Winter Challenges & Climate Change

The winter here in the UK seems to be another one characterized by rain and wind - lots of the former and the latter being very strong. I've had a new camera and lenses for almost a month now and would like to be using it everyday but am generally being defeated by the bad weather. I'm not a fan of 'blue sky thinking', I love clouds and dramatic skys, frost and snow, but theres no way I can create images that please me in driving rain and dull, flat light. There is no doubt in my mind as a simple photographer observing the countryside around me that climate change is making it less likely that I can take photographs as I used to during the winter months.

In 1991 I stood in the freezing waters of the River Barle on Exmoor, the temperature was -8c, cold enough to cause film to become brittle and break ! I would give anything to repeat that experience - here in the south west of England, or to see frost hanging on the trees day after day, the ground rock hard under my feet instead of slurping through mud.


The National Trust has an exhibition 'Exposed - Climate Change in Britain's Backyard' featuring the work of 10 top UK photographers which confirms my thoughts. When I first heard about the exhibition there was a sense of relief - the realization that I am not just imagining it, failing to make the most of the good days, or just being a miserable old ***** looking for any excuse for not taking pictures.

The exhibition is touring the country and is at Bristol Museum until 9th December so I'm off to see it today, I'm excited at seeing the work of the photographers who have contributed but almost scared to see the awful truth.

Blurb Books

A few days ago I received the sample book from Blurb - this had simply been an exercise in seeing how a random selection of images were reproduced, quality of paper, printing, binding etc. I wasn't testing out the convenience of the BookSmart software used for actually creating the book and didn't add any text other than the title.

I have to say I was pleased with the result and costwise it is certainly good value for money, though its important to remember that the service is not aimed at publishing for resale in quantity.

Denises Goldberg's blog has some useful comments about the BookSmart software - its near the end :) I've come to know Denise through Smugmug/Dgrin, I enjoy her photography and writings and value her opinions which are always considered and thoughtful.

PhotoBooks - the way to go ?

This week saw the announcement that Smugmug, who host my website and photos, has joined forces with Blurb the POD photobook printers. At first look this seems like a great union but a quick look at the Blurb forum shows that all is not well in the customer service dept. at Blurb. Now as SmugMug excel here I suspect that any Smuggers using Blurb would find this very hard to accept. There's no doubt in my mind though that SmugMug would not associate themselves with anything less than 1st class,so I'm sure any shortcomings will be resolved. I've been considering using one of these POD services myself for sometime now, but the major consideration apart from quality is always shipping to the UK from US companies. Still thinking around this because ......

There is nothing quite so thrilling as seeing 'your'photographs in a 'real' book. I can write from experience having twice had books published back in the 90's. Images of Exmoor (1992)was the first color photographic book published by Exmoor Books, a joint partnership between Exmoor Press and the Exmoor National Park, and was followed by Images of Exmoor - Coast & Combe in 1997. The photographs in both these books were taken solely by myself and former husband Tim, the books were commissioned and we received royalties on all sales - quite an achievement for a couple of dedicated photographers with no formal training! Amazon currently have 6 copies listed, including 1 copy as 'collectible' with the comment 'signed by both authors'.

clipped from www.amazon.com 1. Images of Exmoor by Tim Shipsey and Caroline Shipsey (Paperback - Oct 17, 1997) 4 Used & new from $28.14 Books: See all 6 items

Smugmug Monday

This is a quick round-up of some interesting happenings at Smugmug and on the Dgrin Photography Forum just in case like me you find it hard to follow it all.

Last week saw the launch of Where in the World is Smuggy competition inviting creativity in flaunting Smuggy in interesting and unlikely places in return for a fantastic weekend break in Napa Valley.

The first pictures from the Dgrin Shootout at Glacier National Park can be seen here. WoW - these are some really stunning images.

Next years Dgrin Shootout at Arches National Park is announced - details in this thread.
TUESDAY 9th OCT - UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE : This is now fully booked but you can put your name on a waiting list - email DavidTO, NO pm's.

You might still be able to book a place on the Dgrin/Marc Muench Photo Workshop at Shenandoah National Park.

Finally there is the API competition details here, all developers get a free lifetime Pro account at Smugmug and could win themselves an iPhone.

The results of LPS #13, semi finalists are announced, you can see the images in this thread.

At Smugmug Corner on PhotographyCorner.com Sean Sherstone was featured, this is the 5th in a regular weekly spot for Smugmug photographers. Beautiful images and an interesting insight on the life and background of Sean.

Visit Dgrin because there really is huge amount of information and it is a very friendly place. There are forums for Macro, Smugmug Customization, Contests and Challengesand one that I have avoided (being of a rather delicate nature) The Whipping Post. However, when browsing today I discovered that a picture of Trees and Fog had been submitted for critique, well its good to know that I am not alone in my foggy world.

Featured Smugmug Customization - "How to Smugmug default settings"

Monday Mendip Mist

Its being generous to call it mist, more like drizzle and fog. As this is supposed to be my photography blog you might expect that I would illustrate what I mean. Let me tell you, its bad enough having to look out of the window and see this dismal weather without having a collection of photographs to remind me of it. There is absolutely nothing attractive about it and I've no intention of wandering around in the rain in the hope that a stunning image will form before my eyes. This is the kind of rain that penetrates your camera bag, sends huge drips down your neck and mud splashes up your legs.

If I drive just a couple of miles down hill its like being in another world, almost not raining, clear skies, ok they are grey, and about 5 degrees warmer - fahrenheit that is. Centigrade doesn't sound as impressively different. May I plead with the weather Gods - send me a winter of frost, lots of it, day after day. Add to this some fog, YES REALLY, and we will have such beautiful formations that I will be in photographic heaven. No more of these dull, damp and mild winters please, they are death to a landscape or nature photographer - I don't want to die this winter. What do you mean 'Get Creative' - come and take a look and see what you can make of it.

Reasons to blog ?

I'm really not sure why we blog - I would never have thought of leaving my diary around so that all the world could read it, so why am I doing this ? Well for today's contribution I have the highly entertaining Laughing Gypsy to thank and also BlogRush. The former is a photographer and the latter is supposed to be a way of generating traffic to my blog, which I hope would lead on to my website, and then with any luck to the sale or two. I've always thought that if you are an entrepreneur at heart or just plain unemployable then the best way to be sure of an income is to have your eggs in several different baskets. Then if you smash them all in one basket at least you have the others to sell. Well my photography basket, as in my website, is yielding nothing just now - zilch, so are my eggs broken and I just can't see it ? I am now going to begin a very serious campaign to remedy this........hmmmm scrambled maybe, poached....
Ah another thing - I think even less people read my blog than would my diary - so is there something to be learned from this ?

Walking, walking, walking ........

Mostly when I walk I am happy, my spirits lift and any bothersome thoughts just get blown away by the wind, thats why I love it so. When the weather is on the change, and the skies filled with everchanging clouds then that is the icing on the cake for me.

When I left home on Sunday afternoon the sky was grey and dull-looking, but no matter I headed for Charterhouse masts to walk on Blackdown. There was a really strong wind blowing and as I drove up the hill I could see a really dramatic front moving in from the west. For the next two hours the clouds were a delight, the dogs were having a whale of a time and I was happily taking photographs. And so we trundled onwards and eventually made it to the trig point. Sometimes the ground was just too bumpy for Fly to ride in the buggy, so she gallantly hopped along while I dragged and bounced it behind me.

It was a super walk, nice light, loads of pics, happy dogs, walking back to the car in the fading light I had a real sense of satisfaction and achievement. At home I downloaded the pics from my P&S camera and then started with the DSLR - looking good, Yipeeee! It was then I discovered that the full card I had taken from my camera while out walking was not in the bag - pockets, car, NOWHERE !! In a second the joy of my walk evaporated and despair, deep and gloomy, descended. I could remember roughly when I changed cards but I doubt whether there is any chance of finding it in the long grasses and heather that overhang the narrow rutted track that barely passes for a path.

Google Maps to the rescue - I've walked this route hundreds of times but thought it would be fun to try and pinpoint locations, especially where I thought the card may have been lost, sure enough when I returned on Monday morning I found the card sitting on top of a clump of heather. Was it worth going back to find the card ? Take a look at my Mendip Hills Landscape Gallery.

Google Map of the area around Beacon Batch

View Larger Map

The Cloud Appreciation Society

We have hardly seen the sun for weeks in this part of Somerset, and if we were not on the top of a hill then this would be Blog from the Bog as well as from the Fog. So when I discovered a book called The Cloudspotters Guide I thought it may give me new perspective on the grey, rain-filled skies that dominate our weather just now.

For a small fee I joined The Cloud Appreciation Society, the benefits of which are a membership certificate, and a BADGE !! One the main aims of the Society is to fight "the banality of blue sky thinking" - well, as a landscape photographer I couldn't agree more with that. Less than 12 hours though, after joining, I awoke to find the rain had cleared and the sky was clear, and BLUE. It didn't last long and by the time I had drunk my first coffee of the day the clouds were forming, awaiting my appreciation.

It is going to be great fun learning the names of clouds, what their implications are for the forthcoming weather and so on. I've started a gallery of Clouds on my personal website as an aid to recognizing and committing them to memory.

This new interest opens the door for photography on days when I otherwise wouldn't have considered it. Landscape photography for me, has always been just as much about what the cloud formation looks like as the land itself, and as a consequence, if the sky is virtually cloudless, then I wouldn't consider taking a photograph. My favorite clouds were those with windows in them, casting patches of light like a torch beam, lighting features or buildings as they passed. Now I can also take pictures with impunity on cloudy days where there is no light falling on the land because these will be cloudscapes not landscapes - Yipeeeeee!!