verf 45 by freolpdoe4

HOW TO CREATE LIGHT-PAINTED LANDSCAPES

landscape | wildlife | nature | adventure

Steve Watkins It is with great sadness and shock that we have to tell you of the death of our dear friend and colleague, Steve Watkins, who died on 9 December 2019. Steve had been Editor of Outdoor Photography since 2009 and brought to the magazine all his energy and love of landscape photography and the natural world. He developed strong relationships with his contributors and readers and was always the irst to encourage and give advice. His knowledge of photography, both technical and aesthetic, was considerable and he loved to discuss the subject at length. He was a professional photographer and author for 17 years, his work taking him to over 60 countries and every continent, and he was the author of three bestselling BBC books.

He had immense generosity of spirit and a deeply infectious laugh – he made us smile on a Monday morning and we turned to him when we needed advice on anything from buying a car to world afairs – and, of course, how to get an exposure right. He was a source of wisdom and compassion and humour and he could out-talk anyone in the oice. Above all else was his love for his wife Sarah and his two boys, Oliver and Sam, whose lives have now been changed forever. Like us, we hope you will celebrate Steve’s life – a life that touched so many people along the way. He will be remembered not with sadness but with the joy of having known him, and all the respect and afection we have felt for him. This issue was edited by Steve and his team.

GET IN TOUCH Write to us Outdoor Photography, 86 High Street, Lewes, Eat Sussex BN7 1XN Keep right up to date with news by ‘liking’ OP at facebook.com/outdoorphotographymag

The GMC Photography Team

ON THE COVER James Mills created this fairytale image. See his painting with light feature on page 28.

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 1

February 20202018 DECEMBER

FEATURES & OPINION 16 In conversation with… Jack Perks Freshwater underwater pecialit Jack Perks talks with Nick Smith about why he gets so much joy from photographing pecies of ish and other aquatic creatures that are rarely put in the potlight

25 One month, one piture Pete Bridgwood is in the French Alps capturing high mountain images, but without all the derring do of going on expedition

39 Lie of the land Sarah Howard explores whether fully immersing ourselves in a scene can lead to more poweful landscape photographs

50 Opinion David Noton batles the contraditory voices in his head about where he should go to shoot some dawn images, but does he make the right choice?

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52 In the potlight Tim Sexton likes nothing beter than to shoot the tiny criters at the Atenborough Nature Reserve in Notisngham, where he works as a manager

55 Inside track Given a hitorical book of photos of his home city, Swansea, Nick Smith realises how the subjet mater in an image is far more important than technical perfetion

56 Photo showcase: Red Bull Illume This world-leading competition has once again surfaced some tunning adventure port images

LEARNING ZONE

LOCATIONS GUIDE

28 Light painting the landscape

42 Kilfarrasy beach, County Waterford

James Mills shines a light on the technical and creative skills you need to produce wonderful lght-painted landscape images

Pawel Zygmunt is on the south coat of Ireland, and witnesses an impressive ocean scene

36 Quick guide to… Keeping your equipment safe in the outdoors Greg Whiton shares some top tips on keeping your gear safe and in working order when you are out photographing in challenging weather conditions and environments

45 Am Bodach, Highland Carlton Doudney ignores the allure of the snooze buton and rises in time to capture a superb image of dawn light

46 Viewpoints Eight top UK locations to shoot this month, including photogenic pots in Cornwall, Devon, Cumbria and Highland

NEXT ISSUE ON SALE 6 FEBRUARY 2020 How to capture impressive silhouetes in your photographs A quick guide to using tilt-shit lenses for landscape images See the winners of our ‘Wildlife behaviour’ competition

NATURE ZONE

GEAR ZONE

74 Life in the wild Laurie Campbell looks at how camoulage is used in nature and how photographers can utilise it to get beter shots

76 Photography guide Laurie’s nature highlights for this month, plus two world wildlife petacles and ive great places to see red squirrels

79 A moment with nature Michael Parker is on a very pecial trip to Antartica to photograph the emperor penguins, and comes away full of admiration for them

80 On the wing Steve Young is on the lookout for waxwings in his local area, and realises that they are not too fussy about where they hang out

84 Camera gear tet: Canon EOS M6 MkII Fergus Kennedy puts this exciting new camera to the tet

REGULARS

YOUR OP

8 Newsroom

14 Social hub

The latet photography, outdoor and conservation tories

Our pick of the leters you’ve sent in this month

10 Book of the month

54 Next month

We take a look at the new book from landscape mater Charlie Waite, which covers the tories behind some of his bet-known images

A sneak peek at the March issue of Outdoor Photography

64 Your chance Discover how to get your work published in OP

12 Out there 86 Gearing up Our round up of the latet outdoor and photography kit to hit the shelves

The latet outdoor photography books, exhibitions and events to keep you inpired over the coming weeks

67 Reader gallery Our pick of this month’s bet readers’ images

100 If you only do one thing this month…

SUBSCRIBE TO OP TODAY AND SAVE UP TO 30% Never miss an issue. Have Outdoor Photography delivered diret to your door and save up to 30% on the cover price. To ind out how to subscribe go to outdoorphotographymagazine.co.uk/subscribe

The winners of our ‘Black & white landscapes’ competition, plus details of our next challenge

112 Where in the world? Identify the location and you could win a superb pair of Keen Explore Mid WP boots, worth £110!

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 3

IN THE MAGAZINE THIS MONTH... 16

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EDITORIAL

COVER +28 James Mills is a Peak Ditrit-based landscape photographer. He enjoys exploring the area’s pecial woodlands as much as possible and showing the region’s well-known locations in a unique way through light painting. He licenses his images worldwide. jamesmillphotography.com

Greg Whiton is a multiaward-winning and published landscape photographer who ofers workshops designed to lead clients to less oten visited locations, to get away from the crowds, creatively express themselves, and allow them to experience the true beauty of wild landscapes. gregwhiton.com

25 Based in Notingham, Jack Perks is a freelance underwater and wildlife cameraman, and has worked on Springwatch, Countryile and The One Show. He runs photography courses with Notingham Trent University and is a leturer for the MSc Biological Photography and Imaging course at the University of Notingham. jackperkphotography.com

Sarah Howard is a Cotswolds-based landscape photographer with two passions: travel and photography. A lover of the great outdoors, she enjoys sharing her enthusiasm for photography with others, and runs workshops throughout the UK and overseas. imageseen.co.uk

Nick Smith is a writer and photographer pecialising in travel and environmental issues. He is a contributing editor on the Explorers Journal and is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. nicksmithphoto.com

Pete Bridgwood is a ine art landscape photographer and writer. He is fascinated by the creative foundations of landscape photography and passionate about exploring the emotional elements of the art. petebridgwood.com

Editor Steve Watkins Sub-editor Chris Gatcum opdeped@thegmcgroup.com Designer Toby Haigh

ADVERTISING Advertising executive Guy Stockton guy.tockton@thegmcgroup.com, 01273 402825

MARKETING Marketing executive Anne Guillot anneg@thegmcgroup.com, 01273 402871

PRODUCTION

Pawel Zygmunt is a Polishborn landscape photographer based in Ireland. His work takes him to some of the mot iconic and myterious places of Ireland, Britain and the Faroe Islands. He has been widely published and his images have been awarded in several competitions, including Landscape Photographer of the Year. breakinglightpitures.com

Carlton Doudney is a landscape photographer based in Perthshire. As a kitchen-bound chef, he loves geting outside as much as he can. And as a keen mountain walker, the main focus for his photography is in high places, year round.

Prodution manager Jim Bulley Prodution controller Scot Teagle Origination and Ad design GMC Repro. repro@thegmcgroup.com, 01273 402807 Publisher Jonathan Grogan Printer Precision Colour Printing, Telford, 01952 585585 Ditribution Seymour Ditribution Ltd Outdoor Photography (ISSN 1470-5400) is published 13 times a year by GMC Publications Ltd. 86 High Street, Lewes, Eat Sussex BN7 1XN. Tel 01273 477374 © Guild of Mater Cratsman Publications Ltd. 2020

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50 David Noton regularly shoots for the National Trut, and his other clients include British Airways, Sainsbury’s and the Sunday Times. He also tours his Chasing the Light Road Show, an inpiring audiovisual presentation. davidnoton.com

79 Mike Parker is drawn to unpopulated vitas and the world’s dwindling wildernesses. It’s taking a while to photograph them all, though, as he gets easily ditrated by the wildlife. But he enjoys seeking the perfet image, and writing about his travels and the photographic techniques he should have used. imageyonder.com

Steve Young has been at OP from issue one. His images have appeared in numerous publications and he has writen two bird photography books and photo-edited two bird identiication guides. He was the overall winner of the 2010 British Wildlife Photography Awards. birdsonilm.com

At the age of ive, Fergus Kennedy loved messing around in the sea and playing with gadgets. Forty years on, very litle has changed. He is a marine biologit and works as a freelance photographer, drone pilot and camera operator for clients such as the BBC and Canon Europe. ferguskennedy.com

ALSO IN OP THIS MONTH

For further details: Call 01273 488005 Email pubs@thegmcgroup.com Visit thegmcgroup.com

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Andrew Ray andrewrayphotography.com, Bruce Litle brucelitle.net, Conor Gault conorgault.com, Laurie Campbell lauriecampbell.com, Mark Bulmer markbulmerphotography.com, Mathew Catell mathewcatellphotography.com, Stephen Tomlinson tephentomlinsonphotography.com Outdoor Photography considers article ideas for publication, which should be sent to the Editor, along with a tamped self-addressed return envelope if you require your material back. GMC Publications cannot accept liability for the loss or damage of any unsolicited material. Views and comments expressed by individuals in the magazine do not necessarily represent those of the publishers and no legal reponsibility can be accepted for the results of the use by readers of information or advice of whatever kind given in this publication, either in editorial or advertisements. No part of this publication may be reproduced, tored in a retrieval sytem or transmited in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the Guild of Mater Cratsman Publications Ltd. With regret, promotional ofers and competitions, unless otherwise tated, are not available outside the UK and Eire. GMC Publications cannot accept liability for the loss or damage of any unsolicited material.

Masters ofDesign Over 80 years of experience in photography goes into every camera we make, so you can be sure they always handle perfectly FUJIFILM-X.COM

Seal and pup by Terry Donnelly Sony Europe Imaging Ambassador Terry Donnelly used the new Sony Alpha 7R IV with a 600mm f/4 lens to capture this endearing image of a mother seal and her newly born pup sharing a tender moment in the seal colony at Donna Nook, Lincolnshire. Donnelly used the new Animal Eye AF and real-time tracking to capture the images he took of the seals in their natural habitat. The Sony Alpha 7R IV retails for ÂŁ3,499, but there is a ÂŁ350 tradein bonus available in photographic retailers until 31 January (terms and conditions apply). Sony Alpha 7R IV with FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens, ISO 400, 1/640sec at f/4.5

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THE LATEST BULLETINS

NEWSROOM NEW LAUNCHES

COMPETITIONS

OUTDOORS

CONSERVATION

TECHNOLOGY

OTHER NEWS

Chinese lens companies get up close and personal

New research shows that pine martens are ‘more opportunistic and adaptable, in terms of their diet, than previously thought’, which ‘gives hope for this endangered species’. The research, which was conducted by researchers from Queen’s University Belfast and funded by wildlife charity People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES), collected pine marten scats every month from 19 sites in Northern Ireland and analysed them ‘to give a detailed picture of exactly what pine martens were eating’. What the droppings revealed was that while mice and insects were present throughout the year, the pine martens supplemented this with more seasonal fare, including rowan, blackberries and bilberries in late summer and autumn, and mammals such as songbirds, rabbits, shrews and grey squirrels in their respective breeding seasons. Joshua Twining, the project’s leader, explained how this made it ‘clear that pine martens are not only true opportunistic omnivores, but they’re also highly adaptable, and unlike many other species, they can switch their diet depending on

what’s available around them at any given time’. It is thought that this flexibility in their diet helps explain why pine marten numbers are gradually increasing, despite a significant lack of the ancient coniferous and deciduous woodlands that form their traditional habitat. The research not only offers hope for the future of the pine marten, but also has positive ramifications for the diminutive predator’s broader environment. Nida Al-Fulaij, grants manager at PTES, outlined how ‘pine martens are an extremely important part of the ecosystem. Not only do they disperse seeds throughout the environments they live in, but they can also lower disease prevalence through removing carrion, as well as potentially playing a role in managing invasive species such as grey squirrels, which in turn helps to bring back native species, such as red squirrels’. You can read more about this fascinating research at ptes.org/success-stories/pine-martensin-northern-ireland, or view the research paper at link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10344-019-1289-z.

A profusion of plug-ins from DxO DxO Labs has announced the launch of Nik Colletion 2.3, the latet version of the imageenhancement suite it acquired from Google at the tail end of 2017. Billed as ‘the mot powerful photo editing plugins for Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom’, Nik Colletion incorporates seven Adobe-compatible tools, with the latet iteration adding more than 40 new pre-sets to the mix, including landscape-orientated options such as Graduated Fog, Siniter and Sunset. The septet of sotware extensions also ships with DxO PhotoLab 2 Essential Edition, which can be used as a tandalone launcher so non-Adobe users can also exploit the plug-ins’ potential. Download the 30-day free trial version, order the colletion or ind out more at nikcolletion.dxo.com.

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Positive propets for pine martens

Zhongyi Optics (ZY Optics) has launched the Mitakon 85mm f/2.8 Super Macro lens, which ofers macro enthusiats a whopping 1-5x magniication range for extreme close-ups. Incorporating 12 elements in eight groups, the manual focus lens boats ‘one of the longet working ditances for any super macro lens’, with a working ditance of 10cm at 5x magniication and 27.2cm at 1x magniication, so you don’t need to get too close to your subjet. The lens is available in a comprehensive range of mounts, comprising Canon EF/EOS-M, Nikon F, Sony FE/E, Pentax K, Micro Four Thirds and Fujiilm X. The lens has a retail price of US$499 (approximately £380) plus shipping, with a tripod collar and LED ring light included in the package, and can be ordered diret from zyoptics.net. Not to be outdone, Laowa (Venus Optics) has announced that it will be making two of its current macro lenses – the 25mm f/2.8 Ultra Macro (2-5x magniication) and the 100mm f/2.8 Ultra Macro (2x magniication) – available in the Canon RF and Nikon Z mirrorless mounts. The manual focus lenses will carry the same price tag as the exiting lens mount options (US$399 and US$499 repetively) with the 25mm lens available immediately and the 100mm optic scheduled to tart shipping from March. More at venuslens.net.

EDITED BY CHRIS GATCUM

NEWS IN NUMBERS The yellow-eyed penguin or ‘hoiho’ has won Bird of the Year in New Zealand, picking up more than one quarter of the public votes (27.66 per cent) and beating of competition from 2008’s winner, the kākāpō. Now in its 14th year, the contet is run by conservation group Foret and Bird to raise awareness of the country’s threatened bird pecies. The hoiho – whose name translates as ‘noisy’ in the Māori language – has been in decline for three decades, with jut 165 nets located in 2019. To ind out more, head over to birdotheyear.org.nz.

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University researcher scores a hat-trick Roberto García Roa, a potdotoral researcher at the University of Valencia, has taken three wins in the British Ecological Society’s Capturing Ecology photography contet, including the top pot for his creative shot of a Malagasy tree boa. Roberto explained how ‘many areas of Madagascar are sufering huge anthropic pressures, including poaching and ires, and big snakes are becoming increasingly diicult to see. During my visit to Madagascar I had the pleasure of inding this outtanding snake and photographing it. To ofer a dramatic scenario releting the conditions that these snakes are sufering, I used an external red light source and severe blurring to capture the environment’. Roberto also took top honours in the Dynamic Ecosytems and Up Close and Personal categories, and all three of his images – along with those from the competition’s other winners – will be on show at a free exhibition in Ulter Museum, Belfat, from 11 February. You can also view the winning shots online at britishecologicalsociety.org.

Autralian nature photo contet now open for entry

Hitoric winners announced The winner of the Historic Photographer of the Year Awards 2019 has been revealed, with Stéphane Hurel picking up irst place for his photograph of the ruins of the Arromanches Mulberry Harbour in Normandy. Dan Korn, head of the television channel HISTORY – one of the competition’s oicial partners – described how Stéphane’s ‘haunting and evocative image immediately resonated’ and that ‘the wonderful use of light, perspective and composition…made this stand out from the other wonderful entries’. The Historic England category was won by J P Appleton, for a long exposure photograph of Sunderland’s Roker Pier, while HISTORY’s Short Filmmaker of the Year went to Dibs McCallum for a documentary about RAF Barnham, a former Cold War nuclear weapons storage facility in Sufolk. The winning entries – and more – can be seen at historicphotographeroftheyear.com.

The South Autralian Museum has launched its 2020 Autralian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year competition, inviting photographers to submit images of the natural world. The competition is open to photographers around the world, of all ages and experience levels – the only retrition is that photographs mut have been taken in the ANZANG region (Autralia, New Zealand, Antartica and New Guinea). There are nine categories to choose from, with the overall winner walking away with AUS$10,000 and a holiday. Entry cots AUS$38 for the irt image and AUS$22 for subsequent images (entrants to the Junior category pay AUS$10 and $5 repetively). You will need to at quickly, though, as the deadline for entries is 24 January at 5pm Autralian Central Daylight Time. Find out more and enter at naturephotographerotheyear.com.au

The State of Britain’s Dormice 2019 report by the People’s Trut for Endangered Species (PTES) has revealed that the British population of hazel dormice has fallen by 51 per cent since 2000 and is now oicially extint from 17 English counties. ‘The loss and fragmentation of their natural woodland and hedgerow habitats, as well as climate change’ are cited as the major causes behind the population crash. Visit ptes.org/ campaigns/dormice to read the report in full.

137 MILLION For the pat 40 years the RSPB has been coordinating its annual and hugely popular Big Garden Birdwatch, which asks members of the British public to pend one hour recording the birds visiting their garden or local green pace. So far, 137 million birds have been recorded in the pat four decades, providing the RSPB with a snapshot of bird numbers across the country that enables them ‘to monitor trends and…undertand how birds are doing’. This year’s Big Garden Birdwatch event runs from January 25-27 – visit rpb. org.uk/birdwatch to ind out how you can get involved and what you need to do to log the pecies you pot.

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BOOK OF THE MONTH Behind the Photograph by Charlie Waite Wet of Bruges, Belgium. Ever since my irt visit to England’s Norfolk Broads, I have long had a fondness for reeds. Their delicacy, height and swirling, circular motion in a prevailing wind appeal hugely to me. It seems all too easy jut to gaze on them and drit into quiet contemplation. Every canal-side is fringed with these glorious reeds, and in winter, even without sun, their subdued yellow tones seem to glow. I urge any landscape photographer to seek out reeds along canals and riverbanks. I have long known that reletions have oten been diparaged by some: they are seen as preditable and too literal; but to my mind, they are miraculous and, when in the company of an immaculate reletion, incorporating that into an image can truly tir the emotions. I had been unsure whether this reletion made sense to me and I truggled to produce an interpretation that I felt was anything other than topsy-turvy. I had wanted fewer reeds obscuring the mill’s sails along with slightly less ruled water. However, there was one positive in the graduation of the chalky blue sky. The mild blue contrated well with the yellow of the reeds, and being complementary colours, they were bound to do so. But till the proposed image was somehow lifeless and terile. Then, as if on cue, the smallet geture materialised in a moment with the arrival of the bicyclit. He slowed jut suiciently to allow me to align myself and depress the shuter. I was thankful that he was dressed in black so that he related to the black hood of the windmill. Now things righted themselves and the photograph suddenly made sense. Oten at irt encounter a potential photograph may appear to have no merit whatsoever and the photographer may have litle conidence as to a successful image being made. Then, seemingly from nowhere, an event takes place that can transform a potentially mediocre image into something vital and rewarding.

This image features in Charlie Waite’s wonderful new book Behind the Photograph, which includes photographs taken by Charlie across his career and from around the globe and the personal tories of how they were created. Charlie Waite is one of the great landscape photography communicators and the charming anecdotes and tales are packed full of wise words and advice about conneting with your subjet at a deep level to create more compelling imagery. Ten per cent of all the proceeds from the book will be given to Woodland Trut, which helps to retore and protet ancient woodland areas and creates new native woodland sites round Great Britain. The book cots £35 and is available now from charliewaite.com (ISBN 978-0-9570-8301-1).

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Â© Charlie Waite

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OUT THERE © Jan Scheler

EXHIBITIONS WEX PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 16 to 31 January Wex Photo Video Gallery, London Run under the hashtag #WexMondays, this competition has become hugely popular, atrating over 15,000 images. In the exhibition of the winning photographs from the 2020 competition, you will be able to see 46 images, including, of course, those from overall winner Andi Campbell. wexphotovideo.com

Left Lat. 63.968 Long. -19.081 – Landmannalaugar, Iceland. Right Lat. 67.786 Long. 28.003 – Sekkemo, Norway.

BOOKS 89 Light Jan Scheler Hatje Cantz 978-3-7757-4643-4 Hardback, £37 In 89 Light Jan Scheler’s achingly emotive photographs tell of the lands in the north – across Iceland, Finland and Norway – that he and his camera have been travelling through for the pat 20 years. They tell of the days and nights there, of his hunger for this northern light, and the poetry of the landscape of which he has become a part. Shot on square format, the photographs pay homage to the almot ininite exquisite and subtle shits in the light that the north experiences throughout the year. No locations are given for the photographs in the main body of the book (these are only referenced in the index with a simple place name and the latitude and longitude for each), and this serves to draw the unditrated viewer deeper into the cohesive sense of place and the nuances of each scene. A very light prinkling of beautifully poetic words from poet and author Jacqueline Majumder adds to this mesmerising monograph that will enthral and enchant any photographer with an interet in wilderness. Forets in Our World – How the Climate Afets Woodlands Gunther Willinger teNeues 978-3-96171-218-2 Hardback, £45 This sizeable tome by German biologit, science journalit and photographer Gunther Willinger is a richly illutrated overview of foret formations worldwide. Organised according to climatic zones, with detailed information, images and maps, it provides a valuable insight into foret ecosytems, how they work and why they mater. Forets are the green lungs of the world, absorbing carbon

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dioxide and releasing oxygen. They ilter our air, provide drinking water and help tabilise our climate. They also vary greatly by region, providing a home to a rich diversity of animal, plant and tree pecies around the globe. Today, more and more people, epecially outdoor photographers, are discovering the foret as a pace to exercise their creative thoughts and to recharge their bateries, but at the same time, more and more foret areas are being damaged or detroyed by human ativity. Global deforetation is not a doomladen future hypothesis, but a reality. This book is an exploration of forets at a time when we urgently need to undertand and protet them; it will also inform and enhance the work of woodland photographers.

Space Pirates. © Andi Campbell

This mighty trangler ig (Ficus pec.) in the cloud foret of Monteverde, Cota Rica, has already accomplished its life’s work. The ig irt used is hot-tree for support; then it gradually overgrew the hot; and then it inally dislodged its hot from its position among the canopy.

Handbook of Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises Mark Carwardine Bloomsbury 978-1-4729-0814-8 Hardback, £35 If you want a comprehensive guide to these wonderful underwater creatures, then you couldn’t ask for anyone beter than Mark Carwardine to provide it. A zoologit, writer, presenter, photographer and conservationit, Carwardine has been at the forefront of the explosion of interet in wildlife in every media format. Here he draws on over 30 years of tudying, observing and photographing whales, dolphins and porpoises to create the ultimate handbook of the 90 pecies around the planet. From the blue whale to the Indo-Paciic inless porpoise, the book is superbly illutrated with photographs and pecially commissioned and detailed illutrations for each pecies, all backed up with in-depth fats, igures and background tories about their lives, behaviours and hitories. It’s quite simply a mut-have book for anyone intereted in these wonderful creatures. Stories from the Deep Ken O’Sullivan Gill Books 978-0-7171-8652-5 Hardback, £14.99 Having pent his youth living next to, on and in the sea in what he describes as a ‘Huckleberry Finn-type exitence’ on Fenit Island in County Kerry, Ireland (where generations of his family had lived since around 1750), it was almot inevitable that Ken O’Sullivan would eventually make his living from the ocean. It didn’t happen easily though. Ater moving away and doing any job that brought in some money, including a tint on the inancial trading loors of London, he realised his heart lay in the waters of the Irish coat, so he took himself back there and taught himself to shoot underwater ilms and photography. Stories from the Deep tells the moving and powerful tory of how his connetion to his home place and the wonders of the ocean created the cornertone of a career that has brought much acclaim for his ilms, including the RTÉ series Ireland’s Deep Atlantic. It’s an engaging, entertaining and informative account of one man’s passion for nature, which will hit the sweet pot for those with a love of adventure and the underwater world. The Wild Coats of Canada Scot Forsyth Rocky Mountain Books 978-1-7716-0333-1 Hardback, £46 Scot Forsyth is one of Canada’s bet landscape photographers

EVENT

Valentine Fabre, Dent Blanche, Switzerland

BANFF MOUNTAIN FILM FESTIVAL WORLD TOUR 18 January to 26 May Various locations, UK and Ireland Hold on to your hats everyone, the Banf wildet corners of the planet. The ilms are Mountain Film Fetival World Tour is back chosen from hundreds of entries into the for 2020, bringing a brand new seletion Banf Mountain Film Fetival, which is held of gripping ation and adventure ilms to every November in the Canadian Rockies. more venues than ever before in the UK The UK and Ireland tour tarts in Pitlochry, and Ireland. The tour features two diferent Scotland, on 18 January, and inishes in colletions (tagged as ‘red’ and ‘blue’ Norwich on 26 May, visiting 60 locations programmes) of extraordinary ilms from along the way, so there’s sure to be one the world’s bet adventure ilmmakers, with near where you live. It’s an inpiring, super-human challenges, soulful journeys mut-see event if you love the outdoors. banf-uk.com and petacular cinematography from the

(as well as being a family physician in Calgary, Alberta). Through his role as a taf photographer for a couple of Canadian adventure travel companies, he has developed an outtanding and comprehensive colletion of images that capture the pirit of the wild coatline around the country. From the Haida Gwaii islands and the Great Bear Rainforet on the Paciic wetern side of Canada, to the far northern regions in the Artic and on to the wilderness along the eat coat in Labrador and Newfoundland, Forsyth shows jut how diverse the coat is and the variety of wildlife that lives along it. The human tory is part of it, too, with evidence of how people in these locations oten exit on the very outer margins of modern society. Packed with informative chapter openings and extended captions, the book provides deep insight into the locations featured, but it’s the tunning imagery that will keep readers lingering the longet. Right The irt warm light of day illuminates the sheer granite clifs of Sam Ford Fjord on Bain Island.

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THE LATEST FEEDBACK

SOCIAL HUB We love hearing your views and opinions. Write to us, tweet us or join the conversation on Facebook and Instagram! Email your leters and comments to tevew@thegmcgroup.com

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the adaptor ring attached to the lens. You will still need to remove the filter holder to attach the cap, but this is easier than constantly having to take off the adaptor ring as well. Alternatively, Cokin uses a slot-in lens cap that simply slides into the filter holder in the slot closest to the lens, protecting the front element from damage; a cheap / old ‘sacrificial’ filter slid into the innermost slot would serve a similar purpose.

One Thing This Month insight Filter fators LETTER OF THE MONTH

I noticed that Canon has supposedly issued a patent application for the design of an integral lens cap for new lenses. While this is useful, would it be too challenging for them (and others) to co-operate with filter manufacturers to produce something that is more practical and convenient for filter users? Outdoor photographers extensively employ filters in their photography. I use Lee filters and the adapter ring and filter holder makes it fiddly to attach a lens cap. Many other systems are similar, so it seems to me that there is a golden opportunity for an innovative and better-matched system that would improve using filters with modern kit. Eddie Boyd OP says: We agree that it’s not easy trying to fit a lens cap when you’ve got a system holder attached to your lens, but there are a few options available. Lee Filters offers lens caps for both its 100mm and Seven5 filter systems, which attach to the filter holder’s adaptor ring, so you can keep

LETTER OF THE MONTH

I just wanted to write and say how much I’ve been enjoying your magazine, especially the educational tips. It would be fascinating to hear about your review and selection process for One Thing This Month, though. For example, how many submissions are received in a typical month, who reviews them, what sort of dialogue occurs between the reviewers, what the experts are looking for, and how are the final decisions made? Jamey Burr OP says: That’s great that you are enjoying the magazine so much; the team here always appreciates hearing feedback. The One Thing This Month competition continues to go from strength to strength and is now one of the most significant features in the magazine. We’re incredibly fortunate that our readers are so talented, no matter what challenge we lay down for them in each issue. The number of entries it attracts varies depending on the theme of the competition, although entries across all themes have ramped up considerably since we moved the submission process online. Entry numbers would, on average, range between 350 and

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14 Outdoor Photography February 2020

700 per competition, and we end up running between 15 and 28 images in the final showcase; so you can see that to be in that final selection is a real achievement. OP editor Steve Watkins oversees the judging process with the team each month and personally looks at every image entered. As with any photography competition, the judgements are always subjective, and the things the team look for are fresh or unusual creative thinking, excellent composition, interesting action (for adventure- or wildlifethemed challenges) and an emotional element – something that makes us readily and strongly connect with an image. The process itself is elimination-style, so we go through the images in several rounds, initially just deciding if we want to see an image again or not before engaging with the images more deeply and for longer as the process progresses. Seeing the images numerous times starts to firm up thoughts on which ones we feel have the edge, but inevitably we end up with around 50 per cent more in the ‘final’ pool than we can fit in the magazine! That’s when things become more forensic in terms of analysing the photographs and re-assessing their artistic merits. Often, when deadlines allow, this is done over multiple days, as revisiting the images with a fresh mind can help to clarify things. Eventually we get it down to the number of images we can realistically work with in the magazine. Of course, there is still the overall winner to be selected, and that can take as long again before we settle on what we consider to be the best of the best.

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IN CONVERSATION WITH

Jack Perks Jack Perks specialises in British freshwater fish, a niche that he has made very much his own. He explains what goes into capturing his images of the ‘most underrated wildlife of all’ Interview by Nick Smith

’m a naturalist with a camera,’ says specialist freshwater ish photographer Jack Perks. He claims to avoid the term ‘wildlife photographer’ not for any particular artistic reason, but because when asked the ‘chicken and the egg’ question, he has always been deinite about the fact that he’s a photographer because he’s a naturalist, and not the other way around. ‘I have been interested in wildlife for as long as I can remember. I used to wonder how I could turn this passion into a way of making money and thought that photography was a great excuse to get outdoors, to get involved and interact with nature. Even though my job is a photographer – I won’t say that I’m not interested in that – it’s the wildlife, the behaviour and the species… that’s what interests me, what made me go out there and get stuck into it.’ Even so, Jack is deadly serious about his photography, ‘and there are aspects of it that I really enjoy. I have to be proicient because otherwise I wouldn’t get work, but it is the photography that gives me the reason to spend my time with wildlife and hopefully get a few nice pictures along the way.’ Jack’s selfefacement does much to conceal just how much he has achieved in the genre. One of the leading lights in British underwater wildlife photography, he is also an elite exponent in the freshwater ish niche, and the only professional photographer to have photographed all 54 freshwater ish species in the UK.

Right This is one of those shots you jut couldn’t plan. I was told by the owner of this swimming pond that grass snakes frequented it, so turned up one July morning and sure enough this beauty was in the lily pads. Nikon D500 with 10-17mm Tokina fisheye lens and Ikelite housing, ISO 800, 1/640sec at f/10

16 Outdoor Photography February 2020

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 17

Underwater photography is never easy, but it seems that Jack has made his life particularly challenging in choosing to shoot in Britain’s river and lakes. ‘When most people think of underwater photography, they tend to think of some beautiful tropical coral reef or sandy beach in the Caribbean. They don’t really think of a dirty river in Derbyshire.’ He concedes that what he does is tricky, ‘because in the UK’s rivers you’ve often not got the water clarity you need, and the temperature can be quite uncomfortable a lot of the time. I’d also argue that freshwater ish are among the most diicult species to photograph because they’re awkward to see and there’s not a wealth of species to photograph. If you look at birds, there are thousands of subjects and millions of photos, but then think of how many decent photos there are of barbel – there are very few out there.’ The photography itself is something of a subtle art, and the method Jack employs will vary, depending on the species he’s after: ‘I scuba dive, I’m a keen snorkeller, I use split-level and increasingly I employ camera traps.’ The last of these techniques involves putting a camera below the surface of the river and connecting it to his laptop on the bank via a USB cable, from which he can trigger the shutter remotely. ‘I’m not in the water, but I can see the ish on a Live View screen in real-time and take pictures of them that way.’ This difers from a lot of surface camera trap photography, says Jack, in that ‘I’m not using an infrared trigger, I’m basically on a long cable-release on the bank. Although I’m not behind the camera it is still me taking the picture – it’s not being triggered by the ish.’ 18 Outdoor Photography February 2020

Anyone who’s ever dabbled in the noble art of coarse angling will instinctively feel sympathy with Jack’s cause. Freshwater ish are shy and diicult to locate, easy to disturb and often unpredictable. So just how does he go about getting into the range required for his shots? ‘You can go to a river one day and the ish will just freak out: you can’t get anywhere near them. You go the next day – in some cases in the same place with the same ish – and they’ll come up and investigate what you’re doing. I’ve not come up with a formula for how to deal with that, other than just putting in the hours.’ Jack admits that his background as an angler means that he ‘already knew about the species. I knew a lot about their behaviour and where they might be, and that helps enormously.’ More speciically, when it comes to ieldcraft, Jack inds polarising sunglasses an indispensable tool of the trade for reading the water. ‘It’s a hidden world that most people don’t realise is there, but I’ve got this kind of preview in my mind, like a 3D map in my head of where the ish are likely to be.’ Jack has been a full-time professional photographer for seven years now, ‘and although that’s probably nothing compared with some other guys, even in that time I’ve noticed how the market potential for wildlife photography has changed.’ At the age of 28, he is getting married and buying a house, all of which puts pressure on him to have a inancially stable career. What this means for Jack is a shift of emphasis from his primary focus on ish stills photography to a more diverse portfolio approach that addresses today’s economic realities. This shift includes video production, teaching at Nottingham Trent

Above With a face that only a mother could love, the lamprey is the mot primitive vertebrate on earth. They are also claimed to be reponsible for killing King Henry I, who apparently ate too many of them. Nikon D500 with 18-55mm Nikon lens, ISO 800, 1/500sec at f/5.6, shot in aquarium Opposite (top) I like to angle my images upwards to include some sky, epecially when there’s a blue sky. We call this ‘snell’s window’ and it worked brilliantly with this carp. Nikon D500 with 10-17mm Tokina isheye lens and Ikelite housing, ISO 200, 1/160sec at f/8, of-camera lash, remotely triggered Opposite (bottom) Roach are one of the mot common pecies of ish in the UK, but like the robin they are oten overlooked, depite making fantatic subjets. Nikon D500 with 10-17mm Tokina isheye lens and Ikelite housing, ISO 800, 1/200sec at f/8, of-camera lash

University and writing. ‘Being a successful freelancer means having lots of ingers in lots of pies – that’s what keeps the boat aloat.’ Having taken his degree in marine and natural history photography at Falmouth University, he accepts that ‘as lovely as Cornwall is, it’s a diicult place to start your career.’ On graduating he moved to the Midlands, returning to his hometown of Nottingham, where he earned a living shooting weddings and taking commercial commissions to pay the bills while he got his foot in the wildlife photography door. ‘I also did odd jobs before I got to the point where I thought I could knock all this stuf on the head and concentrate on wildlife. People think it all just happens, but it wasn’t an overnight thing. It wasn’t as if I left university and went straight in. It took a while.’

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 19

From his humble beginnings as a jobbing photographer, Jack has propelled himself up the ladder in a rapid ascent that now sees him regularly contributing to national BBC television programmes such as Springwatch, Countryfile, The One Show and The Great British Year. He has also filmed for two angling series – Mr Crabtree Goes Fishing and the forthcoming Pursuit – and won awards in both the Underwater

Photographer of the Year and British Wildlife Photography Awards, as well as having two books published, Freshwater Fishes of Britain and Field Guide to Pond & River Wildlife of Britain and Europe. By any conventional measure, for a photographer still in his twenties, the epithet ‘successful’ is hardly misapplied. This success is well earned, because Jack’s work is, in a nutshell, stunning. But the path

from being an undergraduate with high ambitions and a camera to being one of the top players on the field was hardly smooth. If there is a secret to how he got there, it is in part to do with his instantly recognisable style. An enthusiast for wideangle photography, he places as much importance on showing his subjects in their environmental context as he does on the fish themselves. ‘I always think that with a closeAbove Male ticklebacks do mot of the parental care – they create the net and then guard the eggs ater the female has let. Here the male secretes ‘piggin’, which is a kidney secretion used to tick the net together. Nikon D500 with 18-55mm Nikon lens, ISO 1600, 1/125sec at f/5.6, shot in aquarium Left Barbel can be very shy, so pending time snorkelling with this ish was very pecial. I enjoy exploiting my local waterways in the Eat Midlands, with the Trent being a regular haunt. Nikon D500 with 10-17mm Tokina isheye lens and Ikelite housing, ISO 320, 1/160sec at f/13, of-camera lash Opposite (top) The gin-clear water of this pond was an exciting propet as an underwater photographer, as it opened up the possibilities for a wider piture. Finding something to photograph was the next challenge, but luckily this smooth newt saved the day. Nikon D500 with 10-17mm Tokina isheye lens and Ikelite housing, ISO 500, 1/100sec at f/9 Opposite (below) These American invaders are found in many of our watercourses, oten hiding in the leaf liter or under debris. Nikon D500 with 10-17mm Tokina isheye lens and Ikelite housing, ISO 1000, 1/160sec at f/7.1, of-camera lash

20 Outdoor Photography February 2020

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 21

TOP STRAP

up shot you might as well be in an aquarium, but with a wideangle view you can clearly see that the work was done in the wild, in the river.’ What has also helped is that ‘I have a passion. I’m genuinely interested in the subjects I work with. It brings me incredible joy to sit by the river watching these animals. It doesn’t feel like work.’ That passion, Jack says, ‘feeds into the photography. You want to work at it. You want to improve. And that’s what I try to do.’

His enthusiasm for freshwater ish seems to know no bounds and he delights in taking on the role as an unoicial ambassador for this ‘most underrated wildlife of all’. When pushed, Jack admits that his favourite ish is grayling. ‘They’re absolutely phenomenal. They look like they should be living on a coral reef, not swimming around British rivers. They are a real highlight. I’ve done a bit of stills work with them, but I’ve done more ilming. I managed to

get them on ilm spawning, and I was the irst to do that. But when it comes to stills photography I think the brown trout is beautiful. It’s a very unfair name, because it makes you think of a dull, dirty ish, but they actually have beautiful buttery colours.’ Jack then tells the story of how he conducted a survey to ascertain if the British people had strong feelings about what their national ish should be. ‘Why not? We have a national lower, a national bird.’ Much to Jack’s pleasure the brown trout came top of the list. ‘Where I photograph them in the Peak District there’s really clear water, which means that their markings stand out fantastically. I’ll be going back there in winter, so when people are reading this I’ll be standing out in the river trying to get more photos of brown trout.’ To see more of Jack’s photography visit jackperksphotography.com Top Backscater (loating debris in the water) can be a pain for many underwater photographers, but I embrace it, as it is part and parcel of rivers and adds a bit of charater to my images. Nikon D500 with 10-17mm Tokina isheye lens and Ikelite housing, ISO 200, 1/160sec at f/8, of-camera lash, remotely triggered Left We oten overlook the minor details, and depite the rufe being a small brown ish there are petacular paterns and shapes to be found if you look closely. Nikon D500 with 100mm Tokina macro lens, ISO 1600, 1/125sec at f/6.3, shot in aquarium

22 Outdoor Photography February 2020

Sony A7r mkII, 16-35mm @ 18mm. 1/80 sec @ f/8, iso 100

St Andrews Bay A remote island lost in the south Atlantic, South Georgia is a world-class synthesis of coast, mountains and glaciation. It is also home to the earth’s largest colonies of Kings, arguably the most charismatic penguin species of them all. As a tripod-loving landscape photographer, tackling this tremendous wildlife/landscape opportunity was always going to be tricky, especially as our arrival at St Andrew’s Bay coincided with some brilliant – and contrasty – early morning light.

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Unsurprisingly, wild creatures do not generally pose for pictures and are in constant motion, so this, and other images had to be shot hand-held, moving around them and trying to keep a respectful distance too, no easy task. A very hard 0.6 ND graduate (two stops) bridged the contrast conundrum, with its abrupt step ‘dissolving’ nicely in the scene just above where the mountain meets the sea. I was able to retain highlight detail in the sky and had perfect exposure on the Kings, pretty important for retaining feather texture in the darkest shadow zones. Such accurate control of light is why I carry as many as ten grads on a shoot, with gradients from very hard to soft. Very hard grads were once made only to order, but are now being made available to all. You may not be able to p-p-pick up a King penguin, but you can obtain a very hard step LEE grad. Happy days!

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ONE MONTH, ONE PICTURE

Achieving images of rugged and wild landscapes does not always have to involve corresponding stories of derring-do. Pete Bridgwood finds a more civilised way to sample the high peaks of the French Alps The crisp snow crackled underfoot and glistened like it was impregnated with a million diamonds, as I mused this spectacular landscape and reached out to try to touch the sky above the slopes of Mont Blanc on this glorious winter morning in the French Alps. Twilight had passed, but there remained a hushed mumble of ephemeral pink, tinting the teal of the distant horizon, surrendering to a stormy indigo sky. Sunlight struggled to penetrate the murky cloudscape, allowing me to mute the dynamic range of the scene by stacking two neutral density graduated ilters in front of the lens. Despite the softened sunlight, this was a dazzling canvas, ideally suited to the more immediate and reactive creative approach encouraged by shooting photographs handheld. Such an awe-inspiring scene begs an appropriate narrative, doesn’t it? It could be a story recounting my heroic trek up through the foothills on the previous afternoon, surviving

a freezing tented night in the mountains, culminating in the psychedelic and resplendent divine hues of dawn. Some of my talented photographic friends do this on a regular basis and I have huge respect for their tenacity, but my own journey up to this mountain paradise started very diferently. Just half an hour earlier I had started my day savouring croissants and cofee in a Chamonix café, before catching the cable car up to the restaurant at the Aiguille du Midi and strolling out on to the viewing platform. In my humble opinion, this is a far more civilised way of gathering magical mountain imagery. Marvellous! Whenever we’re tasked with judging the relative merits of our own photographs, being objective can be challenging. This is because the whole experience surrounding the capture of a speciic image: the planning involved, the intrepidity, the diiculty in overcoming nature’s challenges, such as unexpected tides or weather, and the technical diiculty in capturing the

image all serve to colour our memories. We will often attribute greater merit to those photographs that we feel were most diicult to achieve. So I have to admit to a degree of embarrassment in revealing such a lack of pertinacity in my wannabe mountaineer fakery. Fortunately, the greater art world provides a degree of reassurance; the long-held perception that the ‘tortured artist’ creates their greatest work when they sufer for their art has been debunked and widely accepted as pure myth. Sufering tends to inhibit creativity, so if your legs sufer like mine do when tasked with hauling a backpack up a mountain, don’t beat yourself up: get out there into the vista and ind a nice café. Mont Blanc, Chamonix, France. Canon EOS 1Ds MkIII with EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS lens at 24mm, ISO 200, 1/320sec at f/8, Lee 3-top and 2-top ND grad ilters, handheld

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 25

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LEARNING ZONE IMPROVE 28 Light painting the landscape

36 Quick guide to... Keeping your gear safe

LIGHT UP YOUR LIFE... James Mills reveals the secrets behind creating magical lit landscapes

LEARNING ZONE

Light painting the landscape Painting with light is a sure-fire way of creating images that are out of the ordinary. James Mills shines a light on the creative process behind this photographic ‘dark art’

When you start to explore light painting in the landscape, the world becomes your studio. Shooting the landscape at night – or at least when the light levels are low – means you can choose exactly what you want to illuminate, what light effects you want to add and where you want them to appear. Unlike daylight photography, you create the light, so the only limitation is your creativity – even well-known and well-photographed locations can be seen in a whole new light. However, as you

are no longer a passive observer, light painting is arguably more challenging than regular landscape photography. It takes a lot of practice and you will need to develop new ways of working, as you often will be shooting at night, with all the risks and challenges that brings with it. Get it right, though, and the magic that appears on the LCD screen after a long exposure is very rewarding. It also guarantees a unique image, as no two light-painted landscapes will ever be the same.

LOGISTICS It is a good idea to visit your chosen location in daylight, as places look very diferent at night. Going on a recce beforehand will help you avoid geting lot and also allow you to pot any potential hazards. It is very easy to become disorientated at night and if you are photographing in a place with ledges and teep drops, real care mut be taken. For this reason, you should always tell someone exatly where you are going or, beter till, work with an assitant. If you’ve got someone with you

28 Outdoor Photography February 2020

it is not only safer, but it also makes taking tet shots – and your main shots – a lot easier. The whole process becomes more fun when you’re with a friend, and will also help if you ind yourself being confronted by anyone.

PRO TIP Don’t forget to take a lask of tea or cofee and your favourite snack – nothing cheers you up more on a cold, dark night!

Above This light-painted image is a combination of several 30sec exposures. I lit the waterfall from the side, the water mill and trees from behind with an LED light panel, and the interior with a warm-gelled LED panel. Canon EOS 5DSR with Canon 24-70mm lens at 24mm, ISO 800, 30sec at f/5.6, tripod, multiple combined exposures Opposite bottom (left) Shooting locations like this requires extreme care at night because of all the drop hazards. This was created with a single exposure of the Lumsdale water mill ruins using a small LED torch. It took me jut over eight minutes to slowly walk around the scene lighting the various elements from the side and below, being careful to shield the end of the torch from the camera. This technique creates sot lighting. Canon EOS 5D MkII with Zeiss 28mm lens, ISO 200, 487sec at f/11, tripod Opposite bottom (right) For this shot I had to wait for the ambient light level to drop enough to match the intensity of the sodium light in the background. Then, using a torch with a red gel over it, I lit the interior of the old shed to contrat with the cold, blue, foggy light. Canon EOS 5D MkII with Zeiss 28mm lens, ISO 200, 25sec at f/11, tripod

LEARNING ZONE

Waving a torch around at night can and will atrat atention. People may ask you what you are doing, perhaps out of curiosity or perhaps because they are supicious that you are up to some nefarious ativity. For this reason it is worth having some lightpainting prints with you to show anyone who quetions you, or some examples on your phone so you can explain what you are doing in the middle of nowhere at night. If you want to shoot on private land, you should always ask permission irt,

as entering private property at night is never a good idea. Show the landowner some examples of your work, explain it is a personal non-commercial projet and ofer them a print of your work â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in my experience they will motly be happy to oblige. No mater where you shoot or when, be aware that it can be a lot colder than you imagine at night, so make sure you will be comfortable tanding around for possibly hours. Think hat, scarf/neck warmer and gloves, even in summer, as thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nothing

Above Ater a long trudge through snowdrits I arrived ater sunset at these tanding tones in the Peak Ditrit. I used a red-gelled torch to light each tone individually, tanding at the right side of the frame, jut out of shot. A 102sec exposure was enough to capture the ambient light releted of the snow. Canon EOS 5D MkII with Sigma 50mm f/1.4 lens, ISO 200, 102sec at f/11, tripod

worse than having to abandon a well-planned shoot because you underetimated how chilly it might be.

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 29

LEARNING ZONE

SETTING UP Taking a photograph of a landscape that you can’t see is obviously going to be a challenge, but it helps if you can try to visualise the end result. What is important about the scene? What do you want to emphasise? What can or should you exclude? Think about the logitics of the lighting as well: will your chosen composition be easy to light, or will it be diicult to move around the scene? A composition that will be easy to light will be easier to photograph compared to one that will require you to clamber around on rocks in the dark. However, if you are photographing a tricky location, remember that you don’t have to wait until it is completely dark before you tart light painting. Using the ambient light ater sunset in the blue hour is particularly efetive in foggy conditions and/or when there is snow on the ground, and both situations will amplify the ‘blue’ colour. It also helps to take your tet shots while there is some ambient light available, as it is a lot easier to ine-tune a composition while you can till see the scene, rather than trying to do it in the dark with only your camera screen and playback images to guide you. Once you’ve got your camera pointing in the right diretion you have two choices. If you can, the irt option is to paint the scene in a single exposure. This is the purit’s choice,

30 Outdoor Photography February 2020

and the option for anyone who sees the use of layers in Photoshop as ‘cheating’. This method is only possible if you can do all the light painting in enough time, though, without overexposing the ambient light in the scene. The second option is to make several exposures and combine them using your editing sotware. This gives you a lot more lexibility and allows you to make a far more detailed and accurate light-painted image. It is also a much safer way of working, as you don’t have to rush to get everything done in one exposure. Again, this is particularly pertinent if you are working in a location that could be potentially dangerous at night – you don’t want to twit your ankle (or worse) racing to get your scene lit in a single exposure.

Above The challenge with this shot was to get everything lit for a single exposure in the shortet time possible, as the moonlight coming from the let would blow out the duting of snow if the exposure were too long. I hurried to light the chimney and the engine house from the side with a powerful torch to bring out the texture in the tonework, then lit the interior from the back with a warm-gelled torch and ran back to the camera to top the exposure. A good way to keep warm! Canon EOS 5D MkIII with Canon 14mm lens, ISO 200, 204sec at f/8, tripod Below For this image I lit the bridges and falls with an LED light panel in several exposures and combined these with a higher ISO base image of the foreground and sky. The colour in the clouds is light pollution, not the sunset. Canon EOS 5DSR with Canon 16-35mm lens at 16mm, ISO 100, 30sec at f/8, tripod, multiple exposures combined

Above Using a small torch I carefully worked from the front to the back of this scene, lighting the beech tree and then the chetnut tree from the side to bring out the texture. A single exposure of two and a half minutes was enough to record some of the nice blue colour in the fading twilight sky. Canon EOS 5DSR with Canon 24-70mm lens at 24mm, ISO 400, 150sec at f/8, tripod

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 31

PAINTING On the face of it, the process of painting with light is incredibly traighforward: you simply use a torch or other light source to seletively light your subjet, and in doing so, create your exposure. It takes a lot of pratice to get it right, though, and you’ll need to bear a number of things in mind. To tart with, you will need to determine the exposure by making a tet shot. Set the camera manually to ISO 400 and f/5.6. If there’s ambient light in the sky you can use Manual mode to dial in a suitable exposure time of up to 30sec, or switch to Bulb mode if that’s not long enough or you want to tart and end the exposure remotely. You should also make sure you shoot Raw, so you can alter the white balance when you process your shots. With your setings dialled in, make a plan of what you want to emphasise with your lighting and decide whether you are going to light the scene from let to right or vice versa. Then, tart your exposure and paint your subjet with your torch while the shuter is open. Try not to shine the torch from the camera position, as this will give a lat, lifeless image, similar to using on-camera lash. Lighting from the side is bet, as it allows you to bring out the texture, detail and charater of your subjet. Oblique side lighting will bring out the texture in the walls of abandoned buildings, while skimming light from one side and low down will emphasise the texture in grass or the loor. Avoid holding the torch till for too long, though, or you might create a hotpot. Intead, keep your light moving from side to

32 Outdoor Photography February 2020

side or up and down slightly to ‘feather’ the edges of your illumination. How much light you need will depend on the brightness of your torch and the camera setings, but try to light each part for a similar amount of time to keep the exposure even. The ditance between the light source and the subjet will also afet the exposure, so aim for consitency between your tet shots and subsequent images – don’t use your torch from 5m for your tet shot, and from 10m for your main shot, for example. At the end of your tet exposure, check the result on your camera’s LCD. Don’t rely on the screen image, as this will look far brighter at night than the image atually is, but use the hitogram to guide you. If the hitogram suggets your image is too dark, increase the ISO or open up the aperture. Too bright? Reduce the ISO or top down. In either case, use the ISO and aperture to tweak the exposure and try to keep the lighting consitent.

PRO TIPS Hide the torch from the camera using your body or make a hood (or ‘snoot’) for the end of the torch with some cardboard and black tape to top light treaks from your torch showing up. Do not tand between what you are lighting and the camera, or your shadow will be visible in the image.

As well as lighting a scene with the light source hidden, you can also use a light source as the focal point of an image. This can be as simple as moving through the frame to create a light trail or creating ‘light art’ by drawing shapes with a low-powered light, such as a key fob light, or rotating fairy lights in a circle to create an orb. Think simple, be inventive and create your own light sources from recycled or DIY materials, such as platic botles, or use sweet wrappers as coloured gels to create unique light sources for your light-painted images.

Above For this shot, I pun an orb using fairy lights, while my assitant (thanks Suzi!) quickly lit each tanding tone from the side with a headtorch, taking care to hide the torch with her body. The partial moonlight from the let provided the ambient light during the long single exposure. Canon EOS 5D MkIII with Zeiss 21mm lens, ISO 200, 106sec at f/8, tripod Opposite (top) This is a single exposure of six dizzy minutes as I pun round the tanding tones holding a torch with a platic cap on the end, gelled red. Canon EOS 5DSR with Irix 11mm lens, ISO 100, 360sec at f/5.6, tripod Opposite (below) For this shot I used a warmgelled LED light panel to create a ‘portal’ in the rocks. An aperture of f/8 kept the foreground and background in focus, while an exposure of 80sec was long enough to expose the foggy foret in the rapidly diminishing light. Canon EOS 5D MkIV with Canon 24-70mm lens at 30mm, ISO 800, 80sec at f/8, tripod

LEARNING ZONE

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 33

LEARNING ZONE

PROCESSING When you process your Raw iles, seting the white balance to 3000K-4000K will give your images a cool, night tone. However, it will also mean that your LED lights will appear overly blue and cold. Fiting a CTO (Colour Temperature Orange) gel on your torch will counter this, leting you safely lower the white balance. Night images can appear lat as Raw iles, so usually need a bit of added contrat and saturation. How much you add comes down to personal choice. If you have taken multiple exposures, process the Raw shots in Lightroom or ACR, taking care that they all have the same white balance and other adjutments applied to them. Then, open them in Photoshop as individual layers and choose the parts of each exposure that you want to incorporate in the inal image. An undertanding of layer masks will help here.

EQUIPMENT There are certain items of equipment that are essential for light painting, as well as those that you might not otherwise have as part of your regular shooting kit. Sturdy tripod – Essential for keeping your camera rock-teady during long exposures. Headtorch – For safely moving around at night and seting up your camera and tripod. Remote release – So you don’t have to go back to the camera to tart and end your exposures, giving you more time to concentrate on your light painting. Powerful handheld torch – Very useful for focusing at night and inding your way in the dark. Small/medium LED torch – Good for general light painting and picking out details. A CTO gel taped on the front will warm up the colour of the torchlight. LED light panel – Provides a soter, broader pread of light than a torch, which is useful for lighting a larger area. Some LED light panels come with an orange CTO ilter so you can choose a warm or a cold light. Spare torch – If one fails you can till get back safely and/or continue with your light painting. Dark clothing – You are less likely to show up in the images when waving torches around if you wear black (or another dark colour). Spare bateries – Long exposures will drain your camera bateries, so take a pare or two. A light snow lurry had created a touch of hill fog, and as the light faded there was a sot blue light releted in the snow. Using a small LED torch with a warm gel, I quickly walked down the path pointing the torch downwards, taking care that the end of the torch was concealed from the camera. Canon EOS 5DSR with Zeiss 28mm lens, ISO 400, 30sec at f/5.6, tripod

34 Outdoor Photography February 2020

QUICK GUIDE TO…

Keeping your equipment safe in the outdoors Faced with challenging conditions, it is easy to be so focused on getting the image that we forget to care for our gear. Greg Whitton reveals how we can keep our equipment in good working order The light is intensifying. Your heart is pumping, adrenaline rushing, brow sweating. The rain is coming. There’s going to be a rainbow. It’s going to be epic. Your bag comes off, the tripod detached and extended, gloves cast aside (you work quicker without them) and the bag is ripped open. Camera out, lens on, filters attached – it’s a race against time and Mother Nature. You dash around to find a composition without a moment to spare. You find one and line everything up – this is going to be the best photo ever. The rain hits you like a tidal wave, the rainbow bursts into life… and CLICK, you get the shot. Or at least you hope so. But what about your photo gear in that open bag? What about the gloves you threw on the ground? Were your filters clean and clear of

water? It’s too late now, you’re in a monsoon and the light has died. On the first workshop I ever ran, we awoke on the first morning to the most horrendous weather, so trotted off in search of a muted palate of driftwood and waves at the coast. Upon finding said driftwood all of the participants put down their kit and rushed over to photograph it, leaving their bags open to the elements. I dutifully zipped up their bags, put rain covers on and arranged them so the contents were protected. Nobody noticed. We don’t all have someone to clean up behind us, but following a few simple pointers can help ensure your shoots go smoothly and your kit comes home safely, ready to shoot another day.

Outdoor precautions If your bag has a rain cover, use it. However, be aware that heavy rain will eventually penetrate between your back and the bag (epecially if you have a rearward-opening bag). This is made worse if you are wearing waterproofs, as they will funnel the water down your back. There are few things more frutrating than shooting in driving rain or being atacked by sea pray at the coat, so use a cover to keep your equipment dry while your camera is on the tripod and you’re waiting for ‘the shot’. Although you can buy pecialit covers,

36 Outdoor Photography February 2020

a shower cap from the hotel can be jut as efetive. Drybags from outdoor brands are also very efetive and usually have the added bonus of buckles that you can clip around a tripod leg to prevent it being blown of. If you are shooting into rain or pray without a lens hood, shoot manually and use a timer or remote release. Use a lint-free cloth to clean your front lens element or ilters and hold the cloth over the lens, removing it at the lat second before your shuter releases. This will limit the droplets on your lens.

Always close your bag ater you remove items or put them back. It may seem obvious, but it’s amazing how logic can go out of the window when we’re excited and in the ield. It only takes a gut of wind or a sudden downpour to ruin your day and cause equipment loss. The same goes for your clothing – if you take gloves or hats of, make sure you put them somewhere safe and dry. If you need to change lenses, point the camera down and insert the lens from below to reduce the risk of water or dut reaching

Opposite Coatal locations ofer superb photographic opportunities, but can be deadly for your equipment if it’s not proteted. Above Changing lenses in bad weather requires a lot of thought. Point it downwards and protet it with your body. Beter till, avoid changing lenses! Below Cold environments add to the challenge of keeping camera gear safe and working.

the sensor. It also pays to do this tooped over your bag and camera, as it provides a further barrier to the elements. If you are somewhere particularly duty, or working in driving snow or rain, consider taking a camera body for each lens so you don’t have to change lenses at all. A telephoto and a wideangle zoom will cover mot options.

Prevention Rinse, clean and dry your tripod thoroughly ater seaside trips to keep it in top condition. Ensure the leg locks continue to work efetively, and replace worn parts – you trut it to hold thousands of pounds’ worth of kit, so you don’t want it failing in the ield. Ensure you tore your equipment in a dry and cool environment. Remove your camera’s bateries and clean and dry any soiled or damp equipment. If your equipment gets particularly wet during a shoot, consider placing it in a sealed container on a bed of dry rice in a warm place for a day or two (even if your camera appears to be

funtioning normally). The rice and warmth will draw out any moiture that has got inside and help mitigate any long-term issues. Clean your lenses regularly to ensure moiture doesn’t cause mould. Individually wrapped lens wipes are cheap and efetive, and great for use in the ield. If you use a lens cloth, make sure it is washed regularly to prevent a build up of oil and debris from previous cleaning. Always check your sensor for dut when you’re back at base – it’s easier to sort issues here than when you are out in the ield.

Silicone wraps for your camera body can absorb small impats with tatic objets, while lenses can be physically proteted with neoprene wraps or tick-on skins. Never leave your tripod unatended at its narrowet seting. With your equipment on top, the centre of gravity is very high and even the smallet gut of wind may be enough to make it topple. If you absolutely mut leave your tripod, pread the legs to lower the centre of gravity. For added tability, hang your bag from the tripod’s centre column (mot tripods have a hook to do this). The bag should be jut touching the ground so it doesn’t swing about.

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 37

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LIE OF THE LAND

To make or take a photograph To fully engage with a scene, a photographer needs to absorb far more about it than simply where the compositional basics lie. Sarah Howard explores why slowing down to make a photograph can reap far richer rewards Ansel Adams famously said ‘You don’t take a photograph, you make it’, although it’s an interesting statement as it often seems that the former is what we do; we ‘take photographs’. However, the idea of simply ‘taking’ to me has always sounded rather selfish. Perhaps that could be said to be true if we were to simply turn up at a location, put the camera on its automatic setting and snap away without due thought or care, but that is not what artists do, and photography, after all, is an art. As a painter uses brushes to create an image that, for them, encapsulates the scene before them, a photographer uses the camera as his or her tool, along with their personal vision, to do exactly the same thing. It is my belief that the landscape is freely giving itself to us, enabling us to enjoy and appreciate being in its presence. As photographers, we are both observers and creators as we wait and watch for the moment when the light is right, working patiently to execute an image that pleases us. It is not a fast process and hastily grabbed photographs are unlikely to leave us feeling fulfilled.

Perhaps this is the difference between the ‘take’ and ‘make’ approaches? The former suggesting a more hurried procedure without any real engagement with our surroundings, whereas to ‘create’ or ‘make’ implies a slower, more appreciative process, whereby we take time to consider, to watch and become absorbed. Someone once told me they couldn’t take a photograph if the landscape didn’t ‘talk to them’. At the time I wondered what they meant, but looking back I realise now that this reaction, which was probably due to the poor weather conditions at the time, is something we all experience, where we are left unenthused by a scene. Yes, we could ‘take’ a photograph, but to what end? The resulting image is likely to be displeasing and the experience would be unenjoyable, leaving us with an overall feeling of dissatisfaction. In such situations, when we are not inspired, our ability to create and engage with the landscape is somewhat hampered. Sometimes we need to reach out to our subject, as potential images are not always

presented to us on a plate. I have made successful photographs in less than ideal conditions or when I have been taken out of my comfort zone, and been surprised at the results. But, for many of us, the landscape does need to almost ‘shout out’; to stop us in our tracks and make us want to capture it. Under certain conditions the landscape can almost grab us, pull us in and demand to be photographed. This often occurs during particularly unusual atmospheric conditions, or when the accompanying light is at its most dramatic or complementary. On other occasions, a landscape might give a simpler, less obvious hint that it could be worthwhile picking up the camera. Either way, it is my belief that we need to leave a scene feeling that we have done it justice. By reaching out to the landscape we see before us and giving it our time and attention, we can endeavour to create an image that not only captures the essence of the scene, but also reflects the impact it has had on us in terms of what it makes us feel. In this way we are also giving something back.

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 39

A P H O T O - L O C AT I O N A N D V I S I T O R G U I D E B O O K

PHOTOGRAPHING

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ACCESS RATING These are based around an ‘averagely it’ person. Below are loose guidelines to what the ratings mean (N.B. they are assigned by the author and not veriied by OP. Walk ditances are one-way only):

1/5 Easy access. You can prety much get traight out of your car and quickly be at the viewpoint via good quality paths.

2/5 Some gentle walking is involved (generally less than a half mile), which may be on mixed quality paths.

Kenton Hill, Devon, by Bruce Litle

LOCATIONS GUIDE 4

3/5 A walk of up to about two miles, over quite easy terrain.

42 Viewpoints of the month 1 Kilfarrasy beach County Waterford 2 Am Bodach Highland

4/5 Medium length hike up to about four miles over mixed terrain, possibly with some quite teep gradients.

46 Viewpoints 6 10

3 Porthcothan beach Cornwall 4 Wailing Widow Highland 5 Kenton Hill Devon 6 Devoke Water Cumbria

5/5 The mot diicult access. Long hike over challenging terrain (e.g. mountains/summits/teep coatal terrain); or involves travelling over particularly extreme ground (e.g. scrambling on rocks/ exposed coatal paths or mountain ridges) over any ditance.

7 Sgurr na Stri Highland 8 Hartland Point Devon

9 Irishman's Wall Devon 10 Loughrigg Tarn Cumbria 8 9 3

Kilfarrasy beach, County Waterford A coastal landscape forged by oceans, volcanoes, deserts and ice sheets provides Pawel Zygmunt with the perfect sunset location on the south coast of Ireland Kilfarrasy beach is well known for its magnificent caves, sea stacks and beautiful ‘long’ waves. The beach is located in an area commonly known as the Copper Coast, which gets its name from the 19th-century copper mines that lie at its heart, and is also part of a UNESCO Global Geopark. I had visited this beach a few times previously, so knew that I had to time my visit carefully to catch the tide at the right state. At low tide or half tide the location isn’t very interesting from a photographic point of view, as there are lots of stones and rocks sticking out of the water that will make a composition too complex. However, visiting at full tide isn’t a good idea either, as the entire beach is covered all the way to the cliff, making access extremely dangerous. On one occasion I wasn’t able to get on to the beach due to the swell, while on another visit at high tide I went too far into the water and a wave filled my waders with water. It wasn’t a smart move and could have cost me a lot more than damaged equipment. Luckily, I managed to get out. It is easy to forget about these things when

you are there and enthralled by the scene, so always ensure you have an escape route in mind and constantly check the state of the tide. The perfect time to visit is from around two hours before the tide comes in, as you will have plenty of space to move around and won’t be threatened by waves. Make sure you bring wellies with you, though, as wet feet are the price you pay to capture this beautiful scene. On this particular visit the weather was very stormy and the waves were massive. The sky was full of drama and the movement of the water was gorgeous. Standing at the cliff you can see a number of rock formations. The first group is very close, while the next group is quite a bit further away, so the challenge is to get everything in the frame sharply focused and positioned so you don’t have lots of empty space between the foreground and background rocks. I shot this image using a wideangle lens, which is the natural choice here, as there are so many things to include in the frame. However, the furthest rocks looked too small with

12 miles from Waterford • 115 miles from Dublin

ACCESS RATING How to get there From Waterford, take the R675 seven and a half miles south-wet to Tramore. Stay on the R675 ring road around the town, following the brown Coat Road signs for Dungarvan. Continue along the R675 to Fenor – two and a quarter miles wet of Tramore – and jut ater you pass the village sign, turn let, signed Kilfarrasy and Kilfarrasy beach. Follow the road for one and three quarter miles to the car park beside the beach; this viewpoint is a short walk to the eat. What to shoot Sea tacks,

42 Outdoor Photography February 2020

rock formations, clifs and ocean movement. Bet time of day Sunrise and sunset. Food/drink O’Shea’s Hotel, Strand Street, Tramore, +353 (0)51 381246, osheas-hotel.com. Accommodation As above. Other times of year Bet from late Otober until early March – at other times of year the sun rises and sets behind your back. Ordnance Survey map OSi Discovery 76 Nearby locations Trá na mBó (8½ miles); Ballydowane beach (10 miles).

a 16mm focal length, so I decided to use a 24-70mm zoom lens at 29mm. To get this view I lay against a big rock immediately behind me, squeezed between the stone slab and my camera on its tripod. Once

I was set up, I just needed to wait for a nice swell to get my image. This is a great time of year to visit this location, as the sun rises and sets along the coast, which in good weather produces fantastic side

lighting. You can visit at different times, of course, but from late March until early October the cliffs behind you will block the last light, reducing your chances of getting a good shot. Another benefit of

shooting at this time of year is that the nights are longer, which allows you more time to explore the local culture in Tramore â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the old Irish pubs are filled with the sounds of live music on cold winter evenings.

Nikon D810 with Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 lens at 29mm, ISO 64, 1sec at f/20, 0.9 ND grad filter, tripod, cable release

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 43

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VIEWPOINTS

Sony Alpha 7R II with Sony Zeiss 55mm lens, ISO 100, 1/6sec at f/9, tripod, remote release

Am Bodach, Highland Carlton Doudney heads to a 1,032m peak in search of a spectacular sunrise, but can he overcome the challenges of ice, snow and the snooze button? I blamed my tardiness on the dreaded snooze button on my alarm and my right to use it if I so choose: I had, but now I regretted it. Just because the sun rises later in winter and we landscape photographers think we can have a little longer in bed, that doesn’t mean we should, especially with windscreens to scrape and icy roads to contend with. Driving to my destination, I noticed there was a full moon and wondered if a snowy Rannoch Moor would make a good image under moonlight. Thankfully it was too misty to see anything so I headed onwards. However, on approaching Buachaille Etive Mòr it was a little clearer and I just had to stop. It was a quick pause – I knew my favourite spot and it took only a few valuable moments to get my shot – but the clock was ticking. Now I was truly pressed for time, and I knew it was a steep climb to the summit, with some very minor scrambling sections. As it turned out, there was a thin glazing of ice that made route-finding harder, and the route up was of course longer than I remembered – I wondered if I would make it at all. On hitting the snow line another stop was needed to attach crampons to my boots and grab the ice axe from the back of my pack. When in the photographic moment, it would be all too easy to forget where I was, with the inherent dangers of a slip.

The glow in the eastern sky grew brighter as my lungs cried out for me to slow down, but with persistence I made the summit just before the sun broke the horizon. I could now catch this lofty view of Glencoe with the subtle tones of the blue hour and its pastel palette, with just a hint of earth shadow in the sky beyond. Down in the glen, Loch Achtriochtan was cold and dark,

while higher up the pink in the sky promised the warmth to come, which would soon hit the twin summits of Beinn a’ Bheithir. I framed the image without the need for any kind of filtration, focus checked and exposed to the right: I had my shot. Now I could breathe again, promising myself that I wouldn’t touch the snooze button again. Well maybe.

20 miles from Fort William • 93 miles from Glasgow ACCESS RATING How to get there Take the A82 north from Glasgow, passing Loch Lomond and continuing through Crianlarich, Tyndrum and Bridge of Orchy. Follow the road across Rannoch Moor and head down into Glencoe, where you will ind a small parking area on the right, jut before the larger Three Siters

car park. The path tarts at the upper end of the parking area. What to shoot Ditant views of Rannoch Moor; birdseye views up and down Glencoe; craggy outcrops; colourful mountaineers as they negotiate the tart of the ridge. Bet time of day Early morning for light. along the Aonach Eagach, alpenglow on Ben Nevis and side lighting on Bidean nam Bian. Food/drink The Clachaig Inn, Glencoe, PH49 4HX, 01855 811252, clachaig.com. Accommodation As above. Other times of year Spring for fresh green hillsides, autumn for the colourful bracken and grasses in the glen. Ordnance Survey map LR 41 Nearby locations Meall a’ Bhùiridh (6 miles); Bà Bridge (9 miles).

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 45

Porthcothan Beach, Cornwall orthcothan is the most westerly beach in an area known as The Seven Bays, which is part of a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty close to Padstow on the north Cornwall coast. When the tide is low, several photogenic sea stacks can be viewed from the sandy beach, which make great focal points for landscape images. How to get there From Padtow, take the B3276 towards Newquay for ive miles, to the village of Porthcothan. Roughly 150m ater you cross a small road bridge take the turning on the let to reach a pay and diplay car park. Park, return to the B3276 and take the footpath on the opposite

side of the road. Shortly ater passing Porthcothan Bay Stores the path plits: take the right-hand fork to the beach or the let-hand fork for views from the South Wet Coat Path. What to shoot Golden sandy beach with sea tacks from the beach or South Wet Coat Path. Bet time of day Late aternoon and sunset. Food/drink Tredrea Inn, Porthcothan

Bay, PL28 8LN, 01841 520276, facebook.com/tredreapub. Accommodation The Farmers Arms, Harlyn Road, St Merryn, PL28 8NP, 01841 520303, farmersarmscornwall.co.uk. Other times of year Spring for lora on the clif tops. Ordnance Survey map LR 200 Nearby locations Bedruthan Steps (2 miles); Trevose Head (4 miles).

5 miles from Padtow • 21 miles from Truro ACCESS RATING 4 miles from Kylesku • 86 miles from Inverness ACCESS RATING

Wailing Widow, Highland ailing Widow is a dramatic 15m waterfall with a background of mountains and a loch. The fall is at its best during moody, cloudy mornings and can be shot from below, from inside the gorge or from above the gorge to fit Loch na Gainmhich in the frame. However, to achieve this shot without a drone involves a dangerous

the road on the teep bend and carefully make your way north. What to shoot Dramatic waterfall from below, through the gorge; waterfall with loch and mountain background from above the gorge (be careful doing this). Bet time of day Any time of day, but bet in cloudy, moody weather. Food/drink Kylesku Hotel, Kylesku, IV27 4HW, 01971 502231, kyleskuhotel.co.uk. Accommodation As above. Other times of year Winter is fantatic here, with snow on the mountains in the background and dappled around the waterfall. Ordnance Survey map Explorer 442 Nearby locations Loch Assynt (3 miles); Kylesku Bridge (4 miles).

How to get there From Kylesku, take the A894 south for four miles. Park at the entrance to the gorge and take the rough path to reach the waterfall from below. To reach the top of Wailing Widow (and the top of the gorge), park at the side of

route over the waterfall and along the north side of the gorge, perching on the edge.

46 Outdoor Photography February 2020

Kenton Hill, Devon ocated in the hills to the south of Exeter, the woods at Kenton Hill offer plenty of walking opportunities. They form part of a larger plantation that stretches from Mamhead to Haldon Forest and, being in an elevated position, offer glimpses towards the Exe estuary in the east. How to get there Head south from Exeter on the M5, continuing on to the A38 when the motorway ends. Ater two and a half miles branch let on to the A380 to climb Telegraph Hill at Splaford Split. Take the irt exit at the top of the hill, signed Old Howden Hill, and continue to a parking pot jut under three quarters of a mile along this minor road. The woods can be explored from here. What to shoot A walk along the

Holloway Lane bridleway from the parking area ofers glimpses of foggy scenes in the valley. There are also plenty of options for woodland shots. Bet time of day Early morning for fog and low light through the trees. Food/drink Route 5, Haldon Hill, Kennford, EX6 7XS, 01392 833886, routeretaurants.co.uk/route-5. Accommodation Hannaford House

B&B, Kennford, EX6 7XZ, 07902 920207, hannafordhouse.co.uk. Other times of year There is enough deciduous woodland to make autumn visits to photograph the colourful foliage worthwhile. Ordnance Survey map LR 192 Nearby locations Teignmouth Pier (9 miles); Exe etuary at Topsham (10 miles).

8 miles from Dawlish • 9 miles from Exeter ACCESS RATING 9 miles from Broughton-in-Furness • 104 miles from Mancheter ACCESS RATING

Devoke Water, Cumbria

How to get there From Broughtonin-Furness, follow the A595 towards Duddon Bridge. Jut before the bridge turn right on to Smithy Lane. Continue

on to Sella Brow and ater three quarters of a mile turn let (signed Eskdale and Whitehaven). Follow this for three and half miles until you come to a juntion with a parking lay-by on the right. Park and walk south-wet along the track towards Devoke Water. What to shoot The bleak landscape of Birker Fell and the dark water on which the boathouse sits. There is a small island at the centre of the water, and the ouflow is at the wetern end. Bet time of day Any time of day when there is low cloud or mit to provide atmophere; sunset when the front of the boathouse is illuminated. Food/drink Woolpack Inn, Hardknot Pass, Eskdale, CA19 1TH, 01946 723230, woolpack.co.uk. Accommodation Travellers Lodge, Ulpha, LA20 6DX, 01229 716178, travellerslodge.co.uk. Other times of year Late pring when the fells turn green with new growth. Ordnance Survey map OL 6 Nearby locations Eskdale (5 miles); Wat Water (12 miles).

he landscape of Birker Fell is bleak, rugged and particularly atmospheric on grey days when the sky is low and heavy. Devoke Water is the largest tarn in the Lake District and has a beautiful stone boathouse on its northern shore. This can be photographed up close and looking out across the water, or if you walk a bit further along the shore you can frame it against the flank of Seat How, as shown here.

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 47

gurr na Stri is one of the peaks in the Cuillin hills on the Isle of Skye. It is known for its spectacular view of the surrounding mountains, Loch Coruisk and Scavaig, which is oicially the shortest river in UK. This iconic mountain could arguably be considered the inest viewpoint in Britain.

Sgurr na Stri, Highland

How to get there From Portree, follow the A87 south for 25 miles to Broadford and then turn right on to the B8083 towards Elgol. You can either park at Camasunary car park, shortly ater Kilmarie, and walk in, or drive on to Elgol, take a 40-minute boat trip to Loch Coruisk and tart ascending the mountain from there.

What to shoot The Cuillins, lochs and ocean scenes. Bet time of day Sunrise or sunset. Food/drink The Portree Hotel, Somerled Square, Portree, IV51 9EH, 01478 612511, theportreehotel.com. Accommodation As above.

Other times of year Sgurr na Stri is a fantatic location for hikes and photography, but it is challenging and can be lethal in diicult weather conditions. Ordnance Survey map Explorer 412 Nearby locations Camasunary Bay (2½ miles); Elgol (6 miles).

40 miles from Portree • 102 miles from Inverness ACCESS RATING 8 miles from Clovelly • 21 miles from Bude ACCESS RATING

Hartland Point, Devon

How to get there From Bude, follow the A39 north towards Clovelly for 13 miles. Turn let at Baxworth Corner on to the B3248 and continue to Hartland. At the end of the road turn right, and then turn immediately let. Turn let again at the end of the short road, following signs for Hartland Point, where you will ind a car park. What to shoot The lighthouse and rock formations on the shoreline.

48 Outdoor Photography February 2020

Bet time of day Sunset is the bet time of day here. Food/drink The Hart Inn, The Square, Hartland, EX39 6BL, 01237 441474, facebook.com/TheHartInnHartland. Accommodation Hartland Quay Hotel,

Hartland, EX39 6DU, 01237 441218, hartlandquayhotel.co.uk. Other times of year Any time for sunsets. Ordnance Survey map LR 126 Nearby locations Hartland Quay (4½ miles); Clovelly (8 miles). © Mark Bulmer

he lighthouse at Hartland Point is a great location for some dramatic seascape photography at sunset. It is also perfect for moody shots down on the beach with stunning rock formations. Mid to low tide is the best time to visit.

Irishman’s Wall, Devon rishman’s Wall runs east to west across Belstone Common in the north of Dartmoor. It is said to have been built by Irish labourers in the 1800s for two landowners, but the locals took umbrage and knocked the wall down to render it useless. Whether this story is true or not, it occupies a glorious location and is well worth a visit.

How to get there Head wet on the A30 from Exeter. At the Okehampton juntion, leave the dual carriageway and head to the litle village of Beltone. Park in the car park outside the village and walk through it on to the moor. Ascend the broad, rocky Beltone ridge and walk south until you reach the wall. What to shoot The logan tone, reminiscent of a rabbit, is an obvious choice at either end of the day. There are also expansive views in all diretions over north Dartmoor. Bet time of day The golden hour at sunrise and sunset. Food/drink The Tors Inn, Beltone, EX20 1QZ, 01837 840689, thetorsinn.co.uk. Accommodation Dartmoor House B&B,

Beltone, EX20 1RA, 01837 840337, dartmoorhouse.co.uk. Other times of year Mot times of year work here, although summer sunrises are a bit of a challenge. Ordnance Survey map LR 191 Nearby locations Beltone Cleave (1 mile); Meldon Reservoir (7 miles).

5 miles from Okehampton • 29 miles from Exeter ACCESS RATING 2½ miles from Ambleside • 90 miles from Mancheter ACCESS RATING

Loughrigg Tarn, Cumbria

Crag. You should be able to park somewhere around here and begin the short walk to the tarn. What to shoot The obvious choice is the classic view of the Langdale Pikes from the eatern edge of the tarn, but there are plenty of alternatives. Bet time of day Sunrise / early morning Food/drink Cheters by the River, Skelwith Bridge, LA22 9NJ,

015394 34711, chetersbytheriver.co.uk. Accommodation The Skelwith Bridge Hotel, Skelwith Bridge, LA22 9NJ, 015394 32115, skelwithbridgehotel.co.uk. Other times of year Autumn can be tunning here. Ordnance Survey map OL 7 Nearby locations Great Langdale (3 miles); Blea Tarn (4½ miles). © Stephen Tomlinson

ying at the foot of Loughrigg Fell in one of the Lake District’s most picturesque settings, Loughrigg Tarn offers stunning views towards the iconic Langdale Pikes. There are plenty of different compositions to be found here, particularly at the water’s edge; the trees and reeds provide ample foreground interest and, on a calm day, the Pikes are reflected in the tarn. How to get there From Ambleside, take the A593 in a south-weterly diretion towards Clappersgate. Continue on this road for jut over one mile until you come to a road on the right, signed High Close. Take this turning and follow the narrow road until you see a sign for Neaum

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 49

OPINION

Decisions, decisions Photography is all about decisions, from the location you choose to the camera you use, the exposure you dial in to the processing you apply. But, faced with a frosty morning, would David Noton make the right choices? The weather forecast is ambivalent, but not that hopeful; light cloud, no sun. Nevertheless, I’m peering out of the window at 5am trying to ascertain the state of play. It looks cloudy. Decisions, decisions. I should probably just go for it and make the most of what transpires, but on the other hand I’ve got a lot to do and deadlines are looming – they always are. Twenty minutes later I’m heading out the door for the ive-minute commute along the road to our oice, resigned to a day shackled to the computer. I get about 10 metres before the crunching of frost underfoot stops me in my tracks. About turn, change into thermal play kit and out the door again, Lowepro on my shoulder this time. I’m still early enough. But where to head? Back to the banks of the Stour where I spotted that shapely solitary tree resolutely clinging to its autumnal inery, despite the arrival of winter? No, I need strong light for that one, and the proximity of the swollen and relatively warm river will probably banish

50 Outdoor Photography February 2020

the frost there. Where then? For a moment indecision grips me. This is the hardest bit – deciding where to go and when. Back to the Cerne Valley then. From the hill on the north-east side – that I know well from countless walks – the view looking south-west to Minterne Magna is a Dorset classic. What’s more, at this time of year, with the sun coming up to the south-east, the lighting could be perfect. The decision’s made and I’m on my way, but driving south from Sherborne I’m torn again. The frosty ields all around look so appealing, but will there be frost down at Minterne? Should I stop and try to ind a composition that works here and now? Come on Noton, you know from all those dawn patrols that prevarication never works, just stick with the plan. Driving up a muddy, rutted lane, the view down the valley gradually reveals itself. Oh yes. A minute later I’m hustling through a ield with my tripod on my shoulder as my excitement

mounts. This is looking good. There’s a touch of frost, a trace of mist and the last of the autumn colours, not to mention the beautiful rolling Dorset countryside with a manor house nestled within. I think I made the right decision after all. This game of photography is all about such decisions. Sometimes I get it right, very often I don’t, but experience and local knowledge helps. When I get it wrong I try to be philosophical – it’s all part of the learning process. And believe me, I may have been doing this for 40 years, but the learning never stops. As I arrive at my chosen spot, faint streaks of orange in the sky to the south-east herald the rising sun, but a thick bank of cloud is streaming in from the north-west. I hurriedly set up. There may be no direct light on the scene yet, but the muted tones are a thing of beauty. Another decision: tight, wide or panorama? I’ll start tight, then go for a panorama. I clip my Canon 5DSR on the tripod, attach the 24-70mm

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lens and frame up the picture, debating what to include and what to exclude. There’s a branch intruding bottom right, but if I go tighter I lose the drama in the sky. If I move down the hill I can lose the branch, but then the impact of the receding planes of trees and hills vanishing into the mist that my high viewpoint allows is diminished. So I stay high – compositions are always compromises. Filters? Just holding the polariser up to the scene and turning it reveals the small but discernible efect it has on clarity, and every bit helps. Grad? I could probably hold on to the detail in the sky without one, but a Lee 0.6 ND grad (medium) will allow a better exposure for the landscape. Of course, there’s always the option of exposure merging, but why bother if it’s not absolutely necessary? Keep it simple. I focus on a tree using the camera’s AF, then switch to manual, zoom in on the Live View display, check and ine-tune. With nothing closer to the lens than about 30 metres, an aperture of f/11 will provide enough depth of ield. The brightness and RGB histograms conirm I’ve no worries about clipped highlights or shadows in this low-contrast lighting, but I still dial in a hefty dollop of +1 exposure compensation to move the histogram to the right and maximise the signal

to noise ratio; old habits die hard. I’m ready. There’s no hint of sunlight, but I shoot a test shot anyway. The picture glowing on the back of my camera is horribly lat, but it’s easier to put contrast into a scene than it is to take out. I’m conident of netting something this morning, although a hint of warm light from the early sun would really lift the view. If it comes, its direction will be perfect. Yes, there are times when shooting into the light works well, and very occasionally I will shoot with the sun behind me, but using side or cross lighting is my default setting to reveal the form and texture in a landscape. And this time of day at this time of year is perfect for this view. If I get the light that is. The chances of that happening seem to be dissipating as more cloud streams in, but at least the heavy sky hanging over the valley is full of interest and mood. Skies can make or break a landscape, can’t they? As for a shaft of heavenly light spotlighting the manor house, well, that’s down to Mother Nature. All I can do is be ready for it if it comes. I pace by the tripod, my station in life. The merest hint of sun is trying to penetrate the cloud. Its efect on the scene below is barely discernible, but I shoot anyway – this may be

Minterne Magna in Dorset, on a froty autumnal morning. Canon EOS 5DSR with EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L II lens at 63mm, ISO 100, 0.6sec at f/11, 0.6 ND grad filter, polarising filter

all I get. An hour later I’m reluctantly packing up. The heavenly shaft never came, but I’ve a gut feeling that I’ve captured something special. By mid-morning I’m back in the oice looking at the image on my monitor. That leeting glow of insipid light was as good as it got, but its efect is tangible. The processing of the image was a balancing act. It needed contrast adding, but it was far too easy to go too far, resulting in overcooked colours and an unrealistic look. But I love the muted colours and autumn-turning-towinter feel. The fact it’s of a scene on my home patch is an added bonus, particularly as I’ve never successfully captured it before. And the detail in the panorama is amazing. I may be the only one to see it this way, but this is why I shoot with a 50-megapixel camera, and this is why I take such meticulous care with focus, depth of ield and exposure, and why I use an 8K monitor. I’m going to have to print this one. I think I made the right decisions this time. What a morning; it’s been an education, as always.

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 51

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Tim Sexton Nottingham-based Tim Sexton is a British wildlife photographer who specialises in photographing his local invertebrate population at Attenborough Nature Reserve. Nick Smith puts him in the spotlight

Nick Smith: Why are you drawn so strongly to bug photography? Tim Sexton: I normally tend to describe myself as a macro photographer who takes pictures of invertebrates. I spent a lot of my time at university looking at invertebrates, how they associate with the habitat and how they basically make everything tick. During the times of year when the invertebrates go into hiding I tend to switch over to fungi, which keeps me going photographically through much of the winter. NS: What’s your status as a photographer? TS: I’m a complete amateur and I just do this for my own pleasure. I’ve never thought of taking it any further. I just enjoy going out with my camera and recording wildlife through the medium of photography.

52 Outdoor Photography February 2020

NS: So, what do you do for a living? TS: I work for Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust at the Attenborough Nature Centre, where we see about 400,000 visitors come through our doors every year. It’s a very popular site and a great place to learn about nature. I’m one of the managers there, but I suppose you could call me an entomologist by trade. NS: How did you get involved in working at the centre? TS: I did a degree in wildlife conservation at Nottingham Trent University. That’s what really got me into wildlife and, more importantly, made me realise the importance of photography. My job flowed from there. NS: How did you become a photographer? TS: It happened when I left school and

studied for a higher national diploma in art and design in Sussex, where I specialised in graphic design and photography. After graduating I went to work in London, which wasn’t what I expected to get into. I had this friend I used to go walking with, who said: ‘Why on earth do you work in the city when you have such a knowledge and passion for wildlife?’ At the time, conservation jobs as we know them today didn’t really exist, so I left my high-paid job and went to study wildlife conservation at Nottingham. It was a lifechanging decision. NS: How does photography fit in with your job at the centre? TS: Well, all this happened at the time when social media was developing as a business tool. For the Attenborough Nature Centre

– as a charity – it was a very good way of communicating with our visitors, and also the wider public who perhaps can’t get to the nature reserve to see what’s on offer. NS: Why did you choose to focus more on the invertebrates at the centre? TS: I used to watch all these people arrive at the reserve with 600mm lenses, and I thought that we don’t need another bird photographer here, especially as birds only make up ten per cent of the total population of wildlife. People spend time recording mammals, birds and plants, but very few take the time to look at invertebrates. Insects are the keystone group, though, providing food for other species. They’re the recyclers of their world and are probably more important to the nature reserve than the birds that just pass through. NS: What are some of the challenges for the macro photographer? TS: When it comes to certain species, such as dragonflies and butterflies, you’ve got to know which ones you can approach and which species you need to sit and wait for. The main thing is to know your subject as well as you can. When I am photographing insects for identification purposes, for example, I need to make sure that I’ve got front and side shots to ensure that the identification features I need as an entomologist will be represented in one of the photos.

NS: What about the creative side? TS: Backgrounds are a big consideration because I like to capture something about the habitat or the food plant in my photography. I’m not just going out to take a picture of a beetle on a random piece of wood, for example. The shots I produce need to be environmentally authentic.

NS: What’s in the future for Tim Sexton? TS: It makes me very happy that people are seeing my pictures and hopefully understanding an aspect of conservation that’s often missed. I just like sharing my knowledge and passion with other people. I’ve never looked at this from a commercial viewpoint.

Opposite Weevil hot tub - Chetnut weevil (Curculio elephas). Canon EOS 700D with EF-S 60mm f/2.8 macro USM lens, ISO 400, 1/60sec at f/11 Above Jumping pider (Hypositicus pubescens). Canon EOS 700D with EF-S 60mm f/2.8 macro USM lens, ISO 200, 1/25sec at f/6.3 Right Median wap (Dolichovepula media). Canon EOS 700D with EF-S 60mm f/2.8 macro USM lens, ISO 800, 1/20sec at f/7.1

Tim’s top tips One thing I never go on a shoot without is… a bin liner. It sounds weird, but I pend a lot of time lying on the ground and it can get prety damp. My one piece of advice would be to… get to know your subjet irt. It’s important you know which insets will tartle and ly of! Something I try to avoid is… bright sunlight. You don’t want too much contrat in your images.

Tim’s critical moments 1995 Firt ilm SLR (Pentax K1000).

1997 Converted bedroom to a darkroom by painting it black.

To see more of Tim’s work visit sextonbeetle.com. 2005 Started volunteering at the Notinghamshire Wildlife Trut.

2008 Bought irt DSLR using prize money from a university award.

2014 Bought irt dedicated macro lens (Canon 60mm f/2.8).

2016 Specially commended in the Royal Entomological Society Photography Competition.

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 53

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Interview with creative photography guru Valda Bailey Quick guide to using tilt-shit lenses for landscapes Olympus OM-D E-M5 MkIII – perfet for adventures

How to shoot triking silhouetes

INSIDE TRACK

Through the photographic glass darkly With something like two billion digital images being taken on a daily basis, it’s becoming harder and harder to appreciate the value of a single shot for posterity. To get some perspective, we need to delve into the past, says Nick Smith… A few months ago, a good friend gave me a book. It was one of those spindly things crammed with old photographs of my home town Swansea. ‘I hope you like it,’ said Jules uncertainly, for as he was later to admit, he thought that ‘being a digital bloke, you’d find it boring.’ As I leafed through the chapters on defunct factories, abandoned stations long overgrown with ragwort, boarded up cinemas and pubs, demolished dockside warehouses and deconsecrated churches that are now media studios and social housing, one of the first things to strike me was that if these were the best the past century had to offer, simply how few photos must have been taken back then. But before long I was deeply immersed in forests of brick smoke stacks from the zinc, lead and tinplate works and the glow of furnaces, like something from Bruegel the Elder’s visions of hell. Of all the photographs in the book there’s one that really hit home. It is of the village crossroads where I was brought up. The village itself is somewhat inevitably no longer a village, having been eaten alive by Swansea’s post-war urban sprawl that radiated like the concentric growth rings of a tree trunk. In the picture there are two cars parked outside a greengrocer’s and a locksmith’s. The pub or, rather as it was then, hotel (where local boy, the poet Dylan Thomas drank) is proudly evident with its Tudor Revival black beams (except they’re sepia) laying their graticule over herringbone brickwork washed with white (except it’s pale sepia) interstitial plasterwork. In the background, the spire of the Victorian Gothic St Paul’s church, built with private funds from massive wealth created by the international copper smelting trade, reminds us that this was the age of local metal production, rather than the imported integrated circuit. There seems to be little question that this photograph remains one of the very few survivors, while there is absolutely no doubt that this shot, this wonderful window into the past, gives us more of an insight into how we lived in the pre-digital era than words ever could. Elsewhere in the book – that should be given an award of some description – we are treated to chapter after chapter with images of a recent past so obliterated by change that you could be looking at a different planet. If you wanted to be unkind about the photography and its technical processes, you could have a field day with this collection of postcards and prints, but it would be extremely ungallant. There isn’t a single image that could compete in terms of sharpness delivered by modern equipment, while the notion of accurate focusing seemed back then to be a polite

suggestion rather than the urgent imperative it is today. There are other hanging offences too, most prominent of which is motion blur because, despite the cameras being mounted on what I expect were precision engineered, rock solid mahogany, brass-ferruled tripods, long exposures meant that there’s often a stray cat smearing its way along a pavement. Many of the prints are hand-coloured with a quaintly limited palette of tones (mostly dun brown, olive green and burnt orange), while the drum scans are rudimentary to the point where you can imagine the white-coated lab technicians that processed these images were actually aiming for moiré effect interference patterns. As I say, it’s easy to carp and criticise. I could go on at length, but I’m reluctant to because there is something much more important to think about, more important even than looking through the photographic glass darkly, making smug long-distance comments about the superiority of modern technology. What we have here is a book of modest ambition from a provincial publisher, without the faintest chance of making so much as a farthing from their efforts, that seems to make a loud statement about what the social value of photography can be. In 96 short pages, the author has preserved a portrait of a once-burgeoning metropolis in images that literally have to be seen to be believed. Did we really used to walk unshod to market? Did we really used to spew out sulphur and arsenic fumes next to a blue riband salmon river in such quantities you could hardly tell whether it was noon or midnight? Were there really pubs on every terraced street corner, flattened by the bombs of the Second World War? Were there really gasworks, foundries and rugby grounds, all where Tesco is today? There’d be no visual record of this were it not for the photographers of yesteryear, and we should be glad that they did what they did when they did it. I can imagine if a similar book were to be produced a century from now, the job would be more of a challenge, with images idling on data cards and hard drives in junk boxes, their formats obsolete and unreadable, or their content too trivial to be bearable. It even remains possible that the generations to come will have lost interest in the past, a circumstance too dismal to contemplate for long. Could the future of our past truly be this bleak? Maybe not, for the maths is on the side of those wanting to preserve today for tomorrow. We currently take roughly two billion digital images daily, which means that if probability theory’s ‘Law of Large Numbers’ has stood the test of time, when we’re long gone there might still be something left to look at.

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 55

PHOTO SHOWCASE

56 Outdoor Photography February 2020

PHOTO SHOWCASE

Red Bull Illume – Image Quet From over 59,000 entries showcasing the best cuttingedge adventure sports imagery from around the planet, this epic competition has once again pushed the boundaries for what is possible in the genre. Get ready to be inspired…

Left

Overall Winner and Energy – Winner Ben Thouard I’ve dedicated the last few years to shooting underwater, looking for new angles and a new way to shoot surfing and waves. Tahiti has some of the clearest water in the world, so it was easy for me to take advantage of it and explore it as much as I could. This photo was shot during a free-surf session right before the WCT event in Teahupo’o. This is Ace Buchan kicking out from the barrel through a wave – a technique used to escape a closeout wave. Luckily I was right below, breathless with my underwater housing, waiting for this moment and I was able to capture the whole sequence of it; this frame from the beginning of the sequence is the most powerful one because of the water around his face and body. © Ben Thouard

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 57

PHOTO SHOWCASE © Philip Platzer

Above

Opposite top

Opposite below

SanDisk Extreme Award – Winner Philip Platzer

Salewa Trophy – Winner Kamil Sutiak

Wings – Winner Philip Platzer

I took the photo for Red Bull during the V-Max Project in the Atacama Desert, Chile, in 2016. The high-speed mountain biker Markus Stöckl tried to beat the world speed record with a serial MTB – which was a success; he reached 167.6km/h. After I did a few classic close-up shots and pans, I wanted to show the whole scene in one shot. The problem was I could not go close enough to do it with a wideangle lens and with a longer focal length I didn’t get the view in the frame. The solution was to do a panorama shot. After I found my position, I did multiple photos in portrait format on 35mm before Markus did his run. When Markus was riding I did the sequence of him with the same focal length and perspective – no tripod was required. To get the final result I had to do some extra work in Photoshop: first of all I stitched the panorama – in the end it was made out of six single shots – and after this I had to add the sequence, which was quite an issue because of the stitching. Everything was slightly distorted and it took some time to fit the 44 shots of Markus back into the scene.

We woke up and the first thought that came to my mind was that this morning was going to be special in the Blue Mountains National Park, Australia. I always say that, as it makes snoozing the early morning alarm way harder. Little did I know that nature had already started working its magic tricks. The athlete Chris Wallace and I arrived to find the slackline surrounded by fog so thick that we could hardly see each other. An hour passed and we could only sense the sunrise that was supposed to make this morning so special. I thought, ‘well not today, mate, happened before, will happen again… the world is not turning around your camera to make you happy every time you press the shutter’. I was ready to bail when all of a sudden the fog dropped a tiny bit down into the valley and showed us what was actually going on around us. This spectacular scenery lasted for about an hour before the clouds underneath us disappeared and the world turned normal again.

Together with the Red Bull Skydive Team, I did this crazy project called Megaswing back in 2016. I already knew this was going to be a tricky one: two hot air balloons – one with a long rope attached and the other one to jump out with the swing – and of course the skydiver with his parachute. After the first couple of jumps I realised that I wouldn’t get the perfect shot by simply shooting from the inside the basket they were jumping out of. Luckily I had my monopod in the car as well as a pair of radio-triggers, so my solution to get the right angle was to hold the camera – attached to the monopod – as deep under the basket as I could and just hope to get the perfect framing. I asked the athlete Marco Fürst to turn a little bit towards my direction to avoid getting a shot of his back and to get this playful mood in the image. In the end it was the very last attempt that gave us the money shot.

58 Outdoor Photography February 2020

PHOTO SHOWCASE © Kamil Sutiak

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 59

PHOTO SHOWCASE © Laurence Crossman-Emms

Above

Opposite top

Opposite below

Innovation – Winner Laurence Crossman-Emms

Raw – Winner Noah Wetzel

Emerging – Winner Jean-Baptite Liautard

Blaenau Ffestiniog was once described as the wettest place in Wales; this is no lie. Even when the sun shines, the puddles are plentiful. I’ve always been attracted to their animations when struck by a bicycle at full speed. The tyres of Katy Winton’s bike created the perfect parting of this muddy sea. The combination of dynamic action and the silk-like curtains made me try the shot more times; each time I was more determined. There are always challenges when shooting bikes and water close-up…don’t get run over and don’t get wet. This concept had always been in the back of my mind, but inding the perfect location and it aligning with both the weather and suicient puddle depth was tough. This breathless day at Antur Stiniog mountain bike centre with Katy proved ideal. You can never guess how water reacts when you hit it with force, sometimes the results exceed your expectations…this was one of those times.

After weeks of preparation and creative conception, I loaded my Subaru and headed north to Wyoming for the total solar eclipse in August 2017. Arriving a couple days before the eclipse, I linked up with athletes Chris Brule, Evan Grott and Blake Sommer. The imagery goal was to capture the eclipse and showcase mountain biking utilising an in-camera double exposure – a very complex process. The morning of the shoot, we loaded our packs well before sunrise, taking light stands, powerful lashes, extra camera gear and two magnum bottles of champagne to celebrate. After capturing the irst image successfully during two minutes of totality, all we had to do was endure the midday sun, waiting for twilight and the attempt at the second frame. Unfortunately, I was unaware I had damaged the hotshoe connection on my camera four weeks prior, while shooting ly ishing, which prevented me from triggering my lashes. Our only option was for athlete Chris Brule to hit the feature in near darkness at 9pm, allowing me to set the camera to a 2.5sec exposure, manually iring the lashes and freezing Chris mid-air. After narrowly escaping complete failure, we hiked out in darkness while sipping the champagne.

Two things that I love when it comes to photography are silhouettes and relections, and I had wanted to use both in a single frame for a long time. After a lot of drawings, I knew what I wanted, but it took me six months to get the perfect conditions and to inalise the idea. Jeremy Berthier’s trail in Bourgoin-Jallieu, France, is a piece of art and this jump is deinitely a highlight. I knew I wanted to shoot it from the side and get that relection, but it was really dry at this time of the year and there was no water around. When I saw a wheelbarrow hanging around by the jumps, I had the idea to ill it up with water to create a mirror. We didn’t have a water hose that day, so I had to do round trips with water cans to a little ditch by the road. After spending a lot of time adjusting the wheelbarrow and cleaning the water in the afternoon, my mirror was inally ready for the evening shoot. We were lucky enough to have a few friends helping us with the ire that night and adjusting the smoke just as we needed. The hardest job was Jeremy’s, as he had to ride the trail almost blind. Riding bikes at night is so scary and I can’t thank the athletes enough when they are in these kinds of conditions. After a few attempts, we got this one, just as I imagined it at the very beginning, and it was a great feeling to inally see the image I had in my head for months displayed on the back of my camera.

60 Outdoor Photography February 2020

PHOTO SHOWCASE © Noah Wetzel

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 61

PHOTO SHOWCASE © Lorenz Holder

Above

Materpiece – Winner Lorenz Holder The irst time I saw this location was when I was watching Game of Thrones and I was blown away by the pure sense of magic this road generated in me. First, I thought that it’s of course a CGI composition, but after a little research I found out that this place is actually real and located in Northern Ireland. A year later I was standing there with Senad Grosic and trying to get a bunny-hop-tailwhip on camera. It was early in the morning with the irst sunrays hitting the road and we managed to get a pretty cool shot, but somehow I knew that there was more potential in the location. So, we decided to stay a couple of days longer and waited for some kind of rain, fog or other particles in the air, so I could use one lash from behind and create a white background to make Senad stand out a bit more and to have the focus a bit more on the action. The rain came on our last day and I still remember the goose bumps I had when I saw the image appearing on the camera screen. It was just like it was when I watched Game of Thrones for the irst time.

Above

Playground – Winner Lorenz Holder The Ouse Valley viaduct is a pretty cool old railway bridge in the south of England. When you approach it from the side, you can’t really see the secret this bridge has to ofer, but once you get underneath one of the arches you can’t believe your eyes. You are caught in a place that could easily be in the movie Inception. The arches create a very surreal visual efect – when you are taking a picture, you don’t understand if you are looking down into something, or at least you get very confused about what you’re actually seeing. I

62 Outdoor Photography February 2020

was blown away that this looked like a good spot for skateboarding. When I showed Vladik Scholz an image of the viaduct, he was on ire to try it out. To be honest it was super hard to ride and Vladik’s quote that got stuck in my mind was: ‘This is so hard, when my brain is going down in the transition, my body is already going up again – this will be diicult to get something done here.’ A couple of hours later, when his brain and body came together, he landed this kick lip while the sun was just at the perfect angle.

To see more of the winning and awarded images and to ind out information about the touring exhibition and limited edition book, go to redbullillume.com. All images featured are copyright of the repetive photographer and Red Bull Illume.

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February 2020 Outdoor Photography 65

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READER GALLERY

READER GALLERY Each month we publish the best images from those submitted for our Reader Gallery. Turn to page 64 to ind out how to enter your work using our online system. Here is this month’s winner… Winner Margaret Soraya I studied photography at university and have been shooting landscapes since I was 20. I started my photography business 15 years ago, specialising in weddings (which is something that I still do), as well as taking on travel commissions. Most of my weddings are on the Scottish islands and I photograph numerous elopements on beaches in remote places. I started shooting landscapes more intensely about 10 years ago, as my children got older and I had more flexibility in life. I have always had a deep interest in the sea, particularly waves, and a fascination with remote and quiet places. This led me to start my photography retreat business two years ago, and I now take groups over to the Scottish islands. The remote islands are also the embodiment of all the values I uphold in my life and work. They are wild, peaceful places where I have time and space for myself. Alongside the solitude they give, the beautiful landscapes touch the

soul with their raw beauty, and my style is a reflection of how I feel in these locations. My aim is to show the quiet power of nature; still, calm imagery from an emotive angle. To me, the technicalities are less important than the creative side of things, and I often shoot in stormy, wild conditions on remote islands. I am usually alone during my trips and aim to create images that represent a state of mind rather than the literal translation of the scene. My ambition is to encourage others to explore their creative side and find their own style and path in life through their own photography, no matter what level they are at or equipment they have. I feel completely solid in my own photography and intend to continue and develop my own work, take on more speaking engagements and produce more books. I also want to exhibit more – at the end of 2019 I had a solo exhibition at Bosham Gallery in West Sussex, and another at Talla Na Mara on the Isle of Harris the year before. I now have a desire to share and teach as well, and would like to

Above Over the years I have got to know the Isle of Harris extremely well, as I pend half my year on the Outer Hebrides. This beach is closet to my heart and my aim was to show the essence of the island – the turquoise seas, the iconic hills and the sheer beauty of the Hebrides. I sat for hours on the beach watching the waves roll in before atually shooting this image. I like to work through feeling completely immersed within the landscape, slowing down enough to feel conneted. Nikon D700 with 24-70mm lens at 44mm, ISO 100, 1sec at f/3.5, Lee Litle Stopper, tripod

speak more about how solitude, time outdoors and quietness can be incredibly powerful for self-awareness and creativity in a world that is increasingly communicative. I guess my ambitions are to keep photographing the sea, to help and to give back.

Hometown Drumnadrochit Occupation Full-time professional photographer Photographic experience 25 years quietlandscapes.co.uk

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 67

READER GALLERY

68 Outdoor Photograph February 2020

READER GALLERY

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 69

READER GALLERY

Previous page I waited on the island of Islay for four days for the forecated waves to arrive. When they did, it was worth the wait. I pent the entire day on the beach feeling euphoria at the conditions in front of me and working out how bet to capture that in an image. I setled on using a slow shuter peed to create a feeling of sotness in the huge waves that were rolling in to the beach, producing a feeling of calm from what was a tumultuous scene. Nikon D800 with 150-500mm Sigma lens at 500mm, ISO 80, 0.4sec at f/11, Lee Litle Stopper, tripod

Above While I was on Orkney, I ventured out in 50mph winds to watch waves reaching roughly 30 feet on the island’s north coat. I shot this image ater crawling to the edge of the clif, as it was not possible to tand upright. The pray from the water was drenching me with every wave and the wind was so ierce it was impossible to hold the camera till, so I had to use a fat shuter peed and dry the camera between shots. Luckily, my patience was inally rewarded as the sun came out jut as a wave hit the rocks. Nikon D800 with 28mm-300mm lens at 300mm, ISO 160, 1/6000sec at f/7.1, handheld

Send in your bet images and win great prizes. This month’s winner receives a superb Lowepro Pro Trekker 350 AW II camera pack, worth £220.95! The redesigned Pro Trekker II series is aimed at geting you and your camera gear to wherever you want to go with a minimum of fuss. Working with their brand ambassador, Chris McLennan, the Lowepro designers have made the ultimate carry-on compatible pack that performs perfetly in the backcountry. The Pro Trekker 350 AW II backpack its one pro DSLR body with up to a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens atached and features the MaxFit divider sytem to maximise capacity and protetion. It has CradleFit sleeves for a 15in. laptop, 10in. tablet and a Wacomtyle tablet, as well as a towable harness, removable hip belt and an AW cover for added weather protetion. To ind out more, go to lowepro.com

70 Outdoor Photography February 2020

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NATURE ZONE DISCOVER 74 Laurie Campbell: Life in the wild

76 Nature photo guide

79 A moment with nature

80 Steve Young: On the wing

A DELIGHTFUL FLYER... Steve Young on the rewards of photographing lapwings during winter

LIFE IN THE WILD

Camouflage in nature photography Laurie Campbell explores how we can camouflage ourselves from our wildlife subjects, with the aim of improving our photographic opportunities ‘Camouflage is the art of being invisible while fully exposed’ is an interesting quotation I came across recently. I considered using it in a previous column about the role camouflage plays in the plumage of birds, but I thought it more relevant to keep it for this one, where I want to talk about how we can use camouflage in our quest to deceive birds and mammals. Using camouflage to improve our chances of getting close to wildlife seems like a good idea, but in reality it is just one aspect of a package of fieldcraft skills that we need to deploy to have any chance of success. Allowing for the acute senses of hearing and smell that many animals possess is critical, and without taking these into account it is pointless wearing even the most sophisticated full camouflage outfit. Perhaps the only exceptions that can help mitigate against the risk of animals smelling or hearing us are the recent developments of clothing that suppresses human scent and mirrorless cameras that neatly avoid the long-standing problem of shutter noise from an SLR camera. As a starting point, when it comes to camouflaging ourselves we first need to think

74 Outdoor Photography February 2020

about how we present ourselves outdoors. The upright human form is instantly recognisable and is seen as a threat by most wildlife, so anything we can do to reduce the impact will help. An obvious way of achieving this is to use features in the landscape that will break our outline. Keeping low, or sitting with our back against a tree, a wall or a large rock can make a big difference, and this is especially true in fine weather when we are working with the sun behind us and there is a greater risk of our outline appearing in stark contrast. That said, from an animal’s perspective it is less likely to spot us hiding in the shadows with the sun shining in its eyes than it is in flat, overcast lighting. Having taken care of what is behind us, it’s important to consider whether we need some sort of screen in place between our subjects and ourselves. There is a wide variety of scrim and camouflage netting available in different patterns and colours, the most effective of which are the so-called leaf-screen materials. These feature semi-circular cuts made in a regular pattern across the fabric, resulting in

the partly detached loose pieces of material forming ‘leaves’. The advantage of this design is that it provides a three-dimensional camouflage effect because it breaks up and softens hard outlines, especially when the ‘leaves’ move in unison with any breeze. There are also leafscreen suits comprising of jackets and trousers that can be slipped quickly over outer clothing. When it comes to the colours and patterns of camouflage materials used on everything from protective neoprene lens wraps to hides and clothing, these vary enormously. At one time we only had ‘disruptive pattern material’ (DPM), which was developed for the British armed forces in 1960. The four-colour woodland pattern variant is a mixture of black, brown, green and khaki, and there is also a lighter, desert version as well. However, in addition to these traditional designs we now have a cosmopolitan influence, with ‘Mossy Oak’ and ‘Realtree’ from North America and ‘Flecktarn’ from Germany. It’s interesting that the origins of these camouflage patterns stem from warfare, while today we put them to good use in what could be termed little more than a rural game of ‘hide and seek’.

Nature tips An inexpensive source of camoulage materials and clothing traditionally came from government surplus shops that carried tocks of used ex-army clothing and accessories. Mot of these have now moved online to join a number of companies manufaturing items peciically for nature photographers. Ater jackets and trousers, think about concealing your face and hands to avoid any lashes of pale skin. A peaked hat creates shade and can keep your eyes hidden, while camoulage head nets and face veils also ofer protetion from biting insets. A midge net or smock can be used for camoulage purposes as well. Whatever garments you choose, favour textiles that are low-noise and, if you are self-conscious about wearing them in an urban area, reversible. While the visual acuity of many animals can be far beter than ours, they don’t always share the full colour vision we enjoy. Deer, for example, have ‘dichromatic’ vision, which means they can see blue, which is good for low light, but truggle to see red. This explains why we see extensive day-glow orange patches on some hunting clothing and why ‘orange blaze’ is mandatory in 43 North American tates for safety reasons. There is no quetion that a properly introduced hide is always going to be a more reliable way of achieving close views of wildlife than camoulage equipment alone. The downside is that it can also atrat the atention of people, which in turn causes a diturbance, so it is worth making the efort to add additional camoulage, even if there is no need to do so for the subjet you are photographing. Whether you are camoulaging a hide or improvising a makeshit screen to hide behind, try to make use of naturally occurring materials and vegetation. This obviously needs to be done in a nondetrutive and reponsible manner, so look for dritwood, rocks, cat-up seaweed or dead grass. Alive or dead, bracken is one of the very few pecies of plants that may be considered environmentally sound to harvet.

Right This sequence shows the process

of camoulaging a regular canvas hide on a shoreline close to a busy road on the Isle of Skye. The only artiicial material I used was a length of leaf screen neting used by pigeon shooters. Nikon F4S with Nikon 25-50mm f/4 manual focus lens, Fujichrome Provia film (ISO 100), 1/60sec at f/8, handheld Opposite A teal photographed from a similar hide.

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 75

WHAT TO SHOOT THIS MONTH…

Laurie’s February highlights

There can be few wetlands in the UK without the ubiquitous mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) present. Common as they are, these ducks are epecially photogenic at this time of year, with their brightly coloured orange-red legs and metallic green head feathers positively glowing in winter sunlight. During prolonged pells of low temperatures, when the water freezes on the surface of ponds and lakes in municipal parks, take a foam or inlatable camping mat or bed and try lying prone on the ground at their level for a diferent perpetive. Nikon F5 with Nikon 300mm f/2.8 AF lens, Fujichrome Velvia film (at ISO 50), 1/250sec at f/4, beanbag

Individual snowlakes are tricky to photograph because of the diiculty of capturing one undamaged. Some of the bet images we see are from locations where temperatures consitently fall far lower than in much of the UK and where falling snow is colder and therefore drier. Photography at closer than life size requires a reined and controlled setup in freezing conditions. That said, although they may not be whole snowlakes, there are till opportunities to photograph ice crytals where snow has fallen in the UK – we jut have to look close enough. Nikon D3 with Nikon 200mm f/4 AF macro lens and extension tubes, ISO 320, 1/200sec at f/11, tripod, cable release, mirror-lock

The colourful yellow pecies of lichen that we oten see growing on rocks above the high-tide line of the seashore is Caloplaca thallincola. It is relatively common across the UK in areas where there is litle or no atmopheric pollution and in gloomy weather it can be jut what is needed to add interet and contrat to the foreground of coatal landscape images. An added bonus is that it can accentuate any grain on the surface and truture of the rocks upon which it is growing, particularly when growing alongside black tar lichen (Verrucaria maura). Nikon D3X with Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 AFS lens at 16mm, ISO 100, 1/10sec at f/18, tripod, cable release, mirror-lock

Of all the UK pecies of owls, the short-eared owl (Asio flammeus) is the one mot likely to be seen out hunting during daytime (diurnal). Ater breeding in the uplands, mot move to lowland areas and the coat for the winter where they hunt over rough grassland and ield margins. Each winter we may have an inlux of migratory birds that boots numbers and they occasionally form roots. Rather than diturb them, the bet way of photographing them is to use a car as a hide on quiet roadsides. Nikon F5 with Nikon 500mm f/4 AF-S lens and Nikon 1.4x teleconverter, Fujichrome Provia film (at ISO 100), 1/60sec at f/8, beanbag from car window

76 Outdoor Photography February 2020

More seasonal subjets

Red Squirrels

Flora

Late winter is a great time to photograph red squirrels, as the new mating season is under way and the native species will be less wary of snappers looking to get close to them. Although almost three quarters of the UK’s red squirrel population are in the coniferous forests of Scotland, there are also options ‘south of the border’.

Dog lichen (Peltigera canina) – a large grey-brown pecies that grows on the ground and is so-called because of the white, piky trutures on its underside. Wilsons ilmy-fern (Hymenophyllum wilsonii) – a tiny fern that forms dense colonies alongside mosses on damp rocks and tree bases in humid places. Beech (Fagus sylvatica) – marcescence is the term that describes why leaves tay on trees in winter. With beech, look for single curled, dried leaves.

Fauna Oak marble gall wap (Andricus kollari) – now that the leaves have gone, the ditintive round galls created by this wap pecies are easier to ind atached to low-growing twigs. Coot (Fulica atra) – a common pecies on lakes and ponds, but in sunlight it is a challenge not to overexpose the bright white bill. Oter (Lutra lutra) – not easy to pot when submerged in large bodies of freshwater, but far more conpicuous when running over the frozen surface. © Ondrej Prosicky / Shutertock.com

World wildlife petacle

Dalbeatie Foret, Dumfries and Galloway There are plenty of red squirrel-friendly forets in Scotland, but Dalbeatie Foret, 14 miles south-wet of Dumfries, is home to the irt oicial red squirrel trail in southern Scotland. It is also the site of a world-class mountain biking centre, making it the perfet pot to combine squirrel hunting with two-wheeled outdoor adventure.

Kielder Water, Northumberland With more than 75 per cent of Kielder Foret made up of conifers, England’s larget man-made foret is home to half of the country’s red squirrel population. A squirrel hide overlooking native woodland can be found at Kielder Catle, with another red squirrel hide at Kielder Waterside, ive miles south on the wetern shore of Kielder Water.

Platypus, Autralia As with the red-crowned crane, platypus numbers have truggled in the face of hunting and habitat loss, but it is only now that scientits are tarting to realise that their numbers may

Located a short ditance south-wet of Hawes, this two and a half mile circular trail lies at the heart of the Widdale Red Squirrel Nature Reserve. One mile into the walk you will reach a dedicated squirrel viewpoint and feeding tation in a woodland clearing, which ofers plenty of opportunities to photograph the relatively tame residents.

have been plummeting for many years. Part of the reason this decline hasn’t been recognised sooner is that hitoric tudies of this monotreme (egg-laying mammal) are few and far between, so modern researchers can’t tell what the population was like as recently as 1980, let alone any earlier. However, what is known is that this shy and elusive animal’s range is retrited to eatern Autralia and Tasmania, with the later island making a great location for poting this natural curiosity. Warrawee Foret Reserve, jut outside the northern town of Latrobe, is a regular haunt for wildlife ilmmakers looking to record platypus in the wild and makes an ideal tarting point; visit late aternoon through to early evening, or arrive at irt light for the bet chance of a sighting.

Newborough Foret, Anglesey

Having successfully eradicated the invasive grey squirrels, there are now thought to be around 700 red squirrels on Anglesey. Newborough Foret to the south-wet of the island is a particular tronghold, and the squirrel feeders at Llyn Parc Mawr car park of the A4080 are a good place to tart your search. © Martin Pelanek / Shutertock.com

Red-crowned crane, Japan The red-crowned crane has a pecial place in Japanese mythology, symbolising both happiness and long life. However, depite appearing on everything from sake botles to Japan’s national airline, the bird is the world’s second raret crane, having been almot eradicated by a combination of hunting and land development following the Meiji Retoration in 1868 – by 1924 it is thought that fewer than 20 birds survived in the Kushiro marshes on Japan’s northernmot main island, Hokkaido. Today, thanks to legal protetion, more than 1,000 red-crowned cranes pend winter in the 70-square-mile wetlands of Kushiro-Shitsugen National Park, providing photographers with the perfet seting to encounter these till-endangered birds and witness their famous courtship dance. February is the prime time to visit, as bird numbers are at their peak; you can enjoy a plethora of viewpoints, including Kushiro Marsh Observatory in the south of the park and Otowa bridge in the north.

Snaizeholme Red Squirrel Trail, North Yorkshire

Isle of Wight Red squirrels have been eradicated from the south of England, with the exception of two island locations: Brownsea Island in Poole harbour and the Isle of Wight. The later is the easier location to visit, with Parkhurt Foret to the north-wet of Newport and Bouldnor Foret to the eat of Yarmouth ofering regular red squirrel sightings.

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 77

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A MOMENT WITH NATURE

An audience with the emperor The epic saga of the emperor penguins’ survival through the unimaginable cold and darkness of the Antarctic winter is a regular feature of wildlife documentaries, but as Michael Parker knows only too well, seeing it first hand isn’t easy Unless you have access to an Antarctic research station, the only way to see emperor penguins is by ship, and even then, icebreakers are the only boats tough enough to reach the most northerly and ‘accessible’ colony. After two and a half days crossing the dreaded Drake Passage, we arrived amidst the monumental icebergs of the Weddell Sea. Our destination, Snow Hill Island, is an innocuous snow mound, with remnants of equipment from historic explorers, but according to my 2005 guidebook, no wildlife. As the emperors breed on the sea ice ofshore, this is strictly true, although the colony has been known since 1996. Arriving by ship and then helicopter to an ice base, sounds like luxury travel, but the trek from there to the colony felt pretty expeditionary, with deep snow, sheet ice and slush. The polar kit of thermals, double ski pants, leeces and expedition jackets made walking cumbersome, but it was essential

for the hours I would spend lying on ice watching the penguins’ antics. After three relatively balmy days, our fourth excursion was met with truly polar conditions. The wind had exposed the solid ocean ice, motionless penguins appeared dead in a drift until shaking themselves free and ingers turned icy if you risked removing a glove. At the same time, though, we were now seeing the emperors in their true environment, battling the elements, lost in their icy wilderness and with the usual background bleating of chicks drowned out by the wind. While the penguins dealt admirably with the conditions, we coped less well. Photography became diicult as snow got on to lenses, settings had to be adjusted while wearing mitts and exposures were checked through snowed-up or steamed-up sunglasses on a camera screen that was hard to view in such bright light (although it goes without saying that overexposure was required for

such white scenery, despite the contrast with the penguins’ dense black feathers). As we headed homewards for the last time we crossed paths with penguins inding their way to the sea and back, and when we came upon this line I delved into my backpack to switch cameras for one with a wideangle lens (changing lenses was out of the question). The lying snow and extraordinary backdrop of pressure ridges and frozen-in icebergs, on top of the solidiied ocean on which we stood, highlighted the emperors’ stoicism against the elements. This group waddled on, but we were forced to retreat as the blizzard worsened. As we waited for rescue, I couldn’t help wondering how these remarkable birds survive far worse conditions through the desolation of winter. Eventually we left them to their icy home, and the strange yellow-anoraked penguins from a diferent world disappeared in a clatter of rotors.

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 79

NATURE ZONE STEVE YOUNG

On the wing With waxwing spotted in the local area, Steve Young scours the streets of the north-west in search of these winter visitors Waxwings were back! It had been a while since the last invasion of this Scandinavian banditmasked berry-munching beauty, and I was hoping that a small lock would be found not too far away. Sure enough, news came through of a few birds just 15 minutes away in a slightly dodgy area of Liverpool. It was mid-week and I was on my own, so I just had a short walk to check the berry trees alongside a very busy main road, leaving my camera and binoculars in the boot, but there was no sign or sound of any birds. I returned home disappointed, but a couple of weeks later a few birds were reported in nearby Warrington, not too far away. It’s always worth a trip to see this fantastic looking species – after all, they have made a massive efort to ly all the way from their Scandinavian breeding grounds to eat berries in the UK, so I could surely manage a 30-minute drive to appreciate their visit. This was no countryside excursion, but an urban drive and after inding the street and parking, one waxwing could clearly be seen perched on an aerial across the road. It was a good start. Two others were in a berry tree alongside the road, but were chased away by a mistle thrush that’d decided that these foreign visitors were not going to eat his winter supply of easy food. After 30 minutes or so a trilling call gave away the presence of the returning waxwings as they lew in and landed in a nearby ‘watching’ tree. This is common behaviour, and locks of birds will perch in tall trees or on aerials before dropping down on to the feeding tree or bush,

80 Outdoor Photography February 2020

A classic shot of a waxwing doing what it does bet – plucking a berry from a tem.

and then ly back to the watch point. One bird lew down and was immediately set upon by the thrush. But while the thrush was otherwise engaged the other two waxwings dropped in and fed hurriedly on berries before the thrush realised what was happening. This continued for a short while before the waxwings took over one tree and ‘misery’ the mistle thrush sat in another tree, sulking. Waxwings always feed as though they are in a hurry, frantically picking a berry, tossing it in the air and catching it before swallowing, then moving on to the next one. Because it’s all done very quickly you have to pick a bird, focus and ire while you have a chance, hoping that there are no branches obscuring part of the head or body. When there is a large lock it can be even harder to follow an individual bird as lots will ly down at the same time to feed and you will be spoilt for choice. Sometimes, by the

time you choose a bird to focus on, the lock has fed and taken of back to the other trees. On this occasion I’d managed a few decentlooking images. The backgrounds weren’t particularly good, and I must admit to having taken better photos in the past, but the birds had been great to see and warmed up a cold winter’s day. Here’s to a lot more in 2020. Below left This shot was taken a few yards away from the three main trees. The bird is in a nice pose, but the background is messy, consiting of a back wall and fence; notice the lack of any red ‘wax’ tips on the wing of this juvenile bird. Below right As you can see from this shot of the site, waxwings don’t care where the berries are. Countryside or town are all the same, as long as they have food to eat, so keep an eye on any berry trees near you.

BIRD OF THE MONTH

Cold weather can be a problem for lapwings, as frozen ground means they can no longer probe for worms. In these conditions many move to weter areas, such as etuaries.

Known by a variety of names, including green plover and peewit, the lapwing is a common breeder in the UK and its large cret and green plumage make it a great photographic subjet. Although not as prevalent as it used to be, its delighful calls and diplays can till be seen over many areas of farmland. During winter they lock together and can be seen on wetland areas and farmer’s ields if the ground is sot enough for them to feed on worms and insets. When the ground becomes frozen locks will move to etuaries or weter areas to feed.

With their rounded wings, green plumage and cret of variable length (depending on age and time of year), the lapwing is an atrative pecies to photograph.

Large locks of lapwings form during the autumn and winter months.

BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY TIP

Above Many winter berry trees have regular ‘guardians’ that will try and chase away other birds while food is till on the branches; this is the mitle thrush that tried to chase the waxwings away in Warrington.

Above Even fallen berries will be devoured during the winter – not much is let when locks of thrushes such as ieldfare arrive.

It’s not only waxwings that enjoy eating the berry crop, as it is a valuable and essential food source during the winter. Many berry trees will have a resident blackbird or mitle thrush in atendance and although blackbirds will be overrun by the waxwings, a mitle thrush will do its very bet to chase them all away. Starlings will also descend en-masse on to a berry tree, providing great photo opportunities, while other possibilities include redwing, ieldfare and maybe even a blackcap. So if your local berry trees aren’t lucky enough to be invaded by waxwings you can till enjoy the other pecies that will be feeding there.

LOCATION OF THE MONTH

Druridge Pools Located next to Druridge Bay on the Northumberland coat, Druridge Pools provides a wetland retreat for a hot of wintering wildfowl, with two ditint areas ofering diferent photographic opportunities. To the north is a large lake that plays hot to teal, wigeon and goldeneye, while the wet ields to the south are the ideal feeding ground for redshank and snipe. A path runs between both areas, through the centre of the site, with access to two hides – one of which has been recently renovated – as well as a screen overlooking the southern ields. However, while the path is lat and level it can become muddy, so waterproof boots are a good idea in winter. Geting there Take the A189 north from Newcatle upon Tyne for jut under 20 miles, until it meets the A1068 at a roundabout. Take the third exit on to the A1068, signed Alnwick, and continue for four miles to Widdrington (not Widdrington Station). As you enter the village you will reach a roundabout, where you should take the third exit towards Druridge. Follow the road for one and a half miles and then turn let on to a single-track road – Druridge Pools are on the let, with ample roadside parking. Entry fee Free. Opening times All day, every day Website nwt.org.uk/naturereserves/druridge-pools

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 81

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GEAR ZONE ACQUIRE 84 Camera tet

86 Gearing up

LIVE THE HIGH LIFE FOR LESS... The new DJI Mavic Mini delivers lots of performance for a low price

GEAR ZONE CAMERA TEST

Canon EOS M6 MkII The mirrorless EOS M6 MkII packs the same all-new 32.5MP APS-C sensor as the EOS 90D reviewed in last month’s OP. Fergus Kennedy looks at whether its performance lives up to its larger sibling Guide price £869.99 (body only) Contat canon.co.uk

Below Lakeland panorama: The detail in images was extremely good from the new 32MP APS-C sensor. Canon EOS M6 MkII with EF-M 15-45mm f/3.56.3 IS STM lens at 15mm, ISO 100, 1/125sec at f/9

The EOS M6 MkII is the top model in Canon’s crop-sensor range of M-series cameras, and it opens up some interesting comparisons between the company’s mirrorless and DSLR options. The first thing you notice is the size of the camera: it’s substantially smaller than the EOS 90D in every dimension, and weighs in at just over 400g, versus 700g for the DSLR. The mirrorless newcomer has a reasonably sized and comfortable handgrip, and on top of the camera are well-placed dials for your thumb and index finger, as well as the mode dial. Pressing the button at the dial’s centre changes the function performed by the thumb wheel, enabling you to run through the ISO, shooting mode, AF mode, white balance and exposure compensation with your thumb, and

84 Outdoor Photography February 2020

LIKES Size and feel are great Excellent image quality Dual Pixel AF Very fat continuous frame rates

DISLIKES No in-body image tabilisation No headphone socket Screen not fully articulated Batery life not up to DSLR tandards

then adjust their values with your index finger. It’s a system that works well and is pretty fast once you’re used to it. It also effectively solves the problem of having less space for buttons compared to a larger DSLR. On the back of the camera there are physical buttons, including an AF-on button surrounded by an MF-AF

switch, which didn’t feature on the original EOS M6. The rear LCD offers touch control, but is a tilting design, rather than a fully articulated screen, presumably to minimise bulk. The basic package does not include an electronic viewfinder, but this can be bought as an optional extra or as part of a package, depending on how important you feel an eye-level viewfinder is. Personally, I think this is a great implementation for those who like to use an EVF under certain conditions, but who want to lose the extra bulk when pocketability is a factor. The dioptre adjustment comes via a large ring around the eyepiece, making it one of the quickest and easiest to adjust that I’ve seen on any camera. Switching between the EVF and rear LCD can be set to automatic or controlled via

Above (left) The AF locked on to backlit subjets very well. Canon EOS M6 MkII with EF-M 15-45mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM lens at 15mm, ISO 100, 1/80sec at f/9 Above (right) There is plenty of shadow detail in Raw iles. Canon EOS M6 MkII with EF-M 15-45mm f/3.56.3 IS STM lens at 17mm, ISO 640, 1/60sec at f/6.3

a button on the side of the EVF. When you buy any interchangeable lens camera you are buying into a whole system, and Canon’s EF-M lens range has some really nice optics, including ultra-wide zooms, pancake lenses, fast primes and telephoto zooms. But it is still relatively limited. However, the EF-EOS M adapter allows you to use EF and EF-S lenses on the EOS M6 Mark II, with no penalty in terms of performance or image quality, which is great if you already have a collection of these lenses. In use, the EOS M6 MkII is easy to like. It’s definitely a different experience to the EOS 90D, but its operation is snappy and the AF is super-responsive.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Sensor 32.5MP APS-C (22.3 x 14.8mm) CMOS Resolution 6960 x 4640 pixels (max.) Lens Interchangeable Canon EF-M mount (EF and EF-S with adapter) Shuter peed 1/4000-30sec, plus Bulb ISO 100-25600 (extendable to ISO 51200) Viewinder Optional EVF LCD 3in. tilting LCD, 1040K pixels, touch control Flash Pop-up and hotshoe Movie mode Max. 4K up to 30fps; Full HD up to 120fps Card formats SD/SDHC/ SDXC (single slot) Power Li-ion batery LP-E17 Size 120 x 70 x 49mm Weight 408g (with batery / no lens)

There is no physical joystick for moving the AF point, but you can ‘touch and drag’ on the rear LCD while your eye is up to the EVF. Thanks to the on-sensor Dual Pixel AF, object tracking and facetracking work really well, and in many cases I would say the AF performance exceeds the phase detection system on the EOS 90D (although it’s worth noting that the EOS 90D utilises the same excellent Dual Pixel AF in Live View mode). The EOS M6 MkII’s snappy AF tracking is complemented by continuous shooting at up to 14fps, although with tracking AF the buffer fills up after 26 images. There is also a new Raw burst mode that can shoot up to 84 frames at 30fps, but this is at a cropped 18MP resolution and you have to use Canon’s Digital Photo Professional software to extract the images after the shoot. While this takes a bit of getting used to, it could be very useful if you shoot really fastmoving subjects, especially if you set the camera to pre-buffer, so you can capture the action from just before you press the button. As with the EOS 90D, the image quality from the 32.5MP sensor is excellent, and class leading among APS-C sensor cameras. Although not on the same level as a full-frame sensor, there is plenty of detail and dynamic range, and the low-light performance is excellent. Shooting at ISO 6400 and above there is noticeable grain,

particularly in darker areas, but this can be minimised with noise reduction. Video shooters will be pleased to hear that the EOS M6 MkII can shoot 4k video without a sensor crop and in Full HD it can shoot slow motion at up to 120fps. Unfortunately, it lacks a headphone jack for monitoring audio and doesn’t have in-body image stabilisation for either video or stills.

VERDICT There is no doubt that Canon has produced a winner with the EOS M6 MkII. It scores in almot every area, with great image quality and snappy operation at a reasonable price point. It should keep a wide variety of photographers very happy, with versatility both in terms of its performance and the lens range available (once you include adapted lenses). Whether you choose the EOS M6 MkII or the EOS 90D may come down to how wedded you are to using a DSLR viewinder, but with the mirrorless ofering being signiicantly less expensive, with a performance that in some ways beters its larger brother, it certainly makes a compelling case for change.

RATINGS Handling Performance Specification Value

95% 95% 94% 96%

Overall

96%

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 85

DJI Mavic Mini

Panasonic Lumix S Pro 70-200mm f/2.8 OIS The Lumix S PRO 70-200mm f/2.8 O.I.S. boats high descriptive performance across the entire zoom range. Comprising 22 elements in 17 groups, the use of two ultra extra-low dipersion lenses, three extra-low dipersion lenses and optimum alignment efetively suppresses both axial chromatic aberration and chromatic aberration of magniication. Atigmatism is also correted with an apherical lens, achieving high resolving performance. Adoption of a double focus sytem results in high descriptive performance from the centre to the corners over the entire zoom range depite its large aperture. The optical image tabiliser in the lens complies with the camera’s body image tabilisation to make it possible to use a seventop slower shuter peed. The contant f/2.8 aperture provides smooth defocus gradation to achieve a beautiful bokeh. The lens is dut and plash resitant to withtand harsh conditions, even when temperatures are well below freezing.

The Mavic Mini is DJI’s lightet and smallet foldable drone. Weighing jut 249g, it is extremely portable, easy to ly and designed for safety, making it ideal for anyone who wants to experience lying. It has a light time of up to 30 minutes and boats GPS receivers and downward visual sensors to detet the ground to enable precise hovering, table lying and accurate landing. The Mavic Mini can capture 2.7K video at 30fps, 1080p at 60fps and 12MP photographs using the 1/2.3in sensor. A three-axis motorised gimbal supports and tabilises the camera, ensuring the footage is smooth and cinematic. Advanced features include automated lying paterns to capture footage that is always locked on your main subjet. Guide price £369 dji.com/uk/mavic-mini

Guide price £2,599 panasonic.com

GEARING UP Think Tank Emergency Rain Cover – Large If you want to protet your camera and expensive super telephoto lens from foul weather then this 70D tafeta rip-top, seamsealed Emergency Rain Cover will keep your kit safe even in a heavy downpour or snowtorm. It features a zippered botom for a tripod or monopod atachment, or for beter access to the focus ring. The cover can be cinched up for a tight it, loosened like a tarp or rolled up on the lens hood so it’s ready for ation when bad weather hits. It has an oversized window to view your LCD and its lens sizes up to 600mm f/4. Guide price £55 snappertuf.com

Oakley Anorak glasses

Tilley Beanie These tylish new beanies are made from sutainable and cruelty free OEKO-TEX approved merino wool – which ensures the sheep are handled in a non-harmful way. The complex truture of merino wool innately reponds to changing body temperatures, keeping the wearer warm when it’s cool and cool when it’s warm, and it is fully biodegradable. Merino wool is an extremely versatile ibre that’s naturally breathable, anti-microbial and very easy to wear next to the skin. The beanies have a rolled brim and hidden tash pocket and are available in a variety of colourways. Guide price £45 tilley.com

86 Outdoor Photography February 2020

With performance features wrapped in a lifetyle design, the lightweight Oakley Anorak glasses can easily transition from everyday life to ative adventures. These glasses are a slimmed down and subtler version of the Oakley Advancer, which feature technology that intantly opens airlow to help combat fogging and overheating. The O Mater frame material is durable and provides all-day comfort and the Unobtainium nose pads help keep the glasses securely in place. Oakley Anorak glasses are available with Prizm lenses that are designed to enhance colour, contrat and detail to make the mot of any ativity (and with Oakley Authentic Prescription lenses). They come in a range of lens colours. Guide price £120-170 (depending on lens colour) oakley.com

Lowepro Pro Trekker BP 550 AW II

Smartwool Intraknit Merino 200 Crew The new Intraknit base layers enable the body to move beter, work more eiciently and perform at a higher level in variable conditions and during high-intensity ativities. The 3D-knit sculpting technique creates superior articulation that wraps around joints to dramatically enhance garment movement, lex and it. With blended Merino Sport yarns – which provide the power of merino and the durability and fat dry times of polyeter – and gender-peciic ventilation to maximise thermoregulation, it improves sweat management.

Lowepro’s Pro Trekker II Series lets you travel with essential camera gear as carry-on luggage, and the BP 550 AW II is the larget of the bags. Measuring 35 x 24 x 62cm, it comes in a modular two-piece design that allows you to plit the bag when you are lying – the bag is only 51cm tall without the detachable lid. The main backpack module its in the overhead bin, while the lid will it under the seat. It features the MaxFit divider sytem, which allows excellent torage eiciency for your equipment, iting up two to three pro DSLRs (one with up to a 400mm f/2.8 lens atached), four to six lenses, two peedlights, a 15in laptop, a 10in tablet, a pro tripod plus accessories. It has a pocket for a hydration reservoir, Lowepro’s trademark All-Weather cover for when conditions are challenging and AtivZone back panel for comfortable carrying whatever adventure you are undertaking. Guide price £360.95 lowepro.com

Guide price £109.99 ellis-brigham.com

Extremities Sirocco gloves Utilising the very latet fabric from W.L. Gore, Gore-Tex Ininium Stretch Technology, the Extremities Sirocco gloves have been developed to enable them to be kept on for longer; the 3D shape and single-seam contrution creates a unique close it and less bulk. For ative photographers there are no more sweaty palms either, as the close it and breathability of the gloves mean your hands tay dry, and they are proteted from wind chill, too. The sot, tretchy fabric adopts the shape of the hand, giving excellent dexterity and a perfet it for using with your camera. The silicone grip on the palm gives reassurance when handling equipment, and the gloves feature touchscreen technology, so you can operate your camera screens and smartphones without removing the gloves. Guide price £45 extremities.co.uk

Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 ART DG DN

Featuring an impressive 16in 3072 x 1920 Retina diplay, the new MacBook Pro is up to 80 per cent fater than its predecessor and boats a new Magic Keyboard, with a redesigned scissor mechanism and 1mm of travel for a more satisfying key feel and quieter operation. It also includes a sixpeaker sound sytem, Touch Bar, Touch ID, the Force Touch trackpad and Apple T2 Security Chip and has a longer batery life. If your image library is extensive then it’s possible to have up to 8TB of torage too, making this perfet for photographers.

This is the second newly designed Art zoom lens dedicated for mirrorless cameras. It ofers betin-class performance and high resolution throughout the entire zoom range, while the design ensures size and weight are reduced. It features extra-low dipersion glass materials, six sheets of ‘F’ low dipersion glass and two sheets of pecial low dipersion glass. The three apheric lenses help to subdue aberrations such as axial chromatic aberration or sagital coma aberration, which are diicult to corret in pot-processing. The super multi-layer coating means the lens is less afeted by trong incident light such as lare. The AFL buton can have various funtions assigned to it from a camera body and the minimum focusing ditance is 18cm at the wideangle end. It is also dut and plash proof.

Guide price From £2,399 apple.com

Guide price £1,049.99 sigma-imaging-uk.com

Apple 16in MacBook Pro

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 87

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Pro Tactic 450 AW II Backpack

Flipside 300 AW II

Pro Tactic II : BP 350 AW II............£149 BP 450 AW II ...........£189

Flipside: 300 AW II ..............£89 400 AW II ..............£119

Think Tank Airport International

Airport: International V3.0 £349 Take off V2.0 ...........£359 Security V3.0 ..........£379

Pro Light RedBee 310

Pro Light RedBee RedBee-110 .................£89 RedBee-310 ................£119

Tripods & Heads Gitzo Fluid Head Gimbal

MT055XPRO3 Manfrotto Befree GT Carbon

Manfrotto Befree GT Travel Tripods: Aluminium ................ £149 Carbon Fibre ........... £249

Reloader Switch-55

Small Pro.............................£199 Small .....................................£159 Roller Bags Large ....................................£175 Reloader Switch-55 .....£249 Pro Original .......................£189 Reloader Spin-55 ..........£219 Hadley One ........................£265 Gorillapod: Gorillapod 500....... ...........................£27.95 Gorillapod Kit 1K ................................£35 Gorillapod Kit 3K ...............................£62.95 Gorillapod Kit 5K ...............................£129

Gitzo Systematic Tripod Series 5 6S G

Aluminium: MT055XPRO3 ......... £149 Carbon Fibre: MT055CXPRO3...... £249 MT055CXPRO4 ..... £286

Systematic Tripods: Series 3 3S L ............£629 Series 5 3S L ............£729 Series 5 6S G ...........£999

Gitzo Fluid Head Gimbal: .........................................£329

Lighting & Accessories

470EX-AI £399 SB-5000 £299 inc. £100 c/back* £569

Khaki/Tan, Black/Tan, Black/Black, Sage/Tan.

Urban Bowens Compact Lumimuse Ezybox Background D-Lite RX 4/4 Collapsible LED Lights Speed-Lite 2 L-308X Plus III Set Light Stand Support Kit Softbox Set Background £49 £199 £255 £725 £54 From £38 £174 £149

T&Cs: All prices incl. VAT at 20% Prices correct at time of going to press. Free Delivery** available on orders over £50 (based on a 4 day delivery service). For orders under £50 the charge is £2.99** (based on a 4 day delivery service). For Next Working Day Delivery our charges are £4.99**. ◊ Saturday deliveries are charged at a rate of £7.95**. ◊ Sunday deliveries are charged at a rate £8.95**.(**Deliveries of very heavy items, N.I., remote areas of Scotland & Ch. Isles may be subject to extra charges.) E. & O.E. Prices subject to change. Goods subject to availability. Live Chat operates between 9:30am-6pm Mon-Fri and may not be available during peak periods. † Subject to goods being returned as new and in the original packaging. Where returns are accepted in other instances, they may be subject to a restocking charge. ††Applies to products sold in full working condition. Not applicable to items speciﬁcally described as “IN” or incomplete (ie. being sold for spares only). §To qualify you must have purchased a camera from us within the last 30 days. Wex Photo Video is a trading name of Calumet Photographic Limited (Company Registration no. 00425579) and Warehouse Express Limited (Company Registration no. 03366976). ©Warehouse Express Limited 2019. *CASHBACKS Are redeemed via product registration with the manufacturer. Please refer to our website for details.

www. .co.uk

Swab A varied range of swabs are available to you, each uses a different method to apply our cleaning liquids. There are swabs in sizes from micro 4/3rds through full frame to medium format. Our orange swabs are recommended and safe to use for cameras without an anti aliasing filter. There are swabs available to make specialist cleaning jobs carefree. These include corner swabs, digital back swabs & focusing screen swabs. All have been designed to make this delicate task as easy as possible for you to undertake yourself, both safely and easily.

View Quasar (above) and Mini Quasar (left) loupes make the job of identifying dust & grease on your sensor as safe and easy as possible Swablight (left) is a small and compact light that can be focused to clearly show where dust is lurking, and a swab can be fitted directly to the unit so precise cleaning can be carried out. Only available in kit form containing 5 swabs and a choice of liquid Patents apply to cleaners. Always keep one with you Visible Dust products indoors or out!

Everything you need for camera sensor cleaning

Dust

Clean

For removing dust and similar debris, our Arctic Butterfly range of brushes are a proven success. They are available in sizes to suit all sensors. Zeeion blowers are ideal for removing dust from inside shutter chambers.

VisibleDust liquid cleaners (Sensor Clean, Smear Away and VDust Plus) are safe to use on all current camera sensors. It is recommended that VDust Plus is only used with our Orange series of swabs. Sensor Clean is for light stains, whilst Smear Away is for more stubborn stains caused by oil and lubricants, our Green swabs are best for use with these liquid cleaners. They are also available in handy kits (see below) that are ideal to take anywhere with you, or just to keep in the gadget bag, and also save you money w h e n compared to buying the same items singly.

Arctic Beez. This latest innovation from Visible Dust uses Ultrasonic vibration to clean your sensor with less pressure on the low pass filter, and is 4x more effective than manual cleaning.

For information about other products in the range, and your nearest stockist... Ask about the CurvSwab™ and

Tel: (Frazer) 07725 081436 (Denys) 07909 227517

Email: sales@visibledust.co.uk For detailed ‘How To’ tutorials please visit our website...

www.visibledust.co.uk

Dual Power™ kits. Ideal for use on cameras without the low pass filter. Huge range available for Micro Four Thirds cameras.

Made in Italy from the finest materials

Unique Photographic Accessories Luxury Pure Silk Camera Straps A range of hand made straps made from pure silk by Japanese artisans, to give your camera a distinctive yet functional appearance. Various lengths and colours available. ACAM-312N shown.

Leather Half Cases For Leica Cameras Leather half cases lovingly hand crafted by Japanese artisans using only the finest leather. Hand stitched to perfection and designed to offer protection for your Leica camera without adding bulk, these half cases are available for many models including M2 to M10 cameras. Easy to fit and allows the use of all Leica or A&A straps. Available in a range of colours.

Leather Half Case For The Leica CL Made with the same love and care as the other half cases for Leica cameras, this case is dedicated for the Leica CL. Features a front grip and tripod bush on base. As shown, it has an opening base to allow access to the battery or card without taking the case off the camera.

Casual Cord Camera Straps Made by traditional methods with the same care and precision of our silk straps, this new range offers photographers a colourful and comfortable way to carry their cameras. Available in the 4 colourways shown, they are also available in 2 different lengths. ACAM-701 shown, ACAM-706 also available. Further details and your nearest stockist can be obtained from...

Alpha Optical Distribution Limited Tel: (Frazer Allen) 07725 081436 (Denys Nelson) 07909 227517

Email: info@alphaodl.co.uk Product website: www.artisan-n-artist.com

Zenelli ZX

Gimbal Heads

The Zenelli ZX is the lightest Gimbal head in it’s class, weighing in at only 0.98KG; yet is still able to take a payload up to 70KG safely. Full 360º range of motion for both pan and tilt, and separate locks with tension control for each. The clamp is compatible with most Arca type dovetail plates and is opened and closed via a thumb screw. The base of the clamp can be adjusted 4.8” up and down to balance and to adjust the nodal point. Features the ‘Save Lenses Lever’ mounted onto the vertical arm of the clamp, which when activated, prevents the clamp from tilting forward. The quick release lever allows a quick and safe slide adjustment - locking pressure of the Arca Swiss profile is adjusted by means of a pin, and the ‘SaveLock’ is a quick and automatic lever to protect the quick release plate in its pre-set position.

Introducing the NEW Carbon ZC - the latest addition to the Zenelli Gimbal family. Load capacity is 38KG, it is designed to hold lenses up to 500mm. Ideal for birdwatching, nature and sports photography, it is also the perfect product for Spotting Scopes. Weight is 0.84KG.

Further details and your nearest stockist can be obtained from...

Alpha Optical Distribution Limited Tel: (Frazer Allen) 07725 081436 (Denys Nelson) 07909 227517 Email: info@alphaodl.co.uk Product website: www.kiteoptics.com

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COOL, CREATIVE AND CONTEMPORARY

DECEMBER 2019 PAUL ADAMS + KATJA LIEBMANN + CHRIS STEELE-PERKINS + SHOOTING MODERN ARCHITECTURE ISSUE NO.236

COOL, CREATIVE AND CONTEMPORARY

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Landscape Photography Workshops Supported by Kase Filters, UK Digital and Novo

Take your photography to the next level

©Martyn Ferry

©Sarah Howard

Dorset’s Jurassic Coast

The Lake District

February 28th - March 1st 2020

March 5th - 8th 2020

©Sarah Howard

Yorkshire’s Coastal Treasures

Glencoe, Rannoch Moor & Glen Etive

March 26th - 29th 2020

April 2nd - 5th 2020

©Sarah Howard

South West Cornwall

The Essence of Tuscany

April 18th - 21st 2020

May 3rd - 9th 2020

Practical based workshops • Expert tuition All abilities welcome • Inspiring locations • Small group sizes For more information on all our workshops visit

www.imageseen.co.uk 07760 498 112

Landscape | Wildlife | Nature | Adventure

HOLIDAYS, COURSES & TUITION

TO DESTINATIONS IN THE UK AND OVERSEAS FOR WILDLIFE, NATURE AND LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY For the absolute beginner to experienced amateurs and professionals

Take the next step up in your photography, contact us for latest tour dates: e. hello@naturalwondersphotography.co.uk t. 07913 415 701

www.naturalwondersphotography.co.uk

Take step U K , the M ynext anm a r up , I nindyour i a , photography, Z a m b i a , S rcontact i L a n kus a ,for F ilatest n l a ntour d , Fdates: rance, Madagascar, Uganda

e.hello@naturalwondersphotography.co.uk t. 07913 415 701 www. naturalwondersphotography.co.uk

advertise in a magazine thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s referred to time and time again by its dedicated readers? Then contact Guy on 01273 402823 or email guy.stockton@thegmcgroup.com

To advertise on these pages, please contat the Photography team on 01273 402841 or advertising@thegmcgroup.com

PHOTOGRAPHIC TOURS

CLASSIFIEDS 93 February 2020 Outdoor Photography 93

Mifsuds Photographic Ltd. Est. 1954. Family Run Pro Dealership With Friendly, Knowledgeable Staff.

www.mifsuds.com 01803 852400 info@mifsuds.com OPEN: Mon-Sat 9am-4pm. Sun-See website.

URGENTLY WANTED Your Digital Cameras, Lenses etc. ie: Canon, Fuji, Nikon, Olympus, Sony, Sigma, Tamron, Bronica, Hasselblad, Mamiya, Leica, Pentax

n Top Prices Paid, Quoted Quickly n Paid Cash, Cheque or BACS n Collection Can Be Arranged n Email Details Or Visit Us At

Mifsuds, 27-29, Bolton Street, Brixham. Devon. TQ5 9BZ.

Same Day Payment - Cash, Cheque or BACS WANTED NOW - CUSTOMERS WAITING EOS 5D MKIV, Nikon D850 etc plus ALL Canon & Nikon lenses CONTACT US NOW!

All Fuji X system & Sony cameras / lenses etc

All Olympus & Panasonic Micro 4/3rds cameras / lenses etc

Simply email over your equipment details - we will do the rest! ANY PRICES SHOWN INCLUDE VAT AND U.K. MAINLAND DELIVERY. Correct 02/12/2019. E&OE. Family Run Pro Dealership With Friendly, Knowledgeable Staff.

Although we are the best stocked dealer in the West Country, please confirm stock position before travelling. Information correct 02/12/2019. Always see website for up to date prices. E&OE.

Website altered daily inc. manufacturers cashback & promotions

www.mifsuds.com Subscribe to our newsletter - send your email address to info@mifsuds.com.

QUALITY USED EQUIPMENT. 6 Month warranty on most secondhand. See website for full list and details etc. CANON USED

For Canon FD cameras, lenses and accessories please see www.mifsuds.com

Used Canon

5D MKIV body box

300mm F2.8 IS USM LII

500mm F4 IS USM LII

£3799

£2197 CANON DIGITAL AF USED 1DX MKII body box .................... £2999 1D MKIII body box.........................£399 1D MKII body ..................................£299 7D MKII body Mint box ............ £1097 7D MKII body box..........................£997 7D body ............................................£499 6D body ............................................£699 5D MKIV body box ..................... £2197 5D MKIII body box............. £997/1399 5D MKII body ..................................£699 5D MKI body....................................£299 80D body box .................................£699 60D body box .................................£399 50D body ..........................................£249 20D body box ................................... £79

600D body .......................................£249 550D body box...............................£199 400D body box................................. £99 1300D body .....................................£249 Powershot G1X MKIII M- box ....£749 Powershot G1X MKII .....................£349 Powershot G1X...............................£249 Powershot G12 ...............................£149 CANON EOS M USED EF-M 15-45 F3.5/6.3 IS ................... £99 CANON AF FILM BODIES USED EOS 1V body box ...........................£599 EOS 1N HS body.............................£299 EOS 1 HS body................................£199 EOS 3 body M- box .......................£399 EOS 3 body ......................................£299

NIKON USED

£5799

EOS 5 body box................................ £79 EOS 3000 body ................................. £49 EOS 300 body ................................... £49 EOS 50E body ................................... £49 EOS 500N body ................................ £39 EOS 1000f body................................ £39 EOS 1000 body ................................. £39 EOS 1000fn body ............................. £39 PB-E2 drive fits EOS1/3 .................. £99 CANON AF LENSES USED 10-18 F AFS box .............................£199 10-22 F3.5/4.5 USM EFS ..............£299 14 F2.8 L USM MKII .................... £1199 15 F2.8 fisheye box .......................£399 16-35 F4 IS USM L..........................£799 17-40 F4 L USM box......................£479

17-85 F4/5.6 IS USM .....................£199 18-55 F3.5/5.6 IS EFS ...................... £99 18-135 F3.5/5.6...............................£299 24-70 F2.8 USM LII M- box ...... £1199 24-70 F2.8 USM L box ..................£699 24-70 F4 L IS USM box .................£499 24-105 F4 L IS MKII ........................£799 24-105 F4 L IS..................................£499 28-200 F3.5/5.6...............................£179 40 F2.8 STM .....................................£139 50 F1.4 USM box ............................£249 60 F2.8 EFS macro .........................£199 70-200 F2.8 IS USM box ..............£799 70-200 F4 L IS USM box ..............£699 70-200 F4 L USM ............................£449 70-300 F4.5/5.6 IS USM II ............£399

70-300 F4.5/5.6 IS USM ...............£299 75-300 F4/5.6 MKII .......................... £99 85 F1.8 USM box ............................£249 100 F2 USM......................................£299 100 F2.8 USM macro ....................£319 100 F2.8 IS USM L M-....................£649 100-400 F4.5/5.6 LII IS U box .. £1499 100-400 F4.5/5.6 L IS U .......£499/899 200 F2.8 L USM MKII .....................£399 300 F2.8 IS USM LII ..................... £3799 300 F4 IS USM L..............................£699 400 F2.8 IS USM LII ..................... £5799 400 F5.6 USM L ...............................£699 500 F4 L IS USM MKII................. £5799 25mm ext tube box ........................ £89 1.4x extender MKIII .......................£329

1.4x MKII extender ........................£239 2x MKIII extender M- box ...........£329 2x extender MKII............................£219 SIGMA CAF USED 10-20 F3.5 EX DC HSM .................£269 12-24 F4.5/5.6 EX DG HSM .........£399 18-300 F3.5/6.3 box ......................£279 70-200 F2.8 EX DG OS..................£599 70-300 F4/5.6 macro ...................... £79 150 F2.8 EX DG OS macro ..........£399 150-500 F5/6.3 OS DG ..................... £499 TC1401 1.4x converter .................£199 1.4x EX DG conv .............................£149 OTHER CAF USED TAM 55-200 F4.5/5.6 DiII ............... £49 TAM 70-300 F4/5.6 VC..................£219

For Nikon MF cameras, lenses and accessories please see www.mifsuds.com

Used Nikon

D850 body box

D500 body mint- box

200-500mm F5.6 E VR AFS box

£1997/2197 NIKON DIGITAL AF USED DF body ......................................... £1197 D850 body box.................£1997/2197 D800 body box......................£699/799 D750 body box...............................£799 D600 body .......................................£599 D500 body Mint- box ................ £1199 D300 body box...............................£199 D200 body .......................................£149 D7200 body .....................................£599 D7100 body .....................................£449 D7000 body .....................................£299 D5500 body .....................................£399 D5100 body box ............................£249 D3000 body .....................................£139 D4 body ......................................... £1197

D3X body box ..................... £997/1499 MBD-15 grip box ............................. £99 MBD-14 grip box ............................. £99 MBD-10 ............................................... £79 MBD-80 grip ...................................... £49 NIKON AF LENSES USED 10.5 F2.8 DX box ............................£399 10-24 F3.5/4.5 AFS DX box.........£449 16-35 F4 AFS VR box ....................£799 16-80 F2.8/4 AFS VR......................£599 16-85 F3.5/5.6 AFS DX VR ...........£249 18-35 F3.5/4.5 AFD .......................£349 18-70 F3.5/4.5 AFS ........................£119 18-105 F3.5/5.6 VR DX AFS.........£199 18-135 F3.5/5.6 AFS G DX...........£199 18-140 F3.5/5.6 VR DX AFS.........£249

£1199 24-70 F2.8 E AFS VR latest ......................................... £1399 24-70 F2.8 AFS box .......................£897 24-85 F3.5/4.5 AFS VR ..................£299 24-120 F4 AFS .................................£699 28 F2.8 AFD box .............................£149 28-105 F3.5/4.5 AFD .....................£149 35 F1.4 AFS M- box .......................£897 35 F1.8 DX AFS ...............................£149 40 F2.8 DX AFS macro..................£199 50 F1.4 AFS G ..................................£299 50 F1.4 AFD Mint- box .................£239 50 F1.8 AFD box ............................... £99 55-200 F4/5.6 AFS DX .................... £99 55-300 F4.5/5.6 AFS VR................£229 60 F2.8 AFS macro.........................£379

70-200 F2.8 AFS VRII .................. £1199 70-200 F4 AFS VR box ..................£899 70-210 F4/5.6 AF.............................. £99 70-300 F4.5/5.6 AFS VR................£329 70-300 F4/5.6 G non VR ................ £79 80-400 F4.5/5.6 AFD .....................£499 85 F1.4 AFS ......................................£897 105 F2.8 AFS VR macro ................£499 200-500 F5.6 E VR AFS box.........£997 TC17EII M- box................................£199 TC20EIII box .....................................£299 TC20E .................................................£149 SIGMA NAF USED 8-16 F4.5/5.6 DC HSM ......................£379 12-24 F4.5/5.6 EX DG HSM II ........£499 12-24 F4.5/5.6 EX DG HSM .........£399

17-70 F2.8/4 DC cont box...........£249 18-35 F1.8 DC box .........................£499 24-70 F2.8 EX DG HSM ................£449 70-200 F2.8 DG OS box ...............£699 70-200 F2.8 EX DG.........................£399 100-400 F5/6.3 DG box ...............£549 105 F2.8 EX DG OS macro ..........£279 150-500 F5/6.3 DG OS .................£499 150-600 F5/6.3 cont M- box ..........£649 500 F4.5 EX DG HSM ................. £1299 1.4x EX DG converter ...................£149 2x converter EX ................................ £99 TAMRON NAF USED 10-24 F3.5/4.5 VC HLD box ........£399 11-18 F4.5/5.6 DiII .........................£149 28-300 F3.5/6.3...............................£149

£997 70-300 F4/5.6 VC............................£219 70-300 F4/5.6 Di............................... £79 150-600 F5/6.3 VC .........................£599 OTHER NAF USED TOK 11-16 F2.8 ATX Pro II .............£349 TOK 12-24 F4 ATX Pro ..................£299 Kenko ext tube set DG .................. £99 FLASH / ACCESSORIES USED SB-600................................................. .£99 SB-700 box .......................................£169 SB-800................................................£149 SB-910................................................£299 SB-5000 .............................................£399 SU-800 commander .....................£179 MORE ON WEBSITE WWW.MIFSUDS.COM

FUJI, MINOLTA/SONY, OLYMPUS, PANASONIC ETC. USED

Used Sony

Used Sony Used Sony

A7R MK IV body

16-35mm F4 ZA OSS

£799

£2697 FUJI DIGITAL USED X-T20 body silver box...................£399 X-T1 body black box .....................£299 18 F2 XF box ....................................£299 18-55 F2.8/4 XF ..............................£399 18-135 F3.5/5.6 WR .......................£599 27 F2.8 box ......................................£249 50-230 F4.5/6.7 OIS XC MKII ........£239 55-200 F3.5/4.8 XR ........................£499 Samyang 50 F1.4 UMC box ........£199 EF-42 flash ........................................£119 VG-XT3 grip fit X-T3 box..............£199 VG-XT2 grip fit X-T2 box..............£149 MINOLTA/SONY DIGITAL USED Sony A7R MKIV body box ........ £2697 Sony RX1R box ...............................£997 Sony RX10 MKIII .............................£799

Sony A6500 body box .................£699 Sony A100 body............................... £79 Sony VG-C70AM............................... £99 Sony F42AM flash box ................... £99 MINOLTA/SONY AF USED 18-70 F3.5/5.6 ................................... £69 28 F2.8 ................................................. £79 28-75 F2.8 AFD ...............................£199 28-80 F4/5.6....................................... £49 28-85 F3.5/4.5 ................................... £79 35-70 F3.5/4.5 ................................... £39 35-105 F3.5/4.5................................. £99 50 F1.7 ................................................. £69 70-210 F4 Via Cam .......................... £99 70-210 F4.5/5.6................................. £49 75-300 F4.5/5.6................................. £79 100-300 F4.5/5.6 .............................. £99

2x APO MKII converter ................£199 RC1000S cord.................................... £29 RC1000L cord .................................... £29 Angle finder VN ................................ £69 5400HS flash...................................... £49 3600HSD flash .................................. £49 SONY NEX USED FE 16-35 F4 ZA OSS ......................£799 FE 18-135 F3.5/5.6 OSS................£549 FE 50 F1.8 .........................................£159 FE 55 F1.8 ZA...................................£499 SONY A SERIES LENSES USED 18-70 F3.5/5.6 ................................... £89 24-105 F3.5/4.5 D ..........................£149 70-300 F4.5/5.6 G SSM.................£499 SIGMA MIN/SONY AF USED 10-20 F4/5.6 EX DC box...............£199

70-300 F4/5.6 DG OS ....................£169 1.4x EX converter............................. £99 TAM 10-24 F3.5/4.5 DiII ...............£239 TAM 16-300 F3.5/6.3 PZD ...........£329 Teleplus 1.4x conv ........................... £69 Teleplus 2x conv .............................. £79 Kenko 1.4x Pro 300DG .................£149 OLYMPUS 4/3 USED E3 body .............................................£149 50 F3.5 macro ................................... £69 OLYMPUS MICRO 4/3 USED OMD-EM1 MKII body black........£897 OMD-E1 body box.........................£449 OMD E-M5 body MKII box..........£499 OMD E-M10 MKII body ................£299 7-14 F2.8 Pro ...................................£699 8 F1.8 fisheye ..................................£499

55mm F1.8 ZA

£499 9-18 F4/5.6 box ..............................£349 14-42 F3.5/5.6 II................................ £99 14-150 F4/5.6 MKII M- box .........£399 17 F2.8 ...............................................£169 30 F3.5 macro M- ...........................£149 40-150 F2.8 ......................................£799 40-150 F4/5.6 ..................................£149 300 F4 IS Pro................................. £1499 HLD-7 grip for E1 ............................. £69 PANASONIC DIGITAL USED G1 body .............................................. £99 G10 body ..........................................£149 GX7 body silv/blk ..........................£299 LX100 black box.............................£349 LX5 compact ..................................... £99 14-42 F3.5/5.6 .................................£149 14-140 F4/5.8 ..................................£349

25 F1.4 box ......................................£379 25 F1.7 box ......................................£199 100-300 F4/5.6 box .......................£299 BGC9E G9 grip ................................£149 LVF1 viewfinder (fit G1) ................. £79 PENTAX DIGITAL USED K5 body .............................................£299 K200 body ........................................£149 D-BG4 K5 grip ................................... £49 10-17 F3.5/4.5 fisheye ..................£239 18-55 F3.5/5.6 ................................... £69 18-135 F3.5/5.6 WR .......................£269 18-270 F3.5/6.3...............................£299

MORE ON WEBSITE

www.mifsuds.com

ITEM YOU REQUIRE NOT LISTED? EMAIL DETAILS OF WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR AND WE WILL EMAIL YOU WHEN WE CAN HELP. Mail order used items sold on 10 day approval. Return in ‘as received’ condition for refund if not satisfied (postage not included - mail order only). E&OE.

Landscape | Wildlife | Nature | Adventure

HOLIDAYS, COURSES & TUITION

CLASSIFIEDS

Hawes, North Yorkshire Set in beautiful private woodland with lots of perches and moss covered dry stone walls Woodland Hide Reflection Pool Hide One-to-One Workshops

To advertise on these pages, please contat the Photography team on 01273 402841 or advertising@thegmcgroup.com

CLASSIFIEDS, SPECIALISTS & EQUIPMENT

Future Workshops Aviemore - February - Mountain Hares, Crested Tits, Snow Buntings and more Yorkshire Dales Landscape - all year Lake District Landscape - all year

www.paulfowliephotography.co.uk

97 February 2020 Outdoor Photography 97

Professional

Repair Services Camera, Lens & Lighting Equipment

New Manchester service desk Free estimates Professional sensor cleaning Fast turnaround times Collection/Delivery available

Manchester Service Desk Manchester, M12 6HH 020 7582 3294

ixationuk.com

Mon - Fri | 8 - 5

www.f ixationuk.com

Fixation is an authorised service centre for

London Workshop London, SE11 5RD 020 7582 3294

ixationuk.com

Mon - Thu | 8 - 5.30 | Fri 4.30

If you only do one thing this month…

Black & white landscapes In our October issue, we set you the challenge of showing us your very best black & white landscape photographs, and you certainly delivered. From a near record number of entries, here is our winner, who receives a Manfrotto BeFree GT XPRO Carbon Fibre travel tripod, and 27 runners-up…

Above WINNER Geraint Evans I’d spent the weekend attending the Meetings of Minds landscape photography conference at the Rheged Centre in Penrith, so, as I was in the area, early on the Monday I set off to ascend Sharp Edge on Blencathra. The conditions were fantastic, with swirling mists and shafts of light all around. As Sharp Edge came into view the mist broke to reveal the ridgeline’s striking outline framed by the moraine around Scales Tarn. Nikon D810 with Tamron 70-200mm lens at 70mm, ISO 100, 1/125sec at f/11, handheld flickr.com/photos/126232476@N06

100 Outdoor Photography February 2020

Opposite (top) Alan Kemp This image is of one of the Antony Gormley statues at Crosby beach on Merseyside. I planned my visit for a morning when sunrise and high tide were a matter of minutes apart and the forecast was broken cloud with sunshine. I was pleased with the images I captured in the first hour, but as the morning passed and the tide rolled out, the sky cleared and other photographic opportunities came along, resulting in this image. It shows that we should always go to a location with an open mind. Pentax K-1 with Pentax D FA 24-70mm lens at 70mm, ISO 100, 1.3sec at f/11, polariser, tripod

Opposite (below) Ulrike Eisenmann While on vacation in South Africa I did not want to miss travelling along the famous Panorama Route road, where the Blyde River canyon is one of the main tourist attractions. Because of the rainy weather, I was a little disappointed that the scenery did not look like I’d expected, a turquoise river canyon. I nevertheless took some pictures, trying to catch some light rays among the moody clouds. Nikon D750 with Sigma Art 24-105mm f/4 lens at 62mm, ISO 125, 1/320sec at f/9, handheld

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 101

Above Alf Branch I had been to Buttermere, in the Lake District, earlier in the morning and with the mist moving around I decided to go to the top of Newlands Pass to see what the conditions looked like from there. When I arrived the valley was filled with mist, so I waited a while. Thankfully the mist shifted, revealing some of the trees and other details in the scene. I opted for a monochrome conversion of all the shots I took that morning and kept them high key. Olympus OM-D E-M5 II with Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8 pro lens at 40mm, ISO 200, 1/20sec at f/5.6, handheld lickr.com/photos/albranch

102 Outdoor Photography February 2020

Below (left) Ruth Asher I was heading up to Madeira’s highest peak to capture some panoramic images when, as I drove through the low cloud, I came across this solitary tree fern emerging through the mist. The simplicity of the scene really caught my eye and so I new I had to stop and capture one or two images. Nikon D800 with AF-S 24-70mm lens at 38mm, ISO 400, 1/100sec at f/9, handheld ruthasherphotography.co.uk

Below (right) Lars Fridh I visited this site in Lunsen Nature Reserve, outside Uppsala, Sweden, two years after a forest fire had burnt through the area. The storms of the preceding winter had felled some of the remaining skeleton trunks and it looked like a giant’s criss-cross. Some bulrush plants in the foreground with their juvenile green leaves provided a stark contrast to an otherwise charcoal-coloured scene. I used infrared to let the bulrushes ‘pop out’ of the image. IR 720nm converted Nikon D810 with PC-E 24mm lens, ISO 64, 1/50sec at f/8, down shift, tripod intagram.com/lars.fridh

Right (top) Andrew Hocking When I saw these dead branches poking out of the water at Colliford Lake, Cornwall, I thought it would make for a great minimalstyle shot. The water was fairly still in this sheltered area of the lake, but I also attached a 10-stop neutral density filter to completely smooth the surface to get a stark contrast between it and the dark, gnarly branches. Canon EOS 6D MkII with 24-105mm lens at 63mm, ISO 100, 47sec at f/11, Lee Big Stopper, tripod hocking-photography.co.uk Right (middle) David Lingham This was taken on 35mm black & white film and scanned on an A4 flatbed scanner from a 10x8 toned darkroom print. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an image of Druidstone beach in Pembrokeshire during an evening in June when there was lots of mist. I found a suitable foreground object and positioned the headland in the background. Nikon F2 with 105mm lens, Ilford FP4 100 film, exposure not recorded, Manfrotto tripod Below Andrew Warren This is an image of Carreg Cennen castle on the western edge of the Brecon Beacons, taken from a spot about three miles away. If I have a few hours to kill and conditions look promising, I go and stand there and wait for something to happen, which it usually doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t and I end up not getting my camera out of the bag. On this day, however, the light came right. Nikon D810 with 70-200mm lens with 2x converter at 400mm, ISO 640, 1/800sec at f/8, handheld andrewwarrenphotography.co.uk

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 103

Left (top) David Eberlin This is in the wonderful Gelt Woods in the Eden Valley, near Carlisle. It has some interesting formations in the stream and is well worth a visit. I decided to concentrate on shooting details and liked the flow and movement in this image; the conversion to black & white emphasises the pattern and swirls, giving a real feeling of movement. Canon EOS R with 24-240mm lens at 100mm, ISO 100, 0.8sec at f/29, tripod davideberlin.uk Left (middle) Julia Martin This old smock mill stands high on a hill overlooking the sea in Sussex. I took the image from a low angle to include the surrounding grasses in the frame and to get the mill to stand out against the lovely sky. An infrared conversion brings out the contrasts even more, emphasising the mill in its natural environment. Canon EOS 5D MkIV with 24-104mm lens at 24mm, ISO 100, 1/100sec at f/5 Left (bottom) Stuart Poole My plan had been to take a long exposure of Godrevy Lighthouse and the island, Cornwall, but the incoming tide swirling over the exposed rocks soon changed my plans. Canon EOS 5D MkII with 24-105mm L lens at 24mm, ISO 100, 0.5sec at f/11, polariser, 2-stop ND grad, tripod tuartpoolephotography.co.uk Opposite (top) Ian Iles This image was taken along the old Drove Road in the Quantock Hills, Somerset. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an ancient beech-lined pathway, which looked particularly alluring on this foggy bank holiday Monday in August. Nikon Z7 with 24-70mm f/4 S lens at 55mm, ISO 64, 1/13sec at f/8 Opposite (bottom) Ade Gidney Walking up the riverside to Loch Dochard, Scotland, the little Clashgour fishing bothy visually stood out from the dark landscape and dead bracken. With brooding clouds and a swollen stream coming down the mountainside, I opted to process the image as low key to bring out the moodiness of the scene. Canon EOS 6D MkII with 24mm TS-E lens, ISO 125, 1/20sec at f/8, tripod

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February 2020 Outdoor Photography 105

Top (left) Peter Dorman The nuclear power station at Dungeness, in Kent, is protected to some extent by a high bank of shingle, which is topped by a number of ‘lookout huts’. Shooting from beach level with a tilt-shift lens to maintain the correct perspective, I used a long exposure together with filtration to separate the three elements in the photograph. Canon EOS 5DS with 45mm TS-E lens, ISO 100, 8sec at f/9, two images stitched together

Top (right) Robin Horton This image shows the groynes at Barmouth in north Wales. As the sun went down on the right-hand side of the image, it created nice shadow lines on the water. I used a slower shutter speed with the intention of getting the waves splashing up against the groynes, with the wet, black stones as my foreground. Fujifilm X-T1 with 18-55mm f/2.8-4 lens at 19mm, ISO 200, 3.1sec at f/6.4

Below (left) Richard Burdon For me, a lone tree in a field of snow is a work of art, but I wanted an image that also had a strong foreground. It took a lot of searching, but I eventually found a tree with the remains of some grasses on a hilltop close to home at Cawthorne in South Yorkshire. My initial attempts didn’t work out. However, I returned again and managed to capture this image. Nikon D800 with 24-70mm f/2.8 lens at 58mm, ISO 100, 1/60sec at f/16, Vanguard tripod rjbphotographic.co.uk Opposite (top) Paula Cooper Lark Hill is very near to my home in The Brecks, Norfolk, and, as the name suggests, skylarks can be found here singing in the summer. I noticed some storm clouds gathering, so dashed up to this field. I used the wind-blown barley as foreground interest. Panasonic Lumix G7 converted to infrared with Lumix G Vario 12-60mm lens at 12mm, ISO 800, 1/400sec at f/5, polariser, handheld iceniphotography.com Opposite (bottom) Sean Crawford This was the gloomiest day, in the deepest midwinter at St Mary’s Vale, Monmouthshire. I felt distinctly uninspired as I trudged up the hill to the wood, but I found myself entering a magical otherworld – one in which the almost skeletal trunks seemed to dance into the gloom. Everything was brought into beautiful and subtle tonal relief through the fog, and I came away with a series of lovely images. Canon EOS 6D with 24-105mm f/4 lens at 47mm, ISO 100, 1.6sec at f/22, tripod Intagram/Facebook: @seancrawfordphotography

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February 2020 Outdoor Photography 107

Left (top) Katrina Brayshaw One evening, when the sun was getting low, I was walking across the top of the sand dunes at Big Sands, Gairloch in Scotland, and noticed these interesting shadows made by the dunes. As the photo is about simple shapes, I thought it suited conversion to black & white well. Fujifilm X-T2 with XF 18-55 lens at 38mm, ISO 200, 1/20sec at f/10, tripod Left (middle) Steve Ball My visit to the LlĹˇn Peninsula in north Wales was planned in order to shoot sunset on the coast at Trefor. However, after a long and slow journey I arrived to ind that conditions were less than ideal. Looking out to sea I noticed these storm clouds on the horizon and knew the evening was not going to be a total failure. Sony Alpha 7R III with 24-70mm f/2.8 GM lens at 46mm, ISO 100, 1/13sec at f/11 mckinnellphotography.co.uk Left (bottom) Simon Coter During a trip to Alberta, Canada, I came across this group of huts in a wheat ield by the side of the road. I was drawn to the isolated huts against the background of the menacing sky, and feel that the crows make the image look less sterile. Canon EOS 300D with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 55mm, ISO 100, 1/320sec at f/5.6, handheld Opposite (top) Ian Mounford These characterful beach huts in Calais, France, are in various stages of weathering and provided a wonderful subject for a monochrome composition. A long exposure added some drama, with the high contrast between the sunlight and clouds. Canon EOS 5D MkII with EF 17-40mm lens at 22mm, ISO 100, 60sec at f/16, 10-stop ND, tripod, remote timer ianmounfordphotography.com Opposite (bottom) Seshikanth Middela I took this image of the sea defences at New Brighton beach at Wallasey, Merseyside. I used a very long exposure to blur the water. Canon EOS 5DS with EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM lens at 45mm, ISO 100, 65sec at f/16

108 Outdoor Photography February 2020

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 109

Left (top) Alan Novelli Shot near Cape Wrath on the north coast of Scotland, this is one of the hardest images I have ever taken. By the time I tripped the shutter I had been battered by 50mph winds for over an hour while the full force of a Scottish gale drenched me intermittently with rain and hail showers and blasted sand from the dunes into my face. The stormy light, blurred movement of the grasses and transient patch of sunlight combine to make an image I will always remember. Fujifilm X-T2 with 18-135mm lens at 18mm, ISO 200, 1/30sec at f/13, 3-stop ND grad, tripod (with me leaning on it heavily to stabilise it!) alannovelli.co.uk Left (bottom) Gavin Liddle Smailholm Tower is a peel tower – a small, fortiied tower – to the west of Kelso in the Scottish Borders; it is one of the most photographed landmarks in the area. After heavy snowfall, I walked knee-deep in the snow to the only vantage point where you can get a nice composition of the tower with the Eildon Hills behind. A black & white conversion brought out the contrast between the snowdrifts and the rocks and highlighted the hills in the distance. Canon EOS 70D with EF 24-105mm L lens at 47mm, ISO 100, 1/30sec at f/22, tripod gavinliddlephotography.co.uk Opposite (top) Janet Burdon I awoke this particular morning to ind deep snow and freezing fog, which limited how far I could travel, so I had to ind a location near home. Fortunately, this spot at Cawthorne, near Pickering, was just what I was looking for, with the snow and the mist combining to give the image the simplicity and depth I so love. Nikon D700 with 24-120mm lens at 62mm, ISO 200, 1/30sec at f/11, tripod Opposite (bottom) David Queenan The Devil’s Staircase is part of the West Highland Way at Altnafeadh – looking towards Buachaille Etive Mòr. It was initially given its name by the soldiers who were part of the road building programme. For the workers at Kinlochleven, the journey to the Kingshouse Hotel proved to be more diicult than many realised. The journey back was even worse, as unsteady legs meant many were unable to make it, and on a cold winter’s night the devil often ‘claimed his own’, or so the legend goes. Fujifilm X-T3 with XF 10-24mm lens at 10mm, ISO 160, 1/10sec at f/11, 3-Legged Thing tripod, Lee ND grad dqphotography.com

110 Outdoor Photography February 2020

Your next challenge ENTER ONLINE NOW! Lit landscapes The latet cameras ofer a whole new world of opportunities for creating magical landscape images with supplemental lighting, whether that comes from a peedlight, torch or some other light source. Whether it is to light a path through a dark foret, highlight a rock formation in a seascape or illuminate an old barn in a ield under the tars of the Milky Way, the creative options are almot limitless. For some inpiration, have a good read through James Mills’ insighful feature on page 28 on how he goes about light-painting his landscape images, and then submit your mot impressive lit landscape photographs to be in with a chance of being in the June 2020 issue. To submit your images, go to outdoorphotographymagazine.co.uk/ submissions. The closing date for entries is 26 February 2020. See page 64 for more details and terms and conditions.

Enter and you could win a Keela Sherpa Jacket, worth £109.95! The winner of our ‘Lit landscapes’ photography competition will not only see their image published in the June 2020 issue of OP, but will also receive a superb Keela Sherpa Jacket. The lightweight Sherpa Jacket is everything you want in a thermal jacket and more, ofering high performance, versatility and warmth. Made from Primalot Gold – the highet performing insulation on the market for warmth, water resitance, sotness and compressibility – it can be used as a mid-layer or a tand-alone outer jacket. With innovative zip-of sleeves allowing for increased movement and the use of water/wind resitant technology, the Sherpa Jacket appeals to everyone ranging from extreme mountaineers to hill walkers. Its Flylite Riptop outer fabric is ultralight and durable, with excellent wicking, wind and water resitant properties and there are two zipped hip pockets, a zipped chet pocket and adjutable hem, cufs and neck bale. Find out more at keela.co.uk

February 2020 Outdoor Photography 111

COMPETITION

Where in the world? If you can identify these otherworldly rock formations you could win a pair of superb Keen Explore Mid WP boots, worth £100!

Where is it? These wonderful rock formations, which a legend says is where a miracle took place that saw the rocks open up and swallow a monatery and nunnery, form part of an ancient fortress. But are they: a) Meteora, Greece b) Belogradchik Rocks, Bulgaria c) Babele, Romania The answer and the winner’s name will be revealed in OP256 (on sale 2 April 2020). You can enter the competition online at outdoorphotographymagazine.co.uk/c/win, using ‘Rocks253’ as the code, or send your answer to opcomp@thegmcgroup.com, tating ‘Rocks253’ as the subjet. Alternatively, drop it in the pot to: Where in the world – ‘Rocks253’, OP, 86 High Street, Lewes, Eat Sussex, BN7 1XN. Deadline for entry to the competition is midnight on 26 February 2020.

112 Outdoor Photography February 2020

THIS MONTH’S GREAT PRIZE

NOVEMBER ISSUE WINNER

This month we’ve teamed up with Keen to ofer one lucky OP reader a superb prize, a pair of Keen Explore Mid WP boots hiking boots, worth £100! Sporting a clean, athletic design, the boot features a lightweight microibre and mesh upper with TPU overlays and peed hook lacing to ensure performance on the trail. Designed to traverse from the challenges of the city to the trials of the trails, a notched in design gives comfort at the Achilles, and the lexible EVA midsole and internal shank provide beter tability and cushioning underfoot. Keen’s KonnetFit heel lock-down sytem keeps your foot secure, while a KEEN.DRY waterproof and breathable membrane and KEEN. ALL-TERRAIN rubber outsole with 4mm lugs make the Explore an ideal outdoor boot whatever the weather.

In our November issue, we asked you to identify the dramatic peak in the image below.

Worth

£110!

Find out more at keenfootwear.com

The corret answer is: c) Triglav, Slovenia Shutterstock.com

ENTER ONLINE NOW!

Congratulations to our winner! Roger Liton from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, is the winner of the Sprayway Kalmar jacket, worth £110! We’ll be in touch soon.

BY APPOINTMENT TO HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II SWAROVSKI OPTIK SUPPLIER OF BINOCULARS

EL 32 LIMITLESS PERFECTION SEE THE UNSEEN

PHOTOGRAPHY

HOLIDAYS & COURSES ULTIMATE GUIDE 2020 IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Over 80 years of experience in photography goes into every camera we make. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s part of what makes the FUJIFILM X Series special

FUJIFILM-X.COM IMAGE TAKEN BY UK X-PHOTOGRAPHER CHRIS UPTON

WELCOME

hatever level your photography is at, from absolute beginner to advanced master, the learning journey never ceases. here are always fresh ways to think about your technical or creative approach and boundless opportunities to be inspired by fellow photographers. Of all the possible options available these days for discovering more about photography, there are few as powerful (or fun) as joining a group of likeminded photographers on a photography holiday or workshop. Whether you stay closer to home by exploring the wild spaces of Scotland, Wales, the Lake District or Cornwall and the myriad stunning locations in between – or venture further aield to exotic locales such as East Africa, the Lofoten Islands, Tuscany or the USA – you are guaranteed to return with many stories to tell, your creativity ignited and a bunch of new friends who share your passion for taking images. he market for photography workshops and holidays has grown enormously over the past ten years and the diversity of trips on ofer can be quite bewildering, especially if you are a newcomer, so hopefully the trips in this guide will help you to focus in on what you want to get

from your experience. Try to work out your priority list: for example, whether you want to learn more from a technical point of view, in which case a workshop with more formal learning sessions will perhaps be best suited; or whether you prefer to simply be taken to amazing locations at the right time of day or night for photography and then left more to your own devices with some informal creative input from the leader, which may point you towards a photography holiday type of tour. here are no hard and fast rules or structures to the types of trips on ofer, though; just make sure that you check out who the tutor/ leader is and whether their approach to photography matches your aspirations. It’s no surprise that many tour leaders ind customers return again and again, which indicates just how valuable and enjoyable going on a photography workshop or holiday can be. Completely dedicating a day, a week or more to indulging your favourite creative pastime can reap rich rewards, just be prepared to want to do more than one trip!

PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS & COURSES 2020 brought to you by

Editor Sarah Doughty

Designer Oliver Prentice

Advertising Kate O’Neill, Guy Stockton, Lawrence Cooke Production Anne Guillot, Jim Bulley

Publisher Jonathan Grogan

Cover images: top image © Kav Dadfar, That Wild Idea Bottom row from left © Stephen Studd, Digital Photo Holidays © Gary Groucutt Printed by Buxton Press

PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS & COURSES 2020 3

CONTENTS

FEATURES 66 Portable marvel A photographer’s review of the Fujiﬁ lm X-T3

6 Landscape Capture the perfect shot with stunning oudoor locations

8 Chase your dreams – we’re listening! Serge Krouglikoﬀ is listening to his customers and introducing new equine workshops in response to feedback

16 In another light Michael Pilkington explains how to successfully create infrared images

34 Nature ﬁrst? Jonathan Chritchley considers the eﬀect of photo tourism on fragile sites and the need to respect the locations we want to photograph

63 From steppes to tropical rainforests Gabor Orban invites you to idyllic lodges in Hungary and Costa Rica to take part in wildlife and bird photography

40 ‘That’ Wanaka tree

70 Courses with a difference

Ben Osborne provides a snapshot of New Zealand and invites you to tour this fascinating location

Find inspiration with these specialised courses

44 Mistakes to avoid in travel photography Kav Dadfar outlines some of the most common mistakes photographers make when trying to capture unique photographs

48 Wildlife

72 Towards a zero footprint Morag Paterson and Ted Leeming explain their new approach to photography workshops, which includes a strong environmental ethos

78 Ready for an adventure?

22 A Tuscany experience

Learn how to photograph rare animals and birds

Ken Kaminesky wants you to have the time of your life while experiencing new places and unforgettable moments

Martin Sproul invites you to photograph Tuscany, one of the most picturesque regions of Europe

50 Zimanga night life

82 Capturing the beauty of plants

24 The great outdoors

Ann & Steve Toon introduce you to cutting-edge safaris on Zimanga, a private game reserve in South Africa

Stephen Studd explains what you need to consider when taking great shots of plants

Gary Groucutt provides some tips on shooting stunning pictures in adverse conditions

54 Unlock your creative vision

30 The dark art Adrian Beasley urges you to be bold and search out your vision when processing your photography in black & white

David Lloyd explains how you will leave your safari a better photographer than when you started out

4 PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS & COURSES 2020

86 Planning candid photographs Gene Tewksbury oﬀers direction for capturing improved candid photography

88 Index For advertorials, listings and advertisements

6 PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS & COURSES 2019

LANDSCAPE

PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS & COURSES 2019 7

Chase your dreams – we’re listening! Create Away’s Serge Krouglikoff is listening to his customers and growing his business, by popular demand here is nothing more heartening than a group of photographers who are ecstatic with the photography experience you have just provided and the thousands of amazing images they have captured. As they buzz with enthusiasm about coming back, it’s important to ensure that they have something different or exceptional to come back to… Listening to photographers before, during and after a workshop is essential to

discover what might be the trigger in them – not only to talk about coming back, but actually to do so. When Create Away ﬁrst started out in the Camargue, it was about offering workshops with variations of Camargue horses, birdlife and landscapes. But when a loyal customer, who had already attended two of our workshops, said, ‘if you create a workshop, based around the annual festival with only wildlife and no landscapes, we’ll come back

8 PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS & COURSES 2020

for a third time’ – we didn’t need to be told twice! Hence our Camargue Festival and Gypsy Festival workshops were born. We also had photographers asking us, ‘what other equine workshops and destinations do you do?’ Well, the real answer to that question was ‘none’, but we didn’t let on and told them we were working on a project that would be revealed shortly – we then urgently started thinking about new projects to work on!

Create Away now offers a wide variety of different workshops in the Camargue, featuring the new ‘Equine Photographer’s Dream’, which includes Andalusian and Lusitano stallions. Opportunities for horse photography also extends to the sublime Marwari horses of India and the majestic Friesian stallions on the Spanish coast, providing plenty of great excuses for our loyal customers to come back and join us time and time again. Fortunately, most passionate photographers don’t restrict themselves to one type of photography and those who ﬁrst joined us in the Camargue are inspired to come back to photograph picturesque Provençe in the lavender season, the thrill and excitement of the super yachts during the iconic ‘Voiles de Saint Tropez’ and the colours of Cuba for exceptional street-life and portrait photography. Professional photographers,

who sell their images, provide interesting challenges and often ask for the ‘impossible’ – and how we love to make the ‘inconceivable’ into ‘feasible’, learning new tricks and evolving along the way! Making exceptional moments happen and making photography accessible to everyone is also something Create Away prides itself on. Having received a request from a passionate photographer, who was disabled, but who had always dreamed of photographing the Camargue white horses, we didn’t

hesitate in accepting the challenge. We spent time re-creating some of the most iconic shoots in different locations, to make them easily accessible, without reducing the quality of the images that would be taken away. What a privilege it was for Create Away to fulﬁl this dream. ‘Create Away is not just about the photography, it’s the whole experience’ – Robert Shreve, professional photographer (Ultimate Wild White Horses, Voiles de Saint Tropez, 2019).

PROFILE Serge Krouglikoff founded Create Away, now number one Camargue specialist, to share his passion and know-how, developed over the course of his professional photography career. Based in London as an international fashion photographer, he worked at the top of the industry, travelling across the globe for editorials and advertising campaigns, as well as photographing many celebrities. W: create-away.com E: ros@create-away.com

PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS & COURSES 2020 9

LANDSCAPE | UK aspect2i Inspiring landscape photography workshops!

Cornish Seascape Workshops

Alan Ranger Photography Outdoor workshops to inspire you There are plenty of listings in this magazine with great photographers and locations. Leading workshops also requires good planning, organisation and a tutor who will educate, inspire and deliver a great experience. You will receive one-to-one tuition on camera craft, creative vision and learn many styles of photographing the inspiring natural scenes in fantastic UK locations. Workshops are available throughout the year and suitable for all levels of experience. Devon | Lake District | Peak District | Yorkshire | Northumberland | Norfolk | Suffolk | Dorset | Midlands | Cotswolds | Ireland | Scotland | Wales

he best of Cornwall with Chris Simmons Apect2i will not only take you to breathtaking places and help you improve your photography skills but also pass on our love and knowledge of landscape photography. With over a decade of leading workshops around the world we are sure that you will get the best out of your time on our workshops. We want you to return home having had an amazing time with like-minded people, but also feeling you have learned something new and made friends and had fun along the way!

W: aspect2i.co.uk E: enquiry@aspect2i.co.uk T: 0345 505 1455

W: alanranger.com E: info@alanranger.com T: 0781 7017994

10 PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS & COURSES 2020

This journey of discovery sees you joining award-winning photographer Chris Simmons on an unrivalled, one-to-one seascape adventure. Based on the magniďŹ cent Atlantic coast, you can make a choice from a two to ďŹ ve-day stay, with great food and accommodation. From here, matching tide and time with your aspirations, Chris will guide you to stunning locations right around the coastline, through the golden hours and beyond. Now in their eighth year, this unmatched, internationally renowned course combines inspiring location shoot direction with expert post-processing tuition. For beginners to diversifying pros of all ages, a unique and rewarding photographic experience awaits.

W: c-simmonsworkshops.co.uk E: chris@c-simmonsphoto.co.uk T: 01637 831251

Introducing our exciting new workshop Equine Photographerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dream Join us for unforgettable photography experiences in the Camargue, Provence, India and Cuba

www.create-away.com info@create-away.com + 44 (0) 203 642 2448

LANDSCAPE | UK Dawn 2 Dusk Photography Develop your landscape photography skills

Cornish Landscape Photography Cornwall photo tours with tuition Join award-winning landscape photographer and Outdoor Photography magazine contributor Andrew Ray on a full or part day one-to-one photography tour. Tours can be based around the stunning scenery of either West Cornwall, the Lizard Peninsula, north Cornish coast, south Cornish coast or Cornish mining locations. Photographers of any ability are welcome – from complete beginners who require one-to-one tuition, to experienced photographers who wish to visit quality locations accompanied by a photographer with a wealth of local knowledge. Group enquiries are also welcome.

W: andrewrayphotography.com E: andrewjohnray@btinternet. com T: 01209 821266

Dawn 2 Dusk Photography is run by two of the UK’s leading, award winning, landscape photographers and authors – Mark Bauer and Ross Hoddinott. With over 10 years’ experience of running group workshops, Dawn 2 Dusk Photography has earned a reputation for being among the best in the business. We provide a variety of residential and one-day workshops, led by a small team of experienced and renowned professional photographers. Each workshop is led by two tutors who offer friendly, practical and individual guidance on subjects such as exposure, ﬁltration, sharpness, composition and creativity. We always encourage a fun and relaxed atmosphere. Beginner or enthusiast, the workshops are designed to help develop your skills as a landscape photographer, while visiting some of the most picturesque locations in the UK and Europe. A high level of one-to-one attention is guaranteed on all our workshops. We hope you can join us…

W: dawn2duskphotography.co.uk E: info@dawn2duskphotography.co.uk T: 01288 321387 14 PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS & COURSES 2020

LANDSCAPE | UK f11 Workshops

Photograph West Cornwall

In Sussex and Surrey with Rachael Talibart

Photographic workshops in West Cornwall

Run by leading outdoor photographer, Rachael Talibart, we offer day workshops and one-to-one teaching for all levels of experience. With small groups of no more than four, the individual comes first. Our itineraries are devised by Rachael based on her own knowledge of each location gleaned over many years of living and photographing in these areas herself. We also offer in-depth classroom training, with a ratio of one tutor to four, covering image editing, printing and creative development. Clear technical advice, where needed, will help you to capture and process the best file possible but Rachael is always keen to look beyond the technical. She will encourage you to find your own point of view, to try new things and explore. Discover locations on your doorstep in the company of a photographer named as one of ‘the best outdoor photographers working in the UK today’ (Outdoor Photography, June 2016).

These workshops are designed to help you improve your photography, whatever your ability. Based close to St Ives we are conveniently located to take you to many beautiful locations in West Cornwall. Workshops run on a one-to-one basis, or for up to three friends – and can be tailored for between one and ﬁve days. Photograph coastal landscapes, ﬁshing villages, ancient monuments, or tin mines. Choose the locations you wish to photograph or leave the choice to us.

W: photographwestcornwall.com E: info@photographwestcornwall. com T: 07973 321181

W: f11workshops.com E: info@f11workshops.com T: 020 3051 6774

PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS & COURSES 2020 15

In another light Michael Pilkington of aspect2i explains how to successfully create infrared images have always loved black and white photography. I love the distillation of the objects in the scene to tones, the emphasis on texture and shape. Black and white photography brings a level of abstraction that is very appealing. Infrared (IR), when converted to a black and white image brings a new and further dimension to it. I often refer to it as ‘black and white plus’. You get the abstract nature and appeal of black and white photography, plus the added

dimension of IR tonality. Most people associate IR images with foliage that is rendered as bright white taken in full sunlight. You may even associate it with lurid colours. IR photos with alien-looking trees and plants seem to be the usual fare for many people. However, photographing in overcast and dull days results in an image that displays beautiful luminosity in the highlights without the overbearing shadows associated with strong light.

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A converted camera (as opposed to using an IR ﬁlter) is the best way to enjoy this genre of photography. Here are some key tips for shooting in IR: 1. Do not expose to the right! I know this goes against much of the advice, but if you do, you will struggle to separate the highlights in the image later in postprocessing. My rule is never allow the histogram to enter that last quartile.

2. Avoid bright sunny days with green foliage. This is often advised as the best conditions for IR but if you break the rules and head out on a cloudy day, the results are far gentler. 3. Try not to stop your lens down too much. If you do you may get ‘hot-spots’, which are pale circles in the centre of your image. This is common with IR, and if it happens, open up your aperture a little. 4. Be mindful of very subtle changes in light. The slightest increase in sunlight, almost insignificant to the eye, will send your highlights to the right of your histogram very quickly. Check your histogram after every exposure. 5. When you first see your raw file it will look brown and when converted to black and white it will look very flat. Do not try to add too much contrast straightaway as it will look ugly and lack subtle tones. Adjust the tonality slowly and watch the image emerge and come to life!

well in all weathers and in most situations – not just for landscapes. IR brings a new dimension to your photography and you can explore and create within it. When you are

upgrading to your next camera or if you have a previous camera you have owned lying around, think of having it converted to IR. You won’t regret it.

IR photography is probably my favourite genre. It works

PROFILE Michael Pilkington is a professional landscape photographer and co-founder of aspect2i, a leading landscape photography workshop company in the UK. Landscape photography workshops are held in Scotland and other parts of the UK as well as Norway, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and further aﬁeld in the USA, China and Japan. As well as leading photography workshops in the ﬁeld, Michael is principal tutor for the Epson Print Academy, which specialises in teaching all aspects of post-processing, image editing and printing. W: aspect2i.co.uk E: enquiry@aspect2i.co.uk PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS & COURSES 2020 17

LANDSCAPE | UK Image Seen Landscape photography workshops

Run by professional landscape photographer, Sarah Howard, Image Seen specialises in small group workshops in some of the most scenic regions of the UK. Whatever your level of ability, our workshops are designed to both challenge and inspire with the aim of enabling you to produce more satisfying and creative images. With expert guidance and friendly, hands-on tuition, we will help you achieve a better understanding of your camera and reﬁne your technique. You will gain an understanding of working with the light and the use of ﬁlters to control exposure, as well as work on improving your visualisation and compositional skills. We offer workshops in Glencoe, the Lake District, Exmoor, Dorset, Cornwall, North Yorkshire, Northumberland and the Cotswolds, plus many more. Join us and take your photography to the next level.

W: imageseen.co.uk E: sarah@imageseen.co.uk T: 07760 498112

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That Wild Idea Discover. Learn. Achieve. Led by professional photographers in a fun and relaxed atmosphere, our goal is to improve your photography skills and teach you new techniques in some of the UK’s (and the world’s) most picturesque destinations. Ranging from a few days in Cornwall, Glencoe and the Jurassic Coast to a seven-day tour of the south of France, we have something for everyone. We can teach you how to capture amazing sunrise and sunset shots, how to photograph people and how to compose your shot to get the best photos.

W: thatwildidea.co.uk E: info@thatwildidea.co.uk

LANDSCAPE | SCOTLAND & UK Glencoe Photography One-to-one and group guiding

Gary Groucutt Studio Small groups in classic locations

The most famous glen in Scotland, Glencoe, boasts some of the world’s most spectacular scenery. These rugged and remote environments are classic hunting grounds for the aspiring landscape photographer. Glencoe Photography was established in 2010 and offers flexible individual and small group photography tours mid-week and weekends all year round. Our guides Karl and Dave live in Glencoe and so you can be sure we know the best locations and can read the light and weather allowing you to capture images that will wow you. We will provide you with all transport to and from locations and, of course, expert guidance. Our flexibility allows you to book when it is convenient for you. We can help you with accommodation for that bespoke trip you will never forget. Our knowledge of Skye, Mull, Ardnamurchan, and Cairngorm, means we are happy to go further afield.

W: glencoephotography.co.uk E: enquiries@glencoephotography.co.uk T: 07769 809236 20 PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS & COURSES 2020

These are small group workshops designed around photographers of all levels. Small groups make it easy to teach one-to-one. Importantly it also leaves more room at each location. All my workshops are single room accommodation and no sharing. The workshops are all year round in the UK and across Scandinavia and include a FREE post-production day after the workshop. ‘Just to say thank you so much for the workshop on Harris & Lewis, it went beyond my expectations. It’s the ﬁ rst workshop I’ve been on that ticked all the boxes.’ Gary Howie, Harris & Lewis, April 2018

W: garygroucutt.com E: info@garygroucutt.com T: 07779 122034

LANDSCAPE | EUROPE Create Away Photography Workshops

Diorama Days Landscape photography retreats & workshops

Provençe villages, lavender & sunflowers

There isn’t a prettier picture than summer in Provençe with the lavender ields in full bloom. Purple velvet, splashed with Van Gogh’s yellow sunlowers, is a once-a-year experience not to be missed. Picturesque honey-coloured stone Provençe and Luberon villages, perched high on the hillsides, create the perfect backdrop for the swathes of lavender sweeping through the valleys below. Understandably, so many famous artists came to this region to paint endless canvasses of the vibrant colours and extraordinary light. This is an idyllic setting for iconic, award-winning landscape photography.

W: create-away.com E: info@create-away.com T: 0203 642 2448

Diorama Days, Retreats & Workshops are a pattern break; a golden opportunity for you to connect with your passion for photography. These exclusive events are designed to inspire your creativity and enhance your technical skills. Harry Fricker will expertly guide you to breathtaking landscapes across Europe and the UK. There is supportive tuition, aimed at generating practical outcomes, provided for photographers at all levels. Groups are limited to four participants, thus ensuring quality learning. You will have bespoke mentoring, with a uniquely constructive spirit, which will empower you to transform your photography. The intensive structure will enable you to produce consistent high quality results. With over 20 years’ experience in photography industry and education, Harry Fricker is committed to working alongside you, to attain your goals. Retreats and workshops include a host of complementary items for you to enjoy. You arrive on location and Diorama Days takes care of the rest. ‘The takeaway for my attendees is ultimately, gaining insight and mastering their individual style of photography.’

W: dioramadays.uk E: harry@dioramadays.uk T: 07412 848348

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A Tuscany experience Experience the Tuscany Workshop with Martin Sproul of f:stop Training in one of the most picturesque regions of Europe omething I’ve noticed about being a photographer is the way I see the world. I walk down narrow streets and see details and patterns in the colours and shadows that others walk past. I stumble upon unique compositions in the landscapes while tourists swipe their smartphones from side-to-side to capture the view in one image. The world is full of patterns, colours and textures that only photographers and artists seem to see. Seeing the details is what keeps me addicted to photography, and it is something I love to teach during my workshops. Time is essential in photography: the time of day; shutter speed; the speed of the subject. But for me the most critical time is the time you spend making the image. Not taking but making the image. Making time to see, compose and work out the technical aspects of an image is not only essential but also rewarding. It’s my form of mindfulness. For me, the reward for all that time is seeing the photograph in print. Only when a photograph is printed can I fully appreciate the thought and work that went into its production. Even if others don’t fully appreciate

or understand my work – I do. Knowing what is involved in making a photograph allows me to appreciate the work of other photographers. I also learn a lot from other photographers’ images, too. Seeing the world with a photographer’s eyes means that I also see the light in the environment. Not merely the objects illuminated by the light, but the colour, angle and strength of the light. Often where there is light, there is also shadow. The interplay of light and shadow makes for some pleasing black and white images – even when shooting in harsh midday sunlight. Having the time to learn how to see and make photographs is the essence

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of my relaxing Tuscany workshops. Join me in 2020 for this unique opportunity.

PROFILE Martin Sproul has been taking photographs at various levels since he was 14 years old, starting with a fully manual SLR before progressing onto shooting and developing slides and following a college photography course. In 1992 he began to explore digital photography and has been expanding his knowledge ever since. Martin is a qualiﬁed instructor with eight years’ experience as an industry trainer. W: fstoptraining.com E: info@fstoptraining.com

The great outdoors Gary Groucutt provides some tips on shooting stunning pictures in adverse conditions

on’t let your eyes take the photograph! When it’s dark and gloomy outside or raining, it’s easy to look out and let your eyes convince your mind that it’s not worth bothering about photography. But that’s exactly when it’s worth taking a look. Shooting in the rain and

adverse conditions can give superb results. Waiting for that storm to clear is just the moment to be ready with the camera – making images on the back of a clearing storm can lead to stunning effects. If you are still in doubt, just check out what Ansel Adams used to do.

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I know it’s great to be inside editing a few photographs. There’s nothing better than looking at some fantastic images, mentally taking you back to the location where the photographs were taken. Perhaps you are working away on a laptop, maybe perched round a ﬁre, or drinking coffee

in a café. All the while it’s raining or poor weather outside and the time just slips away. Lost in a world of your own, it is worth taking a peek outside, just in case, you might be missing something. It’s Outdoor Photography, after all! Why not grab your gear, take a good umbrella and a pair of wellies and something simple and waterproof to cover the camera. Take plenty of microfibre cloths to keep things dry, plus camera and filters. There’s nothing worse than trying to clean your filters or lens with the cuff of your jumper. Black and white is always the perfect option for bringing out those rainy moods, optimising reflections and highlighting raindrop circles in a puddle. In good weather I always spend time looking for places that could give me potential when the weather is poor, or where the land could flood and give me a naturalmade mirror. The unusual is the key here; a bit of research in advance can make all the difference to your results. So, get out and shoot a few classics – with a twist – then get back to the café for that coffee. Coming in from the cold makes it all so much better when you have some great images in the can. TOP TIPS 1. Don’t let your eyes take the photograph. In dark and moody conditions, your eyes will adjust and so does the

camera. It’s amazing what you can bring out with a longer exposure; there is always more light than you think. 2. Don’t leave home without a small umbrella in the camera bag and wellies in the boot. 3. Tie your tripod down. If you do have a few extra lenses in your bag, it’s super handy to clip the bag to the tripod to help hold it down when it’s a bit blowy.

4. Do your research – all the best images are made with planning. Check timings for the sun at your location points to make the best composition. 5. Give it some umph! In post-production turn up the contrast. Don’t be afraid to give it some mood! Black skies with small patches of white will take the viewer’s breath away.

PROFILE Gary Groucutt is a photographer and painter, based in Shropshire. He leads workshops all over the UK and Europe. His images are held in private collections all over the world. W: garygroucutt.com E: info@garygroucutt.com

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LANDSCAPE | EUROPE f:stop Training

The Real Sicily

Photography workshop – Tuscany

Idyllic photography weeks in Sicily

This Tuscany Photography Workshop is not the cliché Tuscany. Our Tuscany workshop is hosted in the Garfagnana region of north-west Tuscany. Garfagnana lies in a more isolated part of this region, tucked away from the hoards of tourists associated with many other parts of Tuscany. This ensures that during the entire workshop you can take your time and relax from the stresses and strains of everyday life. Regardless of your experience, you will learn and progress your photography techniques rapidly under my close guidance. I will be present throughout each day’s shooting and will work closely with you to ensure you get a collection of images that you will cherish for life. You will learn various skills and techniques of post-production using Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. My goal is to provide you with a relaxing week in Tuscany while you learn how to see and make photographs from pressing the shutter to digital post-production.

Calling all adventurous landscape photographers. The 6,500-ft (1.9-km) Madonia mountains in northern Sicily offer the perfect venue for photographers who love remote, spectacular landscapes, ever-changing scenery, ancient towns and striking natural vistas. Following its successful painting weeks, the Real Sicily now offers week-long photography breaks for groups of three to ﬁve in May, June, September and October 2020, all on a full-board basis. Transport to and from airports and a varied range of locations is supplied. Guests will be based at the comfortable Casa Serena near Polizzi Generosa. See our website below for full information.

W: therealsicily.com/paintingholidays E: carlight66@gmail.com T: 07967 158206

W: fstoptraining.com E: info@fstoptraining.com T: 07779 239437 PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS & COURSES 2020 27

LANDSCAPE | EUROPE Wild Photography Holidays Travel, landscape and people photography

Ocean Capture Fine art photography workshops & tours to the best water locations worldwide Formed in 2007 by leading ﬁ ne art photographer Jonathan Chritchley and based in Europe, Ocean Capture now also calls upon the services of other talented and successful artists, such as Michael Levin, Ted Leeming and Morag Paterson, Susan Burnstine and Rachael Talibart, to lead highly organised workshops and tours to the best water locations worldwide, including Japan, China, Africa, North America, Greenland, Iceland and, of course, across Europe. Our emphasis is on creativity, comfort and originality, whilst giving our clients access to the greatest talents in the ﬁ ne art photography world today.

W: oceancapture.com E: info@oceancapture.com T: +33 (0)671 003769

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Photography holidays and workshops visiting inspirational locations: Iceland, Greenland, Norway, France, Italy, Spain, Scotland and Slovenia. Expert guidance with friendly professionals enables you to create magical landscape images including the aurora in Greenland, Iceland and Lofoten. Participant care and safety is key to all tours. Our tutors have great organisational skills plus the ability to look after people in remote, epic locations. Post-processing tuition enables guests to return with a portfolio of professionally ﬁnished images. Our tours are fun and a great learning experience with like-minded people – come have an adventure.

W: wildphotographyholidays.com E: enquiry@ wildphotographyholidays.com T: 01630 647828

The dark art Adrian Beasley urges you to be bold and search out your vision when processing your photography eep going, keep going! As you move the sliders further and further from their defaults, you may have negative feelings and uncertainty. You know this is just a guilt complex – imposed on you by others. Just push on through with processing your image and ignore them. How could anyone else possibly know how far is too far for this image – your image? The collection of binary numbers in your camera was created by photons (which only left the sun eight minutes earlier). They now sit in your Raw ﬁle. It is your Raw ﬁle, which has been carefully organised by you.

Keep going, ignore the guilt – and ignore them. I feel the same sort of guilt too, but much less so these days. Over the last three or four years I have been diving deeper and deeper into the black, embracing the dark side and exploring the ‘dark art’ that is black and white photography. Because a black and white image is a ‘fake’ from the start (the world isn’t black and white), I feel no compulsion to create a realistic image. Instead I’m free to create and explore as my heart desires. In black and white photography we are free to break all manner of ‘rules’

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– block up our shadows, blow out our highlights and increase the noise in search of our goal: an image that truly excites us; gives us a ﬂutter. It is our image, our interpretation – and ultimately our vision. So, grab those sliders and throw them around with abandon and childish freedom. As you do, make sure you spend a good deal of time with Dehaze, Clarity and Texture tools in your global and local editing. These sliders create contrast in very different ways. Dehaze can be a destructive tool in colour images but in black and white it adds deep black quickly, without burning

out the highlights. It’s a contrast tool that pushes your histogram down from the top without pushing off the subtle highlights. When you separate tones from each other you have created detail. Clarity will bite into that detail and bring it out. Watch out though, as clarity will push your highlights into clipping, your shadows into black and create halos where you already have high contrast. If that is not your intent, use local adjustments and range masks to limit the effect. If you have been bold, you have probably created some undesirable effects. Deal with them using negative local adjustments – or simply embrace them. Just don’t take away the source of your inspiration. Keep going, and don’t retreat. Remember, ﬂare used to be frowned upon; now it is added back in. Camera shake has become a genre and black and white images have always had grain. If what you create is uncommon, rejoice and don’t retreat. The more you experiment, the more you will discover and create a path to your voice and your vision. This piece of you needs to

‘breathe’; to take on a physical form, so you must print it, ideally on to a large piece of heavyweight art paper. Of course, getting it out

of your computer and onto paper is a whole new challenge! Make your image your way and get excited! Keep going until it suits you.

PROFILE Adrian Beasley is based in rugged North Devon. He works all over the country, delivering workshops on digital capture, editing, interpreting and printing. He loves teaching and gets a buzz from helping people discover new things and watching them create beautiful images. Adrian’s personal work is heavily focused on black & white so he offers a growing number of black and white workshops, tours and one-to-one opportunities. He also delivers one-to-one online training to clients all over the world. W: abeasley.org E: adrian@abeasley.org PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS & COURSES 2020 31

USA

LANDSCAPE | REST OF WORLD aspect2i Explore the wider world

Big Sun Photography Tours Private photo tour vacations Join Gene Tewksbury for one-of-akind photography adventures throughout Colorado and Utah, USA. Your guide offers fully customised multi-day tours. You will experience nature’s beauty on your schedule, without the hassles of group workshops. Travelling by Jeep Rubicon, we can reach remote locations you never knew existed. Focus on landscape, macro, night sky or wildlife – it’s your tour. Call or write to speak directly with your guide. Working together we will identify the best itinerary to meet your needs and interests. Time for an amazing and unique vacation, while improving your photography.

W: bigsunphototours.com E: info@bigsunphotography.com T: +1 303 880 0048

A workshop with aspect2i will take you to some of the most breathtaking locations in the world. Explore Canada in the winter or fall, stand high in the Yellow Mountains of China and watch the clouds passing by the autumn colours of Colorado. Experience the silence of Japan in the depths of winter, the heat of the American deserts or the vastness of the prairielands of the Dakotas and Montana during the storm season. We understand that these are life experiences and we design each workshop with you and your photography in mind. At aspect2i we do not simply take you to the best locations, we work with you to help you become a better landscape photographer so you can take home the very best images from your time with us. So, if you want to experience one of the most diverse landscapes in the world, we are ready to take you there!

W: aspect2i.co.uk E: enquiry@aspect2i.co.uk T: 0345 505 1455

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WILD PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS

Photographic Adventure Travel and Expeditions Worldwide Get away from the crowds. Photograph epic landscapes and rich cultural diversity in some of our planet’s wildest places. Small groups, off the beaten track destinations plus our local knowledge – come and have an adventure.

w w w.wildphoto g r aphyholiday s .com

Nature first? Jonathan Chritchley of Ocean Capture considers the effects of photo tourism on fragile sites and the need to respect the locations we want to photograph

ecently I was fortunate enough to organise and host a photographic event in Monterey,

California entitled the Masters of Photography. This brought together some of the biggest names in ďŹ ne art landscape

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photography for a week of shoots, lectures, slideshows, talks and one to one sessions for 14 paying guests. Amongst the

‘all-star’ cast were Michael Kenna, Susan Burnstine, Michael Levin and John Sexton, all of whom have absolutely nothing to prove when it comes to their talent, success and individuality in their chosen ﬁelds. One of the most fascinating things about these sorts of events is of course the conversation. Chatting over dinner, or a drink at the bar, and listening to stories about Ansel Adams (John Sexton was his assistant for a few years), Ruth Bernard (Michael Kenna was her printer for a time) Brett Weston and many others was truly awe inspiring and something that I, and my open-mouthed clients, will never forget. One evening the subject turned to our favourite photographic locations, and the sadly negative effect on many of them as a result of tourism; Michael Kenna was telling us about his ‘Philosopher’s Tree’ in Hokkaido, a beautiful and delicate poplar near the town of Biei in Hokkaido, Japan. Michael had photographed the tree a few times before, mostly in winter with a gentle covering of snow on the ground. In 2016 the tree was regretfully felled by a local farmer because he could no longer stand the inﬂux of tourists trampling over his land, and crops, to get close to the tree and

photograph it with their mobile phones, taking selfies whilst scrambling in its branches. Michael was clearly emotional whilst telling the story, and its impact touched us all. Another beautiful tree photographed by Kenna is of course the now legendary Wanaka Tree on South Island, New Zealand. This tree has now been badly damaged by Insta-tourists sitting in its branches, taking twigs and leaves as souvenirs, and has recently been photographed with over 200 people around it. How can it possibly survive this onslaught? And of course there are many other examples of nature photo-vandalism. Stories of ancient branches being removed with a hand saw to create ‘a better aesthetic’; birds’ nests being relocated to ‘create a more interesting foreground detail’. So how do we put a stop to this? One of my clients is a representative of Nature First (naturefirstphotography.org), a non-profit organisation whose aim is to educate photographers to the fragility of the nature we photograph. They recommend the following: 1. Prioritise the wellbeing of nature over photography.

2. Educate yourself about the places you photograph. 3. Reﬂect on the possible impact of your actions. 4. Use discretion if sharing locations. 5. Know and follow rules and regulations. 6. Always follow ‘Leave no trace’ principles and strive to leave places better than you found them. 7. Actively promote and educate others about these principles. It is good advice. Certainly as a photographer and workshop leader I do my utmost to respect every location I visit, but have seen varying degrees of damage and pollution over the years. The thing is, I honestly don’t think most of these people mean any harm. It’s just a group mentality, a lack of thought and perhaps education. The next Masters of Photography event will be in 2021 in Iceland – another beautiful place that has suffered in recent years from large groups of overzealous mobile phone (and camera) photographers going places they shouldn’t. As well as the shoots, the lectures and print reviews, I will certainly introduce into the event schedule a programme on putting nature ﬁrst in photography.

PROFILE Jonathan Chritchley is an English ﬁne art photographer living in France. He is the founder of Ocean Capture and Capture Earth, two luxury photographic tour companies. W: Jonathanchritchley.com Oceancapture.com Captureearth.com PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS & COURSES 2020 35

LANDSCAPE | REST OF THE WORLD Light and Land Landscape photography tours worldwide

Digital Photography Holidays Explore creatively

Light and Land is Europe’s premier photography tour company. Our mission is not simply to improve your photography skills and ensure you have a great time whilst you’re with us, but also to pass on our enthusiasm and inspire you to reach new creative heights. With over 25 years’ experience of leading tours around the world, we can offer you endless photographic opportunities. We want you to go home from one of our tours or workshops with countless memories of fantastic places, fabulous like-minded people, new skills and experiences and most importantly, that you feel conﬁdent in your abilities as a photographer. We are proud to list some of the UK’s ﬁnest photographers amongst our tour leaders including Charlie Waite, Joe Cornish, Antony Spencer, Sue Bishop, Paul Sanders, Phil Malpas, Clive Minnitt and many more exceptional landscape photographers with a huge range of experience and knowledge.

W: lightandland.co.uk E: admin@lightandland.co.uk T: 01747 835608

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Travel and landscape photography holidays exploring a diverse range of destinations including Vietnam, Cambodia, Marrakesh and the Atlas Mountains, south-west USA and the Gower, Wales. Award-winning photographer Stephen Studd will guide you through these incredible locations sharing his 30 years’ experience, inspiring you to explore your creativity whilst producing strong and compelling images. Our small group sizes, with no single person supplement guarantees personal attention with expert tips and guidance tailored to your individual needs, giving you the tools and conﬁdence to master your camera and produce unique and powerful images.

W: digitalphotographyholidays. com E: info@digitalphotographyholidays. com T: 07706 119609

‘That’ Wanaka tree A snapshot of New Zealand with Light and Land’s Ben Osborne anaka’s ‘willow with wet feet’ is New Zealand’s most photographed tree and most ‘Instagrammed’ image. The boom in tourism for New Zealand in recent years caused the tree (which stands alone a few metres into the lake) to shoot to fame. It started life as a fence post, a branch chopped off a willow standing in the ground. Today the tree is unusual, but also beautiful. With the lake setting and the Mt Aspiring range for a backdrop, it is particularly stunning in golden hour light. In our Light and Land tour of New Zealand in 2020, we will stay in Wanaka for two nights. This gives us the opportunity to visit this iconic feature in optimum light at dawn and dusk. It is one of the many photographic highlights on the tour. Everywhere you look in New Zealand there are stunning landscapes and amazing wildlife. From deep dark forests to towering mountains and quirky boulders, this tour is a landscape photographer’s dream. However, we also include a few wildlife highlights – with albatrosses, penguins and seals being the stars of the show. It all adds up to a tour packed with diverse and fascinating locations – and we can’t wait to share it with you!

PROFILE Ben Osborne has been a wildlife and landscape photographer for 35 years. In 2007, he was overall winner of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition and won the ‘Creative Visions of Nature’ category. Ben has worked for numerous magazines, the highlight being a four-month commission from National Geographic magazine shooting images for a major feature about Antarctica. Ben has been leading tours for Light and Land for many years. This will be his second trip to New Zealand, joined by Richard Young. W: lightandland.co.uk E: admin@lightandland.co.uk

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To the best in the world with the best in the world PHOTOGRAPHY TOURS AND WORKSHOPS For more information on all our upcoming tours and workshops contact us on: T 01747 835 608 E admin@lightandland.co.uk www.lightandland.co.uk

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LANDSCAPE | REST OF THE WORLD That Wild Idea Tailor-made private photography tours

Wild Photography Holidays Travel, landscape and people photography

Imagine being able to learn photography in exotic locations accompanied by your own private professional travel photographer! With our unique tailor-made photo tours, you can choose exactly when you want to go, where you want to go, and what you would like to capture and learn. Whether it’s the wild plains of Patagonia, or the endless deserts of the UAE, on a tailor-made photo tour, you decide. You can also customise everything on your tour from where you stay to where you eat. But the greatest thing about a tailor-made photo tour is that you have exclusive one-to-one time with your instructor for numerous hours every day. They can offer help, tuition, and inspiration as you go along and review your images and give feedback to improve all aspects of your photography. From complete beginner to advance photographers, everyone will beneﬁt from a That Wild Idea tailor-made photo tour.

W: thatwildidea.co.uk E: info@thatwildidea.co.uk

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Landscape and travel photography holidays visiting wild and inspirational locations: Greenland, Ladakh, Assam and Nagaland, south India and the Himalayas. Expert guidance with friendly professionals enables you to create magical images, including landscapes and culture. Participant care and safety is key to all tours. Our tutors have great organisational skills with the ability to look after our guests in remote, epic locations. Post-processing tuition allows guests to return with a portfolio of professionally ﬁnished images. Our tours are fun and a great learning experience with like-minded people – come have an adventure.

W: wildphotographyholidays.com E: enquiry@ wildphotographyholidays.com T: 01630 647828

Mistakes to avoid in travel photography Capturing unique travel photos isn’t easy. People who are starting out often make the same mistakes. That Wild Idea’s Kav Dadfar outlines five mistakes to avoid TAKING TOURIST PHOTOS It is becoming more and more difficult to capture unique photos these days – so this is a real challenge for you as a photographer. But how do you make your photos unique? It comes down to three things: • Doing your research fi rst so that you know what already exists. You will need to

understand everything, from the angle of each shot to the weather and the lighting for every location. • Being creative and thinking of unique ways to showcase the subject. This comes down to your creativity. • Committing yourself to ensuring that you capture the photo, even if that means waiting around for hours for

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the perfect conditions or having to return until you can get the shot. Sometimes you will get lucky. Something may be happening – be it with people, animals, or even the weather – that will give you a unique photo. But these opportunities are few and far between. Most of the time you will have to work hard to capture the image you want.

AVOIDING PEOPLE People are as integral to your experience of a place as the famous landmarks you ﬁnd there. Many inexperienced photographers try to avoid taking shots of people because they are shy. Keep in mind that most people are friendly and they will be happy to allow you to take their photo. So don’t be coy, because all you are doing is denying the viewer a crucial part of the story. BEING LAZY OR IMPATIENT I’m always amazed when I see people arrive at a location, take a snapshot and move on. How can they possibly enjoy and experience a location if they are simply jumping from one place to another? As a photographer, sometimes it’s easy to be lazy and impatient. After all, why wait for hours for the perfect light when you can take a photo and head back to the hotel? But the only way to capture stunning photos is to make the effort and spend time not only understanding and appreciating the scene, but also to execute taking the photo. PHOTOGRAPHING FROM THE VIEWPOINTS ‘This way to sunset point’ –

every photographer has seen these signs. Sometimes such viewpoints are magnificent, and in some circumstances they are the only place you should photograph from. But often they are simply the most accessible place – and as a result, a view most people have seen. So, always try to fi nd a unique view. It will require more research, effort, hard work, and sometimes cost more to achieve – but the photos you capture will be worth it. FORGETTING TO ENJOY YOURSELF As much as you need to dedicate yourself to photography when travelling, remember to enjoy yourself as well. Like any job or hobby, if it starts to become a chore and you no longer enjoy it, it will reflect in your work. Remember that you are in a place that is new and exciting so make some time to enjoy the experience of being there. Travel photography is a wonderful job or hobby. With a bit of hard work – and by avoiding some of these mistakes – you too can capture stunning travel photographs.

PROFILE Kav Dadfar is a professional photographer, writer and co-founder of That Wild Idea, a company specialising in unique photography holidays and workshops in the UK and around the world. Over the years Kav’s work has appeared in publications such as Condé Nast, National Geographic, Lonely Planet, Sunday Times Travel and more as well as national and international newspapers. W: thatwildidea.co.uk E: info@thatwildidea.co.uk PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS & COURSES 2020 45

LANDSCAPE | REST OF THE WORLD Tourby Photography Tours Landscape photography in Bhutan

Bhutan provides an incredible array of photographic opportunities with its breathtaking architecture, pristine forests, colourful festivals and fascinating cultural heritage. Explore Bhutan in a small group with our expert local guide Kinley and local photographer Tashi, who has access to the best shooting locations in this magical Himalayan Kingdom. Set out into the mountains of Bhutan to shoot images of exquisite temples, quaint local villages, lively markets and crimson-robed monks. Capture scenes of spectacular Bhutanese festivals and hike to Bhutan’s most famous pilgrimage site, the Tiger’s Nest temple. Explore wild moss forests and photograph magniﬁcent panoramic views of Himalayan snow-clad peaks.

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Offering a transformative experience, Bhutan is not only an ideal destination to hone your photography skills but also to escape the stresses of modern life and reconnect with your innermost self. Explore the intensity of Bhutanese festivals on this trip and discover seven spectacular regions, each one rich with striking dzongs, natural beauty and captivating heritage.

W: tourby.co.uk E: support@tourby.co.uk T: 020 3984 9620

ÂŠ Adrian Trendall

Getting there is half the battle.

Tenba Shootout bags will help lighten and protect the load, no matter how oďŹ&#x20AC; the beaten path you are. We never compromise and neither should you. Tenba.com/shootout

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WILDLIFE

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Zimanga night life Ann & Steve Toon introduce you to cutting-edge safaris on Zimanga itting in a Zimanga hide in the darkness, with tired eyes and a hopeful heart, your mind plays tricks. A distant tree becomes an elephant; a low bush a porcupine; a shadow a big cat crouching. ‘Nah’, your rational side whispers mockingly in your ear, ‘It’s wishful thinking.’ And sleep deprivation. You don’t believe your eyes when suddenly a large feline form slinks from the shadows. Am I dreaming? Hell no, it’s real. A leopard. Suddenly all you can hear is your heart thudding as your trembling ﬁngers fumble for the shutter button. We’ve been visiting Zimanga private game reserve in South Africa for ﬁve years now, in which time it’s become one of Africa’s go-to photo destinations, boasting a growing range of cutting-edge hides and unparalleled photographic opportunities. We spend a month there each year, hosting photo tours for wildlife photographers of all abilities. For 20 years we have spent several months a year photographing in the African bush, yet for all our experience Zimanga continues to surprise us with its ability to produce fresh and exciting captures on every visit. There’s the

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unpredictability of any wild game reserve, of course, but the meticulously designed hides, dynamic low angles and photo-savvy guides stack the odds of getting something special seriously in your favour. Capturing a massive bull elephant or an apex predator

close-up from water level at night is unforgettable. But Zimanga isn’t just about its famous hides. Game drives offer superb chances to track Africa’s big game off-road and photograph iconic safari species at close range from dawn to dusk. Each guest has a full row of seats and we spend

as much time as we choose with great subjects on drives, working to get the best images possible from every situation, positioning correctly for the light, perfecting techniques that will give shots maximum impact and trying out new ones to give your captures that magical something extra.

PROFILE Ann and Steve Toon are award-winning, full-time professional wildlife photographers who specialise in Southern Africa. They spend four or ﬁve months of each year in the bush, leading specialist photo safaris and pursuing their own photographic projects. They describe Africa as their ﬁrst love and second home. W: toonphotosafari.com E: sandatoon@aol.com PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS & COURSES 2020 51

WILDLIFE | UK

EUROPE

Create Away Photography Workshops Camargue wild white horses

Bird Photography Courses Bird photography in Wales John Daniels is a professional wildlife photographer with over 25 years’ experience. His one-to-one courses are tailored to your needs, so you learn at your own pace. Based at Bird Cottage in mid-Wales, with redstarts, ﬂycatchers and warblers nesting in the garden, you won’t have to go far to get great shots, and a kite-feeding centre 20 minutes away offers fantastic ﬂight shots. Courses are suitable for both beginners and more accomplished photographers.

W: birdphotographycourses.co.uk E: johndanielsshoot@yahoo.co.uk T: 01483 200079

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Bucket-list photography of the iconic wild white horses with No.1 Camargue specialist, Create Away. Based in the Camargue all year round, we have access to photograph the beautiful Camargue horses on private land, unavailable to everyone else. Capture the horses splashing through the sea and lakes and running along the beach and in the surf. Accompanied by career-professional photographer Serge and in small groups, you are sure to achieve that iconic image you have been dreaming of. Choose from a variety of different workshops and one-to-one tailored shoots, all year round.

W: create-away.com E: info@create-away.com T: 0203 642 2448

Unlock your creative vision In the company of award-winning professionals, David Lloyd explains that you will leave your safari a better photographer than when you ﬁrst arrived or many of us, photographing the iconic wildlife of the African savannah is a lifelong dream, not just for the chance of capturing the hypnotising gaze of a leopard, but also for the emotion that will remain in our memory long after this perfect predator has slinked back into the tall grass. Whether encountering the Maasai Mara’s big cats, the mountain gorillas of Uganda or India’s regal tigers, a David Lloyd Photo Safari is a trip of both photographic and personal discovery. Every photographer will learn something new about their photography as well as themselves. For many it can be a life-changing week. David believes passionately that whatever the conditions or location, ‘there is always a photograph out there – the key thing is not to be subject dependent.’ These are not empty words, but the proof of years of ﬁrst-hand experience from leading more than 80 photo safaris since 2011. David is supported by fellow award-winning professionals

Richard Peters, Amy Shutt and Elliott Neep. With combined photographic experiences of more than 60 years, there is no

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better way of learning than shooting side-by-side with one of these incredibly helpful and creative photographers: ‘We are

a small team of full-time wildlife photographers – we were all photographers of wildlife long before we ran our ﬁrst safari eight years ago’, says David. ‘Our photography extends back to the days of ﬁlm and manual focus cameras, and that experience is still relevant today.’ Our Photo Safaris Each day on safari begins and ends with a game drive, taking advantage of the golden light when the animals are at their most abundant and active. Every photographer is afforded the freedom of an entire seat row, allowing you maximum room to move and change shooting position. There is always inspiration to be found during a game drive, whether it’s the wildlife, sweeping savannah vistas, or the banter and camaraderie forged within your group. In between drives you’ll have the unique opportunity to review and discuss your photography with our dedicated, attentive, and inspiring pros. Your tour leaders will host image review sessions, whereby you’re actively encouraged to bring at least two of your images; one that you love and any that you think can be improved or found challenging. This friendly and supportive environment is where they provide technical assistance and creative guidance, developing your skills with advice on gear, exposure, composition, processing, black and white, and

editing techniques, either in Lightroom, or in-camera. There are two sessions on each photo safari group, timed before an afternoon game drive, so you can immediately put everything you’ve learned into practice and admire the dramatic improvement. By reviewing your images as a group, you will be amazed at what you can learn. It is the quickest and best way to improve your photography; with the power to change the way you see and create an image. An important ﬁnal word: you don’t have to be an experienced wildlife photographer with the latest gear to come on board – everyone is welcome and every level of experience is catered for. You can even hire some specialist telephoto lenses, saving the trouble of taking expensive, bulky gear with you. If you’re fairly new to wildlife photography, or just need a little encouragement, the tour

leaders are always ready to give helpful advice and pass on those all-important tips that they’ve spent years developing. You and your camera are in the best of hands with David Lloyd Photo Safaris. They have places just for you in Kenya, Uganda, India and Antarctica, with Richard Peters, Elliott Neep and Amy Shutt.

PROFILE David Lloyd is an exhibiting wildlife photographer, having won awards for his work, which favours a ﬁne art style. David has been awarded three times in Wildlife Photographer of the Year, one of which was chosen as the cover of the 2011 portfolio book. David holds exhibitions of his work and his debut book As Long As There Are Animals was published in late 2014. W: davidlloyd.net/tours E: email@davidlloyd.net

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EUROPE

Wild Photography Holidays Arctic birds of Norway Introducing two fabulous trips photographing the exciting birdlife and landscapes of northern Norway: Arctic Norway – Northern Lights, Birds & Landscapes in March. The Varanger Peninsula is renowned for its incredible birdlife including Steller’s eider and King eider against a superb arctic winter backdrop. Norway Lofoten Islands – Landscapes & Birds in the Arctic Circle in June. Vist this archipelago off the north-west coast of Norway and photograph sea eagles, gannets and landscapes. Join us for the magical midnight sun on this midsummer landscapes and birds tour.

W: wildphotographyholidays.com E: enquiry@ wildphotographyholidays.com T: 01630 647828

WILDLIFE | REST OF THE WORLD

Discovery Photo Tours Life-changing Tanzania photo safaris We like to keep our groups small and intimate on our safaris. Having four guests per vehicle allows us to offer everyone the room they need as well as the attention of our incredibly knowledgeable guides and talented pro-photographer leaders. Not only will you take the best photos of your life but you’ll make some wonderful new friends along the way. Learning about wildlife and photography has never been this much fun! Witness thousands of wildebeest and zebra in a frenzied stampede across the legendary Mara river. Photograph the BIG FIVE in their natural habitat – lions, elephants, cape buffalo, rhino and leopards, plus countless beautiful birds of all colours and sizes. You’ll also have the opportunity to capture antelope, hyenas, jackals, warthogs, giraffe, cheetahs, mongoose, gazelles, hippos, crocodiles, Iimpala, baboons, and many more. Hold on to your safari hats. You’re in for a ‘wild’ ride that you’ll never forget!

W: discoveryphototours.com E: guestservices@discoveryphototours.com

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David Lloyd Photo Safaris

Kenya Uganda India David Lloyd Richard Peters Elliott Neep Amy Shutt davidlloyd.net/tours

Leave a better wildlife photographer than when you irst arrived

WILDLIFE | REST OF THE WORLD Create Away Photography Workshops Equine photography

Ann & Steve Toon African Photo Safaris Stand-out safaris Experience some of Southern Africa’s most exciting wildlife photographic destinations, on a specialist safari with award-winning Africa specialists Ann and Steve Toon. We’re full-time professional wildlife photographers with more than 20 years’ experience photographing in Southern Africa. We lead safaris for photographers of all abilities to carefully chosen destinations where we can guarantee superb wildlife sightings and excellent image opportunities. Zimanga is a private South African reserve dedicated to wildlife photography, with excellent game drives and state-of-the-art hides, including its famous night hides. The Chobe River on Botswana’s northern border, where specially designed photo boats get you up-close and down-low with the prolific wildlife that flocks to the water in the dry season. Mashatu is a stunning Botswanan wilderness with famous elephant hides and perfect leopard habitat. We limit group size to a maximum of six guests, stay in excellent accommodation with great food, and we always put your photography first. Visit our website for testimonials and more details.

W: toonphotosafari.com E: sandatoon@aol.com T: 01434 240021

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Sign up for our ‘Equine Photographer’s Dream’ in the south of France for an incredible nine shoots of Camargue, Andalusian and Lusitano horses. Galloping through the marsh and on the beach, peaceful reﬂections at the lagoon and indoor portraits all make for an action-packed workshop, guaranteed to thrill. Alternatively join us in Rajasthan to capture the sublimely reﬁned and elegant Marwari horses in stunning Indian Havelis and running and rearing on the sand dunes. And we are introducing our brand-new workshop with majestic Friesian stallions on the Spanish coast. Enjoy mouth-watering equine photography by Create Away!

W: create-away.com E: info@create-away.com T: 0203 642 2448

WORKSHOPS | PHOTO WALKS | MASTERCLASSES Become the photographer you want to be SIGN UP NOW

www.leicastore-uk.co.uk/collections/akademie-workshops

WILDLIFE | REST OF THE WORLD

David Lloyd Photo Safaris Kenya, Uganda, India Join us for a David Lloyd Photo Safari: Africa Big Cats (February, March) Great Migration (August, September) Our eight-day itinerary and central location practically guarantees encounters with leopards, lions and cheetahs – and of course, the great wildebeest migration is located right on our doorstep. Uganda Primates (October, November) Over 15 days we visit Murchison Falls and Queen Elizabeth National Park with river cruises and on-foot rhino encounters. The highlights are three gorilla treks and ive chimpanzee treks. Our new 10-day tour encompasses chimpanzee and gorilla treks only. Wildlife of India (April) In 16 days we encounter as many species as is possible. Kaziranga, Pench and Bandhavgarh National Parks give us drives to photograph Asian elephants, Indian rhinos, leopards, sloth bears, monkeys, antelopes and of course, tigers. Tigers of India (May) We have nine full days of 12 drives to see and photograph India’s Bengal Tigers at Bandhavgarh National Park, securing the best zones in advance. Our tour leaders are full time wildlife photographers with great experience in the ield as well as in guiding and instruction. Our small client-leader ratio allows for personal attention and guidance. Spacious custom vehicles provide all-round viewing and are adapted for low-level photography. Photographers of all levels are welcome.

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Falkland Islands Holidays Bespoke wildlife photography holiday itineraries With 227 species, the Falkland Islands provide the best bird photography. Highlights include ive species of penguins, two-thirds of the world’s black-browed albatrosses and a variety of raptors; plus pond, song and seabirds. The mammals are also impressive with sea lions, elephant seals, dolphins and whales. Experience the Falklands at your own pace, with stunning scenery. There is seclusion and accessible up-close wildlife with an unwary demeanour. This untouched natural environment also has pristine clear blue skies and fantastic light conditions.

W: falklandislandsholidays.com E: info@falklandislandsholidays. com T: +500 22622

Capture the call of the wild with the Saramonic Vmic. A premium on-camera shotgun microphone that delivers broadcast quality sound to DSLRs, audio recorders, mirrorless and video cameras and provides a versatile array of features.

www.saramonicuk.com

WILDLIFE | REST OF THE WORLD Tourby Photography Tours Wildlife photography In Malaysian Borneo

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W: tourby.co.uk E: support@tourby.co.uk T: 0203 984 9620

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Borneo is wild, exciting and remains the preserve of a true traveller. This tour is suited for those who have an interest in conservation, as well as a love for photography, wildlife and rainforests. Explore Malaysian Borneo in a small group with renowned wildlife photographer and conservationist Cede, and hone your photographic skills in one of natureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s greatest playgrounds. Some of the tour highlights include visiting the Kinabatangan river, which is home to proboscis monkeys, orangutans, pygmy elephants, hornbills, leaf monkeys and more. Nocturnal life is spectacular including civet cats, snakes, frogs, and owls. You will also explore Danum Valley, which is the best place in Borneo to see orangutans in the wild, alongside a huge diversity of vegetation. This tour is perfect for photographers who want to follow orangutans and proboscis monkeys, endemic only to Borneo, in their natural habitat. Immerse yourself in the pristine rainforests of Malaysian Borneo with the expert guidance of local guide and photographer Cede.

From steppes to tropical rainforests Gabor Orban from Ecotours invites you to idyllic lodges in Hungary and Costa Rica to take part in wildlife and bird photography or decades of working in nature we had a dream – of protecting a habitat while living and photographing in it. For more than 14 years we have been migrating seasonally between places in Europe and Latin America like strange birds. We have two superb locations to offer bird and wildlife photographers: our Kondor EcoLodge at Kiskunság National Park, Hungary at steppe habitats and our Toucan EcoLodge and Wildlife Reserve nestled in the Paciﬁc tropical rainforests of Costa Rica. In Europe, traditional thatched-roofed houses, a wine cellar, homemade food, tranquil forests and a garden with attractive species in front of superb hides makes Kondor EcoLodge a perfect base for a great photography holiday. We use professional hides ranging from the Tower Hide for the Red-footed Falcon and Roller through to a Floating Hide for the Ferruginous Duck and Squacco Heron to pop-up hides for the Bee-eater, Roller, Hoopoe, Little Owl and more. We can also visit key locations for species such as the Great Bustard, Saker Falcon, Imperial

Eagle, Collared Pratincole, Tawny Pipit, Golden Oriole, Moustached Warbler, Syrian Woodpecker and many more. In Costa Rica our luxury lodge is surrounded by 23 hectares of lush primary and secondary forest. It is home to more than 200 bird species including lots of sought-after species such as Parrots, Hummingbirds, Aracaris, Guans and Manakins. Many birds visit our feeders, offering great photo opportunities. At both locations there are endless possibilities for macro photography with a large number of butterflies, dragonflies, moths, orchids and other wildflowers. You may see mammals as well, from Golden Jackals to Sloth or Ocelot. A friendly, relaxing

atmosphere and professional guiding is guaranteed by a photographer guide-couple – who lives and guides for half a year in Hungary and half a year in Costa Rica! Once you visit our lodges you deﬁ nitely want to return soon!

PROFILE Gabor Orban has been on the ﬁelds searching wildlife for more than 40 years. He leads birding, wildlife and photography tours mainly in Eastern Europe and Latin America. This time he invites you to visit his two favourites: Kondor Ecolodge in Hungary and Toucan EcoLodge & Wildlife Reserve in Costa Rica. W: kondorecolodge.hu & toucanbirdingecolodge-costarica. com E: kondortanya@gmail.com & toucanbirdingecolodge@gmail.com

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WILDLIFE | REST OF THE WORLD Wildlife Worldwide NEW photography tours worldwide

The NEW Wildlife Worldwide brochure is out now and features 20 brand new tours including ﬁ ve holidays to India in search of big (and smaller) cats, new itineraries to Botswana and Zambia, and an exciting charter voyage to Mexico’s Sea of Cortez to enjoy whales, dolphins and sea lions. There are also nine expert-led dedicated photography tours including the pumas of Torres del Paine National Park, a trip to Australia in search of its weird and wonderful wildlife, and a holiday to Alaska’s Katmai National Park. Wildlife Worldwide have over 25 years’ experience in designing the ﬁ nest tailor-made and small group holidays offering exceptional wildlife experiences. Our extensive collection of dedicated small group photography tours are open to photographers of all abilities. Leaders include Nick Garbutt, Mark Carwardine, Bret Charman and Tom Mason, among others.

W: wildlifeworldwide.com E: sales@wildlifeworldwide.com T: 01962 302088 PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS & COURSES 2020 65

Portable marvel A photographer’s review of the FUJIFILM X-T3 he FUJIFILM X-T3 represents a wonderfully versatile package. As a travelling photographer, it’s always a pleasure to work with a camera that can do a great job with a wide range of types of photography, producing excellent quality images consistently and all in a relatively portable package. Many people probably picture Tahiti as a sun-drenched paradise, but the reality is often somewhat different. The verdant jungle clinging to the

vertiginous mountainsides drop a hint that these Paciﬁc outcrops are no strangers to rain and cloud. But to the well-prepared photographer, such conditions can be a blessing and an opportunity to produce images that are more unusual and less clichéd. The ﬁrst obvious challenge of rainy conditions is whether you risk damaging the camera. Fortunately, the X-T3 is well weather-sealed and a few drops of rain on the camera and lens are no cause for concern. Secondly, overcast skies

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represent a challenge for landscape photographers, as there is often a large range in lighting between the relatively bright sky and dark land. My solution to this was to use the exposure compensation dial on the right of the X-T3’s top plate to dial down the exposure by just over a stop, until the histogram on the screen showed me the sky was not clipping (overexposed). Then, having shot in raw, the resulting 26 megapixel ﬁles gave me plenty of scope for brightening the shadows in

some further deﬁnition to the dramatic clouds in the sky. Lens choice is often a conundrum for the travelling photographer and fortunately, FUJIFILM has you well covered. The selection ranges from small, very lightweight but fast primes, such as the XF16mm f2.8 or the XF23mm f2, through mid-range zooms with image stabilization, up to telephoto zooms, like the XF100-400mm f4.5-5.6 which make excellent sports and wildlife lenses. Closer to home, I wanted to try an unusual take on a much photographed subject, the wrecked West Pier at Brighton. By shooting at night in stormy and overcast conditions, I was able to achieve an unusual look, with long shutter speed

blurring the waves and clouds and foreground lighting from nearby streetlights. At the same time a nearly full moon provided some light from behind the clouds. There was a fair amount of spray in the air from the breaking waves, but again, the weather-sealing on the X-T3 was great for peace of mind. The dual SD card slots can either serve as a redundant backup for really important shots, or to double your storage capacity – great for the travelling photographer. The optional battery grip not only gives you a comfortable grip for portrait orientation shooting, but effectively triples your battery life. On the subject of batteries, it’s always great to have the option to charge on

the go via a USB-C port. With its retro-look and plethora of dials and buttons at your fingertips, it’s easy to regard the X-T3 as a camera most suited to slower, considered shooting situations, but the specs and performance show that in reality it can also rise to the challenge of fast-paced action, with impressive continuous autofocus and burst speeds of 11 fps with a mechanical shutter and 20 fps electronic shutter. The X-T3 truly represents one of the most versatile and good value cameras on the market today. Please visit the following website to find out more: fujifilm.com/ products/digital_cameras/x/ fujifilm_x_t3

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Now’s the time to trade in what you don’t need. Thinking of booking that dream photography course? Have a look inside your kitbag - is there anything in there that isn’t getting the love it truly deserves? Instead of hoarding the extra gear you no longer need, put it to better use. It could be worth more than you think.

Curious about your kit’s value? Get an instant valuation. It’s commitment free and doesn’t cost a thing. Maybe you used to love shooting with your setup, but the spark isn’t quite there any more. Read on to see our top reasons to upgrade your gear for a trip away.

2. You’re going lighter Diferent kinds of kit for diferent types of travelling. The golden rule is still the same though - always bring half the luggage and twice the cash. Cash in on your workhorse and get a nimble mirrorless setup instead. Keep your back and your wallet happy.

1. You’re not a beginner anymore 3. You want to shoot in the outdoors Take the step up. You’ve come so far. Now you’ve reached the irst hurdle, jump over it and keep running. The big brands are spending big bucks on game-changing mirrorless gear. It’s a futureproof investment. Pick the winning horse.

Cam-and-camo, huddling in the undergrowth for hours. Sound familiar? Improve your chances of getting the perfect shot with better autofocus. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, right?

Whether you’re freeing up funds for your trip, or trading in for your ideal setup, visit our website to get a free instant quote. Change gear. www.mpb.com

W H AT W I L L Y O U C R E AT E ? “The main reason i love shooting with the tiffen natural nd filters is what you see is what you get. there’s no color change or tint that you have to spend tons of time in post to color correct. the colors are vibrant and true which is why i won’t go anywhere without them.” Ky Ferguson, Adventure Photographer

PERFECT NEUTRALITY ACROSS ANY CAMERA SYSTEM. LEARN MORE AT TIFFEN.COM/NATURALND Tiffen International, Ltd. Pinewood Studios Iver Heath SL0 0NH, United Kingdom ©2019 The Tiffen Company. All trademarks or registered trademarks are property of their respective owners.

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COURSES WITH A DIFFERENCE

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Towards a zero footprint Morag Paterson and Ted Leeming explain their new approach to photography workshops here’s been a positive movement over the last few years towards ‘shooting local’ – exploring venues closer to home and becoming more intimately acquainted with the everyday with a slower, more mindful approach to photography. We wholeheartedly embrace this approach, not least in our Zero Footprint project, a body of work shot from a single

location over ﬁve years. Such explorations can be an immensely rewarding experience and a fundamental part of developing a creative relationship and engagement with the landscape. The ability to readily return to a place over and over again, becoming familiar with variations in light, weather and season and their interplay with subjects can add another dimension

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to photography projects. Perhaps more importantly, over the last year or so there’s been a much sharper focus on the urgency with which we need to tackle the climate crisis; air travel being one of the worst contributors with passenger numbers predicted to increase from 4.6 billion today to 8.2 billion by 2037. We have been privileged to run workshops abroad in some

of the world’s most enchanted landscapes, with wonderful clients – and enjoyed sharing experiences in remote places. However, despite offsetting our carbon footprint and that of our guests, we now feel that we have a responsibility to reconsider our entire working and private lives with a greater focus towards the environment. We’ve concluded that our current practice is no longer sustainable and have decided that when our existing commitments come to an end in autumn 2020, we will no longer run ﬂight-based trips and will concentrate on local workshops that do not require our clients or ourselves to ﬂy.

The result of this difficult decision is that our final workshops to Iceland will be next autumn. In parallel, we will focus future workshops initially around our spectacular bases in Liguria and the UK and with specific groups and camera clubs in and around their local regions. We will also specifically ask clients to work with us to minimise their carbon footprints by travelling to and from workshops by land and sea, which has a significantly reduced footprint compared with air travel. We recognise that such a change will not always be easy and may add a little time to travel

arrangements, but we will help advise on the easiest, fastest and most carbon-efﬁcient ways to arrive at the pick-up and drop-off points. In return, we will offer low carbon, small group workshops and retreats (no more than six people) in beautiful and exciting locations we know intimately – often away from typical tourist routes – at unique venues and including tuition from two professional photographers with over a dozen years of experience. We live and breathe these special landscapes and look forward to welcoming people to share them with us.

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PROFILE Morag Paterson and Ted Leeming are internationally recognised for their groundbreaking impressionist photography as well as a wide range of traditional, abstract and experimental techniques. They run dynamic and friendly workshops and tours from both their base on the Continent and in Scotland. W: leemingpaterson.com E: info@leemingpaterson.com

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UK | CWD Ann & Steve Toon African Photo Safaris Africa by night

Digital Photography Holidays Explore creatively Plant photography workshops in specialist nurseries with awardwinning garden photographer, Stephen Studd. The Art of Macro Photography at Hampshire Carnivorous Plants; 20 times Chelsea Flower Show gold-medal winners. Spend the day photographing a stunning array of rare and exotic carnivorous plants in this workshop. The Art of Flower Photography at the Cottage Herbery, Worcestershire; multiple RHS gold-medal winners. Create plant portraits and macro images from the unique and vast collection of ﬂowering herbaceous plants in these private nurseries. Group sizes are limited to eight people, which guarantees personal attention with expert tips and guidance tailored to your individual needs.

Join us on a thrilling African photo safari at Zimanga private game reserve in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal. Experience the adrenaline-fuelled excitement of photographing big game at night, from close up and low-angle, in Zimanga’s state-of-the-art nocturnal hides, with constant lighting and no need for flash. Capture action as vultures and hyenas scrap over food at the scavenger hide and compose beautiful reflection shots in the lagoon and bird-bath hides. And don’t forget exciting game drives with only three guests per vehicle, off-roading for close encounters, and no limits on how long we stay at sightings. We spend a month on Zimanga every year, hosting wildlife photographers of all abilities, and bring two decades of experience photographing Africa’s wildlife. We’re award-winning professional wildlife photographers, but we’ll always put your photography first to help ensure you go home with a portfolio of memorable images.

W: toonphotosafari.com E: sandatoon@aol.com T: 01434 240021

W: digitalphotographyholidays. com E: info@ digitalphotographyholidays.com T: 07706 119609

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COURSES WITH A DIFFERENCE | REST OF THE WORLD Discovery Photo Tours Mystical, magical Myanmar

Big Sun Photography Tours SE Asia photography adventures

Create Away Photography Workshops

South-East Asia is a photographer’s delight! Every corner offers another beautiful photographic opportunity. Our tours are ‘culture focused’, capturing the people, food, architecture and lifestyle of the countries we visit. We work directly with the communities using local guides, privately owned lodgings and locally owned restaurants. We want to keep the money in the countries and communities we visit. Your guide, Gene Tewksbury, will mentor your photography skills throughout the expedition, showing you techniques (both technical and social) for obtaining amazing cultural photos.

Colours of Cuba

W: bigsunphototours.com E: info@bigsunphotography.com T: +1 303 880 0048

W: create-away.com E: info@create-away.com T: 0203 642 2448

Cuba is a ‘bucket-list’ destination for photographers who love to capture people and street-life. Exploring off-the-beaten-path locations, we uncover the wonders of real Cuban life in Havana and Trinidad, with a mixture of raw street photography and scheduled pre-arranged photo shoots. You will obtain a wide variety of authentic and iconic shots including classic 1950s American cars; musicians and dancers (ballet, salsa, rumba), boxers training in an old outdoor ring and the seldom-visited rural countryside with farms and day-to-day life on horseback.

Whether you’re photographing novice Buddhist monks in stunning settings, drifting along Inle Lake photographing the fabled leg-rowing ﬁshermen, or ﬂying high above the countless pagodas of historic Bagan in a hot-air balloon at dawn, your memories and photographs of these moments will be cherished for a lifetime. Let our experts guide you to all the perfect spots to capture the best photos you’ve ever taken. Your friends back home will be inspired by the images that you create and perhaps even a little jealous.

W: discoveryphototours.com E: guestservices@ discoveryphototours.com

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Ready for an adventure? Ken Kaminesky of Discovery Photo Tours wants you to have the time of your life while experiencing new places and unforgettable moments t is estimated that over one trillion photos were taken in 2019, but which are the most memorable, the most important? Isn’t it the ones that contain your most treasured memories? The ones that capture the essence of what you feel, see and experience wherever and whenever you’re taking photos? This is the best time in

history to be a photographer. Thanks to all the technological advances of the last decade, one could easily call this era a golden age of photography or renaissance. We are fortunate to have the near-limitless photographic opportunities we do today, but is that enough? I know that I want to have my images mean something more than a capture of a place or

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person. I want a story – my story – woven into the very fabric of the ﬁnal pictures that will forever remind me of special times and places. With so many talented photographers in the world today, our expectations of what kind of imagery we can create are high. That’s a good thing since exceeding expectations is our mission at Discovery Photo

Tours. It’s right there in the name: if you’re given exactly what you expect, it’s not a discovery, surely? If we’re taking you somewhere, we’ll show you a side of the place that nobody else gets to see – one that you’d never have imagined before you came. We know the unforgettable wonder is always in those remarkable details, so we craft our tours around them. We take great pride in crafting unforgettable moments for our cherished guests. I ﬁ rmly believe that the best way to create more meaningful photographs is to make sure that you’re having the time of your life while engaging in the photographic process. As a seasoned travel photographer, I’ve seen much of the world and taken hundreds of thousands of photos, but the ones that have the most meaning are always the ones where my memories of that time and place have emotion and sentiment attached to them.

• Connect with the people you meet. • Savour the local food and drink. • Wake up early and go to sleep early. • Learn about local history and culture. Explore, dream, discover and have as much fun as you possibly can. Whenever I’m asked who the best photographer in the world is, my answer is always the same… the one having the most fun! Discovery is not just our company name, but the main reason we do what we do.

My top suggestions for anyone seeking to improve their travel photography experience are: • Immerse yourself in your destination.

PROFILE Ken Kaminesky is the owner of Discovery Photo Tours as well as a commercial travel photographer, writer, Formatt-Hitech Signature Artist and former Fujiﬁlm Global Ambassador with over 20 years’ experience in the photography industry. Ken’s iconic photography has been featured in major publications including Condé Nast Traveller, and twice on the cover of National Geographic magazine. W: discoveryphototours.com E: guestservices@discoveryphototours.com PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS & COURSES 2020 79

REST OF THE WORLD | COURSES WITH A DIFFERENCE

Swim Shoots Spark your inspiration with exotic models & beautiful destinations Make the star of your next great photograph a swimsuit or fashion model, or even a celebrity guest. From the beaches of Tulum to the mountains of Colombia, Swim Shoots creates unique, smallgroup, turnkey photoshoot experiences with spectacular destinations. A professional crew including make-up artists and stylists will level up your game. Check out our 2020 schedule and join us for an amazing photoshoot experience.

W: swimshoots.com E: brian@swimshoots.com

Ocean Capture Fine art photography workshops & tours to the best water locations worldwide Formed in 2007 by leading ďŹ ne art photographer Jonathan Chritchley and based in Europe, Ocean Capture now also calls upon the services of other talented and successful artists, such as Michael Levin, Ted Leeming and Morag Paterson, Susan Burnstine and Rachael Talibart, to lead highly organised workshops and tours to the best water locations worldwide, including Japan, China, Africa, North America, Greenland, Iceland and of course, across Europe. Our emphasis is on creativity, comfort and originality, whilst giving our clients access to the greatest talents in the ďŹ ne art photography world today.

W: oceancapture.com E: info@oceancapture.com T: +33 (0)671 0037 69

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MACH3 SERIES Designed for the most demanding photographers and the environments they work in. Mach3 offers the highest levels of stability and reliability.

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Capturing the beauty of plants Digital Photography Holiday’s Stephen Studd explains how best to take great shots of plants After 30 years as a professional travel and landscape photographer I have a good understanding of the natural world, having spent many years bunkered down and immersed in the natural environment with my Mamiya 6x7 camera (pre-digital), waiting for the right light conditions that I wished to capture. So when I was approached to produce

photographs of plants for a book 10 years ago, I jumped at the challenge. It led me down a whole new branch of photographic exploration: plant photography. As with any aspect of photography, after initial trials you ﬁ nd your feet and style. My approach to plant photography has now really moved on from the initial commission for the book.

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I am far more interested in the art of plant photography – what makes one photograph really stand out from the others? There are certain elements that you need to consider when making a great shot: 1. Explore your subject before rushing to photograph it. Walk around and see what you are drawn to and see how

the light plays on the plant. Think about your composition and how is the subject going to fill the frame. Backlit flowers will always look good if the petals are translucent as it accentuates the colours, giving off a luminescence and showing off the patterns. Don’t be afraid to try out different angles; getting down to the same height as the plant is very effective, or look up to flowers from below them. 2. Time of day is an important consideration when taking your photographs. Harsh midday sun makes most subjects look unflattering. Early morning or late afternoon are the best times of day as the light is warmer, less harsh and the colours of the plants look richer. Mornings also tend to be less windy; flowers are hard to photograph when they are moving around too much. Windy days are the toughest days to photograph flowers, unless you choose to use the blur creatively with a slower shutter speed. 3. Weather conditions are most important. Most people are surprised to hear that overcast days can be

very beneﬁcial for plant photography. This is because clouds act as a perfect light diffuser, creating even lighting and saturation without the worry of harsh highlights or shadows. 4. The background of your photograph needs consideration as untidy, busy, cluttered backgrounds kill a shot as the viewer’s eye gets distracted away from the subject. If there are shadows, use them to make the subject stand out, or move in closer to the subject with a tight crop. 5. For close-ups I would always recommend the use of a tripod. They allow you to frame the plant perfectly and keep the image sharp. Also, look at the ﬂower you

are photographing to make sure it is free of blemishes or missing petals. 6. Experiment and have fun, by trying out new angles, backgrounds and processes. You may be surprised by the results you obtain when capturing the beauty of plants.

PROFILE Stephen Studd is an award-winning professional travel, landscape and garden photographer with over 30 years’ experience in the ﬁeld. He is Co-Chair of the Professional Garden Photographer’s Association and founder of Digital Photography Holidays leading small group photography tours and workshops in the UK and overseas. W: digitalphotographyholidays.com E: info@digitalphotographyholidays.com PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS & COURSES 2020 83

DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY HOLIDAYS explore creatively

USA ROAD TRIP CAMBODIA; KINGDOM OF WONDER VIBRANT VIETNAM MARRAKECH & ATLAS MOUNTAINS UK 1 DAY WORKSHOPS: GOWER PENINSULAR THE ART OF MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY THE ART OF FLOWER PHOTOGRAPHY BLUEBELL WOODS OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE

small group sizes - no single person supplement

www.digitalphotographyholidays.com

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PHOTO BY BOGDAN GLISIK

Planning candid photographs Gene Tewksbury from BigSunPhotoTours.com offers direction for capturing improved candid photography magine you are in a local market in South-East Asia. You may be photographing in a crowded maze with long rows of dimly lit stalls with an image in mind. The image you want: Let’s say you want elements of the market itself blurred by bokeh with a compressed look (so you need a long focal length) along with a vendor and customer haggling over a spread of bright, colourful fruits and spices. It sounds fantastic, but what are the chances this will happen just at that moment? The reality: Well, considering this is a pretty common occurrence in South-East Asia, it is not too unlikely. However, what are the chances of this moment happening when you are fully prepared, camera settings and focus on target, lighting coming from the perfect direction and yourself in a position to capture the moment unobstructed? In other words, you are looking for a quality image and composition. Your odds have just dropped considerably. Stacking the odds: The best way to produce high quality candid photos is to eliminate as many variables as you can. You wanted bright fruit and spices? Now look for those vendors. Which one has the

best lighting? Let’s say you’ve found two with good lighting, so which one do you pick? Vendor One is very busy and sitting among other busy vendors; the other is further back in the market with few people. You would pick that one. Why? Because we further eliminate variables like people walking into your photo or causing your subject to constantly change position. It also increases the odds that we can shoot from a distance, thus adding the compressed look we want and distancing ourselves from the interaction (we do not want to lose the candid nature of the photo). Prepare: Find your shooting position. Preset your exposure settings, focus points, composition, and so on. Now you must wait! This could take

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a while but it will be worth it. Capture: Eventually that perfect moment will present itself and you will be ready to make the capture. It is still just as candid as it can be, but now you have ‘created a photograph’ rather than just taken a snapshot.

PROFILE Gene Tewksbury leads one-of-a-kind photography adventures throughout the American West & South-East Asia. Tours are kept small (or private) and combine just the right amount of photography education, travel and cultural immersion for an amazing vacation experience. W: bigsunphototours.com E: info@bigsunphotography.com

INDEX

A Adrian Beasley Imaging 29, 30–31 Alan Ranger Photography 10 Ann & Steve Toon African Photo Safaris 50–51, 53 (top), 58, 76 aspect2i 10, 16–17, 19, 32

Digital Photography Holidays 38, 76, 82–3, 84 Diorama Days 21 Discovery Photo Tours 5, 56, 77, 78-9

M Mac Group 47, 61, 81 MPB 41 (bottom), 68, 85

N Natures Images 53 (bottom)

E B

Ecotours 63

Big Sun Photography Tours 26, 32, 77, 86, 87 Bird Photography Courses 52

C Camera World 2 Cornish Landscape Photography 14 Cornish Seascape Workshops 10, 12–13 Create Away Photography Workshops 8-9, 11, 21, 52, 58, 77

Ocean Capture 28, 34–5, 36–7, 80 f11 Workshops 15, 39 f:stop Training 22, 23, 27 Falkland Islands Holidays 60 Fujiﬁlm ifc, 66-7, bc

G Gary Groucutt Studio 20, 24-5 Glencoe Photography 20

P Photograph West Cornwall 15

S Sigma 64 Snapperstuff.com ibc Swim Shoots 80

T I Image Seen 18

D David Lloyd Photo Safaris 54–5, 57, 60, 62 Dawn 2 Dusk Photography 14

L Leeming and Paterson 72–4, 75 Leika 59 Light and Land 38, 40, 41 (top)

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That Wild Idea 18, 42, 43, 44–5 The Real Sicily 27 Tiffen 69 Tourby Photography Tours 46, 62

W Wild Photography Holidays 28, 33, 42, 56 Wildlife Worldwide 65

ROTATION 180° backpack Backpack with rotating belt pack for rapid access to your gear whilst on the move

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Over 80 years of experience in photography goes into every lens we produce, making us the choice for professional photographers and moviemakers. FUJIFILM-X.COM IMAGE TAKEN BY JAPAN X-PHOTOGRAPHER SHIGEKI YAMASHITA