landscape, outdoor & aerial photographer
I was delighted to discover that one of my images of sunrise at Cobbolds Point in Felixstowe was going to be used on the cover of the 27 June 2020 issue of Amateur Photographer magazine. The image was supplied as an option to illustrate the practical article I wrote for the issue covering the importance of lens calibration for obtaining perfect focus and maximum sharpness. Take a look below for examples of the cover and article.
Discover an advanced method of applying the Orton effect that keeps file sizes small and image quality at its best. I developed this refined technique myself in response to upgrading to a higher resolution camera, which meant the original technique created huge file sizes when saving layered images as TIFFs. And also, to deal with the problem of crushed shadows. This version solves both of these issues for the best results possible, and the tutorial works for Both Photoshop and Affinity Photo.
Read moreEnhance detail and atmosphere with the Orton effect
It’s always a pleasure to see one of your images gracing the cover of a magazine, and I’m delighted to say that my winter sunrise shot of Southwold Pier was used on the cover of the December 2019 issue of PhotoPlus magazine. The full image is actually landscape format, and can be seen in full below, but it works well in the portrait crop used for the cover.
I’m delighted to announce that my image of mist rolling into Dee Valley, near Llangollen in North Wales at sunrise has been selected to be featured in the Discover Cymru Calendar 2020. This image was taken during my second visit to the location where weather conditions were looking promising for mist, and they certainly didn’t disappoint.
Improve your landscape photography skills with a small group workshop in the Peak District with professional landscape photographer James Abbott on Friday 24th January 2020. The workshop will be limited to just five people so everyone can take advantage of lots of one-to-one and group tuition throughout the day. The workshop costs just £150 per person.
Read morePeak District dawn to dusk landscape photography workshop 24th Jan 2020
Capturing pin-sharpness throughout a scene – from the foreground to the distant background – is often the photographer’s aim when shooting landscapes. For wider scenes where the foreground interested is a few metres away from the camera you can usually get away with shooting a single image at f/11 – f/16 on a full-frame camera, or f/8 – f/11 on APS-C. With these settings and correct focusing front to back sharpness is possible in a single shot, but what about when the foreground interest is closer to the camera and you need both this and the background in sharp focus? The simple answer is to use focus stacking to achieve sharper landscape images.
You’ve probably heard this before and chances are, you’ll hear it many times in the future; one of the best times of day to shoot landscapes is the period of time just after sunrise and just before sunset. These times are known as ‘golden hour’ and despite the name, this period of time isn’t actually an hour in duration. At this time of the day the sun is close to the horizon, which means the area of sky close to the horizon is brighter than the sky at the top of the frame.
Timing is everything when it comes to landscape photography, so to capture landscapes in the best light possible you ideally need to be on location and ready to shoot before, during and after golden hour. Bur while sunrise and sunset are considered the best times to shoot landscapes, they’re far from the only options. Throw the weather into the mix and you may even find that conditions are actually better well after sunrise has taken place. And on a moody and cloudy day, you may even be able to get great results throughout the day.
Autumn is a great time for landscape photographers; not least for the explosion of colour that takes place up and down the country, but also because sunrise and sunset times become much more ‘civilised’ now the long days of summer are behind us. But it’s not just landscape photographers who are out in force, autumn is also a popular season for macro and nature photographers, and this autumn I’ve been out as much as possible shooting both landscapes and macro photography.
Shooting time-lapse photography is something I often use my second camera for while shooting landscape photography at sunrise and sunset. This time-lapse shows cloud coming over Kinder Scout in the Peak District before dispersing with the Edale Valley in the foreground. To watch the time-lapse take a look at the video below.