Working with students

This past year, I’ve been doing a few on-line lessons on a one-to-one basis with students. I’ve really enjoyed it, as each student is different, but also I tend to see the same issues for most.

One such student, Leslie Tait from Orkney has been really excelling at his work this past few months. I’ve known him for some time, and I have often felt that Leslie’s work tends to vary a lot and be quite inconsistent. His compositions have improved greatly but I found that as we would walk through a set of images, the ability would vary enormously. So I thought the thing I should do with him that might help a lot, is to look at his work in sets of images. Otherwise known as portfolios :-)

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Images © Leslie Tait.

I’m really delighted at his progress. I can see in the sets of images he is now giving me a sense of cohesion that was not there before. Not bad for a 70 year old who took up photography 10 years ago.

I’m busy putting a portfolio development class together. It’s a ‘fly on the wall’ experience - 3 hours of myself putting a set of images together from initial selection to final edit. Perhaps I should get Leslie to do it for me, as he is clearly excelling at his homework !

Congratulations Leslie.

Elon Musk is no photographer

I’m a great fan of Elon Musk. Someone who know’s how to follow his dreams and turn a thought into reality.

He posted this today on his twitter account, and it made me laugh:

A lot of fun this post. but the alternative argument might be:

• All high resolution cameras are owned by aliens only.

So if you know someone with a 50 mega pixel and above camera, you now have a good explanation as to why they also have three eyes and an antenna sticking out of the top of their head.

Iceland Photo Tour September

Last week the Icelandic government changed their entry rules so that Vaccination Certificates from US and UK are to be accepted. As of today, they have announced that certificates of vaccination with vaccines already approved by the European Medicines Agency will also be accepted.

In anticipation of this, and the enquiries I’m receiving from photographers who have been vaccinated, I’ve chosen to set up my September tour to Iceland. We have six months until the commencement date, so I’m hoping that things will become much clearer over the coming months with regards to health practices.

We are still very much in the early stages of understanding what it means to be vaccinated, and what health practices still need to be carried out.

But I will say that since Iceland only accepts visitors who have been vaccinated or have had Covid, it follows that the tour will only consist of participants who have been vaccinated. We use a super-truck, and this does not allow for social distancing during the drive. A big coach/bus can‘t go where we go.

So I am to will follow rules and guidelines set by the authorities, but if this makes it impossible to run the tour, then the tour will be cancelled.

Iceland's Fjallabak - The Remote Interior

 Date: 23rd September - 2nd October 2021

Price: $7,995 USD
Deposit: $2,158 USD

Remote & Wild, Interior Black Deserts, Volcanic Craters & Lakes
10-Day Photographic Adventure

Introduction

This trip takes us from Reykjavik into the heart of the remote central highlands of Iceland - the Fjallabak nature reserve (behind the mountains).

Fjallabak is a spectacular highland wilderness area - a place of contrasts from vast black sand deserts to rhyolite covered mountains. It is a true wilderness, not so often photographed due to its accessibility, but highly worthy of any time spent there.

UK Workshops

Due to the vaccine roll out here in the uk going so well (over a third of the UK population has been vaccinated) there is now some light at the end of the tunnel, and it seems that I may be able to resume my workshops later this year - with perhaps UK clients at least.

If you live in the UK, and are looking to do some photography workshops with me, I am in the process of setting up some more local trips.

The first trip I’ve set up is to Assynt this October. If you live in the UK and want to come, then now is the time to book :-)

Please check the workshop page, as I am in the process of setting up some more workshops for the rest of the year and into 2022.

Sold out

Assynt & Inverpolly, Scottish Highlands

£688.50

Price: £2,395
Initial deposit: £688.5
2nd Deposit of £688.5 due six months before tour start date

5-Day Photographic Workshop

Date: March 2 - 7, 2026

Introduction

In the far north west lies some of the most distinctive mountains of Scotland. Stac Pollaidh, Suilven, Canisp and Cul Mor dominate the landscape, yet there is an abundance of wide open space. This is real highland countryside with some dramatic coastal scenery to boot.

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Sound of Snow Deluxe Edition Still Available

Thanks to everyone who bought the book so far. It has meant a lot to me at this time, since I am unable to run workshops or tours right now, the book contributes greatly to my current income.

The standard edition of the Sound of Snow book is now sold out, but I still have copies of the deluxe edition available- which comes in a soft white cloth slipcase and a choice of one of three prints.

Sound of Snow is now available for advanced orders

Just to let you know that my new book ‘The Sound of Snow’ is available for advanced order (shipping this June). Please note that the book is an extremely limited print run of 340 copies.

There are three variants (click on the respective one for more details):

Evolution

I’ve been working on a portfolio development class this past few months. So far I have three hours recorded, and the content is a fly-on-the-wall view of myself working on a set of unedited images to final completion as a portfolio.

In my view, this is the best way I can illustrate the processes and thinking behind my own work. And how my work has a stylistically strong angle to it. I’ve been told many times over the years that my style is strong but I also know myself well enough, and feel I have a good handle on my abilities to know where I am in terms of ability and style.

I have one more video to do, which is really about finding one’s style. Many photographers I meet ask me how they will find their style, and I think the first step is to curate one’s own work. If you spend a bit of time reviewing what you do, and do some exercises such as :

1. collect all your best work into a folder

2. try to reduce it down further to the absolute best work

You can gain so much insight into your abilities and also your failings. Style does not come overnight, and in my view it tends to surface slowly. Yet what most do not understand is that if you have a style to your work - it is often present from the very beginning. When I look back at my earlier work I can see it was there, but it was diluted by so many other distractions in the work. Looking back, one can often see the path that we’re on. And this is what you need to do with your photography, if you want to become more aware of where you are as a photographer, and where you may be going.

Creativity is about letting go, and in that way, looking at one’s work, you should try to be as agnostic as you can about it. Let go of personal failure, of feelings of inadequacy or feelings of pride. Just see it for what it is. Be objective. Be honest. It’s an extremely hard thing to do if you are insecure about your work. But I think you must overcome insecurity and just be able to see it for where it is, and be content knowing that you do it for the enjoyment it gives you.

I have always maintained that art is not a competition. It is not for bragging rights. You do it because you love it. And if you are able to tap into who you are and where you are with your work, that awareness alone is hugely beneficial in seeing where you want to go next.