Tuesday, 19 August 2008

In Search of Spirit

Since my last post, I have had the pleasure of exploring what I consider to be finest landscape to be found in England, The Lake District, in search of new images that have that elusive photographic element - Spirit.

In my honest opinion, capturing the essence of a location (a.k.a Spirit) which I visit is the most important aspect that I try to convey in my images. For example, a clear, summers day spent photographing landscapes in the UK will often produce pleasing results. But this does not mean that the true character of the landscape is revealed. My favourite working conditions are during unstable weather fronts as I find that it helps me to (sometimes) capture images with the required spirit.

Take this image captured last weekend from Hardknott Castle Roman Fort looking towards the highest mountain in the region - Scafell Pike. As any visitor to the Lake District will tell you, it more often rains than shines in the Lakes meaning that a Lakeland shot in the heat of the afternoon sun will rarely convey any mood or suggest any essence. However, if you are mad enough to stand near the edge of a crag whilst a near gale force wind nearly knocks you and your tripod over, then maybe you may just capture some of that spirit.

This was the last trip for my forthcoming book 'Spirit of Cumbria' and I must admit that I have been very pleased with how the book has been taking shape. I will now spend the next few weeks processing the RAW files and scanning some of my old panoramic images before the completed project is passed to the safe hands of my publisher.

I can't wait to show you all the results!