issue for those who can afford it. Read my Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G Review.
There are many more lenses that work great for landscape photography (including great Zeiss Distagon lenses), but I personally do not have much experience with them, so I cannot comment on their performance. Please feel free to provide your recommendations from your own personal experience.
3.2.1.2) Best Nikon DX Lenses for Landscape Photography
Although all of the above FX lenses would work perfectly fine on DX, the field of view is changed due to the sensor crop factor and such lenses as Nikon 24-70mm might feel a little “too long” on DX. In addition, DX lenses are generally much cheaper than their FX counterparts and also weigh less. Let’s take a look at the best DX lenses for landscape photography (again, based on my subjective opinion):
- Nikon 12-24mm f/4G DX – I used to own and love this lens for my landscape photography for a while (until it got stolen). It is an exceptionally sharp lens that is capable of delivering great contrast and color across the focal range. It can take 77mm circular filters, but I would be careful with using large filters at 12mm – the lens will vignette heavily.
- Nikon 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G DX – a great alternative that will give you even wider perspective at a lower cost.
- Nikon 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G – another great lens with a wider perspective and longer focal range than the 17-55mm. While it is much slower than the 17-55mm lens, its performance is impressive, with the weakest performance on the short side at 16mm. Stopped down to f/8.0, the lens is great across the frame.
- Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8G – an expensive, but pro-level lens that is capable of delivering great results even wide open. Its performance tops at f/8.0, where the corners look almost as good as the center.
- Nikon 35mm f/1.8G DX – the only prime lens that made it to this list, the Nikon 35mm f/1.8G is a great lens that is sharp across the frame. Stop it down to f/8.0 and it will produce better results than any other DX zoom lens. The only downside is its focal length – due to the 1.5x crop factor, it falls into a “standard” lens category at ~52mm, which is often not wide enough.
If you need one lens to cover most landscape photography needs, I would either go with the Nikon 16-85mm or the Nikon 17-55mm lens. If you want to cover wider angles and some telephoto, the best current lens combo, in my opinion, is the Nikon 12-24mm or Nikon 10-24mm coupled with the Nikon 24-120mm f/4G VR. The latter works on both FX and DX, but better on DX (less vignetting, distortion and sharper corners).
3.2.1.3) Best Canon EF Lenses for Landscape Photography
Although I personally do not shoot Canon, I have many friends that use Canon DSLRs for landscapes. Here is the list of Canon lenses they recommend for landscape photography:
- Canon 14mm f/2.8L II – top choice for super wide angles, the 14mm f/2.8L is extremely sharp across the frame. Contrast and colors are exceptional.
- Canon 17-40mm f/4L – one of the top choices for landscape photography, both in terms of price and performance. It is known to be sharper in the corners than Canon’s 16-35mm f/2.8L lens, which is more expensive than the 17-40mm.
- Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L – a great overall lens for landscape photography. Also has some problems with distortion and vignetting, but gets much better at smaller apertures.
- Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II – superb optics, exceptional image clarity and sharpness across the frame for longer-range telephoto shots.
- Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS – similar to the Nikon 24-120mm f/4G VR, the Canon 24-105mm f/4L is an overall superb lens with a very useful focal range. It also suffers from some corner softness, distortion and vignetting wide open, but gets much better stopped down.
- Canon 24mm f/3.5L Tilt/Shift – a special purpose tilt/shift lens for Canon format that is similar to Nikon’s PC-E 24mm f/3.5D.
- Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS – a lower-cost and a much lighter/smaller alternative to the 70-200mm f/2.8L, the Canon 70-200mm f/4L is a great lens for photographing distant subjects.
Again, there are many other Canon/Zeiss/Sigma/Tamron lenses that also do a great job for photographing landscapes. Please feel free to provide your recommendations from your own personal experience.
3.2.1.4) Best Canon EF-S Lenses for Landscape Photography
Here are some of the best Canon EF-S lenses for landscape photography:
- Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 – a great lens that is similar to Nikon’s 10-24mm in terms of performance.
- Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS – also similar to Nikon’s 17-55mm f/2.8G DX, the Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 is a very popular Canon lens that is sharp across the frame. Color and contrast are pro-level.
The list is shorter than Nikon’s, but for a reason – some of the EF lenses work great on EF-S mount and are generally the way to go. The Canon 17-40mm f/4L, for example, is very popular for both EF and EF-S mounts. For a single lens solution, I recommend either going with the Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 IS or the Canon 17-40mm f/4L. If you need to go wider, the best combo seems to be the Canon 10-22mm coupled with the Canon 24-105mm f/4L, which will cover everything from ultra-wide angles to telephoto (~170mm equivalent FoV).
3.3) Camera Support – Tripods
A landscape photographer without a tripod is a handicapped photographer. Although modern cameras such as Nikon D3s are capable of producing high-quality images shot at high ISO sensitivities, some images are impossible to capture without good support. For example, it is impossible to photograph the night-time sky with stars without a tripod. Another example is taking pictures of moving water at slow shutter speeds of several seconds. Basically, any photography at slow shutter speeds of 1 second and longer must be taken with a tripod. Here is a recent example that would not have been possible without using a tripod:
A desktop wallpaper version of the above image can be downloaded from here.
The above image was shot at a shutter speed of 30 seconds at ISO 800 – there is no way I would have been able to capture this shot hand-held.
While these examples show cases when you might need a tripod, I personally consider a tripod a must-have tool, rather than an optional accessory. I once talked to a well-known landscape photographer about camera support and I stated that I prefer to shoot my landscapes hand-held when there is plenty of light. In response, he told me that he could not think or compose until he puts his camera on a tripod, even when shooting with a digital SLR on a bright day. It was shocking to hear what he said and I kind of criticized him in my head, but then as I continued to learn more and shoot more, I realized that what he said actually made a lot of sense. I went back and looked at my images shot hand-held and realized that many of them were badly aligned and many shots were either blurry because of camera shake or had too much grain due to increased ISO. Lately, I started taking my tripod with me everywhere and pretty much started doing the same thing – putting my camera on a tripod before taking pictures. My images improved in their quality significantly and I now spend even less time post-processing in Lightroom/Photoshop.
One last thing I wanted to suggest, is to get yourself a remote shutter release. Tripods do a great job in reducing camera shake, but since you are the one who presses the camera shutter, you could introduce additional vibration. For situations when you need to use a slow shutter speed (as described above), a remote shutter release can help eliminate camera shake. Entry-level and some of the semi-professional DSLRs have infrared remote shutter releases that are very cheap, typically under $50. If you use a professional camera, you will most likely have to get a more expensive cable release, which will run between $70 to $250, depending on the model and features.
If you want to find out more about tripods and if you need help choosing a good tripod for your photography, check out my “how to buy a tripod” article.
3.4) Filters and why they are important
Let’s now move over to filters. As you have seen earlier, I excluded the excellent Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G lens from the list of best lenses simply because it cannot take regular filters, which shows how important I personally think filters are for landscape photography. Any experienced landscape photographer will tell you that filters are an essential and integral part of landscape photography. Some shots are simply impossible to capture without specialized filters. There are three types of filters that I personally classify as “requirements” for landscape photography: Circular Polarizing Filter, Neutral Density Filter and Graduated Neutral Density Filter. Let’s take a look at each one individually.
3.4.1) Circular Polarizing Filter
Landscape photographers heavily rely on Circular Polarizing Filter (CPL) for three reasons – the filter removes reflections from objects, which adds more contrast and color to images, it reduce haze on distant subjects and finally, it darkens the sky and brings out the clouds. As you might have noticed, I personally use the CPL a lot for my landscape photography. Here is a shot that I took with a polarizing filter:
A desktop wallpaper version of the above image can be downloaded from here.
See how blue the sky is and how white the clouds are? This shot would have looked completely different if I had not used a circular polarizer. Here is an example of a shot where the polarizer helped me to reduce haze and remove reflections from water:
A desktop wallpaper version of the above image can be downloaded from here.
Without a polarizer, the image would have looked horrible – the distant mountains would look very hazy and cloudy, while the reflections on the water would not have allowed me to show the darkness underneath.
Polarizing filters can be challenging to use, especially for those who have never used them before. You also have to be very careful when deploying them on wide angle lenses. If you want to know more about polarizing filters, I have written a detailed article on how to use polarizing filters, with plenty of examples and useful information.
3.4.2) Neutral Density Filter
Do you know how images of waterfalls with silky and smooth-looking water are captured? For most such shots, photographers use Neutral Density (ND) filters that only let very little light through (or better put, reduce the intensity of light), which basically slows down the exposure. Without a filter, you would have to increase the F-number to let less light through the lens. However, if you are shooting on a bright day, increasing the F-number would not help much, since there is too much light – you would either end up with an over-exposed image or the effect of the water blur would be minimal/unnoticeable.
Using a dark neutral density filter requires a good support system, since the shutter speed will decrease significantly, based on how much light the ND filter lets through. For example, a 6 stop ND filter by B+W that I personally use only transmits 1% of the light. With this little light getting through, the scene looks very dark when I look through the viewfinder and yet surprisingly, autofocus is still operational. 6 stops means that if I were shooting a scene at 1/250th of a second @ f/8.0 without a filter, the shutter speed would drop down to 1/4th of a second as soon as I mount the 6 stop ND filter on the lens. I could then further reduce my shutter speed by increasing my aperture to f/11 or more, if I needed longer shutter speeds for whatever reason. Here is an example of a waterfall that I captured using the ND filter:
As you can see, the image was shot during the day and yet the water looks “silky” in the photo, due to a slow shutter speed that I was able to get thanks to the 6 stop ND filter.
3.4.3) Graduated Neutral Density Filter
Graduated filters are similar to regular ND filters, except they gradually go from dark to completely clear. This gradual transition is important for landscapes, because it should only darken the brightest area of the scene without touching the darker parts of the scene such as the ground. Although a lot of photographers seem to be utilizing bracketing/HDR techniques to capture the full range of tones, I personally prefer to use Graduated Neutral Density (GND) filters whenever possible. For example, if I am photographing a sunrise or sunset and the sky is several stops brighter than the ground, I will use my 0.6 (2 stop) or 0.9 (3 stop) Graduated ND filter to darken the sky. Take a look at this shot:
To properly expose the sky, I used a two stop Graduated Neutral Density filter – that’s what added some of the blue to the sky. Without the filter, the sky was overexposed and looked completely white. I actually had to add another half a stop of Graduated ND filter through Lightroom, which made the sky a little darker (I shot in RAW, which preserved the darker tones). If I hadn’t used any filters, my only choice would have been to shoot in brackets for HDR – not something I wanted to do for this particular shot.
Similar to circular polarizing filters, you have to be careful when using GND filters, because you might end up darkening other parts of the image. Take a closer look at the above image – you will see that both mountains on the left and right side of the top frame also got darker, which is not good and not something that is easy to fix in post-production…
Another major problem with graduated neutral density filters, is that they cannot (and should not) be circular. Why? Because you should be able to control the point from which the scene will turn from dark into clear. In one scene, the sky might take up 20% of the image, while on another one with beautiful clouds it might take up 50% or more of the image. That’s where you will need to move the graduated filter up and down to accommodate different situations. In order to be able to do this, you will need a filter holder system with square or rectangular filters. I personally use the Lee Filter Holder system, but there are many others to choose from
3.4.4) Recommended Filters
Here is the list of the filters I recommend and personally use:
- B+W 77mm Kaeseman Circular Polarizing MRC Glass Filter
- B+W 77mm Neutral Density 1.8 Filter (6 Stops)
- B+W 77mm Neutral Density 3.0 Filter (10 Stops)
If you want to use top-of-the-line filters, Singh-Ray makes the best filters in the world. Their 77mm Vari-ND filter allows blocking up to 8 stops of light by turning the filter like you would turn a polarizer. Singh-Ray also makes the superb 77mm Warming Polarizing Filter for regular and ultra-wide angle lenses. They make everything from circular, to 4×6 and larger filters that fit any filter holder system (below). For landscape photography, Singh-Ray is the #1 choice when it comes to quality filters.
Filter Holder System by Lee Filters:
- Lee Filters Foundation Kit with a 77mm Adapter Ring
- Lee Filters 4×6 Graduated Neutral Density ND 0.6 Resin Filter
- Lee Filters 4×6 Graduated Neutral Density ND 0.9 Resin Filter
Alternative Filter Holder System by Cokin:
If you do not use ultra-wide angle lenses shorter than 24mm on FX or 16mm on DX, you can also use the much cheaper Cokin P Filter Holder System:
- Cokin P Filter Holder with a 77mm Adapter Ring
- Hitech 0.6 GND Soft Edge Filter
- Hitech 0.9 GND Soft Edge Filter
4) Photo Technique
Now that you know what camera gear you need, let’s move on to the fun part – photo technique, which is comprised of three parts: Camera Gear Technique, Composition and Post-Processing Technique. These three elements are all equally important in landscape photography and you have to master them all in order to be able to produce great-looking images that you could potentially showcase and even sell.
4.1) Camera Gear Technique
The first thing you need to learn how to use properly, is obviously your camera. If you have never used a DSLR before, get prepared for an intensive learning process. Your first lesson is to understand how a DSLR camera works and what it consists of. Next, you need to master the “exposure triangle”, which I call the “three kings” – Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO. Once you get a good grasp of these individually, you need to then learn how they work together to create a picture. Next, I would learn about camera modes and metering modes. Lastly, I would recommend skimming through your camera’s manual to understand how to change the exposure and camera modes.
A good starting point to learn the basics of photography is through my “Photography Tips for Beginners” page that contains a number of easy to understand articles.
If you are able to comfortably shoot in Manual Mode while being able to adjust the exposure by increasing/decreasing the ISO, your basic knowledge of the camera is pretty solid.
4.1.1) Camera Settings
What are the optimal camera settings for photographing landscapes? Here are the settings that I personally use and recommend (good for most DSLRs):
- Camera Mode: Manual. Learn how to shoot landscapes in manual mode. Use the built-in camera meter to see if you need to increase or decrease the shutter speed.
- Aperture: Start at f/8.0 and increase the number based on how much of the foreground and background you need to keep sharp. Try not to shoot above f/11 (on DX) and f/16 (on FX) to avoid diffraction.
- Shutter Speed: Doesn’t matter as much adjust the shutter speed based on what your camera meters. In some cases when you need to freeze or blur movement, you will have to keep the shutter speed low or high. You can do this by changing aperture or using ND filters.
- ISO: 100 or 200, whatever your camera’s base ISO is. Many of the modern Nikon DSLR’s have a base ISO of 200, while Canon DSLR’s have a base ISO of 100. If you have a setting for “Auto ISO” on your camera, turn it off.
- Image Format: RAW and RAW only, if you want the best possible results. Set camera bit-rate to the highest number (if available). Many professional cameras allow shooting 14-bit RAW.
- White Balance: Auto, since it doesn’t matter if you shoot RAW – you can easily change White Balance in post-production.
- Color Profile: Again, doesn’t matter due to RAW format. I personally leave it at AdobeRGB.
- High ISO Noise Reduction: Off, you should not be shooting at high ISOs anyway.
- Vignette Reduction: Off, best to deal with it in post-production.
- Autofocus: Move your autofocus from the shutter release button to a dedicated button on the back of your camera. Some entry-level DSLRs might not have this feature, but most do. Most Nikon DSLRs either have a dedicated AF-ON button or AE-L/AF-L button on the back of the camera that can be programmed for autofocus (D3100, D5000 and D90 can do this). You certainly do not want your camera to autofocus every time you press the shutter button, especially if you are shooting panoramas. By switching autofocus action to a dedicated button, you can focus just once and then shoot in a continuous sequence.
4.1.2) Depth of Field and Hyperfocal Distance
When you photograph landscapes, it is vital to understand the concept of depth of field very well. One of the biggest challenges of landscape photography is to master lens focus and make everything look acceptably sharp. Why is that a challenge, you might ask? Because optics have certain limitations and it is not always possible to bring everything from foreground to background into perfect focus, especially when some objects are very close and others are very far. A good way to illustrate this is to do a quick experiment with your eyes (as you have seen from my other articles, cameras and lenses work just like our eyes). You will need two objects that can stand on a flat surface – a small and a large object (like dice and a box of playing cards). Place the larger object vertically about 10 feet away from where you are on a straight surface like a table. Then move back to your position and while holding the smaller object with your index and thumb fingers, extend your hand half way, pointing it towards the larger object. Focus your eyes on the smaller object. Note how blurry the background is and how blurry the larger object is, almost to the point where it blends with other background objects. Now, take the smaller object and place it by the larger object and move back again to your position. Take a look at the smaller object from this distance now. This time, you will notice that both objects look sharp to you and even if you move the smaller object a little away from the larger one, it will not make a difference. The larger object will not get completely blurred like it did when you looked at the smaller object from a close distance. This very simple experiment demonstrates how lenses focus and how subject distance impacts sharpness.
While our eyes work like a fixed 50mm lens, camera lenses allow us to capture much wider perspectives, or allow us to get closer to our subjects. Without understanding the relationship between lens focal length, aperture and camera to subject distance, focusing for landscape photography can get rather difficult. For example, if you were photographing starfish on a beach from a close distance and wanted to get the background horizon to be equally sharp as the starfish, which would you focus on – the starfish or the background? Would you be using a wide-angle or a telephoto lens to get both in focus? What aperture would you be using? A good landscape photographer should know answers to all of these questions and come up with the right solution to the problem. For example, I would have certainly used a wide-angle lens (since long focal lengths would only isolate the subject more), a relatively high aperture number between f/8 and f/16 and would have focused on an area somewhere between the starfish and the background. Where exactly would I focus? This is where you need to understand what hyperfocal distance is and how to find it.
What is hyperfocal distance? Basically, hyperfocal distance is the point where you should focus your camera to get the maximum sharpness. When you focus your camera on the hyperfocal distance, everything from half of the distance all the way to infinity will be in focus. For example, if my hyperfocal distance is 50 feet, everything from 25 feet to infinity will be in focus. My depth of field basically starts at 25 feet. Why is hyperfocal distance important? In the previous example with starfish, if I focused my camera on the starfish or the background (infinity), either the starfish or the background would have been blurry. I want both to look sharp, so if I knew where the hyperfocal distance is and I focused on it, I would have theoretically gotten both sharp. Obviously, my focal length, camera to starfish distance and aperture are all variables that play a huge role here, but you hopefully get the point. Some photographers give advice to focus somewhere in the middle, between the closest foreground object and the background at infinity, without knowing all variables. I would be careful listening to such advice, since you might end up with blurry images, especially if you shoot with film.
For those who shoot digital, here is a trick that works for me when I am too lazy to use a hyperfocal distance calculator. Simply focus on your background (infinity) and take a shot. Then look at the image at 100% on the rear camera LCD and scroll from the background to the foreground. The last point where your image looks sharp and starts transitioning to blur – that’s roughly your hyperfocal distance. Remember this spot, then focus on it, take a picture and then see if the image looks sharp across the frame.
If you want to know the precise location of the hyperfocal distance, there are plenty of websites and various applications for your phone that compute this for you. You can even print out a hyperfocal chart and carry it with you everywhere. If you use an iPhone, there are plenty of apps such as DOFMaster that serve this purpose.
4.1.3) Bracketing
When you face tough situations with the light, where you have a big contrast between the darks and the whites, shoot in brackets of 3 to 5 (depending on your camera capabilities). Bracketing not only allows you to try post-processing techniques like HDR, but also gives you options for better exposure. You might choose one exposure over another and then further work on it in Lightroom or Photoshop. You might pick some parts of one image and merge them with another image through masking in Photoshop or do things like exposure fusion.
4.2) Composition and Framing
Composition is a key element of every type of photography, including landscape photography. Without good composition, pictures can look plain, lifeless and boring. How should you compose your images and are there any rules for composition? What is good and bad composition? How should you frame your shots? I get these kinds of questions from our readers every once in a while, so I decided to write about it in more detail.
When it comes to composition and framing there are no real set “rules” per se. However, there are some guidances and suggestions that might help with composing and framing your images better. Here are some of my guidelines:
- Communicate and transfer the mood through your photographs – every photograph should have a mood and a message to it. What are you trying to say? What is your story? What is the mood of your photograph? Will the viewer feel amused by the power of nature that you are trying to show, or feel crushed by the dark, dreadful clouds in your image? Or perhaps the viewer should just enjoy the beauty of the colors you are trying to show? Your image needs to be able to communicate and bond with the viewer, triggering his/her emotions.
- Scout the area beforehand – you never know what might be around you. Scout the area before the best light kicks in and find the best spots to be in. How many times have you been in situations where the light is perfect, the subject is perfect, but you are standing in a bad spot? Avoid those kinds of problems by doing the homework early.
- Slow down and be patient – if you are not photographing wildlife or other fast-moving elements, slow down and take time to compose your shot. Wait for the right moment, the right light and be patient. Take pictures, then wait more – your best photo might be minutes or hours away.
- Align/level your photograph before taking a picture – while composing, make sure that your frame is properly aligned. If it is not, you will have to align it in post-production and you will ultimately lose some of the image resolution. I personally use the horizontal and vertical lines inside my viewfinder to align my camera most of the time, which works great. Another tool I use occasionally is the “virtual horizon”, which works like a leveling tool. If you do not have a virtual horizon feature, you might want to get yourself an external level that goes on top of your flash hot shoe.
- Avoid placing your main subject in the center – many beginners do this a lot and while in some cases it is OK to place your main subject in the center, you should avoid doing it repetitively.
- Rule of thirds – I’m sure you have heard of this one, but it kind of goes along with #2. Simply visually cut your image into three parts and move your subject away from the center, so that it intersects with some of the lines. If you have a horizon in your frame, you can place it horizontally at 1/3 or 2/3 of the frame for a better composition. Here is an example of an image where I used the rule of thirds:
A desktop wallpaper version of the above image can be downloaded from here. - Center of interest/attention – a photograph should contain a center of interest where you want the viewer to focus their attention on. Whether it is a tree, a bush or a house, there should be an element that instantly grabs the attention of the viewer. Here is an example, where the center of attention is the kiva in the lower bottom of the frame:
A desktop wallpaper version of the above image can be downloaded from here. - Exclude/avoid straight rivers, streams and roads – instead of straight rivers and roads, try to locate curved ones, especially the ones with an “S” shape – they look much more pleasing to the eye. Here is an example of a curved river:
A desktop wallpaper version of the above image can be downloaded from here.And here is an example of a curved road:
If the road was curved all the way, the composition would have been even better… - When photographing mirror reflections, make sure that nothing disturbs the subject or its reflection – I remember when I posted one of the images of Maroon Bells with a log in the reflection, one well-known photographer criticized the image, saying that I should not have included the log in the frame. Here is that image:
Besides being an over-cooked/over-saturated image, the big straight log that cuts through the image destroys the essence of the photograph, becoming an ugly part of the image (which at the time, I thought was a nice composition element). The attention of the viewer is no longer at the center of interest (which is the mountains and their reflection), but on the large log. After his rather harsh critique, I went back to the same spot and took another picture, but without any disturbing elements in the reflection and got this:
A desktop wallpaper version of the above image can be downloaded from here.As you can see, the image certainly looks better and you can concentrate on looking at the beautiful mountains and their reflection, without getting disturbed by other unnecessary objects. - Balance your shot through symmetry – one more thing to keep in mind when photographing landscapes, especially reflections, is to achieve a “balance” – one part of the image should not heavily outweigh the other. You can achieve this through symmetry, as shown in the above image of Maroon Bells.
- If you have trees, single bushes or other objects in your corner frame, try to either fit them into the frame, or exclude them completely – there will be situations when it is too difficult or impossible to do that, but try your best.
A desktop wallpaper version of the above image can be downloaded from here.As you can see from the above image, I did fit the bush in the center into the frame, but could not fit the one on the right, so it is cropped. There were too many small bushes and plants in the area and it was just impossible to fit them all. But since my center of attention is the sky together with the strange formations on the right (which fit the frame), the bushes hopefully do not look too distracting. - Carefully frame your shot – in the past, I never paid attention to proper framing – I would just point my camera and take a picture, without putting much thought into what I was doing. I ended up with thousands of useless pictures… It is very unfortunate, because I had very unique moments with beautiful sunset, cloud formations and good light, but just because of my own errors, those pictures are all useless. Learn how to properly frame your shot and think before you press the shutter. Don’t just point and shoot like you used to before.
- Don’t get stuck with horizontals – I personally prefer taking horizontal images of landscape, but I do take a lot of verticals as well. In some cases try doing both and give yourself a chance to choose which one is better later. Sometimes vertical shots communicate better than horizontals.
- Don’t let tall trees and other large objects touch the frame – leave some “breathing” space. Even very little free space is better than none. Take a look at this example:
The tip of the mountain is almost touching the top frame. If I had some clouds that day, I would have probably included more of the sky, but I purposefully reduced the sky to have the viewer concentrate on the old building with the walking man. Note that I still left some space in between the mountain and the top of the frame though. - Be careful when using ultra-wide angle lenses – ultra-wide angle lenses always make the foreground objects much larger than they are and make the background look much smaller. For example, take a look at this shot:
I captured the image with the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G lens @ 14mm on full-frame Nikon D700, which is an extremely wide focal length. If I pointed the camera down just a little more, you would have seen my shoes. As you can see, the foreground looks gigantic compared to the objects just 10-15 feet away. The tall building on the horizon is barely visible and insignificant.When using such extreme wide angles, it is typically best to approach your subject close to force the attention of the viewer on that object, rather than shoot from a distance. If you shoot from a distance, everything will look small and the objects close to you will look too big in comparison. Try not to use ultra-wide angle lenses too much for landscape photography. I find focal lengths above 28mm on FX and 18mm on DX to work best for my landscape photography. - If you include animals in your shots, try to capture them in different poses – animals often move towards the same direction. Wait until they change their poses so that they are not facing the same way and then take a picture.
- Keep it simple – avoid adding too many distracting and busy elements to your images. Sometimes keeping it simple is the key to a good composition.
- Pick diagonal lines rather than straight vertical or horizontal lines – diagonal lines are much more dynamic than straight vertical/horizontal lines:
A desktop wallpaper version of the above image can be downloaded from here.For this shot, I had to angle my camera so that the line runs diagonally. - Try multiple lines – sometimes a mix of straight and diagonal lines at different angles can give a different feel to the image:
In the above shot, I have a bridge that is positioned diagonally, while the lake line cuts straight through the middle horizontally. - Have a sense of depth with diagonals – having a sense of depth in your images is important – you do not want the images to look very flat. A 3D look is always better than a flat 2D look:
Here, the diagonal fence gives some depth to the image, showing the viewer that the building with the gas pump are located at the end and stacked closely to each other.
Here, the diagonal lines are creating a “tunnel” with lots of depth to the image. - Get close – this is different than getting close with an ultra-wide angle lens. If you have a zoom lens, see if you can improve your composition by zooming in closer and eliminating other objects around the subject. Sometimes having a telephoto zoom lens helps to achieve this.
For the above shot, I zoomed in to 100mm with my Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II lens to focus on the slightly curved diagonal branches. With a wider lens/shorter focal length, I would have captured a lot of other objects around. - Get those “S” curves – as I have already pointed out above, curves always look better than straight lines, especially the “S” curves:
A desktop wallpaper version of the above image can be downloaded from here.Here is another “S” curve:
- Recurrence of objects/elements – another interesting concept that you can apply to your composition, is recurrence of objects or elements in your photograph. The element of recurrence itself is not always important – you can do this with fences, electric poles, trees, buildings, etc. Here is an example of recurrence:
- Try taking panoramic images – rather than being stuck with square or rectangular images, try shooting panoramic images. You can either crop images to be panoramic (see below on cropping) or you can shoot a bunch of vertical or horizontal frames and then stitch them together in Photoshop or other third party software. I have a detailed guide on how to photograph panoramas and you can find plenty of information on how to properly photograph panoramas there.
While the above composition guidelines are there to help you, feel free to play around and do something different – after-all, photographs are created byyour vision and your creativity.
4.3) Post-Processing Technique
Post-processing is an integral part of landscape photography. I remember once seeing a small photography contest online and one of the rules said to submit only original, untouched photographs. Apparently, the contest organizers thought that post-processing images was an unfair practice and they did not want one person to have an advantage over another, just because of better Photoshop skills. I personally think that such rules are silly. Is it unfair when one photographer can use Photoshop better than another? Ansel Adams, the master of landscape photography was a darkroom magician. He spent countless hours working on his images and I am sure that if he was alive today, he would have loved Photoshop! How are Ansel’s post-processing skills in the darkroom different than someone’s Photoshop skills? Knowing how to post-process images is a big part of every photographer’s life today. And that’s a fact.
At the same time, you hear many photographers say “do everything right in camera”. I mostly agree with this statement – when it comes to landscape photography, it is best to minimize post-processing efforts and do as much as possible in the camera. It is one thing to photograph a scene with a heavily overexposed sky, thinking you can fix it later in Photoshop and another to use filters and other tools to expose the sky at least partially right, so that you could finish it up in Lightroom/Photoshop. Some things like the effect of a polarizing filter cannot be replicated in post-processing. Other things take enormous amounts of time to fix. Just learn to balance your workflow and you should be in good shape.
4.3.1) Cropping
When it comes to cropping, I highly recommend minimizing your cropping efforts for landscape photography if you shoot digital. The main reason is that cropping results in smaller images, which means smaller prints. If you are just posting images for the web you can certainly crop as much as you want, but what if somebody gets interested in buying a large print of your photograph after seeing it on the web? That’s where cropping might hurt your image. If you shoot medium format or large format film, you have a lot more resolution, so slight cropping is generally not a problem. But I would still frame your images right from the very beginning, instead of having to resort to cropping later. The type of cropping you certainly want to avoid, is cutting verticals out of a horizontal image and vice versa – you will lose half of your resolution (if not more) by doing that. Aligning and leveling images also results in cropping and losing resolution. Therefore, as I have recommended above under “composition”, you should always align and level your camera before taking pictures.
Other than that, very slight cropping to improve your composition and remove clutter is quite normal. I personally do crop some images when necessary as well.
4.3.2) Sharpness and why it is important
While sharpness does not matter as much for certain types of photography, it certainly carries a lot of weight in landscape photography. A sharp landscape image is always better to look at than a blurry or a fuzzy image – it communicates good technique by the photographer, gives a more realistic feeling to objects and just looks more pleasing to the eye. Having good sharpness across the frame requires the following:
- A good lens that is able to resolve a lot of detail and is sharp from center to corners.
- A high-quality film or digital camera with plenty of resolution.
- Good camera technique by the photographer that can set proper exposure, acquire correct focus and eliminate camera shake.
- Good post-processing skills by the photographer for adding additional sharpening for printing/publishing.
All of the above depend on each other. You might have the best post-processing skills, but if your lens is soft, you will never be able to get sharp results. Similarly, you might have the sharpest lens in the world and yet if you cannot set the right exposure and calculate your focus point correctly, you will end up with a blurry image that you cannot fix by sharpening.
If you have the right gear and camera technique, sharpening images in post-processing is easy. Take a look at my article on how to sharpen images in Lightroom to get an idea. You can also use special plugins in Photoshop for selective sharpening and they also work great.
4.3.3) Post-processing images
Other than sharpening and cropping, there are many different ways to improve your photographs. You can darken the sky and make it look more blue, you can saturate some of the colors more, you can add more contrast to your images, you can convert images to black and white and much much more. I am not going to go through all of these techniques, since there is just too much to cover, but you can get started by reading my Lightroom landscape photography post-processing tutorial, where I share some simple techniques to make your landscape photographs look better without using Photoshop. You can find some other tutorials in my growing “Post-processing tips for Beginners” section.
Here are some additional post-processing tips for landscape photography:
- Be careful with dark shadows in the scene – while shadows are a normal fact of life, don’t let the shadows steal your viewer’s attention. Make sure that shadows do not occupy too much space, or they will spoil your image. Also, if your shadows are too dark, try to lighten them up either by adjusting the exposure or in post-production. In Lightroom, you can use the “Fill Light” feature to add some light to the shadows. Don’t overdo it though – you still want shadows to look like shadows. That’s one of the biggest problems with HDR photography – the shadows rarely look real. Here is an example of a shadow eating up half of the image:
Although I did brighten up the shadows a little, the image still looks unbalanced and the shadows are too distracting to the eye. - Don’t oversaturate your images – it is very common for photographers to purposefully oversaturate images. I personally used to oversaturate images a lot in the past. Now, when I go back and look at them, I realize that I should have taken it easy on colors. In some cases, you might actually need to desaturate some colors or an entire image. Here is an example of an over-saturated image that I shot a couple of years ago:
It is actually not just over-saturated, but also underexposed. Sometimes underexposing can result in too much color saturation as well. Even some of my recent images look over-saturated to me, so I have been actually decreasing saturation levels in Lightroom. - More tips coming soon!
4.3.4) Monitor Calibration
When you work on your images, make sure that your monitor is calibrated. You do not want to be editing images using a non-calibrated monitor, because your colors might be way off. I have an article on “how to calibrate your monitor“, in case you do not know where to start.
5) Light
Let’s move on to talk about Light – the third most important element of landscape photography. I know many photographers will argue that it is the “first” in terms of importance – and I agree. Although photo equipment and skill/technique are certainly important, no photograph can look good without beautiful light. Portrait photographers can work with pretty much any light, because they have powerful external flashes that can imitate natural light. Landscape photographers do not have such luxury – we have to work with the available light all the time (except when painting some foreground objects with flashlight).
What is the best light? What are the best times of the day? Or best times of the year? Let’s see if I can answer some of these in more detail.
5.1) Sunrise and Sunset
The best landscape pictures are either taken at sunrise or sunset. I personally prefer sunrise/early morning light than sunset/late afternoon light, because it seems like there is less haze in the morning (obviously depends on many factors, pollution, wind, wildfires, etc). But it all depends on the direction of the subject I want to photograph. In Colorado, some mountains are best photographed at sunrise, while others are best photographed at sunset. Before you decide when to be at a particular location, I would highly recommend scouting the area first. Mid-afternoon is a good time to scout and estimate where the sun will rise and where it will set. I personally rely on some apps for my iPhone to tell me when the sun rises/sets and where in the horizon the sun will show up and where it will set. My favorite app is Focalware – I simply set my location and it tells me everything I need to know.
5.3) Best Light
When people ask photographers about the best light, the typical answer is “early in the morning or late afternoon, with the worst light at mid-afternoon”. While it is true for many locations around the world, the statement is not necessarily correct for some regions. For example, if you live in Nordic countries or shoot in Antarctica, you could shoot all day long with great light. How? It is all about the angle of light in relation to the sun. Direct sunlight that we typically see in the mid-day is the worst, because it creates straight and ugly shadows. But if sunlight is always at an angle, there is no bad time for taking pictures. Sunrise and sunset times are the best, because you see the most amount of colors. So if you asked me when the best light is, I would say “it depends on where you are located”.
5.4) Seasons
What about seasons? Again, it depends on where you are. In Colorado, for example, mid-summer is a great time for landscape photography because of wildflowers that bloom in mid-July at high altitudes. In other places, summers are horrible due to heat, too much haze and harsh light. Winters in Colorado are typically hard to photograph due to harsh weather, snow, ice and dangerous road conditions. And yet winters are the best in terms of haze and angle of the sun. Spring and Fall are typically my favorite seasons to photograph landscapes everywhere, not just Colorado. The fall season is something you do not want to miss, especially in places with lots of non-evergreen trees. Some trees and plants go through dramatic color changes. For example, aspen changes its colors several times before the leaves fall off – from dark green to light green, then from light green to yellow, then from yellow to red. In some cases you might even see brown leaves, if there is no wind.
A desktop wallpaper version of the above image can be downloaded from here.
Spring is also great in many ways, with fruit trees having the most beautiful blooming season:
Five Lenses for The Discerning Landscape Photographer
So you want to shoot landscape images? All you have to do is slap on a wide angle and head out, right? WRONG! There is so much more to landscape photography than the oft-overused ultra wide-angle perspective (though that certainly still has its place). I’m going to share my thoughts on landscape photography from the perspective of a full-frame Canon shooter, but please know that almost everything I’m going to tell you will apply to Nikon, Sony, and the rest. They are all great brands. Head on past the break for my thoughts on lenses for landscapes.
When I go out to shoot landscapes, I try to consider what type of look I want to go for and decide which lens to use based on a set of 5 categories: Ultra Wide-Angle, Wide-Angle, Normal, Short-Telephoto and Telephoto. An argument could be made for the use of Super-Telephotos as well, but I never shoot that long personally. You might be asking “Why would I want to use anything other than a wide angle for landscapes?” While that is a fine question, the reality is that the wide angle “effect” can get pretty tired and uninteresting if that’s all you ever use. It absolutely has its place, and I still have one ultra-wide myself, but I have come to realize that semi-wide to semi-telephoto is something of a sweet spot (for me) for landscapes. The following is a list of some of the focal lengths I find to be the most useful when shooting landscapes. It’s also worth mentioning that while the list is mostly prime lenses, many zooms will work just as well, and despite the reality that many of these lenses are f2 or faster, you won’t always (or even often) be shooting wide open when it comes to landscapes. The reason I chose many of these lenses is due to the fact that they can be dual purpose, excelling in multiple categories, making them a smart purchase.
20 / 21mm
This category of lens is very, very common in landscape photography, but it is difficult to use effectively if you don’t fully understand their capabilities. You cannot simply aim it at something far away and shoot, that will deliver nothing but boring images. Too many photographers think that these ultra wides are for simply “getting it all in the frame”, when in reality, it is meant to allow you to get exceptionally close to your chosen subject and still include a ton of background for context. That being said, there are absolutely some gems in this arena, for all budgets as well. My favorite focal length in this category is 20-21mm as it is exceptionally wide, but you don’t get as much of the extreme distortion that often happens with lenses 18mm and wider. There are, however, plenty of alternatives in this arena that are spectacular.
- Carl Zeiss 21mm f2.8 Distagon T*
- Nikon 14-24mm f2.8G ED (Best wide-zoom out there)
- Canon 20mm f2.8 (Budget)
- Rokinon / Samyang 14mm f2.8 (Budget)
- Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 ( Top Choice for APS-C)
35mm
Wide Angle lenses fall into the category of 24-35mm most often and are something of a sweet spot for landscapes for me (personal favorite being a 35mm lens) you can still have a lot featured within the frame, but you don’t get as much of the pronounced wide angle distortion. With a lens like a 35mm, you still have the opportunity to get close, and if getting close is not an option you can create a strong sense of presence within your frame. My choice presently is a 35mm f1.4, but there are also a number of great options:
- Carl Zeiss 35mm f2 Distagon T*
- Sigma 35mm f1.4 A
- Rokinon / Samyang 35mm f1.4
- Canon 24-70mm f2.8L II
- Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 G
50mm
Now this is the point where things start to get interesting. A normal length lens actually provides an incredible opportunity for creating landscape images, just hear me out. When you get into this focal length range (think 40-60mm) you begin to compress your background and start to focus more on details rather than a broad scene. However if you are far enough away from your chosen subject you can definitely make these focal lengths work for you in capturing a reasonably wide scene with a “human-eye” perspective. In my opinion, 50mm is the one to get in this range and there are a bunch of solid choices.
- Carl Zeiss 50mm f1.4 Planar T*
- Carl Zeiss 50mm f2 Makro-Planar T*
- Canon 50mm f1.2L or 50mm f1.4
- Nikon 50mm f1.4 G
- Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX
85 / 135mm
Continuing on from the range of normal lenses, once you approach the 85-200mm range things begin to compress more noticeably. At this point you will often be focusing more on details or select portions of a scene, but with a careful eye, one can definitely create unique and beautiful images with an 85 or 135mm lens. The amount of compression is enough that you will be concentrating on your subject and considering less of the surrounding environment. This would be ideal for concentrating on a section of a forest or a compressed view of a mountain range. Either focal length is interchangeable in my experience and it’s only a matter how much compression you want in your image.
70-200mm
The last lens I want to talk about is potentially the most useful one. A 70-200mm is incredibly flexible for this type of shooting due to its ability to zoom from short telephoto to full telephoto. This flexibility allows for very selective framing and capturing the ornate details of your chosen landscape. You would be amazed at how often a lens such as this is used by landscape photographers (myself included when I still used zooms).
- Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS II
- Canon 70-200mm f4L IS (For lighter weight)
- Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 G ED VR II
- Nikon 70-200mm f4 G ED VR (For lighter weight)
The Bernica Project
I really wanted to complete this brief with a set of images that were rich in atmosphere and colour, as this is how I remember the area, many look at the northeast with a very dismal perspective but the reality is, it really is a beautiful part of the country.
I really wanted to complete this brief with a set of images that were rich in atmosphere and colour, as this is how I remember the area, many look at the northeast with a very dismal perspective but the reality is, it really is a beautiful part of the country.
Previous Visits to the area.
Having visited locations previously has given me an understanding of the area, it's terrain, it's conditions and it's complications such as tides, weather etc...
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My Landscape Project Aims
My Photography for this assignment has always had the commercial market in mind with a view to possible print sales. The idea is to build a commercial print based income from my landscape photography such as Joe Cornish, Graham Williams and Sebastio Salgado.
I want to use various techniques such as focus stacking, hyper focal distance, shallow depth of field, and experiment with conditions and light. Having purchased Lee Filters and a Lee Polerisor I feel I can add new dimensions to my landscape photography without compromising the quality.
One of the biggest aspects of my photography that I want to improve on is planning and organizing locations dependent on tide times and time of day which can some times be a struggle when you have a vision in mind for a shoot.
I want to concentrate on good com-positional images with a good foreground leading to a strong background and overall image.
Early morning and dusk images always give the best light, this is also something I am going to have to consider, location and timing (sunrise/Sunset).
To develop the project into an interesting and educational experience for the viewer.
Mobile Phone Apps I will be using.
The Photographer's Ephemeris - http://photoephemeris.com/
The Photographer's Ephemeris (TPE) is a tool to help you plan outdoor photography in natural light, especially landscape and urban scenes. It is a map-centric sun and moon calculator: see how the light will fall on the land, day or night, for any location on earth.
Skyview - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.t11.skyviewfree&hl=en_GB
kyView Free is a beautiful and intuitive stargazing app that uses your camera to precisely spot and identify celestial objects in sky, day or night. Find popular constellations as they fade in and out while you scan across the sky, locate planets in our solar system, discover distant galaxies, and witness satellite fly-bys.
DOF Calculator
Compass
Accuweather
Equipment
Tent
Sleeping Bag
Stove
Boots
Wellies
Warm Clothes
Waterproofs
Trip 1 - Holy Island
With a rich history and a wonderful atmosphere I decided to make Holy Island my first place to visit. I stayed on the island for two nights photographing this remarkable little island off the north east coast. Fortunately on both of the mornings their was a rich fog that added to the atmosphere and feel.
Trip 2 - Scottish Borders
After extensive research on the internet I chose the locations I wanted to photograph for the project. My location choice was based on historical interest, memories and very much on the time element of locations, time of day and tidal times. With what appeared to be clear forcasts I made the decision to spend 3 nights sleeping in the car with the intent to capture as much as I could.
Contact Sheets
Trip 3 -
Contact sheets
Image Selection
The images I chose for the show were based a selection process with the advice from my tutors. We also discussed image size and finish and decided to have six A2 and 4 A3 printed and framed to showcase the project.
Image Evaluation
When I saw the rocks and Bass Rock in the background I knew this was the shot I wanted to capture. Using the small rocks on the beach as foreground interest leading to the interesting Bass Rock and lighthouse. I used a polorising filter to decrease harsh reflections in the water and the rocks. A graduated filter allowed me to bring the sky down to a more natural tone. I wanted to keep the waters edge to a nice white and the texture in the water although showing some movement so I decided against a much longer exposure.
Tripod Used
ISO 100
ISO 100
50mm
F13
1/6 second
Editing Photoshop
The final image is a stacked image to create more texture in the rocks in the foreground.
Image Evaluation
With the morning sun quite high in the sky and a very harsh light in the sky, I noticed the pockets of light on the rocks and decided to shoot it anyway. Using a polorisor and graduated filter to try and eliminate as much of the glare as possible. Using the rocks as foreground interest and a leading line to the light. Whilst I like the light on the rocks and in the pockets of water I do feel even after post processing the sky is still to harsh. I did think about replacing the sky completely but decided to stick with the image as it does have atmosphere.
Tripod Used
Tripod Used
ISO 100
24mm
F13
1/8th Second
Editing Photoshop
Image Evaluation
The sea kelp was an interesting shot in the sense of composition, I decided to shoot from a slightly higher angle to add some depth in to the image as it is looking down slightly and shows the kelp in the distance at eye level. I used the little stopper from Lee as the light was quite intense, this allowed me to bring down the exposure by 6 stops of light and take a longer exposure creating the movement in both the water and the kelp. This gave the image an almost mysterious feel and although the sky in the back ground is blown out, in this image I feel it works well creating an almost white backdrop.
Tripod Used
Tripod Used
ISO 100
75mm
F14
70 Seconds
Editing: Photoshop
Image Evaluation
The Jetty mad for an interesting foreground, used as a leading line to the lone rock in the water. Taken at sunrise to get as much colour in the sky as possible. Using a polorising filter to diffuse reflections in the water and pull out as much colour as possible. The final image is made up of 6 images stacked to get as much detail in the rocks as possible. I used a number of different exposures to generate silkyness in the water with the mist whilst keeping some texture in the water using faster shutter speeds, blended together in photoshop.
Tripod Used
Tripod Used
iso 100
24mm
F13
between 2 seconds and 10 seconds on different exposures.
The light on the beach made this shot interesting as the sun rose in the sky. I had to use a polorisor to deter reflections and flare in the lens alongside a soft graduated filter to bring down the light in the sky. The polorisor helped to keep the colour of the rising sun in what was quite harsh lighting conditions.Stacked from two exposures to create the light in the sky and the light on the beach, blended using photoshop.
Tripod Used
iso 100
32mm
F13
1/30sec and 1/100th second
Edit Photoshop
Image Evaluation
A simple long exposure taken at mid afternoon in harsh daylight conditions. I used the Lee Big Stopper to bring down the exposure by 10 stops allowing for a longer exposure to create the movement in the clouds. As the big stopper gives a blue colour cast I stepped up the Kelvins in camera to 10,000 to compensate.
Tripod Used
Tripod Used
ISO 100
24mm
F22
182 Seconds
Edit Photoshop
Taken before sunrise and photostacked using 6 images. I wanted to capture the light on teh rocks and emphasise the colours it was creating. I stacked the images to capture the light and textures and blended them in photoshop.
Image Evaluation
The light in the sky and the sea made Bass Rock jump out and although I used thirds to allign the sea I opted to compose Bass Rock in the center to make it more imposing on the landscape.
Tripod Used
Tripod Used
ISO 100
24mm
F13
1/8th Second
Edit Photoshop
Image Evaluation
The damp sea air and rolling mist made this early morning shot. I wanted to capture the atmosphere of the castle and used the cobbles a s a leading line to draw the eyes towards the misty castle on the hilltop. With the sun to the right casting light on teh cobbles I used a polorising filter to stop glare in the lens.
Tripod Used
Tripod Used
ISO 100
28mm
F22
1.25 Second
Image Evaluation
Another misty morning on Holy Island, using two exposures to bring the texture and light out on the grass, I considered bringing out more detail in the church but decided it would kill the misty atmosphere.
Tripod Not Used
ISO 100
32mm
F9
1/250 Sec and 1/100 Second
Edit Photoshop
Image Evaluation
I wanted to capture the gritty textures of the overturned abandoned boat. Hand held in very dim morning light I had to crank the iso up. I wanted to keep the boats in the background to show enviroment and set the scene. A mist sat in the backdrop of the water and really created a great atmospheric image.
Tripod Not Used
ISO 1600
28mm
F4.0
1/80 Second
Edit Photoshop
Image Evaluation
The morning sun relecting on the sea and blades of grass really intreagued me. In camera the silohette of the fence interested me and I really appreciated the amazing light of a misty morning. Using a soft graduated filter to tone down the sun high in the sky.
Tripod Used
ISO 100
28mm
F22
1/25 Second
Tbe Bernica Project - Book
I decided to make a book about The Bernica Project using the images I took but also adding a little historical content about the places I visited to give the book a more educational feel.
Web Site Print Sales.
With the objective being to sell prints it was important to have a user friendly web site to sell prints from.
I set up the website using a hosting company called squarespace. I chose squarespace after doing extensive research into web design and set up.
I also purchased a url that worked for me and opted for www.seantelford.net
With the objective being to sell prints it was important to have a user friendly web site to sell prints from.
I set up the website using a hosting company called squarespace. I chose squarespace after doing extensive research into web design and set up.
I also purchased a url that worked for me and opted for www.seantelford.net
Extensive work has been done to the website to make it easy to use, secure payments, font choice and aesthetics. I have had to cost the prints according to size and cost, packaging and delivery.
Print and Distribution.
With the website up and running I have had to cost accordingly to make profit on the prints. This meant sourcing good quality frames (If Required) print sleeves and borders to produce a good quality product to ensure customer satisfaction and repeat business. Having researched many sources and understanding quality versus cost I have chosen the companies I intend to use :
Sleeves http://www.transpack.co.uk/
Borders http://www.transpack.co.uk/
Distribution http://www.dhl.co.uk/en.html
Print http://www.paulgrahamltd.com/
I have the confidence to go and succeed because I believe in my ability.
Their is nothing more satisfying than seeing your work in a frame and printed.
I want to print more.
Photography isn't just a career, it's a passion and has become a way of life.
I have learned about web sites, SEO, building a brand and a business in photography.
The best zoom in the world is your legs!!!
Distribution http://www.dhl.co.uk/en.html
Print http://www.paulgrahamltd.com/
Learning Outcomes
I have learned and refined many things whilst completing this brief. It has been a great learning curve, not just in my techniques but how I value the strength of an image before I take the shot.
Appreciating how light can alter an image simply by waiting and being patient.
My NEED to compose a shot now has become most important, understanding foreground requirements.
Using quality filters has made me more creative, without the fear of compromising on colour cast and quality.
Planning and pre visualization of a shot before I even pick up the camera.
Research is key to be able to create the images that you pre visualize.
I now only use photoshop to edit with as you have much more control over subtle adjustments.
The quality of your image is only as good as the quality of your print.
I have built a business and understand the need for quality products to enhance the visual experience.
I need more material and now I am searching for locations, new areas to photograph.
I want to shoot much more.
I want to share my experience with others, holding workshops is something I intend to pursue.
I need to push myself more, the results are worth it.I have the confidence to go and succeed because I believe in my ability.
Their is nothing more satisfying than seeing your work in a frame and printed.
I want to print more.
Photography isn't just a career, it's a passion and has become a way of life.
I have learned about web sites, SEO, building a brand and a business in photography.
The best zoom in the world is your legs!!!
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