Win a copy of Spirit of Northumberland

I am delighted to announce that my first book to be released this year, my seventh book so far, has just been released!  

Northumberland is not only the northernmost county to be found within England but also the least populated. The ‘land of the far horizons’ offers some of the most picturesque scenery to be found throughout the British Isles, although it is often overlooked by visitors heading north to the uplands and highlands of Scotland.

 Any visitor to the region has an array of locations to visit which all have something to offer. Be it the impressive remains of the World Heritage site of Hadrian’s Wall, the beautiful coastline of the Northumberland Heritage Coast or the rolling yet domineering features of the Northern Pennines as they sprawl towards the Southern Uplands of Scotland, the county can lay claim to a mix of quintessential English scenery.

Although Northumberland is now possibly one of the most tranquil and peaceful spots to be found in England, it has not always been that way. Marauding invaders from Scotland and Scandinavia dictated the construction of numerous fortifications to protect these northernmost English lands.The remnants of these buildings remain dotted across the landscape providing an enigmatic contrast to the natural features of the region.

With the relatively sparse population, and a large amount of suitable habitat, a wide variety of wildlife is found within the boundaries of the county. The Farne Islands are something of a Mecca for the bird watching community, whilst inland areas of woodland host the endangered Red Squirrel that any watchful visitor may have the privilege to see.

Through the medium of Jason Friend’s superbly evocative photographs the reader can experience at first hand all of the glories that help make up the Spirit of Northumberland.

I have a couple of signed copies of my latest book to give away to two lucky readers!  To be in the draw to win a copy of the book simply become a fan on my Facebook page or follow my twitters! I will give one copy to a random follower from both networks... so why not join both and double your chances of winning a copy? I will be making the draw on the 6th April so don't delay if you want to win a copy of the book!

Follow the link below to view some of the images:-

http://www.halsgrovemedia.co.uk/imagebase/data/albums/KB41/KB237/Spirit%20of%20Northumberland.pdf

Plan B

One thing that I have learnt over the last 10 years of pursuing photography as both a hobby and an income (has it really been 10 years since I had my first ever image published?), is that you should approach each shoot with an open mind and a willingness to employ a flexible approach to the subject should it be required.  The last couple of days I have passed photographing various subjects throughout Northumberland, have once again reinforced the importance of having a Plan B.

Yesterday my problems were with snow and the difficulties associated with hiking through it. My first plan had been to hike down the Breamish Valley within the National Park, with the goal of reaching a suitable viewpoint overlooking the Cheviot itself. My progress was slowed down by snow and I decided to work from a lower elevation in the valley to ensure that I could return to my parked car by dusk. The Cheviot had to wait but I turned my camera towards the valley and surrounding hills - returning home with a handful of memorable winter images.

With the promise of a good weather forecast, I left my house at 5.30AM this morning and drove north towards Ross Sands along the Northumberland Heritage Coast. Why can a promise from a weather forecaster never be 100% trusted! As I drove towards my destination, a large blanket of cloud started to appear on the horizon - and I started to get worried! As I reached Alnwick, I decided to use Plan B - Cullernose Point.

I reached Cullernose Point and I was delighted to see that the blanket of cloud had remained in the north - just. It was almost as if the point I was about to photograph was the divide between the cloud and the clear skies.

I had two minutes of exquisite light before the blanket of cloud finally obscured the rising sun as it steadily started to hug the north-east coast. I doubt that I would have even taken a photo this morning if I had not taken the decision to abandon my trip to Ross Sands. Plan B worked... and I returned home with one of my favourite images to date!

Feeling the chill in Scotland

I am writing my first post of the year from a hotel lobby situated in the rather cold Scottish Highlands.  As chilly as it may be, the dumping of white stuff which has been disrupting the whole of the United Kingdom has transformed this already spectacular landscape into something far more beautiful - and I honestly did not think that this could be possible.

I am currently back up in the highlands working on a book to be released later this year by my long standing publisher - Halsgrove. This book, The Spirit of the Highlands, will be my third book, out of a total of five, to be released during 2010. Work is also being undertaken on a another two books for release during 2011 - Someone is going to be busy over the coming months!

Working in sub-zero temperatures does have its disadvantages. The actual means of reaching the locations are often limited. Car travel is possible but the icy roads are making it a dangerous proposition and upon reaching the location, finding a suitable viewpoint is both a laborious and time consuming affair as the the thick blanket of snow makes the smallest of hike feel like a major expedition.

Luckily some of the locations can be photographed from viewpoints close to the roadside such as the image of the Pass of Glencoe below.  So far this trip has been very productive so I thought I would share a couple of shots with you. Enjoy the snow!

Photography workshops for a xmas gift

The 2010 workshop dates are proving to be a very popular choice of a Christmas gift for the forthcoming festive season, with the South Tyneside workshop being now fully booked and only 1 place left on the Hadrian's Wall workshop.  There are however a few places left on the Whitby, Northumberland Coast and the other workshops running throughout the year.

Apart from being outstanding value for money, all group workshop participants attending during 2010 will also receive a copy of the first book by Jason Friend - Photographing Wilderness. Published by GMC Publications in 2003, it was released to positive reviews throughout the UK photographic press and led to his images being showcased throughout the world.  With a recommended retail price of £19.99, a free copy of Photographing Wilderness for every participant clearly makes the group workshops a fantastic gift! (Please note that the books will be distributed at the actual workshop. However if you would prefer the book in advance, this can be arranged for a small charge of £3.50 to cover postage and packing. The last postage date for Christmas is the 21st December).

So if you are finding it hard to decide what present to buy the budding photographer in your family, why not take a look at our range of workshops?

E-Cards are back!

Just a quick post to let you know that we have reintroduced our popular e-card service - Just in time for Christmas!

Click here to send your friends an electronic postcard.

Touching Base

December seems to have arrived without any warning, bringing with it the promise of a new year just around the corner.  I am starting to consider my forthcoming projects for 2010 which include a number of new book commissions to work on, alongside my own personal projects such as the Fungi image featured here.

The last couple of months have found me using my Canon EOS 50D more frequently than I ever expected when I purchased it as a back-up camera for my main workhorse, the EOS 5D.  I have being using it almost exclusively for my macro images alongside another relative new piece of equipment - A Canon Speedlite flash gun.  This partnership, combined with a lot of experimentation, has allowed me to start capturing images that look like they have been shot in the studio although they have been totally captured in the field. This shot here was captured by setting the 50D to ISO 100, with a shutter speed of 1/250 second and a aperture of f18. The fast shutter speed / small aperture combination allowed me to render the background black, whilst the subject was illuminated by the strobe placed to the rear and below.  A gold reflector was used to bounce the light back into the subject.

Whilst I enjoy the freedom to express myself through my artificially lit Fungi compositions, you just can't beat the feeling of standing on Scottish mountain, capturing the play of light on a distant peak.

This image again is testament to the image quality available with the 50D. Whilst the image quality is not as good as the 5D, and it really does need the finest quality lenses to get the best from the 15MP sensor, it does prove to be a relatively small camera to use hand held whilst hiking up the hills. I will still carry my 5D for the forthcoming work on my forthcoming Cairngorm Trilogy, although I fully expect that the 50D will be used to capture a number of shots, such as this one of storm clouds above the mountain known as Stac na h-Iolaire and the image below of the frost covered ferns, again within the Cairngorms National Park

In between these projects, I will also be sharing my knowledge of these techniques, alongside many others, during the forthcoming 2010 Photography Workshop schedule. Both the January and February dates are nearly fully booked, but there are a number of places left for later in the year - And I'm always available for private '1 on 1' photography workshops.

Finally, I now have a Facebook page and I'm also starting to Twitter, so hopefully I will be able to keep you posted on everything that is happening over the next few months - and also share some more of my favourite images!

Blackpool Rocks

I have recently been on a stock photography trip to the north-west coast of England to capture images of a stereotypical seaside resort. The destination? Blackpool of course! I timed my trip to coincide with the annual Blackpool Illuminations display, an event which would excite any photographer who enjoys capturing images during the hours of dark.

There were a handful of obvious subjects which I needed to photograph, such as the tower and the pleasure beach, but I was also looking for alternative shots which captured the essence of this infamous resort.

This trip also happened to be my first chance to try out my newly acquired Canon Eos 50d. I purchased this camera to ultimately be my 'back-up' body to accompany my full-frame Canon Eos 5d. I must admit that I am really enjoying using the 50D and whilst the image quality may not quite be up to the standards of the 5D, the 1.6x crop factor on the sensor and the impressive 6 frames a second shutter burst is allowing me to capture some images that I may have missed with the 5D.

The new Blackpool images are now online, follow this link to be taken directly to the seaside!