Workshop Review

For those of you who would like to get an insight into my workshops, Norrie who participated on the January Glencoe trip has written up his account on his web site. You can find it here. Needless to say, it's a good review and it was very nice of Norrie to get in touch with me to let me know about it.

I love doing the workshops. It's great to be able to pass something on, and see someone 'get' it. I particularly like Norman's processing of this image - it looks very natural. Some digital images can be over-processed. The green rocks in the foreground by the way, were really that vibrant - I brought them to the attention of everyone on the trip that weekend - what the camera sees and what we see are often not the same thing.

Glencoe Masterclass

Hi All, For those of you who have decided to come on the Glencoe workshop this March (but haven't told me yet!), now is the time to let me know of your intentions.

The dates are March 13th to the 17th and more information can be found here.

And a nice sexy gallery of images can be found here also.

Skye Portfolio

Well, I know this must seem like I'm pumping out the photos at the moment, but it's not often like that for me.

Skye Portfolio

So to get to the chase, here is a new portfolio from Skye.

There are often spells of what seem like 'inactivity' to others, but for me, it's actually the opposite - if you're seeing me on the blog a lot, it's because I'm not out shooting! And if you don't hear from me on my blog for a while - it's because, well, you know - I'm out there practicing what we all love to do when we get some time.

I was up in Skye about a week ago for 3 or 4 days. I'd booked another trusty camper van for the trip, and almost didn't go. So bad were the weather warnings and advice not to leave home unless it is absolutely necessary. So I went!

The weather was pretty mild, but the landscape was still arctic. For those of you know know Skye well, the river at Sligachan had around seven inches of ice on it. I wasn't quite sure sometimes if I was standing on the ice or firm ground while roaming with my camera.

Skye Workshop

So you won't be surprised that I'm now offering a workshop to Skye for this December (3-8). This trip is strictly limited to 4 people as I thought it would be nice to do a much more intimate group size. The hotel we will be staying at is not far away from the Storr, and caters for 5 people max.

As I type, it looks like there is now currently only 1 space left on this trip, so if you're interested in coming, email me for more details.

Isle of Arran Workshop announcement

Hi all,

Isle of Arran - August 23 to 28th, 2010

Just a quick note to let you all know that I've finalised the date and price for a forth coming workshop to the Isle of Arran.

Arran is a fairly large island with some interesting geological features, particularly on the coast, some nice waterfalls and plenty of standing stones too. They call it 'Scotland in minature'. It's a subtle island, not as craggy or as dramatic as Skye for instance, but it has its own charm, and it is certainly one of those places that you have to spend time discovering its subtle landscape - as I did this year.

Landscape Photographers

Many thanks to Dudley, who was on my Harris workshop this November for sending me this today.

What I love about the workshops is that everyone has their own style, and interest in photography. Dudley had spent most of his time up until the Harris workshop doing portraiture and flash. As is often the case, I find people coming on my trips who aren't obvious landscape photographers - as you can see here - Dudley was far too interested in taking pictures of the rest of the group (me included) while we were busy making images.

In September I had a group of photographers from all over - Australia, America, Denmark, Switzerland.... and the same thing applied. Christian is an architect by trade and said to me on his first day that he was 'interested in architecture, but not really landscape'.

By the end of the trips however, I had two converts: Christian was enthusiastic about the landscape and from what I saw of his work - had  'got it'.

Likewise with Dudley - for someone who'd only been into portraiture and flash, I think the trip had awakened a realisation that there was a landscape photographer inside him.

Needless to say, I'm not used to being the subject of a photograph, but I'm going to have to get used to it, as I'm sure it's not the last time someone on my workshops wants to 'document' the trip.  :-)

I love this triptych that Dudley has put together of me though - even though I seem to have bandy legs, or a strange way of standing behind my camera!

Torridon Workshop Sold out

For those of you wishing to come on the Torridon weekend trip this January, it is now sold out.

I have 1 space left for the February weekend trip to Glencoe, but other than that, the remaining trips available for 2011 are 5 day affairs, which give you a much more concentrated time to absorb the scenery, improve your skills, and get really familiar with being outside shooting in all kinds of light.

I'm currently in Assynt at the moment, and will be here until the 22nd, photographing the local area. The light is spectacular at the moment, and I've just secured a nice little workshop with the Assynt Foundation for January 2011. This trip is going to be a maximum of 4 people, including myself. We will be staying at the Glencanisp lodge, which is in the heart of Assynt with stunning views right across to Suilven. More details to follow once I'm home and have time to work out the schedule and details for this trip.

Torridon Workshop - 2 spaces left

For those of you who were considering coming along on the weekend workshop to Torridon this January 22nd - 24th, there are only 2 spaces left. Grab them for a christmas present (to yourself perhaps?) while you can :-)

These photos were taken last week while I was away with a private client for the week up in the north west.

It will be interesting to see what the light brings this January, as January - March can often be some of the coldest / frosty times of the year here in Scotland.

Arran & Harris Contact Sheet

I think as I go on, I'm becoming more attracted to form and tone.

It's becoming more and more apparent to me when I put these 'contact sheets' together, that there is a simplification in the compositions and the colour components to my recent work. It perhaps started with Bolivia this year.

So here is a contact sheet of the images I've shot recently on the Isle of Arran and the Isle of Harris too.

I'm in the process of setting up a workshop for Arran. It's not an obvious landscape to photograph and requires some work; lacking immediately dramatic craggy mountains, you have to go looking for the subjects in a much more studied way.

I'm off to Asynt next week - in a camper van. I have to meet up with the BBC for an interview, and then I'll be trying to photograph the north, north west of Scotland over 9 days.

An exercise in minimalism

One of the things that we spent a lot of time covering on the Harris workshop was to try to keep the compositions simple.

Beaches are perfect places for studying minimalism. Expansive places with smooth tonality, beaches are often places where it's easy to observe light at its simplest level.

I remember being blown away (literally) by the smooth textures combined with the speed of the clouds as they raced across the beaches on Harris.

Now, after a few days of being home, Harris has taken on a dreamlike visual memory for me. I can remember the wind on my face, the sound of the sea, and the great wide open spaces. But most of all, I remember the light in the early mornings, which was very special.

I know the group and myself felt that we got a lot of really dramatic light. But I also feel I got a chance to make much more simplistic compositions too.

Workshop news & other stories

Isle of Harris Workshop

I'm just back from the isle of Harris, in the far north of Scotland, where I've been conducting a workshop for the past four days.

It's been a great adventure for the group and myself and I've really enjoyed the company (thanks Dudley, Jim, Kevin Lynne, Peter & Stuart).

The UK has been battered by severe weather conditions with extreme rain and wind. For some reason, the far north west of the country managed to avoid most of the terrifying weather. On Harris we had a lot of dramatic and changeable light, very worthy of a photograph (or twenty). Sure we had our fair share of rain too, but overall, we were able to shoot in some amazing locations with really inspiring light.

This trip has made me more convinced that there is no such thing as 'bad weather' and I've just ordered a 'storm jacket' for my trusty Mamiya 7II camera. It's well used to getting wet, but I thought it would perhaps help in shielding the ND Grad filters from the rain a little bit more.

Isle of Arran

I spent a week on the isle of Arran doing some further research for some photographic workshops I intend to do here in 2010. I always prefer to put money back into the local communities when I can, so I stayed at the Kilmory Bunk house which turned out to be a great place to base a workshop in. So I'm in the process of working out final details for two workshops here in 2010 (I also have Asynt and Skye in the pipeline too).

Don't you think it looks like a snake? slithering into the water?

Pirate Bay - a special place on Arran.

Apple

As excited as I was that Apple were looking at my work, my portfolio was returned to me recently. No reply from them, so I had to e-mail to ask if I was in the running. Sadly, I didn't make the grade, but a good friend of mine (Hi Darren!), pointed out that at least - I'm now on their radar, so perhaps someday, they'll use my images. Time will tell.

BBC Radio Scotland

If all goes well, I will be meeting up with Mark Stevens from BBC Radio Scotland's 'Out of Doors' radio program in Asynt during December for a wee chat with the intention of our ramblings being broadcast sometime later on in the month. I'll let you know if / when this is broadcast - so you can tune in.

Island Hopping

I feel the future for me is a Scottish one. As much as I have traveled extensively over the past decade, I'm finding that my own back yard has so much potential for photography that I've just firmed up dates for an outer Hebridean tour this January. Courtesy of a camper van, I'll be heading onto the islands for two weeks with my camera and trusty iPod for company, to make some winter photographs.

Scotland is my home, and I only really found out just how wonderful it was by traveling abroad. Being away has given me a new set of eyes and I feel this is where I'm going to focus my efforts on for the time being...... Where Scotland is concerned, I feel I've only just begun.