musings at New Year
Welcome everyone to 2018!! This is a 'journal' of my annual New Year trip, it's a trip i've been making for years. When I first started doing these it was all about the images but over time the images have almost become a by-product in that it's now a cleansing mission, a time to plan out the year and what I hope to achieve. The upcoming year will be busy for me as the group I am a part of ,The Society of Scottish Landscape Photographers, is having it's first exhibition with 2 dates so far ..... Starting in Fort William and moving onto Edinburgh. This exhibition will be a major undertaking with 40 of the best photographers currently shooting the Scottish landscape showing one image each that describes them, both as a person and an artist. The question of kit has been on my mind recently as I have just added to my kit with the totally excellent Formatt Hitech filter system. I spent a long time researching which filters I felt I needed and after using these for a couple of weeks I am very glad I chose the Formatt Hitech ones with the biggest consideration being they have no colour cast .... what you see on the back of the camera is what you get, this a major thing for me because I need that. There is a list below of the kit used for those who wish to see it. I had made a plan based on the locations I was visiting and after so many years of doing this you'd have thought I'd know better! The plan was blasted out the water on day one but I (almost) pride myself in being an Organic photographer .... I work with whatever Mother Nature gives me and that is the images I am showing here, there will be thoughts, there will be quotes and there will of course be.... Musings. Davie Hudson
The equipment used for this trip: Sigma SD Quattro with 18-300mm lens Panasonic GX80 with both 12-32mm and 45-200mm lenses Huawei Mate 10 Pro Smartphone Gitzo Systematic Series 2 Carbon Fibre tripod with Series 2 Off-Centre Ballhead Formatt Hitech Filter system including the totally amazing Firecrest Ultra 10Stop ND
I'm starting with images that were taken before the New Year but I'll rationalise it by saying they were after the Winter Solstice so technically a new year, right? This mountain is special to me, so special I have it tattooed on my chest (maybe that says a lot about me). I embarked on this journey purely on the basis of trying out my new Formatt Hitech Filter system and as i rounded the corner on the A82 I saw this..... it doesn't get any better for me and it was the shape of things to come that day.
I love the uniformity of water, the united persistence. When you live in Scotland you either embrace water and work with it or move somewhere else. There is a lot of water in this book, mainly due to the amount of rain and melting snow in the highlands.... what is it they say about making lemonade out of lemons? Not bad lemonade in my mind.
In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks. John Muir
A lot of photographers forget this, if you concentrate on the picture you'll never get it....embrace nature and try to match it's beauty and you'll get close.
When I am alone in the Highlands and I see a bridge like this my brain starts thinking of the history, the back story to go along with it. I had a vision of people on horseback crossing this bridge on their way to Inverness, fleeing some tyranny but being able to travel through to most glorious countyside imagineable. As it is now nature has reclaimed what once belonged to it and the bridge still brings joy to people like me... I walked across it for some kind of Outlander moment.... I never got it but you feel the history in these places. The location is literally just off the road and I may never find it again , and you know what? That's ok .with me
Always look at your feet, and where you place your tripod ..... nature and beauty is everwhere.
I like standing on top of waterfalls, to see where they lead .... especially when they lead to glory like this. Even in winter the subtle palette is amazing.
I have this habit of going to locations and completely ignoring the obvious.... you won't know it looking at this image but to my left is Ardvreck Castle.
I was drawn to the colour banding here... water going into green, brown and then snowy white. I find myself being drawn to colour tone and almost ignoring the subject matter, it's more about a feeling.
A great location that I hope to get back to when the underfoot conditions are better. As a landscape photographer we often take chances but there has to be some sort of self-preservation and at this moment it kicked in.
Once again ignoring the obvious, here I am standing at Loch Shiel with the Glenfinnan Monument to my left and the Viaduct behind me but this is what spoke to me... it's dark, moody, a little sinister... or in other words, it's me!
The perfect path of the water here is awe inspiring to me and of course while you're looking at it you don't know that until you expose it for longer and you see how it falls. These are probably my favourite shots of the trip and I encourage you to look closer at the perfection of the water.
So that was my trip, was it a good one? ...... To be honest, it's always a good one, it's a need, a necessity for me to arrange my thoughts and start a year on a good foot. The plan never worked due to weather and road conditions, but so what? I was in the most glorious area on God's green earth, communing with nature and having a great time, what more can you ask for? Being out in the Highlands has so many benefits to life, from a clearer thought process to physical benefits .... the Norwegians call it Friluftsliv which translates into 'free air life' and it is better than any therapy, you get perspective on your life just by spending time outdoors, by feeling that freezing wind in your face... but it's a good freezing, it's a reminder that you're still alive! I came away with a sense of calmness to face this year and a happiness that my kit done what I needed it to do... I pretty much used the Formatt Hitech Filters for the entirity of the journey and they opened up an avenue for me creatively that I am really happy with. There is a quote by Knut Hamsun that sums up the feeling of spending time outdoors and one look into the eyes of an outdoor person when they are in the wilds will tell you all you need to know.
In my solitude, many miles from men and houses, I am in a childishly happy and carefree state of mind, which you are incapable of understanding unless someone explains it to you. Thank you for spending time looking at this little book, for more images and news as it happens please visit www.redstagphotography.com
www.redstagphotography.com