Where It Started...How It’s Going.

STARTING OUT
When I bought my first DSLR camera back in 2006, my intention wasn’t to begin photography as a hobby at all. It was purely to photograph my young family as they grew up, without being restricted by the ‘point-and-shoot’ compact camera we owned when my eldest was born. It was some episodes of anxiety and subsequent counselling that first put me onto the idea of pursuing photography. I chose landscape photography as my genre of choice; it ticked all the boxes - a creative pursuit whilst getting some ‘me-time’ outdoors in the fresh air to forget the stresses and strains of life in general. Perfect.
Learning the Skills
I am a self-taught photographer, which meant that the road to gaining the skills to take a decent photograph was longer and littered with more than a few frustrations. However, I loved it. I was spending more of my free time taking photos and any spare money was invested in photographic equipment. Often up early for sunrises and out late for sunsets, avidly reading up on my newfound passion, I was consuming all the information and knowledge I could in order to learn and improve. I was hooked.

THE SEARCH FOR IMPROVEMENT
I didn’t care much for making anything more of this hobby (although that would change later), instead it was simply about improving the standard of work.
It’s obvious that the more you do and practice any type of skill the better you will become. You also have to accept that errors and mistakes are a large part of getting better. I’m very self-critical, never being entirely happy with anything I produce, always looking for issues or errors. It may seem counter-productive, but for me this is a necessary part of refining my photography.
It was around a year to 18 months before I felt my photography started falling into place, with the quality of the images I was shooting was less total rubbish and something that actually could pass for a decent landscape image.

A RETROSPECTIVE LOOK
Recently I decided to look back on my very early work, to look for locations or inspiration for future shoots. I can tell you this….it was an uncomfortable ride, but it give me a bit of a laugh…..
Looking back at my early work was mostly just plain embarrassing, with one or two pleasant surprises. Of course, at the time I was made up with what I produced…probably more out of surprise that I manage to photograph anything at all!

What I thought I’d do is share three of my landscape images. My very first photo, one a year in and my very last image taken January this year.

1. Gorleston Beach - 30 November 2008



This is what I consider my first ever landscape image. It’s a scene from Gorleston Beach of some groyne posts looking out to sea. At the time I had family members asking for prints of this but looking at it now it genuinely makes me cringe! It’s a 4 second exposure, which was a brave move so early on in. I think I had just purchased my first ND filter, so that was probably why.
The premise of the composition is ok, the posts act as leading lines into the red end post, but I remember spending an age editing this shot, which now is a red flag for me. If I have to spend anything more than a few minutes working on an image, then it's not good enough to use! Technically it is very flawed; the focus is off on the closest posts, the horizon is bowed (it’s barrel distortion from using the wide end of a zoom lens) and it looks quite flat overall. No real punch to it whatsoever.

2. West Somerton Staithe - 2nd Jan 2010.



Moving on thirteen months, this winter scene at West Somerton is much better, still not perfect. I was lucky with the light with this one. It had been total cloud coverage until the briefest of breaks when the sun illuminated the reeds in front of me, managed to fire off a few frames before the sunlight disappeared for the rest of the day. Technically much better, the focusing is good and the balance of the image is far more appealing from a colour/tonal aspect, the sky has some definition, and the composition works well. There was a bit of editing in this one too, nowhere near as much as before, but getting it right in camera was also going in the right direction.

3. Receding waves on Gorleston Beach - 2nd January 2021



I did have a break from landscape work between 2014 and 2019 to concentrate on my portrait business, but to show it’s much like riding a bike, (a little practice to dust away the cobwebs) I’ve included the last landscape image I took earlier this year before lockdown was announced.
It's not the best of my recent work, but certainly not the worst either. Apart from technical ability, what I feel has changed (definitely for the better) is how I’m viewing landscape images now. There was no way I would have considered taking a shot like this back in 2008, or even 2011 for that matter. The conditions weren’t particularly special, I went out purely because a lockdown was looking very likely, and it would have been my last chance to shoot for a while. What I did do was try to make something of what was happening. Yes, the light was flat, but the sky did have some interest. It’s a long exposure shot of 1 sec which is perfect to capture the movement of the sea as it recedes from the beach. I think there is enough in this shot to hold the viewer’s interest, certainly more than my first ever image above! Editing time was minimal, a few minutes to enhance what was captured in camera.

CONCLUSION

How it started – Enthusiastic, but often frustrated. Inconsistent levels of image quality.
I remember in the early days I was often left feeling frustrated if the shoot didn’t produce anything worthwhile. I guess enthusiasm at ‘what might be’ made the failure of a shoot feel so much worse. A lot of that wasn’t just down to the conditions at the location, but how I viewed the scene in front of me, and also my lack of technical ability.

How it’s going – Content, relaxed. Much more consistent levels of image quality.
I’m more than happy with how things have improved between where I started in 2008 and now – even with a total break for five years. I’m a lot more relaxed about shoots these days, I accept that you won’t bag a winner every time out, but I’m also happy not to go out at all if I think the weather, tide or any other factor won’t be what I’m looking for. And I’m definitely enjoying landscape photography more for it.

COMING SOON - LATE SPRING/EARLY SUMMER
Once the current lockdown finishes and things begin to return to normal I intend to offer the following products and services....

LANDSCAPE PRINTS
Limited Editions of my Landscape will be available for purchase. If you are interested, please follow my facebook page (linked below)to see when I release product and pre-ordering information.

PHOTOGRAPHY COACHING
If you are new to photography or just want to improve in some areas, I will be offering coaching sessions in natural light photography genres (landscapes and portraiture) as well as 'GETTING OFF AUTO MODE' should you want to get creative with your camera.
To register your interest, please message me through the contact page.

MJP LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY