Photography
I’ve been for a walk (I’ve been for a walk) On a winter’s day (On a winter’s day) – California Dreaming We find beauty not in the thing itself but in the patterns of shadows, the light and the darkness – Jun’ichirō Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows Komorebi is a Japanese word meaning […]
We have formed a firm decision that Odysseus has waited long enough. He must go home – The Odyssey Susan Sontag’s On Photography is an old but important book. She explains how to understand photographs as you do with a poem or novel. How they are constructed, what is the message, how do they make […]
Does the outer space into which we dissolve taste of us at all? – Rilke There are shadows because there are hills ― E.M. Forster I’ve been reading the Chinese Book of Changes and it refers to aesthetics, which is a good subject for photographers. The I Ching was the basis for a question which […]
Creative work needs solitude. It needs concentration, without interruptions. It needs the whole sky to fly in – Mary Oliver In all things, the Way does not want to be obstructed – Chuang Tsu Before undergraduate university I read preparatory books. Bertrand Russell, Sartre, Thomas Hardy, Steinbeck, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. […]
The word for this effect is landskein. Over the years I’ve made numerous similar shots but not quite like this. The view is towards Eskdale while climbing Pillar. It was my final big discovery in the Lake District. I walked there several times in one year, enjoying it very much. It was a sombre day […]
You’d be so lean, that blasts of January Would blow you through and through. Now, my fair’st friend, I would I had some flowers o’ the spring that might Become your time of day – A Winter’s Tale I’m known for mountain photography but will speak now about flowers. When I do this – write, […]
Edale was the first Peak District area I knew. Initially with a post card, then for my first trip. The picture was exquisite. Not the big hills of the Lake District, but different curves with their own beauty. You have to approach the Peaks differently for photography, and light is particularly important. I prefer bigger […]
Which camera is best is a good question to ask. Although there is no such thing, but rather a series of technical parameters you have to apply for yourself. In college situations my students had many different cameras from small compacts to DSLRs and so called bridge cameras. It’s what is best for you, on […]
As a teenager I read The Amateur Photographer at the library. It was a weekly magazine, and I liked going there on Saturday. Meanwhile I was studying photography at school and built a darkroom at home. I didn’t have the money for expensive equipment so used my father’s Zenit camera, bought a cheap Praktica, then […]
As a walking photographer, you find shots where a tripod isn’t needed and which are not achievable if you’re using one. The view above is from a mountain called Le Petit Vignemale in the French Pyrenees. It’s a hard climb getting up there, and as part of a two or three week trek a tripod […]