• Missing the Point: Why Meaning Matters More Than Method

    Missing the Point: Why Meaning Matters More Than Method

    Imagine Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin sitting together in a café in Arles, discussing their latest paintings. “So, Paul, what brushes are you using at the moment?” It’s a ridiculous image, isn’t it? Two of the most celebrated painters in history, discussing their equipment rather than their art. And yet, photographers do this all…

  • Nothing to See Here: Finding Meaning in Ordinary Places

    Nothing to See Here: Finding Meaning in Ordinary Places

    We scroll through Instagram, bombarded by amazing photographs, each one shouting for our attention. Epic mountains. Dramatic waterfalls. Fiery sunsets. The Northern Lights reflected perfectly in a frozen lake. Some real, some perhaps AI-generated — but that’s another story. Images that once would have stopped us in our tracks now barely earn a second glance…

  • On the Right Path: Is Photography a Journey You Should Travel Alone?

    On the Right Path: Is Photography a Journey You Should Travel Alone?

    For all its many virtues, landscape photography can be a frustrating pursuit. Even if you know where you want to get to, you don’t necessarily know how to get there. You might try YouTube: “This ONE Trick Will Transform Your Photography” or “STOP Making These Mistakes”. But the advice often contradicts what your own experience…

  • The Pleasure of Progress: Why Getting Better Makes Photography More Enjoyable

    The Pleasure of Progress: Why Getting Better Makes Photography More Enjoyable

    Photography is a bit like golf. Both are simple to understand and frustratingly difficult to master. It is easy to argue that, as they are both hobbies, we should take pleasure from simply doing them. But there is only so much fun to be had if you continually slice your tee shot into the rough.…

  • The Work Isn’t Finished: Finding an Audience for Your Photography

    The Work Isn’t Finished: Finding an Audience for Your Photography

    There is a point in every photographer’s journey when we stop thinking in terms of single images and succumb to the pull of the photography project. Projects allow us to combine multiple images to tell larger stories. Or they help us hammer home our point of view by repeating an idea across multiple frames. They…

  • Safety in Numbers: The Power of the Photography Project

    Safety in Numbers: The Power of the Photography Project

    Few people have been able to express what makes a great photograph more eloquently than Australian photographer Peter Adams: “Great photography is about depth of feeling, not depth of field.” We are told that telling a story is a powerful way to evoke feelings. Narrative is one of the essential elements of good photography, and…

  • Beyond the Obvious: Why Finding Your Own Photos Matters

    Beyond the Obvious: Why Finding Your Own Photos Matters

    Recreating photographs we admire is a great way to learn. We get to grips with composition, understand how light shapes a scene and develop the skills to turn an idea into an image. There’s real satisfaction in standing somewhere familiar and finally making the photograph we’ve seen others take. But once we know how to…

  • Have an Idea: Why Direction Beats Motivation

    Have an Idea: Why Direction Beats Motivation

    As landscape photographers, we often find ourselves wanting to go out with the camera but unable to decide where to go. We have the time. The conditions outside look promising. Our batteries are charged and our bag is ready. Yet instead of leaving the house, we scroll through weather forecasts, study maps and run through…

  • The Photographs We Don’t Take: Learning When NOT to Press the Shutter

    The Photographs We Don’t Take: Learning When NOT to Press the Shutter

    You’ve found the perfect spot. The light is beautiful, and the landscape is everything you hoped it would be. You make a photograph. Check the back of the camera. Adjust the composition. Make another. Perhaps the light will improve. Maybe you should try another lens. And then, almost as quickly as it arrived, the light…

  • In the Moment: The Camera as a Window to the Present

    In the Moment: The Camera as a Window to the Present

    Physically, we’re here. But mentally, we are often somewhere else entirely. We walk through beautiful places while thinking about work. We sit with the people we love while wondering what needs doing tomorrow. We watch the sunset as we reach for our phones.  Even in the moments we’ve deliberately set aside for ourselves, our minds…