Iceland 2011

Only shoot when you feel inspired by what you're seeing.

But what if you're feeling so crappy, that it's hard to muster up the effort to get up and go out and shoot?

Of course there can be many reasons for not going out to shoot images. Work pressures, family commitments, a bad cold, of simply not feeling inspired to go out.

I always felt that if I was feeling uninspired, then it would show in the final images. That's true to some extent. When I was an amateur photographer in my early 20's, I'd be so keen to go out and make images, that I'd convince myself that something magical would happen between me clicking the shutter at a rather mundane scene and the final transparencies coming back from the lab (these were the days when you didn't really know what you'd get back, because film always looks different from what the human eye can see). But I'm of course further on in my photography, and I've come to recognise when it's not happening. I a nutshell: I know when to stop, or when to not even bother.

But I find it so easy to talk myself out of going to make images. 'It won't be any good', or 'I feel pretty bored', or in the case of this recent trip to Iceland 'I feel like my head is going to fall off with the cold, so I'll just stay in my tent'.

This is, to some degree, a form of procrastination.

I'm sure now, having seen the results from my trip, that I could have done more. I know I could have done more and I also recognise that although having a bad chest infection didn't help me feel that great, it didn't damage what I was feeling for the landscapes around me. It just stopped me from continuing on with my journey and cutting it short.

But every cloud has a silver lining, and I've learnt something about myself and my photography. I've learned that a form of pessimism can creep in when i'm not feeling great. It colours my outlook and any realistic barometer that I have (call it skill, intuition, whatever). I've also learned that if I keep going (not driving my health into the ground), but work towards making images, something will come.

Travel photography is hard work. I put 200% into making images when I'm away. I think most people who want to make good images in a foreign land don't really appreciate this fact. Travel photography is a major commitment and it takes a lot out of you.

Rewarding though it is.

ps. The Iceland portfolio is now on-line if you wish to have a closer look.

pps. Click on the contact sheet above for a nicer view.

Jökulsárlón

Today I just sent out my newsletter with some images from Iceland. I'm in the middle of working on them at the moment. But while I do, I thought I'd just post this one tonight for you.

Black sand beaches and crystal clear ice bergs are something to witness. But maybe not so great when your head is stuffed with the cold. Anyway, I'll be putting some more images up once I've completed scanning them. Expect a contact sheet in a day or so from here.

But I'd just like to say before I go tonight that I'll be heading back to Iceland this December / January to spend more time in the south of the country. Visiting the same locations under different light (daylight is 3 or 4 hours at that time of year), with a low sun, can show a new face to an already familiar subject.

Onwards

Well I've been home for a few days now, from what turned out to be perhaps the most awful trip I've experienced to date. Everything seemed to go terribly wrong, all starting with getting a chest infection from the moment I landed in Iceland. They are also experiencing the coldest summer since 1958. It was cold. Plus, I have to say that going during the longest days of the year is not to be advised from a light / photographer's point of view. It never really got into Twilight at any point and I felt that the light never really got sweet enough to photograph in. Just a shade too close to midday light for my liking, even at midnight or 2am.

However, I did stumbled out of my tent at Jokulsarlon (glacial lagoon) to make some photos of the ice bergs crashing on the black sand at the coast line. I must admit that I felt like hell while I was out there making pictures and retreated back to my tent after only about half an hour. I was feeling so crappy, that I completely lost the will to make any concentrated effort on my photography.

Strangely, I've come home with around 17 rolls of film shot, and I suspect that there will be some decent images in there, despite my own interpretation of how bad the trip was.

So I'm wondering if I actually managed to make some good images after all? Being ill definitely made me feel less enthused to make images and I often found myself feeling very disconnected from what I was there to shoot. But I rarely make an image if I'm feeling I'm just going through the motions, or have little interest in what I'm doing. So how come I've managed to shoot 17 rolls of film?

My theory is that perhaps there were those moments of inspiration. But because I'm so clouded by an overall impression of how bad I felt for most of the time, I've lost sight to those sparse moments I had when I felt really good about what I was doing?

Time will tell. I've posted off my films at the moment and hope to have some to work on early next week. I'll post some on the blog if I feel inclined to do so.

Anyway, It's back to work for me at the moment. I've got a lot going on this month with the Quark Express file being created for my forthcoming book this July, and I'm busy proofing the images for the book at home while the text is now finally being proofed by someone (after a few false starts at trying to get it checked over by several people this year). So things now feel like they're going ahead.

Lofoten - a photographer's approach

For those of you who aren't a member of my news letter, I've just released a new eBook - Lofoten - a photographer's approach. This is perhaps my most favourite writing project to date, because it has nothing to do with the technical side of making images, but instead, is about approach. It was great fun to write it because I had to relive the experience of being back on Lofoten and just how everything there - the people, the weather, the quality of light, and how I felt about being there - all came together and resulted in the final images you see within the eBook.

I think how we approach and deal with a subject is more important than knowing which f-stop to use, or what shutter speed to use. I believe that being more aware of our surroundings, and heightening our sense of awareness is vital if we are to improve in our photographic endeavours.

Anyway, that said, I'm sure that the sales of this title will be a lot smaller than the techy books, simply because of the demographic involved. Many people own cameras, but don't consider themselves artists, while proportionally, few artists own cameras.

Learning the technical helps, but it doesn't make us great photographers. If only learning the techy stuff was all we needed, then it would be great wouldn't it? Actually, no it wouldn't, because what makes photographers stand out, is the differences in how they see and how they respond to what they're experiencing.

You can get 'Lofoten - a photographer's approach' alongside a 1080p version of the related podcast here.

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Worldwide Photographic Safaris 2012

This Tuesday past, I announced to  subscribers to my news letter, that I am running two Photographic Safaris in South America next year.

The Patagonia photographic Safari is now sold out.

The Bolivian Altiplano Safari safari still has a few spaces left.

If you'd like to be put on the waiting list for for the Patagonia trip, then you can do it by going to the Patagonia workshop page and choosing the 'book online' button (confusing, I know), or go directly here.

If you're not part of my news letter, and would like to get first hand news of any forthcoming workshops, then feel free to subscribe.

I'd just like to say a big thank you to all those who have booked these trips so far. I feel 2012 is going to be an exciting year!

SNH Talk, Perth September 2011

I've been invited to this year's SNH (Scottish Natural Heritage) Photography Fair. The dates are 3rd and 4th of September. The location is Battleby near Perth, Scotland.

I don't have any firm details as yet, but I will be giving a 40 minute talk on my photography both days in a rather nice venue with Panoramic 1080p Audio Visual environment. Once the Fair has been published by SNH, I will let you all know.

Abisko National Park, Sweden

Ahhhh, some day I'll make it to Sweden and Finland. I feel that Scandinavia has so much to offer in terms of photographic possibilities. So today I got an email from my friend Vlad, who accompanied me on my recent trip this March to the Lofoten islands in Norway. He's kindly allowed me to publish some of his images here from a recent trip he made to Abisko National Park in Polar Sweden.

Vlad told me:

"Abisko Natonal Park is situated in Polar Sweden, just 100 km north of the town of Kiruna and is all surrounded by mountains with a 70 km long lake that is solid frozen for half of the year!

Being one of the coldest places in Europe, the usual temperature during my visit in February there was between minus 40 and minus 25 degrees during the day... So it's not that comfortable like the coastal Norway, but the chance for clear skies is much better."

I share Vlad's sense of adventure and would, personally, endure minus 40 degrees if I had to, in order to reach my goals.

Vladimir Donkov is an outdoor photographer with a passion for mountain landscapes, environmental shots and vanishing cultures. Throughout the last 3 years he has been working on his project for a book and open-air exhibition called "North." - presenting different places all over the North Polar Circle: protected areas and places under danger of mining and oil drilling - trying to prove the unprotected ones are worth being saved before it's too late. You can see more of his images at

http://verticalshot.com/en/gallery

Recent workshop Testimonials

This month seems to have been a bumper one for very nice emails from participants on my workshops. I thought it would be nice to show you some of them as I think the images are rather lovely, and of course, the comments are very nice too.

Bruce,

I enjoyed the course very much. For me the essence was “less is more”. Trying to simplify the landscape to make a stronger picture.

With the right balance of theory and practice, I’m sure it will move my photography to the next level.

I included some pictures from the last morning. (Not quite had the time to edit them completely)

Thanks to everyone for the good company !

Regards,

Peter De Wilde

And many thanks to you Bruce for an eye opening few days.

I enjoyed and learnt from your critiques and will be spending probably even more time over my future photos as i try to put some of your composition ideas into action.

I enjoyed the whipping we got from the weather which may have been dire but gave us one or two exceptional moments (i spent at least one of them frantically wiping my lens....) the likes of which can only happen during dreadful weather! The food was fantastic, far beyond my expectations from Scotland (!) and went down better thanks to all those fun discussions we had at table. My bed was also very comfortable though i never spent very much time in it! It was great to meet all three of you and i hope you are all settling back into your post-Eigg lives. I also attach a photo from the last morning.....

All the best,

Duncan. (frae France)

Hi Bruce

I really enjoyed the Eigg Trip last week.  The content of the course was just what I was looking for, with the right balance of tuition / guidance and space to try out the techniques you taught us.  I particularly enjoyed the feedback from the critique and post-production sessions and am looking forward to using the skills I've learned to (hopefully) simplify and make stronger images in the future.

Best regards Niall

Hi Bruce,Thanks for the unforgettable experience of last month's Inverpolly workshop. It was everything I expected and more. You managed to have us use virtually every minute of that weekend in an enjoyable and instructive photographic experience. One of my reasons for attending the workshop was my expectation that there are limitations to what you can learn from books and that you just need to be "out there" with someone guiding you. From the first hour in the field you proved that to be true. Furthermore, despite of the busy schedule, you manage to create a relaxed and nice atmosphere in the group.

As you might remember, I stayed a few more days in Scotland after the workshop. I was glad you convinced me to stay in the area instead of traveling a lot. Basically, during the morning and evening hours I only revisited our workshop locations. Because you requested results ;-) I included some pictures of those sessions.

Your guidance in the field was excellent and the critique sessions were most useful with composition and photo editing guidelines, including some eye openers, like reconsidering aspect ratio. As said, thank you for everything you taught me, which is a lot. And since there is still even more to learn, you will probably see me in one of your 5 day workshops somewhere next year, together with a colleague who became enthusiastic when hearing about my experiences.

Regards, Maurice Zelissen

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Well, needless to say, that sort of feedback makes me feel very, very happy indeed, despite the fact that I don't get a chance to make any images myself during the workshops (well, sometimes i do - if the participants are engrossed in what they're doing and we're well into the week).

So I'm now getting ready to take a break from the workshops until the end of August and I have a few plans in order, so I can make some new images of my own. Running a workshop business is very satisfying, especially when you see people 'get' what you're trying to convey to them.

Still, I don't get much of a chance to work on my own images, so this summer I'm off to Iceland, Norway and then Switzerland in October. For the next few months, this is my time, to be creative and work on my own art. I'm looking forward to it, and I'm also looking forward to having rewarding experiences with future participants in my up-coming workshops this Autumn and Winter.