Return to Norway

I'll be heading back to Norway - the Lofoten islands specifically, this coming Sunday for a two week trip. I'll be running my first photographic safari out there - that's right - a safari. Don't worry, I won't be wearing any khaki outfits, shorts, with a net to catch some wild hippos, I'll just be giving an excited group of four, a whirlwind tour of the parts I love to photograph in the Lofoten. I do however, have a week before the group arrive, in which to make my own images. I was in Lofoten last March and December and both yielded very different kinds of images. I'm told by my friends in Lofoten (who make up an unlikely bunch - Australian, Polish, Swedish, Dutch, Russian), that each month the light there is so different. So I'm looking forward to that.

I'll also be visiting a polar centre, that specialises in tours around the Aurora. It would be great to finally see it in all it's glory, but well... that is down to the fate of the lucky stars I'm afraid.

Sonja Grubenmann Exhibition

My good friend Sonja Grubenmann, will be holding her very first photographic exibition in Schlieren, Switzerland this February. There is a launch party on the first night. Sonja started making images seriously a few years ago, mainly with digital SLR's and I've seen her move from digital to film very quickly and stick with it. Doing the migration to film is not an easy path, and many fail because of the level of commitment involved. I'm really pleased to hear Sonja write to me recently and state 'despite of the failure rate and the cost involved for film, developing and scanning - I can't think of going back right now.' Regardless of the medium chosen, Sonja is continuing with a medium she finds gives her the most pleasing results, despite the added efforts and failures incurred. That to me, is someone who is following their own eye and path of development.

This is the second time I've had the pleasure to mention an exhibition by a friend who started off as a workshop participant. I get to meet lots of people through my workshops, and I've met so many special people because of what I do - which is definitely one of the perks of the job :-)

Anyway, if you live in Switzerland, and not too far away - might be nice to pop in and say hello.

Hasselblad Lens Question

Recently, I've started to use Hasselblad cameras quite a bit. It all stemmed from a feeling that I wanted to shake up my process a bit. I normally use a Mamiya 7II camera and as much as I love it very much and it works so well for me, I felt I'd like to work in square aspect ratio and see how that would affect my judgement and compositions. It's been a very quick adaption for me, and I've found I'm really enjoying the square format quite a lot. I'm also enjoying seeing through the lens too, something I did not do with the Mamiya camera (and that's a beautiful process in a way as well - having to conjure in my mind how the final image will be, by using an approximate viewfinder - is a great tool for strengthening your sense of vision and compositional muscle). Anyway, i'm writing this post today, because I've noticed that the resolution I'm seeing coming out the 50mm CF f4 lens I have, although is nice, it is nowhere as detailed compared to the Mamiya 7 50mm lens. I know the Mamiya lenses are in a league of their own, so in many ways, it's no surprise that I feel the Hasselblad 50mm lens is less of a stelar performer when compared with the Mamiya's wide angle competitor.

What I would like to ask though is, if you are a Hasselblad shooter of the 5xx series, can you tell me if the FLE version is much more detailed than the standard CF in terms of resolution? I've been shooting mine around f11, and it's not as sharp as the Mamiya's 50mm at f22! I'd like to consider moving to the FLE version, but only if it's waranted. I see no MTF information on the web, so would be interested to hear your point of view.

Of course, the real proof is for me to go out and get one and try it for myself. That's ultimately the only way I'll know for sure. But I'd be interested in hearing from you anyway.

Patagonia - now sold out.

Update: this trip is now sold out! Last week I had a cancellation for my Skye workshop, which was filled straight away, so the Skye trip is now sold out, for those of you who were considering it.

As is the nature of having bookings taken so far in advance, things change in people's lives and suddenly, they can't make a trip any more. One of my participants for the Patagonia workshop can't make it now due to a family member's graduation, so there is now a freed up space on the Patagonia workshop.

If you'd missed booking the trip when it sold out, then now is your chance to come along. It's been a very popular trip so far, so if you want to come, have a look at the details here. It has all the information on the trip, and also the booking form should you decide to come.

First come, first served.

King Creosote & Jon Hopkins

A few of you know by now, that I get a lot of inspiration from music. Well, last night I went to Glasgow to see King Creosote and Jon Hopkins perform their amazing album 'Diamond Mine'. From the onset, everything was perfect. Jon Hopkins, who wrote the sound track for 'Monsters' and also the intro to ColdPlay's X&Y album, added the perfect balance of audio 'ambience'.

I don't know how Creosote and Hopkins got together in the first place - the partnership seems on paper to be an unlikely one - one is a folk singer while the other creates moody and produces ambient music such as Eno's latest album..... well, the songs are very beautiful and this little video is good too.

2nd Book Project

Dear all, Last year was a terrific time for me. Had someone suggested that I would have a book out, of some of my best material, and that the book would be as beautiful as it turned out to be, I wouldn't have believed them. Add to that, that the preface would be written by Michael Kenna, and I would have laughed out loud.

But as much as I'm always surprised by how things go from strength to strength for me with my photography, I'm aware that everything is a stepping stone. By that, I mean that one thing leads to another, and by taking the first step, the next step comes into sight, and I'm able to visualise where I'm going.

So I'm pleased to announce, that my 2nd book project is under way. I feel that if I am to continue to produce books, they should be very high end, art books, each with a particular topic in mind. I can't think of any more engaging topic right now (out of my current portfolio) than my Iceland images, for the catalyst for a 2nd book.

So right now, I have the above and below 'proto-type' design's in mind. The image above is of the dust jacket, while the image below is of a proposed clamshell casing for the book.

I have a very strong idea about what it is that I want to create. But I'm sure, as with the previous book, the designs will change over the period that I work on the book. I just want to share this with you, so you can see that creative ideas are never fixed, but things are always fluid, in a state of change. Even right up to the last minute, anything can change, and I just love that.

Creativity requires freedom to do what it's going to do. For that to happen, you need to have confidence in your decisions, and be able to be objective about what you're doing, and happy to change direction if things aren't working. Of course, this does not stop me from having a very strong idea for the book - on the contrary - I have a very strong sense of how this book will look - but I'm flexible enough to understand that ideas evolve, things get more finely tuned as time moves forward, and ultimately, I will produce something that seemed to take on its own identity.

I'm aware that this might all sound rather philosophical, or even 'preachy'. I'm no preacher. Just someone following his own 'instinct' or 'drive'.

I'm not too sure what it is, but I do tend to visualise final ideas in my head and once they're there, it becomes much easier to move forward. I have a visual to work towards. This of course, is something that can (and should) be applied to all aspects of our lives. So if there's something you want to do, visualise it, draw it, imagine it.

Think about it and dream about it.

I'm convinced that the effort directed in this way means that you move towards your goal, without really knowing it.

I'll be in touch about further news about this book. It gives me great inspiration and excitement, and that alone, is worth it.

Skye - now sold out.

Update - this trip is now sold out! Just a quick post to let you all know that a space has become free for the Skye workshop this March 5th-10th.  One of the participants can't make it due to damaging their knee. So if you were interested in this trip - now is the time to book, as there's only one space :-)

Dyrhólaey

Today, I've finished up editing my Norway images - to the first stage at least. I have made a rough selection of around 22 images that I like, and I feel it's now time to park them to one side, and let my mind forget them for a while or so. The intention being that I can come back to them in a week or a few weeks time, and I won't be so close to them....

I should be able to see any issues or problems that I didn't see at the times of the edits. The thing is, that sometimes I don't see a colour cast, or perhaps a dominant tone that needs to be corrected, to bring the entire scene back into balance..... these things take time.

So today I've begun work on scanning my Iceland images from December/January. Here's one of the first ones.

I made a terrible mistake of looking through all the images when I got them back from the lab... I had to - as I found I couldn't work on images from Iceland and Norway simultaneously.... which is something I've just discovered about myself and I'll need to reflect upon this and ask myself why that is so.

Anyway Dyrhólaey, what can I tell you about this place? It's stunning! And of course doubly so in Winter because the entire place is turned into a frozen paradise of subtle shade in the winter sky mixing with a dramatic black sand beach. I'm a big user of the Photographer's Ephemeris, but have to confess that I didn't use it to determine if the moon would be out, and whether it would be positioned so beautifully above the basalt sea columns of Reynisdrangar that you can see in the distant horizon.

I came back here a few times, and on the second occasion we had a lot of sea fog at the base of Reynisdrangar - another time, another shot, and most likely, buried somewhere in the mound of images waiting to be scanned over the next few days :-)

In the arts - opinions don't count

The past few months, ever since I released my first book, I've received a lot of really nice correspondence about it. I've also been informed of reviews of the book from time to time, some of which, I've read. They've been very interesting to read for one reason: I've been able to understand a little better how others perceive me. Certainly most of the reviews have been very positive, but some of the points of view of the reviewer have left me wondering if they really understand what it is that I do. One particular point in case, is that my book contains not only landscapes, but also portraits. One review suggested that it was surprising to see a book with a mixture of landscapes and portraits, as I was known as a landscape photographer. Well, I've always thought of myself as a travel photographer, if I consider myself a photographer at all. I don't really have a 'badge' for it at the moment, and I guess I would just say to folks that I'm a creative person, who makes his living running photographic workshops - but ultimately, I like to create things. So mixing landscapes and portraits together doesn't seem so radical to me after all.

I never really understood it, when I heard that many actors seldom read reviews of their performances, or musicians don't read reviews of their albums. But I do understand now.

If you are a creative person, you have to be true to yourself and go with your own gut feeling about your own work. You have to do it for yourself, and nobody else. Creating art should not be done to please others, or in the hope that a critic or reviewer will like it. The creative path should not be steered by external committee, nor should it be swayed by doubt cast upon what you do by someone else's point of view.

Your creativity is your voice, so you should spend the time to get to know it, build up your confidence in what your inner you is telling yourself, and learn to trust it. Certainly you can, and should, listen to others that you respect - because you admire their work. Just make sure that it's you who chooses what to take on board. Discard the rest, because if it does not resonate with you it can't help you on your creative journey.

So from that point of view, I won't be reading reviews in future, and if I do spy one now and again, I'll have to tell myself to take it with a pinch of salt, because it is only the point of view of someone else. They don't know me and they shouldn't influence what I do.

I've had a few friends in the past, tell me that I'm very focussed. I'm never too sure how projects will turn out until they are finished (if anything can ever be finished), but I think that's a great attribute to have - to have a strong sense of self vision and know what you want. I hope that if you are in doubt, you will soon find your own voice, and if you are already traveling on your creative journey, stay true to what it is that makes you - you.

It's the only way to lead a fulfilling life of self exploration.

Pointy Hat Mountain Mk2 & other stories

Of course, there's always another point of view, or interpretation of the same location. That mountain - Geitelva, across the water from Fredvang is quite a formidable character, and I was always looking for vantage points to photograph him.

Driving into Fredvang one evening, there was so little light, that I felt that I was always reaching for the area of the sky where the light was. It took me to a little outcrop, just across the water from Geitelva. You wouldn't know it, but right behind me, where I made this shot, was a fishing factory. I could hear the loud muffled blare of a radio playing Norwegian electronic dance music. The electronic dance music seemed to accompany me in my car throughout my week's stay in Lofoten - and it was the best radio I've heard in a long while. Still.... from looking at the shot, you wouldn't get the idea that there was a bit of a din going on behind me (even though I liked it, since it kept me company for this 20 minute exposure).

On a different day, the light levels were much more appealing. The cloud cover had gone and with it, the sunrise of 11am and sunset of 1pm didn't feel so short. The day was full of pink light wherever I went and I found it quite a challenge not to rush. I would be at a location, wondering if I should move on soon, because normally, this sort of light doesn't last long in Scotland. Half an hour, maybe 10 minutes.... but here in Lofoten, it was lasting for hours. This shot is of a large frozen bay up near Eggum.

There's a temptation to make everything dark and moody, but sometimes the scene demands a lighter touch, as in the case of this photo of perhaps my favourite mountain in the whole wold - Oldstind. The weather was unusually calm for most of my stay on Lofoten, which isn't what I tend to prefer. I like drama and mood, but I always remind myself there is beauty in everything, whether it's an overcast day, or a bright, almost colourless day like this one. It's really about me bending to the landscape, rather than it bending to me.