Walking up to Stamner Down at 5.00am to not get a good photograph can be a frustrating process, but I like to think about it as good practice, a new challenge and the opportunity to scout out new locations for landscape photographs. The main thing missing from these images is the early morning light thatI use to create beautiful landscapes, but when the clouds are there, there’s not a lot you can do.
Practicing composition techniques is a good side activity here, and especially when you’re waiting to see if the clouds might disperse slightly in order to let some stronger light break through.
I like the curve in the background here, but generally this photo isn’t interesting enough to be a finished piece of work. Stamner Down Hills.
Again, there are nice lines in these two pictures and with the right light, they could work, but without the contrast of sunlight they are rather flat and boring (I haven’t even really bothered to edit them properly as there just isn’t any point). All is not lost though; when I can plan my shoot again with better weather and at the right time of year, these photos and my accompanying notes (I use a dictaphone on my smartphone to make recordings whilst shooting to refer back to) and perhaps next time there will be a good image here.
This shoot was at the start of August and the wheat is just coming up at this time of year, and again, with the right lighting, this image could work well. I did get one image I was reasonably happy with (below) but since now I’ve decided to drop it from my portfolio as I’ve collected much better images by comparison since this shoot.
The Ridge, Falmer, 2015
