Landscape Archives

Cliché Photography

Cliche Photography: Buttermere / John Gough

Cliché photography is about lack of imagination. Taking the pictures that everyone else takes. That can be location, genre, or processing. It is copying the photographs that others have taken before.

When I was in the Lake District earlier this year, I could not resist taking the lone tree at Buttermere. I had to queue, because there were other photographers in front of me, setting up their tripods. This is a very popular view. Try a search on Google, and you will see that lots of photographers have been there before you. Thousands of photographers each year take that same view. I agree all the images are different, and there are lots of different versions, but essentially they are all the same scene.

So is my version unique? I have changed the sky to one that was not there and added a texture effect to the foreground. So is it still cliche photography?

Cliché Photography: SLPOTY

Well, the Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year competition (SLPOTY) is so fed up with receiving submissions from just a few places that they have banned images from certain locations from now on.

These are the most popular and most photographed views in Scotland. SLPOTY maintains that 80% of their submissions are just from these 19 locations!

So if you want to enter their competition you will need to find a unique perspective.

Isn’t Photography About Fun

I applaud the SLPOTY in trying to promote diversity but isn’t photography about fun. It is exciting to discover beautiful landscape images, find their locations and attempt to recreate or put your own take on familiar scenes.

I am going to Scotland next month and I look forward to tracking down the nineteen locations that the SLPOTY have banned and putting my stamp on their ‘honeypot’ beauty spots.

It is now so easy to find these locations and explore the views that other photographers have taken, by using books like these. These guides include instructions about how to get there and even where to park.

and

If you are a serious photographer and want to become Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year, then avoid the popular beauty spots, but if like me you want to come back with some cracking shots, buy the books and shoot the clichés

Beginners Guide to Photography

by John Gough

Beginners Guide to Photography

I always thought I was a reasonable photographer. So a few years ago now I set off to the Lake District to take some magnificent landscapes. A few days alone with my camera would I thought nail some stunning images. It was a photographic pilgrimage which would turn into an epiphany.

I had a Canon EOS 450D with a kit lens and a map of the area. World beating shots would be easy. Perhaps I thought I could even win a competition.

The Result

The example above is the sort of thing I came back with.

I had been given a Landscape Photographer of the Year book which was my inspiration for this trip. However, my images did not bear any resemblance to the classy pictures in the book.

I had to make a decision. Should I ditch photography and take up bowls or gardening. Or should I immerse my self in photo geekery. Learn all I could and give it a go.

Beginners Guide to Photography

It was then I decided to change everything about my photography. To start again.

The list of what I needed to know was a long one. It would I know take me a long time. I set a goal to gain an LRPS from the Royal Photographic Society. This would be my benchmark.

It has been an iJourney ever since.

I was reminded of this tortuous period by corresponding with Joanna Thomas at Hobby Help. Her Ultimate Beginners Guide to Photography is just the sort of solid information I devoured in huge chunks during that time, and still do.

This book, How to Photograph Absolutely Everything: Successful Pictures from your Digital Camera was also very useful and a great start point. It is a bit dated now but no worse for that.

Where I Buy

I buy my equipment from Wex because of their exceptional customer service. I once returned a camera after 30 days, and the next day they called to return my money to my account. Their prices are always competitive and they offer good prices on the trade in of your used gear

Welcome to 2019

by John Gough

Two Trees / John Gough / iPhone 7

It is ironic that the first pictures I take in 2019 were taken on a smartphone. I have never been an advocate of iPhone photography for ‘serious’ work, but I was obviously up my own arse.

Over the holiday, I have been following artists like Glenys Garnett who have inspired me to do more with layers and blending modes this year.

Welcome to 2019 and a Happy New Year.

Planning Landscape Photography

by John Gough

Stripe of Light / John Gough / Canon 6D (Fleetwith Pike taken from Buttermere Lake. See below to see how the photograph came about)

I listened to a talk by Justin Minns recently. Justin is a fabulous landscape photographer as you can see from his site. The talk was an inspiration. I was particularly motivated as I was just about to leave the following morning for a few days photography in the Lake District.

Planning Landscape Photography

Justin Minns described the research and preparation that he puts into a photo shoot. Planning the route, the parking, the weather, the time of day (usually dusk or dawn), and the position of the sun on that day. He will then walk the site prior to the shoot looking for that killer composition.

NB Subscribe to Ordnance Survey maps here

NB Calculate the direction of the sun here

Like other great landscapists like Charlie Waite and Joe Cornish, Justin will envisage the image that he would want to achieve. Plan to achieve it and then set up his camera and tripod and wait for the light. In landscape photography, it is all about composition and light.

The Lake District: Buttermere

The Lake District is a location with dramatic scenery. When it is not raining and the light is right, there is probably no location in the world that is better for landscape photographs. The Lake District is quite a compact only 912 square miles, so it can be traversed several times in a day. However, it does have 16 million visitors a year so try to visit off season so that you can park to get that shot.

It helps to have some guidance about where to find great pictures. So I use the following guidebooks:

On this visit, I decided to take Justin’s advice and plan in advance. I would catch the sun traversing Fleetwith Pike at the southern end of Buttermere Lake. There is a pebble beach on the road side of the lake. I would wait there until the sun broke through the clouds and lit up the mountain, profiling the trees on the shore of the lake.

I stayed there for about an hour waiting for the sun and suddenly there it was. The shot I had planned was in front of me.

I love street photography because you arrive at a location not knowing what is going to happen, so I was sceptical that I would enjoy this structured approach. However, there is some satisfaction in seeing a plan come to fruition.

Where I Buy

This Image was Taken on a Canon

Photography in the Peak District

by John Gough

Curbar Edge / John Gough / Canon 6D

The way to really appreciate Curbar Edge in the Peak District is to get there at dawn, and if you are lucky with the weather, the sun will rise behind you throwing the rocky outcrop into relief creating memorable photographs.

We did just that last week. Thanks to Clive Williams at Bedford Camera Club for organising the event. We set off from home at 4.00am and arrived just as the sun was rising at 6.45.

Curbar Edge

Curbar Edge, in the Peak District, is a high gritstone escarpment offering spectacular views across the idyllic countryside of the White Peak.

If you go there, the National Trust car park can be found at Clodhall Lane, Hope Valley, S32 3YR. Climb the steps at the rear of the car park and follow the path.

Photography

I did not take a long lens, but I wished I had so I could have got a better shot of the villages and stone walled fields further up the valley. If you are lucky then the valley may be clouded over below you, adding to the drama of any photographs.

I used a tripod, and a wide angle lens, with a small aperture around f22 for the shot above. This ensured both the rocks and the valley were in focus.

Just through the morning gloom is Chatsworth House. With a longer lens and mist or snow on the ground, this could be a fabulous shot.

Where I Buy

This Image was Taken on a Canon

Philip Lepper Trophy

by John Gough

Trees Reflected / John Gough / Canon 6D

Delighted to receive the Philip Lepper Trophy at Bedford Camera Club this week, for my image Trees Reflected.

It was taken a year or so ago at Buttermere. I parked the car in Buttermere village then walked back along the B5289 towards Gatesgarth. I then walked back to Buttermere on the path between the lake and the road. The picture was taken looking back at the trees on the southern shoreline, using a big 100-400mm lens.

All the photography gods were aligned that day.

Lake District Photography Locations

by John Gough

Pooley Bridge Pier / John Gough / Canon 6D

I have been in the Lake District for a few days, and instead of darting from one location to the next, I did what many landscape photographers recommend which is to work the location. Usually, I don’t have the time for this, trying to pack in as much as I can. However, I have accumulated hundreds of pictures of the Lakes over the past few years, so I decided to follow their advice.

Lake District Photography: Wastwater

I started in Wastwater and worked the view looking towards Wasdale Head and Skafell Pike.

The landscape experts tell you to make the most of the weather you have been given. Well, at least it was not that insipid clear blue sky, you see on postcards of Lakeland scenes. The sky instead was overcast, the rain was spitting, and the breeze created a slight swell on the water. All in all, this created quite a moody scene.

Wastwater in March / John Gough / Canon 6D

Lake District Photography: Buttermere

The next day I went in search of a photography icon, the lone tree on the shoreline of Buttermere Lake. Hundreds of photographers have got there before me. Indeed there was one there as I arrived, self consciously moving a tripod around while his wife looked on impatiently. Fortunately, I had neither encumbrance.

Head for the Fish Inn CA13 9XA. There is a public carpark. Walk past the pub and onto the path around the lake. When you reach the banks of the lake turn left and follow the path.

The Lone Tree / John Gough / Canon 6D

It is a misnomer the tree is not on its own, there are other trees along the bank. However, none have captured the imagination of artists and photographers quite like this one.

Lake District Photography: Ullswater

I went to Pooley Bridge on Ullswater to find another iconic location, the Duke of Portland Boathouse. The best vantage point is from the wall just past the junction of the A592 and the B5320. It was, however, overcast, pouring with rain, and the lake was a murky grey. The boathouse is really only worth shooting as the sun comes up and illuminates it from the front.

I walked back to the pier for Ullswater steamers, by now it was raining hard, but as pier pictures seem very much in vogue, I captured the image at the top of the page. I took several but the rest were ruined by rain spots. By now I was cold and wet, so I decided it was time for a bacon butty.

I have added links to the books I use to find locations. These are affiliate links so I do get a very small payment if you purchase.

I used my Canon 6D on this trip with the magic 16-135 lens ideal for landscapes. I buy my gear from Wex because I have experienced their fantastic customer service personally.