Finding Light

I was recently invited onto the ‘Finding Light’ podcast to have a chat with my good friend Brad Carr. We spent the morning in a beautiful location in Snowdonia making the most of some lovely atmospheric conditions among the birch trees before moving onto discuss the meaning behind my photography and how life might’ve shaped my direction. I’ve never been the type to hide from the negative things that happened through childhood and more recently in the separation from my Wife, preferring to face them head on and try to use the suffering to positive effect. I find communicating these struggles extremely beneficial to the healing and growth process as a human being. The camera and to a lesser extent my words and musings here are fantastic creative outlets and my experiences hopefully translate into something that you’re able to connect with.

The YouTube video of our discussion can be found below and it’s also available over on Spotify.

I had somewhat of a break from photography for the vast amount of 2023 but for the last month or so I’ve rediscovered my purpose and I’ve been back out enjoying the landscape. I’ve had to make some quite large adjustments this year and my photography time for the moment is somewhat constrained to the periods where I’m not at work or spending time with my two boys William and Arthur. I’m no longer in a position where I can venture out whenever the conditions are favourable, I’ve got set days and I go out regardless. I’m a firm believer that there’s images to be made regardless of the conditions providing we’re open to seeing them. Even if the images don’t present themselves, no trip is ever wasted and the practice of photography and immersing my self in the landscape is always an enjoyable and worthwhile experience.

Despite these new constraints I’ve enjoyed a really productive spell of photography, September often provides some wonderful conditions and I’ve been fortunate enough to be out making images on a few of these days. I’m not anticipating my run of fortune lasting but that makes the days where it does come together all the more special.

‘Sanctuary’ from a very special morning in the woods.

I’ve got some quite big news incoming in terms of workshop’s and I’m also in the process of getting a print store sorted. To get access to these before anyone else I’d recommend signing up to my newsletter. My diary is filling quite quickly for 2024 and I’m really excited to be collaborating with some fantastic photographers and creatives to offer some residential photography workshops and some creative retreats that will involve a deeper dive into everything creative whilst maintaining a huge emphasis on photography.

I’ll leave you with some images from the last month or so, I hope you have a fantastic Autumn.

Thanks

Marc

Originality in landscape photography

It’s fascinating to hear others views on what is or isn’t deemed original in landscape photography. I have quite a simplistic view of what I’d class as original, for me it all boils down to composition. I often hear the argument that the same scene will never be the same and whilst the weather and the seasons are always changing I personally don’t feel that’s a strong enough argument to class something as original. Another argument that’s often discussed in favour of copying is that nobody owns the landscape, I’d like to suggest that nobody owns the English language but it doesn’t stop singer/songwriters for getting into trouble for stealing lyrics. For instance imagine Ed Sheeran copying word for word Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb, would this be deemed an original Ed Sheeran song? It would sound different sure but the words haven’t changed. What would be the likely outcome if he were to release the record had he not sought the permission of Roger Waters and David Gilmour? He’d likely end up in troubled waters. Why then is it acceptable for photographers to copy composition without at least passing on some form of credit to the original photographer who saw the composition?

I had a lovely walk out at Holme Fell in the Lake District recently and took a handful of images whilst the rain fell and the light shone. Two of the compositions I recognised instantly as the work of others and on sharing I credited the photographers who were first to capture the scenes, although my versions were completely different. For me despite the obvious differences in conditions the things that I could actually control in terms of composition and camera settings didn’t differentiate them enough from the originals to count as my own. In fact I actually feel a degree of shame for taking the photographs in the first place, despite them being rather nice.

An image of a birch with the Langdale Pikes drenched in a passing shower, a subject first photographed by Colin Bell.

A similar view but with birch trees previously photographed by Mark Littlejohn.

I took a few more images that morning that I didn’t recognise as anyone else’s and the way I feel about them is far more positive than the other two. From my perspective to complete the artistic process I need to connect with something that I’ve seen, the joy comes from creating something from a section of the landscape that spoke to me. I suppose that’s why I’m often found walking amongst trees in the woods, yes I absolutely love the quiet and the solitude that these environments provide but I also want to create something that feels original to me and trees provide endless opportunities to create original photographs.

It’s I suppose quite a controversial subject and opinion to say that many of the images from popular locations that I see are borderline plagiarism, you could argue that there is two examples of such above. There’s huge value in originality and I sometimes feel that we can sell ourselves short by believing that every image that we take is original. Bare with me, I’m sure this will come across as me being arrogant and elitist but I often here photographers describing themselves as artists, I don’t witness any other art form giving away compositions for free, or it being widely accepted as a free for all. Imagine if I were to trace the Moana Lisa but painted in the gaps in slightly different colours and called her Loana Misa. Would that be acceptable? Would it be original? Of course it wouldn't and I struggle to see the difference between that and taking a composition that I’ve seen before.

There’s huge benefits to copying in the learning process and I do feel like there’s a place for it in landscape photography but I’d always give credit where possible to the original photographer, it feels like the right thing to do.

I’m sure that my views will likely sit uncomfortably with some but it would be great to hear your thoughts around originality and landscape photography.

Thanks for reading.

Two fine morning's.

Ever had one of them day’s when conditions align and everything falls into place? I’ve had a few since I started photographing in the woods and every one is as special as the last, moments to treasure, time forever lost behind the camera in the absolute bliss of the atmosphere. I had a couple of these day’s on the bounce in the ancient Staffordshire woodland earlier this month. I recall at the end of the first morning when the fog was lifting, I found the perch of a fallen oak tree and sat for a while to soak in the bird song whilst the mist turned to blue and the light from the sun illuminated everything just that touch brighter. I generally work quite quickly when the conditions turn up, previous scouting trips help in this regard and I will have numerous compositions or areas of interest logged away for such events so I always take time at the end of what can be a quite manic spell to take it all in and remind myself that the experience of being present is what’s important.

I’d been waiting to experience the beautiful combination of atmosphere with light during the winter months in this woodland for two years and it had finally happened, I’d previously experienced similar conditions in the early Autumn when the foliage was still in full swing, but whilst I loved the colours and contrast it offered, a lot of the shape and form was hidden away among leaves and bracken. In fact during the warmer months many of the compositions are impossible to photograph due to the height of the ferns or the thickness of the canopy. I’ve decided to share a few of my favourites and talk through some of my thought processes behind both the composition but more importantly the story they tell.

Calming the chaos

A big thanks for all of the feedback on my last piece of writing, it’s lovely to know that my thoughts around the subject of light before composition wasn’t too controversial. It’s not that composition isn’t important either, we cant simply photograph light alone without giving it a sense of purpose or a place to shine. So what makes for good composition then in a chaotic environment like the woods?

I’m often told on social media that my images bring a sense of calm which I find encouraging because ultimately that’s the aim of my photography, to capture the essence of what i’m feeling on that 3x2 sensor and translate it into something that can potentially bring a moments joy to someones day. The wood’s are undoubtedly a chaotic environment so what is it about trees that brings a sense of calm and how can we translate that feeling into an image? Ever wondered why most successful woodland images include a pathway winding it’s way into the distant atmosphere? Some would say that a pathway creates depth and I can’t argue with that but is it the key ingredient to what makes the image something beautiful? I’d argue that it’s a very small factor.

If we delve deep into an image with a pathway with any detail we can start to understand why they are so successful as composition, the very nature of a pathway creates a clearing through the wood’s allowing in light from the sparser canopy and a feeling of space running through the middle of the image, the trees on either side of the pathway create framing, texture, balance, repetition and colour. The space, light and atmosphere in the centre of the frame are very much the key ingredient to giving the image a sense of calm and importantly giving the viewers eye a place to rest from the chaos that’s happening all around it. I generally try to avoid photographing man made subjects, preferring my images to look natural but I apply all of the above principles to finding woodland composition, I just simply remove the pathway.

It’s very much the same thought process when photographing a gnarly old oak tree, it’s quite easy to just photograph the tree in isolation but how can we tell the story of where it lives, it’s relationships with it’s neighbor’s and the surrounding environment? I think it’s important here to consider light and space before we discuss any other compositional elements in detail, a gnarly old tree alone will not make for a good photograph if there’s no light or if it’s not in enough space to reveal it’s character, I’ve walked passed hundreds of gnarly old trees that simply didn’t work because other elements distracted or the light was wrong. No amount of atmosphere, fog or processing can suddenly make a bad subject to photograph good regardless of how appealing it may be, we need to first and foremost work with the available light and it’s surroundings. So we have a nice old oak tree bathed in soft light either from an opening in the canopy or some diffused soft light lifting the details of the tree, how do we go about composing an image then? Occasionally I will stumble across a scene that works perfectly from the moment I lay eyes upon it but that’s rarely the case, it’s important to walk around and away from the subject and look for complimentary trees, interactions, patterns, shapes and the potential to frame the tree with supporting elements to create depth and a sense of place. I’m a huge fan of placing my subject along with the light and space centrally in woodland composition, purposely to keep the viewers eye returning to the middle of the image, giving them a place to rest before exploring more of the chaos.

I could discuss my views on composition all day long but what I would say to anybody who wants to photograph woodland is to forget the general rules for composition, forget finding a subject and to enter the woods open to whatever catches your eye, be it space, light, colour, character, patterns, texture or shape, then try to build that into a composition focusing on balance, structure, separation and depth. It’s important to consider what to include or exclude in the composition but never be afraid to photograph something that’s imperfect, we are trying to calm the chaos not exclude it altogether.

Most importantly though just enjoy being there, experiment and stay curious. There really is no better way to spend a morning with the camera than under the cover of trees.

Cheers

Marc

Working with the light

We’ve all been there, planning locations, working out the fastest route to reach our composition only to be met with conditions that fail to reach our high expectations. The problem with expectations in landscape photography is that they usually depend on weather conditions and no matter how good those conditions may be we always wish they were slightly better. What would happen to our photography then if we rid ourselves of expectation and started to work with whatever the conditions were doing on the day?

I’m a great believer in working with the available light and trying not to get too hung up on composition, in fact most of my favourite images have come to me as consequence of the lighting conditions and not the structure or beauty of the landscape itself. I’m a bit of a saddo when it comes to light and can be found studying the way it interacts with the most mundane of objects around the house or at work, my wife thinks i’m weird but light can make even her sausage and mash look appealing. Ever looked at a tree being illuminated by a burst of light against a dark brooding sky or the shadows of a hillside? Or the light catching the back of a huge wave revealing the detail, textures and the shades of aqua and green that were grey’s and blues before the light revealed it’s true beauty. Whilst the landscape itself is pretty in it’s own right it’s only with light that it becomes magnificent, a thing to behold, something to get excited about.

So how do we incorporate this into our photography and the landscape? I think practice and time are probably the key ingredients along with a willingness to be curious to anything that may catch our eye. Repeated visits to the same location can help us to learn the lay of the land but most importantly the way the light interacts with it. There’s a pleasing image to be made regardless of the conditions, we really just need to be open to seeing it.

I received some great news last year from the Landscape Photographer of the Year competition, an email confirming that my image The Last to Fall received a commended, a place in the book and will be touring the UK in the exhibition. It was taken on a brief walk on Christmas morning whilst the turkey cooked and was very much an image that worked with the available reflected light from the above blue sky and the warmth of the rising sun.

I suppose I work a bit backwards to the traditional form of landscape photography where composition comes before anything, I would always put light and weather conditions first and then build my composition around my knowledge of the location and areas that will work with the light that’s available. I’ve discovered since spending most of my time with trees in the darkness of the woods that light really is the most important factor, it’s often the first thing to catch my eye, I can then look for a composition to work with it based around balance, structure, patterns, flow, space, character, colours and textures.

If I could suggest any advice to my fellow photographers it would be to lose the expectations and enjoy the light that’s on offer. It’s not going to lead to portfolio images every time we venture out but no journey is ever wasted, every step brings new opportunity to learn and discover.

Cheers for reading.

Marc

A year gone by.

I’ve been attempting to put together a new blog for a while now but every time I put pen to paper I hit a brick wall and it never really gets beyond the first paragraph. I do like to share my thoughts but writing is something that doesn’t come naturally to me although plenty have told me that they enjoy my ramblings, I think they are just being kind but their words give me the confidence to at least attempt to finish one of these things. There’s one thing that I promised myself before writing my first blog and that was not to go down the preaching route, there’s plenty of guides and how to’s out there and there’s no real right or wrong to photography once we get past the basics of camera settings and the understanding of the exposure triangle, everything else is massively subjective and beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

It was around about a year ago when I first stepped into a woodland with the intention of photographing it, a gorgeously atmospheric morning was spent in my local wood without any real idea of what I was doing or looking for. I had mainly been photographing local landmarks and popular locations around the Peak District and Snowdonia but I wasn’t getting enough from them creatively and from a well being perspective to really find them enjoyable, the time spent waiting for light just allowed my mind to wander back to more negative times. That first morning in the woods was a revelation and four hours passed without me noticing, just me, my dog, my camera and so much going on visually that I really found my mind distracted from everything else in the world, I was very much free to just point my camera at whatever caught my eye.

I was hooked from this moment forward but much like my writing it didn’t come naturally, I’ve invested a great deal of myself into the woods this year and the more time I have spent exploring, practicing composition and failing the more my connection and love for woodland photography and it’s benefits have grown. I never come away thinking of a trip as a failure even if the camera stays in it’s bag, it’s always enjoyable and enriching in way’s far greater than the images I create ever will be. I feel progress has been made in my photography over this year developing an understanding of what I like in my images and what I don’t but I still find myself questioning my own abilities regularly and self doubt creeps in constantly. I don’t see this being a bad thing in general and being self critical is an important element in all walks of life but particularly in photography and the creative world, we are all just people with a camera sharing our interpretation of the world and I’ve got plenty of room to improve and grow.

It’s been a great first year and I’m excited for the cold and frosty mornings that lie ahead, a few recent images from some wonderful autumnal mornings.

Thanks

Marc

Reclaimed