Since I last posted a news item on here, I have been busy with landscape workshops meeting great people old and new, delivering talks across the UK and taking the odd snap or two for my own pleasure!
It is always nice to get out and about with my own kit as it’s good to keep your ‘hand in.’ To further push me, I don’t always take my X Pro2. Don’t get me wrong, I will never master photography but I work with the X pro2 all the time and it really feels a part of me.
Whilst I began my Fujifilm adventure some fifteen years ago, I still love my original X Pro1(still showing no signs of wear!) and taking street/travel images. I find it keeps me focused (no pun intended) on developing my own skills. Really no intention of those photography terms being used as puns!
I take it out with a 27mm pancake lens on and that gives me as near a ’human eye’ perspective as possible. Whilst I am better known for my landscape work it takes me out of my comfort zone when I restrict what I do to this set up. Sometimes I find images that really please me and they find their way into the talks I give.
A serene Menai Straits taken with the X Pro1
I am always tweaking them to reflect how I am working at that time, adding new images and context.
Another aspect of what I do is talking around the UK and I enjoy the travelling and visiting clubs where I meet like minded people.
My first talk of the new season will be to the Bolton Camera Club in late August. I have spoken there before and am looking forward to returning where I shall deliver ‘THREE LEGS, A SENSOR AND SOME GLASS.’
From there on in, I look forward to a run that lasts into next Spring. In fact, I already have dates booked into Autumn 2026, so if you are a club secretary reading this looking for a speaker, please contact me asap. I will be delighted to come along should the dates be amicable to us both.
I have recently been able to manage a couple of days out with my camera. Believe me, that is rarer than you think. I hardly ever get my kit out on workshops and on many occasions don’t even take it with me. The objective of my workshops is for you to learn on your own kit, therefore my own is not needed.
Anyway, one particular recent ‘pleasure’ trip, saw Vicki and I in the Ogwen Valley, gambling on the forecast that was predicted, ascending up the slopes of Pen Yr Ole Wen during torrential rain. We were soaked but my Berghaus clothing didn’t let me down (as always) and my Shimoda camera bag was dry as a bone! Trudging up the mountainside was made easier by the way the load sat on the bag straps. They are literally the best I have ever come across and you can read my review of it here. Fortunately, the ‘weather gods’ played ball and several of the photographs that I took are now on my Eryri page.
I know some of you reading this will be aware of my talk ‘IN HIS ELEMENT’ and this was exactly why I created it. In the main, you wouldn’t want to venture out, (which were our thoughts as we sat in the nice warm car) but…..I always say there is an element of luck in landscape photography and you have to make that work to your advantage when those opportunities present themselves. The key is to go out! Of course I am not saying risk life and limb but make an effort when it’s looking a tad bleak and to further the enjoyment of the day, take another photographer with you. The banter will be worth it and it will be a much better shared experience.
As we arrived….
I love it when it is atmospheric and I refer to it as fairy tale weather: GRIMM!
In other news, my own project at Dinorwig has now taken another twist and I am currently curating a substantial number of images that will be presented as a sepia tone collection entitled ‘THE SILENCE.’
Sea Of Slate
My reasoning behind my love of this magical place is well documented not only here but in several magazine articles I was asked to write and I hope you enjoy reading it on here as well as looking at the images that will be appearing in their own section soon.
As I did with my first collection, it is my intention to create a book which will not only be available in print but as an ‘e book’ too. I will post the details of that in due course when the time is right.
I am sat in my office on a muggy and somewhat damp June afternoon but the weather has been terrific recently. We cannot complain about the warmth and sunshine that has come our way.
I hope you continue to enjoy the rest of the summer and that your photography develops the way you want it to.
Regards
Mark