I thought tonight I should try this out and see how it copes with a complex foreground like many of the images I like to make these days, so where better to go than Crosby Beach and especially the section littered with Bricks.

While the process of making these images was relatively straightforward, just set the number of images needed and the size of the step required I found the results to be quite laborious to put together in Lightroom. Used to the one shot solution from my Cambo Actus XCD I prefer to get it right in camera, however I dont like my camera and one lens weighing over 3kg.

I tried it, the jury is still out, I’ll try art some more in the Lake District later this month for my Autumn shoots. Stay tuned for those…

You can see more of my Landscape Photography from Crosby Beach using the links below, all of the photographs showcased on my blog are available as gallery quality framed prints like these in my gallery.

If you’ve followed my photography for a while or purchased my first book Capture Lakeland you’ll know I have had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome since 2013. This has been a serious hindrance to my Life Landscape Photography. Prior to ME/CFS Landscape Photography was a much longer activity than it has been in recent years. I’d often spend the whole weekend out riding my motorbike from one place to another across the Lake District, even Scotland and further afield while enjoying Landscape Photography from sunrise until sunset. 

Rather than give up on my passion for the Landscape here in the Lake District I had to adapt, by that I mean change my focus and attitude towards what Landscape Photography looks like for me going forward. Landscape Photography for me has always been my form of mindfulness, meditation if you will. While out with my camera and visually immersed in my surroundings I’m at complete peace. I believe we all as individuals need some form of activity or pastime to give us this, escape, relaxation. Whatever it maybe, it is, in my view an important part of being human, allowing yourself a break. 

I say that when in fact Landscape Photography for me has now become my job, so how do you have a break from your job, well for me if you do the thing you love, that you are passionate about, it’s not really work is it. I was a Landscape Photographer for many years before I made a single penny from it and if tomorrow I don’t make another penny for the rest of my days I’ll still be a Landscape Photographer. It is after all who I am. I can’t imagine a time in my life where I will look at the long shadows and warm glowing light at the end of the day and not wish I were stood behind my camera composing a scene. I also don’t think I’ll look at other photographers inspiring images and wish I’d have been there too. 

Anyway, back to today and the gist of what I’m saying here. I am trying my absolute best to make a real effort to expand my visual vocabulary so to speak, to visit new places, explore and be open-minded to new possibilities. One of the main factors that has held me and my Landscape Photography back in recent years is my lack of energy and also the threat of relapse and falling back into the early days of my condition where I struggled to walk around the block let alone up Englands highest mountain like in years gone by. This year, 2020 has made me realise just how finite our time is, how one minute you’re chatting to a friend and the next her husband replies saying she has passed away. I guess as we get older this is going to become more and more frequent and while I accept that, I don’t like it at all. Time, as they say, waits for no man ot indeed women.

One of my biggest concerns for the future is my physical ability to get to the places I want to go to. When I was in my mid to late 30’s I was in effect a 70 odd-year-old man energy-wise given ME, if nothing changes what will I be like in my 50’s and 60’s. No, the time is now. I need to make a concerted effort to really prioritise my physical fitness but more than that my attitude to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I love a good analogy, the one I use with ME/CFS is it’s like partying and drinking, the more you do today the more you suffer tomorrow. After a while, you work out that it’s not worth it because the recovery time outweighs the party time. Well imagine that but there is no party, just getting up and functioning on a utilitarian basis to get through the day is enough to wipe you out for days. You build yourself up, go again and bang a week laid up. Psychologically it’s hell, as is the thought that life is passing you by. 

So, I’m making little steps to bring more variety to my life and indeed to my photography. I want to see more places. Shoot more things and be at the right place at the right time of day. I’m still working on my ability to get out for sunrise shoots. 

Today then I set myself a goal, to explore Deepdale, a wonderful isolated valley in the Lake District in-between Borthers Water and Ullswater. I set out mid-morning and gave myself as much time as I needed to see how far I could get, I knew today wasn’t going to be one of those “Epic” light days, these shots weren’t going to be anything other than what they are, snaps in the middle of the day. However, what they are is an achievement in pushing boundaries and growing my confidence. Sounds silly perhaps but try living with a Chronic Condition of 7 years, it makes it pretty real.

I took several shots with my iPhone on the walk in and out of the valley where I eventually setup as this little spot on the stream looking up to Greenhow Crag. I did consider whether or not to even take my big camera out my bag but thought why not, I’ve carried it here, may as well use it. Going forward I now know where to go here, how long it will take and I can and am already pre-visualising how this place could look in different light. All in all an extremely positive experience.

Big Camera shots below.

You can see a collection of my Framed Landscape Photography Prints from around Brothers Water and Ullswater on these links to my gallery.

Every week I hear from people who are looking or indeed have found an image that they connect with on an emotional level. Whether that’s simply because they are inspired at the visual aesthetic of the image or, and this is the most important element, the image ignites a memory, an experience within them. I’ve spent years being on one side of that conversation, hearing print buyers thoughts and feelings about one of my images and what it means to them. Recently, I asked myself which of my images ignite that emotional response in me? After a bit of thought, I loosely concluded that all the images presented on my website for sale I have a positive connection too. They remind me exactly of the day I made that image, it’s like a secret door into a memory you’d otherwise not think about again. Such is the power of a photograph.

Looking deeper into this I began to focus in on which one particular image is it of mine that carries the most weight, means the most, makes me feel what my collectors feel. I came to the conclusion that the image presented here is that image for me. It sits head and shoulders above everything else.

So, what is it about this particular image that ignites within me such an emotional connection? It is, by all means, a very simple image. A self-portrait of such. It’s not in anyway egotistical and it’s not about me, it captures a moment in time that triggers my imagination, my most precious memories and for me, it represents the most wonderful moment of calm, of peace, of acceptance and of love. In my mind, I’m very clear on what this image represents to me, had you of looked at it in passing without reading this I suspect you’d of not giving it a second glance but for me, it is one of the most important photographs I have ever taken, not for its technical structure but for something way more powerful, for its ability to take me to a place, a moment in time that will forever be in my heart.

I often wonder if time changes our feelings about aesthetic or place. If we forget or change the way we interpret events and those precious memories. If by having a photograph associated with that event or memory does it keep it alive? do we look at it and retell the story, develop it in our minds and keep it alive forever? I also wonder if with the passing of time the fantasy outweighs the reality. Do we become more associated with the dream rather than reality? Do we block out certain facts? Does the association take on a new meaning given the time we invest in imagining/remembering? Whatever the answer is, I feel for me it’s important to have these connections, these secret doorways into memories or experiences or even just escapism and a place where our imagination can simply be free to continue the story or relive it.

I feel so blessed to have such a visual imagination, it is a blessing and indeed a curse at the same time but the overall conclusion is it’s a positive. It allows for the creation of these experiences, it makes them count and it keeps them alive. I do wonder if in time my feelings for this image will change. I can not only see the reality of what this image reminds me of but I can see an alternative version too which is in stark contrast to the peace you see here. I can if I allow myself to dilute this experience, see it from another perspective. I guess it comes down to which part of the big picture you want to focus on, which parts of the scene your mind remembers, which parts you don’t show, don’t say and which parts you block out. I wonder if in time my focus will change.

This is a special photograph to me and it always will be, not for its photographic merit but for its emotional doorway to a moment in time I never wanted to end. By looking at this photograph I am taken back to that time, I can relive it, I can grow it and develop it. The only negative I see is the realisation that it is a memory and not the present moment, but there is in its full what a photograph is, it is immortalising a memory, an experience, a person, a place, a moment in time. Nobody will ever know what this photograph represents to me and what it really means but that isn’t why I made it, it’s for me, as I posted on my Instagram “Every photograph tells an amazing story to at least one person.” So long as that person is you then it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. A balding, overweigh middle-aged man sat on his own on sand dunes with a ghost-like figure sat next to him (lens flair) I don’t think so, it is a secret doorway into the most amazing experience of my life and one that will never be surpassed.

I wait with anticipation to see if in time this photograph loses its appeal if I see it from a different perspective, if it begins to represent something different to what it does today. It’s been a few years already and it’s very much above everything else and so is the memory and what it represents. I hope it will always be and in time it is viewed upon by more than just me as a significant and happy worthwhile memory.

Out of the 1 million plus photographs I must have taken in my life is this the best I’ve ever taken? out of the thousands of prints I’ve sold to collectors all over the world is this the one? the answer to that is no, it’s not about sales, it’s not about views, it’s not about likes. It is though about shares and who you share the image with, who else connects with it. The best photograph I have ever taken out of the millions I have taken I gave away, a true one off. I saw it for a brief second and then gave it away. I can remember it, and it makes me smile, I hope it still exists, as to me it is 1 in a million for many reasons and it always will be. Always and Forever.

For me, I think the biggest weakness of the 907x is the aesthetics. I fear if it gets a dent or a scratch it’ll be ruined. I fear the lack of ergonomics or the form factor will inevitably lead me to dropping it. Yes the camera comes with a strap but the eyelets that take the strap are black, anodised I’m guessing, I didn’t put the strap on my camera as I feared the black finish of the eyelets would scratch off. All in all I’m treating it too cautiously, cameras are tools, they are made to be used. Maybe the 907x is just too special to use. Or maybe I can’t afford it, maybe it’s like driving a Bentley to the Supermarket. Most people would park it far away from everyone else and walk to the door to save their car from the potential of other people damaging it. Only you always see these high value cars parked as if the owner doesn’t have a care in the world. I suspect that’s because to their owners they are just tools to get around and they can afford them and they accept if you use things they get damaged and then you pay to have them repaired. I can’t afford the 907x, not in terms of monetary value but in terms of anxiety and wanting to love it. I want to look at it, not get it damaged. It is in m opinion the nicest looking camera ever produced.

As a final note, I entered a competition Hasselblad ran a while back called Hasselblad X You. The overall prize was one of these cameras. I entered about 100 images. I didn’t get any recognition for the monthly prize or the overall. I wish I’d of won this camera. I’m not so sure I’m glad I bought it.

My Main reason of buying the Hasselblad 907x was to use the Digital back section the CFVII50c on a technical camera such as a Cambo WRS1600 or a Cambo Actus. I rented the Actus along with a Rodenstock 32mm HR Lens, sadly upon trying this setup with the digital back it became instantly obvious that I wasn’t going to get along with the workflow. I couldn’t adjust exposure in live view. The Live view preview didn’t match the exposure I got when capturing an image. It didn’t stand up to the Cambo Actus XCD and my X1D. I wanted this to work, but unfortunately  it isn’t for me.