In my last post I touched on the idea that when visiting a popular location you should try and explore the area, and find some original compositions. Now I am going to contradict myself! Some locations are a little limiting in the range of compositions that work well

What can a photographer do to stamp his or her identity on an over photographed subject. My trip to the Lake District allowed me to visit many such locations and each were tackled in different ways, the misty weather conditions at Buttermere added atmosphere, exploring the area around Aira Force revealed new subject matter. On my trip to Ashness Bridge the weather was unremarkable, I have tried on more than one occasion to find a new viewpoint but I always come back to roughly the same place. I was left with one thing in my photographic armoury, my own distinctive style. It’s not easy to put a label on or describe ones style. However it has been proven on many occasions that people are able to pick out my photographs (ones they had never seen before) from a group entered in a competition or exhibition. I will try and explain my thought process the led from me arriving on location to pressing save on the final image. Through it I will explain some of the reasons behind the composition and highlight what I believe are the tell tales left behind to identify this as a “Brian Northmore Landscape”.

Ashness Bridge (fig 1)

 These images were taken on a fairly unremarkable morning. I had visited Castlerigg Stone Circle but the lighting was poor. I abandoned the idea of spectacular morning light illuminating the stones and turned my mind to subjects more suited to dull conditions. On overcast grey days landscape photographers can find some hope under the canopy of trees and also when photographing water. The low contrast makes the control of exposure more manageable. Ashness Bridge is easily reached by car from Keswick, there is good ample parking, the only headache is the narrow approach road and bridge itself. It is also possible to reach by foot. Arriving at the location it is easy to see where 99% of the photographs of this scene have been taken from. And this is the problem – it really is the best spot! I have tried in the past to photograph the bridge from the opposite direction and side but the resulting composition is not as good as the traditional viewpoint. So how did I turn this traditional viewpoint into a composition that relies on my own personal style to achieve some level of originality?

 This first photograph of Ashness Bridge (fig 1) is ok. The viewpoint allowed the composition to be orchestrated so that the beck takes your eye through the image and down to the bridge. The viewers interest is held by Skiddaw in the background. And the sky is ok; it’s not totally flat. The photograph is unremarkable, a nice record of having been there and the sort of image that would probably be relegated to the bottom drawer or lost somewhere on the hard drive.

storm clouds and whites of the rapids mimic each other. Many of these elements were exaggerated in Photoshop. Both originals were colour pictures, converted into monochrome at the raw conversion stage. Several conversions were made to bring out the best in the Sky, foliage water, and rocks. These were then loaded into Photoshop as layers and blended to achieve an interpretation that captures the beauty and drama of the location.

Photographs 3 & 4 are my final images. I have changed both to monochrome. I think by removing the colour from the scene the eye is allowed to concentrate on the elements in the photograph without distraction. You can see the texture of the rocks, the shape of the bridge and patterns made by the water. Photograph 3 shows the bridge. Photograph 4 my final and personal favourite captures how I saw the scene on the day. The drama in the fast flowing water, caused by the previous nights rain. The storm clouds can still be seen retreating in the sky. The low viewpoint and wide-angle lens force your eye to look along the path of the water to the bridge, trapped on either side by the rocks.

Ashness Bridge fig 4

In August this year (2010) I visited the Lake District this is the second part of the story behind the photographs taken during the visit.

There are many tourist hot spots in the Lake District. For photographers one of these has to be Aira Force near Ullswater. Aira Force is easily accessible, a small car park at the side of the road. Good clear paths and some steps (steep, slippery) with a convenient handrail lead you down to the viewing point. This is where the problem begins everyone has been there and many more are about to follow after you. I am not concerned with taking 100% original never done before photographs because I don’t believe they exist, and to some degree every picture is different if only for the reason that only you were there at that time. What I do believe in though is “working a location”; getting to know it the best you can in the time that you have available, and using this time to capture a range of compositions. Sometimes walking a little further down a trail or peeking around a corner can open up new possibilities. This method does not always produce stunning photographs; sometimes there is only one viewpoint that can truly do a scene justice, but I had travelled 400 miles to visit the Lake District, surely I owed it to myself that I put some effort in to each location that I visited.

 This first image (above right)  is the typical view of Aira Force you see in the tourist guides, it is more commonly seen in Colour rather than Black and White. I have taken care when composing the photograph to ensure that the safety railings and concrete steps are kept out of the composition. The biggest challenge here was the lighting and conditions the picture was taken under (I will cover this in another post in the future). It was very dark at the bottom of the waterfall and bright at the top, the spray was constantly falling on the camera.

Having taken this picture I knew I would have a good photograph of Aira Force, but I also knew that this was nothing new, it told me no more about the landscape than I already knew from guide books. My mind was drawn to the fact that if there is a bridge at the top then I must be able to get up there and see more of Aira Beck. I walked back up the footpaths to the top and spent a little time wandering around the bridge, but none of the compositions felt right. Exploring further along the beck produce more interesting photographic opportunities. It was not until I was about to turn around and give up that I found a clearing in the wood with a perfectly placed dry gravel bed to stand on. I was first attracted to the waterfall. I tried a number of compositions but they all lacked interest, then by choosing a high view point (The camera was above my head) I was able to include the pool above the waterfall leading your eye deeper into the scene until connecting with the second waterfall in the distance. This gives the eye a pleasing journey to take it through the composition.

The close up is there to tell the viewer a little more about the detail in the landscape, it is part of the main image composed from a different angle. Can you see which part?

 Next time you find yourself at one of our many over visited natural beauty spots Work the location take a few different photographs, close in on the details to try and say something about the landscape. As digital photography and our renewed interest in the outdoors grows a single “seen before image” however well executed will not be enough to satisfy the camera club judges. Nor should it satisfy the photographer. Use your 2 most important pieces of equipment to the full – legs and eyes!

This year my main “out of area” photography trip has seen a return to my favourite National Park – the Lake District. The 2 weeks provided a range of opportunities, the best came on the first day of the visit. These two images of Buttermere were taken within an hour of each other The misty conditions allowing for many creative experiments, to try and capture the mood.

In some respects it was a little disappointing to find such fantastic conditions on the first day; it made the rest of the trip a little underwhelming. The conditions were never quiet the same again. This is one of the attractions of photographing the  lake district, the permutations and unpredictability in weather and lighting lead to some stunning images, even if capturing them can be  frustrating.

The two weeks continued to provide fresh opportunities and I am still working on the post processing before uploading them to the gallery. I made a promise to myself this year to capture some great images of the Castlerigg Stonecircle. I ended up paying 3 visits to the site – twice early morning and once in the early evening. Early morning proved to be the better choice;  it was devoid of the casual tourist climbing over the stones. The early morning was restricted to the more determined photographers amongst us.  I still did not manage to get what I wanted but the images do justice to the site and my efforts to be there. Guess I will have to try again another year.

I have more images from the trip to work and will post updates as they are added to the gallery.

All of these images and more can viewed and purchased through my online gallery at:
www.bn-images.com/gallery/gallery/album/index.html