1 00:00:00,943 --> 00:00:06,708 Hello and welcome to Any Questions on Landscapes monthly podcast with our hosts, 2 00:00:06,708 --> 00:00:09,770 myself, Tim Parkin and Joe Cornish. 3 00:00:09,971 --> 00:00:56,068 And we're here this month with our special guest Mark Littlejohn, 4 00:00:56,068 --> 00:01:01,250 we've got a series of questions from a, a bunch of different people or a variety of 5 00:01:01,250 --> 00:01:02,951 subjects. 6 00:01:02,951 --> 00:01:08,094 and we'll start off with the classic discussion that goes in more because if 7 00:01:08,094 --> 00:01:12,257 anybody knows Mark, we know that he tends not to use his tripod as much as other 8 00:01:12,257 --> 00:01:12,637 people. 9 00:01:12,637 --> 00:01:17,940 So our first question from Mike Gosheron and is simply tripod or handheld. 10 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:22,883 And Monty Trent asks the question with modern image stabilization technology. 11 00:01:22,883 --> 00:01:24,906 Do I actually need a tripod at all? 12 00:01:26,089 --> 00:01:26,970 Mark. 13 00:01:28,538 --> 00:01:34,421 It's an interesting one and it's one I discussed on Harris a couple of weeks back 14 00:01:34,421 --> 00:01:37,022 was there on the tour with Stu McLennan. 15 00:01:37,803 --> 00:01:44,887 And I think a tripod is very useful to people who like to slow down. 16 00:01:45,147 --> 00:01:49,069 They like to feel with the tripod in place, it reminds them that they're 17 00:01:49,069 --> 00:01:52,271 actually photographing and they're not at the office and not at home, they're not 18 00:01:52,271 --> 00:01:53,232 wherever else. 19 00:01:53,232 --> 00:01:55,053 It reminds them they're actually photographing. 20 00:01:55,053 --> 00:01:57,086 It's a tool that assists. 21 00:01:57,086 --> 00:02:01,068 And it doesn't matter how good stabilization is, there are still people 22 00:02:01,068 --> 00:02:05,390 who will maybe just have a little bit of a shaky hand or whatever. 23 00:02:05,590 --> 00:02:12,634 My concern with the tripod centered around a couple of things, it's funny when you go 24 00:02:12,634 --> 00:02:16,377 along, I live in quite a picturesque area, so you might see workshops set up at the 25 00:02:16,377 --> 00:02:21,239 side of the road and the tripods are, the tripods are always set up at eye height. 26 00:02:21,339 --> 00:02:24,321 In every case, they're like, let's find the best place to take the picture from. 27 00:02:24,361 --> 00:02:25,302 They set up the... 28 00:02:25,302 --> 00:02:28,104 best place for them to stand looking through it. 29 00:02:28,244 --> 00:02:32,347 The second issue is the tripod then rules their lives. 30 00:02:32,668 --> 00:02:38,814 So the cameras there on the back got live view up and people get locked in to the 31 00:02:38,814 --> 00:02:39,834 live view. 32 00:02:39,875 --> 00:02:45,680 If you forget the other 320 degrees around them because they're locked into that, 33 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:48,923 they could be the most amazing backlit squalges coming down from the left. 34 00:02:48,923 --> 00:02:51,825 There could be a herd of wildebeest sweeping majestically across the plain to 35 00:02:51,825 --> 00:02:52,470 the right. 36 00:02:52,470 --> 00:02:55,971 but they don't bloody see it because they're just fixed straight. 37 00:02:55,971 --> 00:03:00,012 And I think sometimes with the tripod, it becomes a case of the tail wagging the 38 00:03:00,012 --> 00:03:03,093 dog. 39 00:03:03,093 --> 00:03:06,234 There's certainly not a case for getting in a tripod because on a lot of occasions 40 00:03:06,234 --> 00:03:10,735 you need them to have a slower shutter speed, if you're hands shaking. 41 00:03:10,735 --> 00:03:15,376 And if you feel that you want to set up a tripod and just relax and have everything 42 00:03:15,376 --> 00:03:19,577 done and dusted in front of you and it's ready to go for when the moment arrives. 43 00:03:19,746 --> 00:03:23,620 Great, I would never suggest to somebody to change the style and to move away from 44 00:03:23,620 --> 00:03:26,569 a tripod, just use it correctly. 45 00:03:27,387 --> 00:03:31,291 A question for Joe here, because I mean, I've not done a lot of workshops, I've 46 00:03:31,291 --> 00:03:35,675 only done a few and you between you and Joe and Mark, you've done hundreds of 47 00:03:35,675 --> 00:03:36,856 them, I imagine. 48 00:03:37,216 --> 00:03:40,620 Do do some people put their tripod down first and then start looking for a 49 00:03:40,620 --> 00:03:41,280 photograph? 50 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:43,962 Is that is that a real thing that people do? 51 00:03:44,925 --> 00:03:46,525 Yes, Tim, 52 00:04:12,893 --> 00:04:18,754 in an awkward sort of crouching position, but there's usually a place where all of 53 00:04:18,754 --> 00:04:25,336 the elements of the scene come together in the way that works at that moment. 54 00:04:25,336 --> 00:04:30,557 And if you have the tripod already set up at eye level, which so many people do, 55 00:04:30,557 --> 00:04:34,598 then it becomes a wrestle with the tripod, rather than, well, I know where I'm going 56 00:04:34,598 --> 00:04:37,459 to put the tripod, so I'm going to put it up in exactly that place. 57 00:04:37,459 --> 00:04:42,460 And any final adjustments are just millimeters, really. 58 00:04:43,005 --> 00:04:44,266 with the tripod head. 59 00:04:44,406 --> 00:04:52,833 So yeah, and I think that is really the issue is poor technique, which then often 60 00:04:52,833 --> 00:04:56,936 makes tripods unpopular with many people because they don't get on with them, 61 00:04:57,177 --> 00:04:59,118 whereas it should be your ally. 62 00:04:59,499 --> 00:05:06,124 And I just also have a couple of, I'm going to jump in again, but having had the 63 00:05:06,124 --> 00:05:11,229 honor of working with Mark on a couple of occasions, it's just great. 64 00:05:11,229 --> 00:05:16,473 to see that when he uses it, the way he uses his body, it's like using a tripod. 65 00:05:16,473 --> 00:05:20,036 I mean, he's incredibly careful in his positioning. 66 00:05:20,036 --> 00:05:27,182 So all of the sort of same kind of values, if you like, of the care and consideration 67 00:05:27,182 --> 00:05:29,564 and the thoughtfulness are still there. 68 00:05:29,564 --> 00:05:35,529 It's just that he can hold the camera very steadily and he's very, very careful on 69 00:05:35,529 --> 00:05:36,310 his positioning. 70 00:05:36,310 --> 00:05:39,552 So in many ways, it's not that different. 71 00:05:41,027 --> 00:05:45,772 I'm interested, Mark, what sort of shutter speeds can you get away with when you're 72 00:05:45,772 --> 00:05:48,494 working with these very clever new cameras? 73 00:05:53,558 --> 00:05:59,603 Well, for example, uh, the Nikon Z7 with like, you know, the dog walking camera, 74 00:05:59,623 --> 00:06:06,309 um, with the 24 or 200, um, I tend to have that in DX mode and I can show, I've got a 75 00:06:06,309 --> 00:06:10,112 picture of some reads in a higher, and that was at 200 mil. 76 00:06:10,153 --> 00:06:14,136 So equivalent 300 and that was a 15th of a second. 77 00:06:14,897 --> 00:06:15,477 Um. 78 00:06:16,074 --> 00:06:19,315 With the little Leica Q2, I was on the beach the other night, there was some 79 00:06:19,315 --> 00:06:23,097 fantastic movement with the waves, the sun had just gone down, and that was a quarter 80 00:06:23,097 --> 00:06:24,037 of a second. 81 00:06:25,518 --> 00:06:30,700 And do you know Olympus cameras are supposedly fantastic for handheld? 82 00:06:30,700 --> 00:06:33,142 But yeah, I mean. 83 00:06:33,142 --> 00:06:37,738 shots, a quarter of a second, half a second is doable with a few failures. 84 00:06:37,738 --> 00:06:40,758 think, again, a lot of it is technique. 85 00:06:40,758 --> 00:06:43,919 It's about breathing, it's about stance, it's about how you hold the camera. 86 00:06:44,840 --> 00:06:49,181 If you look at it, it's basically, if you've done any shooting, which I haven't 87 00:06:49,181 --> 00:06:52,642 because I hate guns, but it is that sort of approach. 88 00:06:52,642 --> 00:06:57,243 It's getting you a nice stance, getting relaxed, getting the camera held securely. 89 00:06:57,243 --> 00:06:59,204 I tend to put on a two second delay. 90 00:06:59,204 --> 00:07:05,045 I'll breathe in and then I'll just start exhaling slowly as I press the camera 91 00:07:05,045 --> 00:07:05,886 shutter. 92 00:07:05,886 --> 00:07:12,187 Exhale for the two seconds and during that two seconds the shutter will go so there's 93 00:07:12,187 --> 00:07:12,925 techniques for them 94 00:07:12,925 --> 00:07:15,370 stress-free life up in Oppenheim helps. 95 00:07:18,142 --> 00:07:20,223 Yeah, I don't know. 96 00:07:24,966 --> 00:07:26,787 I'm trying to think if I'm getting worse with it. 97 00:07:26,787 --> 00:07:27,608 I mean, it's awkward. 98 00:07:27,608 --> 00:07:32,531 It just depends on positioning as well, because incredibly low tide yesterday and 99 00:07:32,531 --> 00:07:36,493 I was taking shots down the front and again, positioning with the little camera, 100 00:07:36,493 --> 00:07:41,897 with the Q2, a 30th of a second at times was a little bit of a shake because it was 101 00:07:41,897 --> 00:07:43,097 really quite awkward. 102 00:07:43,366 --> 00:07:46,633 It really, you know, it's, it's horses for courses, but the way the kelp is you can't 103 00:07:46,633 --> 00:07:54,251 use a bloody tri-bord and get into it 104 00:07:54,251 --> 00:07:58,414 As well as this, the fact you're using a handheld, I'd be interested in what you 105 00:07:58,414 --> 00:07:59,575 use as the composition tool. 106 00:07:59,575 --> 00:08:03,999 Because I know people who use a composing frame, literally one person uses a picture 107 00:08:03,999 --> 00:08:04,739 frame. 108 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:09,604 Some people prefer to compose on the back of a camera on the LCD display. 109 00:08:09,604 --> 00:08:15,428 And some people prefer to use the actual SLR or the viewfinder. 110 00:08:15,689 --> 00:08:17,770 What's your what's your preference typically? 111 00:08:19,666 --> 00:08:23,108 If I'm like, my preference is the viewfinder, but if I'm in an awkward 112 00:08:23,108 --> 00:08:26,290 position where I can't use a viewfinder, then I use the LCD screen. 113 00:08:26,290 --> 00:08:31,773 But pretty much decided, as Joe was saying before about, if I stay with the calc, 114 00:08:31,773 --> 00:08:34,614 when I'm looking at the calc, you'll have one or two little fronds and things are 115 00:08:34,614 --> 00:08:35,515 arranged. 116 00:08:35,675 --> 00:08:40,798 And then it's really a case of, I get my eye where I want the camera to be. 117 00:08:40,798 --> 00:08:43,900 So when my eye is where I want the camera to be, then the camera comes in. 118 00:08:43,900 --> 00:08:46,661 And then it's a case of the only... 119 00:08:46,766 --> 00:08:50,953 The thing that I'm really using then is either the LCD or the viewfinder to focus 120 00:08:50,953 --> 00:08:52,475 on the bit I want it to focus on. 121 00:08:57,209 --> 00:09:00,232 Yes, it's really interesting hearing Mark describing that, because that's exactly 122 00:09:00,232 --> 00:09:03,855 right, especially with the kelp pictures, which are so really abstract. 123 00:09:03,855 --> 00:09:09,579 Every single decision you make about the positioning of the frame and the form 124 00:09:09,579 --> 00:09:15,564 within the frame and the lighting is critical, so it requires that degree of 125 00:09:16,345 --> 00:09:17,726 very, very careful attention. 126 00:09:17,726 --> 00:09:23,010 And I hope I am the same in that regard, I just happen to put a tripod up to do it 127 00:09:23,050 --> 00:09:23,930 usually. 128 00:09:24,852 --> 00:09:26,105 And there are times when it... 129 00:09:26,105 --> 00:09:30,907 you know, I'm using a linhof with digital back. 130 00:09:31,768 --> 00:09:34,449 I couldn't really handhold it with the best one in the world. 131 00:09:34,509 --> 00:09:36,590 So, you know, that's not an option. 132 00:09:36,590 --> 00:09:41,473 But one thing I, and I've said this on team times, I know we've discussed it 133 00:09:41,473 --> 00:09:42,353 before. 134 00:09:42,374 --> 00:09:46,836 There are times when I use my phone very often to get the composition. 135 00:09:47,176 --> 00:09:52,879 I like the large screen of the phone and I find looking at the image as a discrete 136 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:54,797 arrangement. 137 00:09:54,797 --> 00:09:56,337 a little bit away from my face. 138 00:09:56,337 --> 00:09:59,959 I find that a little bit easier than using a viewfinder. 139 00:10:00,539 --> 00:10:05,601 As you say, Tim, horses for courses and everyone has different approaches. 140 00:10:05,661 --> 00:10:11,884 But it's amazing how often the phone picture has something over the final one, 141 00:10:12,644 --> 00:10:16,306 even though the final one may be shot with 150 megapixel back. 142 00:10:16,306 --> 00:10:19,927 And that is, I regard it as spontaneity. 143 00:10:20,368 --> 00:10:22,988 It's something that feels like 144 00:10:23,029 --> 00:10:27,611 It is in the moment and it's more relaxed, it's more natural. 145 00:10:28,652 --> 00:10:36,716 My biggest self-criticism in that regard is that my final work, as it were, made 146 00:10:36,716 --> 00:10:41,399 with a high-resolution device is often that it feels a bit laboured. 147 00:10:41,839 --> 00:10:46,302 However, when it works, and it really works, then of course it's great, because 148 00:10:46,302 --> 00:10:51,589 you have all the detail and the beauty of nature just there, in a way that 149 00:10:51,589 --> 00:10:53,130 the phone can't match. 150 00:10:53,672 --> 00:11:15,567 But that's something that I am aware of and I'm trying to work on that. 151 00:11:15,567 --> 00:11:20,909 Well, that does bring us to the next question, which is one that Joe's given to 152 00:11:20,909 --> 00:11:23,410 us, which is around instinct in photography. 153 00:11:23,410 --> 00:11:29,432 And it's something where I think is quite prevalent in it. 154 00:11:29,892 --> 00:11:34,014 It's obviously prevalent in Mark's work because you work quite instinctually 155 00:11:34,014 --> 00:11:34,914 hand-held. 156 00:11:34,914 --> 00:11:38,396 But I think it's also some of that should be said for Joe as well, because you've 157 00:11:38,396 --> 00:11:40,357 got an instinct, as you say, when you're using the phone. 158 00:11:40,357 --> 00:11:44,058 But I'll start with Mark and ask him, where does instinct come from? 159 00:11:44,058 --> 00:11:45,238 Is there a lot more? 160 00:11:45,263 --> 00:11:49,620 Considered nature or you just instinctively finding pictures and 161 00:11:49,620 --> 00:11:50,702 compositions 162 00:11:51,470 --> 00:11:56,093 I don't think anybody would really consider me as considered, to be perfectly 163 00:11:56,093 --> 00:11:56,813 honest. 164 00:11:58,955 --> 00:12:04,959 There's not a lot of, as I've said a few times, I photograph anything that's 165 00:12:04,959 --> 00:12:07,180 unlucky enough to pass in front of my camera. 166 00:12:07,441 --> 00:12:08,942 And it doesn't matter what it is. 167 00:12:08,942 --> 00:12:15,546 I don't, I think preconceived ideas are an enemy in some respects to being properly 168 00:12:15,546 --> 00:12:16,587 creative. 169 00:12:16,607 --> 00:12:20,174 If you go out and you're gonna take a set, photograph in mind. 170 00:12:20,174 --> 00:12:25,176 It might be different if you do a definitive type subject, you know, if 171 00:12:25,176 --> 00:12:27,817 you're going up a mountain and you've got particular ideas in your head, but you 172 00:12:27,817 --> 00:12:29,537 just want to explore. 173 00:12:29,678 --> 00:12:32,499 But for me, I describe myself more as an outdoor photographer. 174 00:12:32,499 --> 00:12:34,520 I'm not a tree photographer. 175 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:36,140 I'm not a mountain photographer. 176 00:12:36,140 --> 00:12:37,521 I'm just a photographer. 177 00:12:37,541 --> 00:12:40,302 I just take photographs of anything that interests me. 178 00:12:40,762 --> 00:12:44,804 If I see something and I think, well, I like that, I'll take a picture of it. 179 00:12:44,824 --> 00:12:48,885 And the other thing I often say is, see with the heart, shoot with the head. 180 00:12:49,434 --> 00:12:53,836 If I see with the heart, then I'm going to shoot anything that either makes me smile, 181 00:12:53,836 --> 00:12:56,258 it makes me sigh, it makes me swear. 182 00:12:56,858 --> 00:13:00,020 That's what a photographer, don't say, no, I'm not taking a photograph of that. 183 00:13:00,300 --> 00:13:04,363 I always think if you see somebody you think, oh, I like that, take a photograph 184 00:13:04,363 --> 00:13:05,043 of it. 185 00:13:05,043 --> 00:13:07,945 The only photograph you'll regret is the one you didn't take. 186 00:13:09,186 --> 00:13:16,049 So I, instinct is something that you might call it instinctive, it's just. 187 00:13:16,434 --> 00:13:20,633 endlessly curious about the world, about us and just having a bit of fun. 188 00:13:21,967 --> 00:13:26,554 Yeah, on the idea of having a bit of fun, do you experiment consciously ever on 189 00:13:26,554 --> 00:13:27,334 things? 190 00:13:27,954 --> 00:13:34,923 No, I've always described myself as a reactive as opposed to a creative, because 191 00:13:34,923 --> 00:13:36,805 I'm just reacting to the world around me. 192 00:13:36,805 --> 00:13:41,151 So I don't see it as creative, experimenting, anything else, it's just a 193 00:13:41,151 --> 00:13:45,316 case of, it's there, it's lovely, I'm gonna photograph it. 194 00:13:45,737 --> 00:13:46,377 Done. 195 00:13:47,667 --> 00:13:52,683 You said similar things about using the phone, Joe, in terms of instinct and 196 00:13:52,683 --> 00:13:53,705 producing 197 00:13:54,777 --> 00:14:00,639 Yeah, and you know what, I mean, this might surprise people, but I totally agree 198 00:14:00,639 --> 00:14:02,000 with Mark's approach. 199 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:06,041 And I wouldn't say necessarily always achieve it, because some of the time I'm 200 00:14:06,041 --> 00:14:11,744 doing assignment work, so I actually have to problem solve to take specific pictures 201 00:14:11,744 --> 00:14:16,306 of perhaps subjects that I wouldn't necessarily think of doing. 202 00:14:16,446 --> 00:14:22,948 But most of the time, I also see what, I photograph what catches my eye. 203 00:14:23,085 --> 00:14:30,551 I'm interested in what moves me, what makes me excited, what the line, a shape, 204 00:14:30,551 --> 00:14:36,796 a form, a texture, a quality of light, all of those things that I find beautiful or 205 00:14:36,796 --> 00:14:40,299 engaging, or sometimes sad or make me angry. 206 00:14:40,299 --> 00:14:45,744 I mean, it is all of those things that drive my creative process as well. 207 00:14:45,744 --> 00:14:50,928 It's just a different, ultimately, the outcome looks different to Mark's because 208 00:14:50,928 --> 00:14:51,728 they're... 209 00:14:52,005 --> 00:14:53,365 because we're different people. 210 00:14:53,365 --> 00:14:58,149 And I think it's the ability to just channel yourself in your work. 211 00:14:58,749 --> 00:15:03,513 And I think the reason that people love Mark's work so much it is because it is so 212 00:15:03,513 --> 00:15:04,253 authentic. 213 00:15:04,253 --> 00:15:07,115 It is him, the way that he sees. 214 00:15:07,115 --> 00:15:09,837 And that's quite a gift. 215 00:15:09,837 --> 00:15:16,022 I mean, it's easy to say, it's very difficult to actually make it happen in 216 00:15:16,022 --> 00:15:16,522 real life. 217 00:15:16,522 --> 00:15:19,924 And I don't know how it's done. 218 00:15:20,385 --> 00:15:25,307 I just think it's practice and if you photograph a lot then just as with driving 219 00:15:25,307 --> 00:15:30,851 or anything else that you do on a daily basis you become very good at it and 220 00:15:30,851 --> 00:15:35,733 that's a you know that's a gift for those of us who've been able to spend a lot of 221 00:15:35,733 --> 00:15:40,696 time outdoors with our cameras and actually fundamentally who love it who 222 00:15:40,696 --> 00:15:47,380 love being outside and looking at nature in its endless cycles of change and so on 223 00:15:47,380 --> 00:15:49,000 so yeah I've gone off the 224 00:15:49,229 --> 00:15:55,459 point there slightly, but I do think it's that spontaneity that makes your work 225 00:15:55,459 --> 00:15:56,800 compelling ultimately. 226 00:15:57,871 --> 00:16:05,162 Does that, when you've taken your photographs, Mark, do you have an idea of 227 00:16:05,162 --> 00:16:06,504 which ones are going to be good ones? 228 00:16:06,504 --> 00:16:10,030 And does that change when you get back or do you basically leave everything until 229 00:16:10,030 --> 00:16:11,751 you get back to work out? 230 00:16:12,353 --> 00:16:13,654 Is it going to work? 231 00:16:14,379 --> 00:16:18,421 I think sometimes you can have a most fantastic day out. 232 00:16:19,422 --> 00:16:23,184 And so you get these thoughts and expectations attached to themselves to the 233 00:16:23,184 --> 00:16:24,484 unseen pictures. 234 00:16:24,545 --> 00:16:27,446 And then when you look at them later on, you're disappointed because they don't 235 00:16:27,446 --> 00:16:29,147 match up to your expectations. 236 00:16:29,828 --> 00:16:34,670 So I tend not to think about it too much. 237 00:16:35,171 --> 00:16:38,813 There'll be one in the blue moon, I'll tell you why I like that. 238 00:16:38,813 --> 00:16:40,533 But just one in the blue moon. 239 00:16:40,882 --> 00:16:44,126 and it'll just be, there'll be something about it that's just extraordinary and you 240 00:16:44,126 --> 00:16:49,132 just think, phew, and, but that doesn't happen very often. 241 00:16:49,132 --> 00:16:50,033 Well, it happens very rarely. 242 00:16:50,033 --> 00:16:53,658 I mean, I'm trying to think of a photograph that I really thought, phew, 243 00:16:53,658 --> 00:16:57,121 wow, in the last God knows how long, to be honest. 244 00:16:58,212 --> 00:16:59,637 Is that the same with you Joe? 245 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:01,830 Do you know in advance whether? 246 00:17:01,937 --> 00:17:05,398 It's actually uncanny listening to this because that's exactly the same. 247 00:17:06,198 --> 00:17:09,479 Most of the time you photograph and you're always trying to make a picture that gives 248 00:17:09,479 --> 00:17:17,501 you pleasure but very rarely do you ever think wow that's amazing or that really 249 00:17:17,501 --> 00:17:21,763 worked and then when you know and it's not in a way to do with you it's just like it 250 00:17:21,763 --> 00:17:25,544 feels like you've just been in the right place at the right time but in a way that 251 00:17:25,544 --> 00:17:27,564 is part of photography as well. 252 00:17:28,429 --> 00:17:32,790 just being, you know, being the eyewitness and in the meantime, you continue to 253 00:17:32,790 --> 00:17:38,013 refine your practice so that, you know, you've got this very ability to see very 254 00:17:38,013 --> 00:17:43,895 directly and very, you know, and very simply condense or distill the idea that 255 00:17:44,415 --> 00:17:45,615 has moved you. 256 00:17:46,016 --> 00:17:48,037 So yeah, I agree with Mark. 257 00:17:48,037 --> 00:17:54,039 I mean, it's just, you know, a lot of the time you're happy with the pictures or 258 00:17:54,039 --> 00:17:55,259 maybe a little bit 259 00:17:57,513 --> 00:17:58,813 and brilliant experience. 260 00:17:58,813 --> 00:18:04,195 But then with distance, he waits a couple of months, look at the work again and 261 00:18:04,195 --> 00:18:07,576 maybe some of the immediacy of the experience isn't there. 262 00:18:07,597 --> 00:18:11,018 And you think, oh yeah, some nice images here. 263 00:18:11,038 --> 00:18:12,379 I think I was quite surprised. 264 00:18:12,379 --> 00:18:17,040 Well, I'm not surprised in a way what Mark said, but I'm sure a lot of people will 265 00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:20,762 look at his pictures and think he makes amazing pictures frequently. 266 00:18:21,162 --> 00:18:27,228 So, you know, as always, we're our own worst critics, as in most critical. 267 00:18:27,228 --> 00:18:28,106 of our own. 268 00:18:29,939 --> 00:18:35,741 One of Alex's questions sort of comes from that as well, because I'm listening to you 269 00:18:35,741 --> 00:18:40,103 there saying that you don't know in advance which images are gonna be the good 270 00:18:40,103 --> 00:18:44,344 ones, which means that some of the ones you think might not work do end up the 271 00:18:44,344 --> 00:18:49,927 good ones, in which case it's important to experiment and work on pictures that you 272 00:18:49,927 --> 00:18:54,128 find interesting, even if you think it might not be working, just try things out. 273 00:18:54,589 --> 00:18:57,810 And that goes to one of Alex's other questions, which is about failure. 274 00:18:59,531 --> 00:19:03,476 he's asking whether what, if anything, is the role of failure in Mark's processes, 275 00:19:03,476 --> 00:19:06,479 but we can, we can count that as in different ways. 276 00:19:06,479 --> 00:19:14,169 And now we mentioned this earlier, Mark, in terms of failure or learning, but you 277 00:19:14,169 --> 00:19:15,670 don't see it as failure, do you? 278 00:19:18,055 --> 00:19:23,099 I struggle to see the viewpoint because that implies that it's almost too 279 00:19:23,099 --> 00:19:30,044 mercenary and too mechanical a thought process and I think I don't have any place 280 00:19:30,044 --> 00:19:35,869 for failure within my photography and I think it's a it's a wrong mindset to have. 281 00:19:36,950 --> 00:19:41,954 If you start it's like I'm trying to get the phrase right but when played a lot of 282 00:19:41,954 --> 00:19:45,897 golf and sometimes you had a three-foot putt and you would 283 00:19:46,462 --> 00:19:50,004 more afraid of missing than actually the thought of just like thinking about 284 00:19:50,004 --> 00:19:50,865 sinking it. 285 00:19:50,865 --> 00:19:55,128 And it could, I think if you think too much about failure, it can just affect 286 00:19:55,128 --> 00:19:55,748 your frame of mind. 287 00:19:55,748 --> 00:20:01,592 So I've never consciously thought about removing the thought of failure from my 288 00:20:01,592 --> 00:20:05,275 mindset because failure has never been in there to start with. 289 00:20:05,435 --> 00:20:09,318 I know Alex said to me a while back, he said, he says, what I like about you is 290 00:20:09,318 --> 00:20:11,299 the fact that you're not afraid of failing. 291 00:20:11,299 --> 00:20:13,660 And I'm thinking, I'm not afraid of failing. 292 00:20:13,781 --> 00:20:14,978 I'm going outside. 293 00:20:14,978 --> 00:20:19,601 having a great time taking photographs and if a picture doesn't work, then it doesn't 294 00:20:19,601 --> 00:20:20,402 work. 295 00:20:20,502 --> 00:20:23,965 It's just one of those things, but there was something about it that made me take 296 00:20:23,965 --> 00:20:25,026 it in the first place. 297 00:20:25,026 --> 00:20:27,128 There's something about it that made me smile. 298 00:20:27,128 --> 00:20:28,568 So I took the photograph. 299 00:20:29,069 --> 00:20:33,913 And failure, I think, is just, you know, let's just bin the word completely. 300 00:20:34,574 --> 00:20:41,860 Because I think it's a state of mind, you need to put in a negative thought process 301 00:20:41,860 --> 00:20:43,981 in there, as opposed to... 302 00:20:46,378 --> 00:20:49,839 positivity of being out and just having fun. 303 00:20:49,839 --> 00:20:54,022 And if you say having fun's the same as being creative and experimental, then so 304 00:20:54,022 --> 00:20:54,422 be it. 305 00:20:54,422 --> 00:21:01,025 But it's just a case of initiative, individuality, instinct, all that sort of 306 00:21:01,025 --> 00:21:01,225 thing. 307 00:21:01,225 --> 00:21:05,607 If I started thinking about failure or introducing failure into the equation, 308 00:21:05,607 --> 00:21:08,568 then it's like, oh, well, I'm not gonna take that because it might not work. 309 00:21:09,029 --> 00:21:10,529 You know, twirl. 310 00:21:12,369 --> 00:21:14,290 Sorry Tim, can I jump in as well? 311 00:21:14,370 --> 00:21:19,194 Just because I think it's really fascinating subject as well. 312 00:21:19,194 --> 00:21:27,381 But I think that the reason that terminology is used, a failure, is that we 313 00:21:28,202 --> 00:21:33,887 in our society, and especially in business and in work, people are very 314 00:21:33,887 --> 00:21:39,371 outcome-orientated, which is, it's not surprising. 315 00:21:39,371 --> 00:21:41,252 I mean, you can't really... 316 00:21:41,713 --> 00:21:46,054 criticize it I suppose because that's the nature of so many I mean let's face it if 317 00:21:46,054 --> 00:21:50,695 you're building a bridge you have to have an end point in mind and there's a certain 318 00:21:50,695 --> 00:21:54,276 process you have to go through and has to have lots of rules and regulations that 319 00:21:54,276 --> 00:21:54,796 surround it. 320 00:21:54,796 --> 00:22:01,538 Fortunately for us that's not what art is about or what photography is about and 321 00:22:01,538 --> 00:22:05,939 actually I truly believe that one of the biggest problems is that many people bring 322 00:22:05,939 --> 00:22:10,100 an outcome orientated mindset to their photography. 323 00:22:10,557 --> 00:22:15,099 Now, if they have a specific project and it's an assignment for a client, that's 324 00:22:15,180 --> 00:22:17,081 also understandable. 325 00:22:17,121 --> 00:22:20,904 But let's face it, for most of us doing landscape photography, it isn't. 326 00:22:20,904 --> 00:22:27,828 And a much more creative and positive state of mind is to simply practice what 327 00:22:27,828 --> 00:22:28,669 you do. 328 00:22:28,869 --> 00:22:30,290 Go out and practice. 329 00:22:30,470 --> 00:22:36,654 And if you do produce good results along the way, then think of it as a bonus, or 330 00:22:36,654 --> 00:22:39,296 as a wonderful kind of... 331 00:22:40,177 --> 00:22:45,141 byproduct of the privilege of being outdoors with your camera, because 332 00:22:45,141 --> 00:22:47,903 honestly that's the most important thing. 333 00:22:47,963 --> 00:22:52,367 The fact that the camera encourages us to look at the world curiously and to explore 334 00:22:52,367 --> 00:22:59,593 it and to think about it and to engage with it, I think is the most important 335 00:22:59,593 --> 00:23:05,538 thing of landscape photography and having an outcome in mind before you set out is 336 00:23:05,598 --> 00:23:08,420 not likely to bring about a happy. 337 00:23:08,833 --> 00:23:16,060 ending really, sometimes it might, but yeah I'm not in favour of that concept 338 00:23:16,060 --> 00:23:16,720 either. 339 00:23:19,267 --> 00:23:23,630 Yeah, I'm reminded of a story from a photographer that we both know who went to 340 00:23:23,630 --> 00:23:29,135 a trip to America for a few weeks with a large format camera and too many, many 341 00:23:29,135 --> 00:23:33,459 photographs out of an amazing time and came back and all the film was on exposed 342 00:23:33,459 --> 00:23:36,542 because there was a failure with one of the holders for the film. 343 00:23:36,542 --> 00:23:41,807 So there were no photographs came from the trip at all, which could be seen as a 344 00:23:41,807 --> 00:23:44,329 complete disaster and in photographically, it could be. 345 00:23:44,449 --> 00:23:45,329 However, 346 00:23:46,435 --> 00:23:49,596 they looked back at the experience of being away for those three weeks, and they 347 00:23:49,596 --> 00:23:52,258 were some of the best weeks they've had on holiday. 348 00:23:52,758 --> 00:23:54,299 And they had an amazing time. 349 00:23:54,539 --> 00:23:58,501 And so they thought, okay, well, it's changed. 350 00:23:58,662 --> 00:24:02,664 I didn't get the photographs out of it, but the photography made me enjoy and 351 00:24:02,664 --> 00:24:04,465 helped me have an amazing time. 352 00:24:04,605 --> 00:24:06,146 So the photography wasn't a failure. 353 00:24:06,146 --> 00:24:07,606 I just didn't get any pictures. 354 00:24:08,087 --> 00:24:11,469 And I loved that, that separation of the two things, the experience of being 355 00:24:11,469 --> 00:24:14,630 outside and the final results are two different things. 356 00:24:17,177 --> 00:24:20,197 Yes, I mean that's very philosophical. 357 00:24:20,838 --> 00:24:24,519 I know not many people would probably come to that view, but I think that's 358 00:24:24,519 --> 00:24:25,239 brilliant. 359 00:24:25,239 --> 00:24:30,920 And yeah, it's exactly what I'm advocating really. 360 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:34,701 And I presume Mark is as well really with that approach. 361 00:24:34,701 --> 00:24:40,223 If you, it's just the, a lot of it is semantics, isn't it? 362 00:24:40,223 --> 00:24:41,923 It's the language that we use. 363 00:24:41,923 --> 00:24:46,284 And we are, human beings are competitive animals. 364 00:24:46,433 --> 00:24:51,480 and we set ourselves up with this kind of mindset, which, and I just don't think 365 00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:55,184 that it's the right one for landscape photography, really. 366 00:24:56,471 --> 00:25:00,017 Okay, a new question for Mark. 367 00:25:00,138 --> 00:25:01,701 This is from Tim Sharman. 368 00:25:02,163 --> 00:25:03,785 It's a fairly simple question. 369 00:25:03,786 --> 00:25:07,214 Which location provides the best landscape photography, the Lake District or 370 00:25:07,214 --> 00:25:08,034 Scotland? 371 00:25:09,879 --> 00:25:10,731 Mark 372 00:25:12,387 --> 00:25:13,881 Definitive answer, please. 373 00:25:14,362 --> 00:25:16,443 the side of the A9 on the way through. 374 00:25:17,203 --> 00:25:21,264 I mean, it sounds a bit trite, but beauty really is all around us. 375 00:25:21,264 --> 00:25:23,945 So, I mean, it doesn't, I have no preference. 376 00:25:25,465 --> 00:25:28,666 I've absolutely, I mean, I love life here, but I love life in the lakes. 377 00:25:31,667 --> 00:25:34,168 I always remember when I worked on the Yellowswatter steamers, and you just sail 378 00:25:34,168 --> 00:25:35,888 around Yellowswatter three times. 379 00:25:35,888 --> 00:25:39,449 And a bloke came up to me and said, so you just sail around three times every day. 380 00:25:39,449 --> 00:25:40,194 That's it. 381 00:25:40,194 --> 00:25:41,954 He said, God, that must get boring. 382 00:25:42,115 --> 00:25:46,998 And obviously it didn't, but I've never get bored by anything. 383 00:25:46,998 --> 00:25:48,119 I mean, it's a travel through here. 384 00:25:48,119 --> 00:25:52,301 If it's a travel through Prerthshire, I'm thinking, oh, James, this is fantastic. 385 00:25:52,401 --> 00:25:56,484 You know, I went down and visited Paul Kenny a couple of years back when I was 386 00:25:56,484 --> 00:26:00,066 picking up my boy from uni and I'm driving down through the borders and I'm thinking, 387 00:26:00,106 --> 00:26:04,389 oh, look at this, look at that, look at this, look at, you know, it's all around 388 00:26:04,389 --> 00:26:04,489 us. 389 00:26:04,489 --> 00:26:05,369 You know, I mean. 390 00:26:05,482 --> 00:26:08,424 You know, you would ask that question, Andy Farrow, who lives in the South Coast, 391 00:26:08,424 --> 00:26:11,966 or Tony Spencer, or one of these guys, would just surround it by beauty. 392 00:26:11,966 --> 00:26:13,867 It just doesn't really matter where. 393 00:26:16,009 --> 00:26:16,699 So it's... 394 00:26:16,699 --> 00:26:18,880 ask a more intriguing question then. 395 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:24,243 What made you choose where you went to live in terms of your photography? 396 00:26:24,264 --> 00:26:25,464 Was that an influence in choosing? 397 00:26:25,464 --> 00:26:28,746 I presume it was, but why where? 398 00:26:30,245 --> 00:26:33,849 It was probably the number of entitled numpties that were buying vows in the 399 00:26:33,849 --> 00:26:37,593 lakes caused me to move because sooner or later I'd have been wrapping anchor chain 400 00:26:37,593 --> 00:26:39,936 around somebody's legs and throwing them over the side of the boat. 401 00:26:39,936 --> 00:26:42,579 It was a fairly old idea. 402 00:26:42,579 --> 00:26:43,339 You know... 403 00:26:44,131 --> 00:26:47,659 You had so many places you could be in Blink-O or you could go into Cairngorm or 404 00:26:47,659 --> 00:26:50,926 you could go to Torridon or whatever. 405 00:26:51,834 --> 00:26:54,195 This house was for sale and it was the right price. 406 00:26:54,195 --> 00:26:56,055 It's 150 yards from the beach. 407 00:26:56,296 --> 00:27:02,798 I'd been past here, funnily enough, I'd driven down this road just before COVID, a 408 00:27:02,798 --> 00:27:06,960 couple of months before COVID, with Dylan Nardini and Helen Iles on a workshop. 409 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:08,821 Third person was poor, they couldn't make it. 410 00:27:08,821 --> 00:27:13,783 So there was just the three of us in the car and we were chasing this backlit snow 411 00:27:13,783 --> 00:27:17,044 squall all the way down to Red Point Beach. 412 00:27:17,245 --> 00:27:19,274 And it was just a magical little drive. 413 00:27:19,274 --> 00:27:21,954 maybe wasn't if you're a passenger when I'm trying to chase the light on a single 414 00:27:21,954 --> 00:27:23,254 track bumpy road. 415 00:27:24,555 --> 00:27:26,536 But it was just fantastic. 416 00:27:26,536 --> 00:27:34,058 And when we sold the house, it wasn't, we put it up just to see if, you know, let's 417 00:27:34,058 --> 00:27:35,498 put a house in the market and see what happens. 418 00:27:35,498 --> 00:27:37,859 Kids had left, gone to university, whatever. 419 00:27:38,099 --> 00:27:41,540 And we thought the house might not sell anyway. 420 00:27:41,540 --> 00:27:44,761 But the estate agent, when he came around, brought a couple who were interested in 421 00:27:44,761 --> 00:27:45,721 the area. 422 00:27:45,881 --> 00:27:48,621 And within an hour, they made an offer and the full asking price. 423 00:27:48,810 --> 00:27:49,670 cash. 424 00:27:50,271 --> 00:27:53,914 So it was like a little dance, a little jig to celebrate. 425 00:27:53,914 --> 00:27:56,395 And then it was like, bugger, where are we going? 426 00:27:56,636 --> 00:27:58,958 And I remember this little road. 427 00:27:59,238 --> 00:28:00,099 I remember this little road. 428 00:28:00,099 --> 00:28:04,022 And yeah, there's a house 150 yards from the beach, views of the Toradonian 429 00:28:04,022 --> 00:28:05,203 Mountains behind. 430 00:28:05,884 --> 00:28:07,124 Spur of the moment. 431 00:28:07,485 --> 00:28:10,908 That week they lifted the lockdown in Scotland so you could travel in. 432 00:28:10,908 --> 00:28:14,631 And it's a bit more to it than that. 433 00:28:14,631 --> 00:28:18,053 And then three months after the estate agent came round, 434 00:28:18,242 --> 00:28:21,802 We moved in here exactly three months to the day. 435 00:28:23,263 --> 00:28:27,724 If we'd had more time to look around, we might have been somewhere else. 436 00:28:27,724 --> 00:28:30,885 We might have been Glencoe. 437 00:28:30,885 --> 00:28:32,005 We might have been at Ballyhoolish. 438 00:28:32,005 --> 00:28:34,746 And certainly now with that patisserie at Ballyhoolish, we could almost certainly 439 00:28:34,746 --> 00:28:36,947 have been at that neck of the woods. 440 00:28:36,947 --> 00:28:38,787 We could have been down the Red Coast. 441 00:28:39,087 --> 00:28:42,688 Yeah, I know that, oh God, those lemon mirages. 442 00:28:42,688 --> 00:28:45,789 I mean, anyway, moving off subject there. 443 00:28:45,789 --> 00:28:47,549 But yeah, we could have been just about anywhere. 444 00:28:47,922 --> 00:28:52,263 But the lakes for me is really turning into a theme park for the wealthy. 445 00:28:53,284 --> 00:28:54,184 That's an issue. 446 00:28:54,184 --> 00:29:00,987 And the same again up here, you know, the buying Airbnbs and there's more people 447 00:29:00,987 --> 00:29:04,809 buying to let, which is just one of those things. 448 00:29:04,809 --> 00:29:05,589 It's a beautiful area. 449 00:29:05,589 --> 00:29:09,211 You know, there's older people moving in, but I'm an older person moving in. 450 00:29:09,211 --> 00:29:10,752 So I don't know. 451 00:29:10,752 --> 00:29:14,813 I don't know how you I don't know how you come to terms with that or how you sort 452 00:29:14,813 --> 00:29:15,353 of. 453 00:29:15,734 --> 00:29:20,422 try and support local communities, but if a pub comes up for sale, it gets bought by 454 00:29:20,422 --> 00:29:23,066 people from away, it gets bought by big chains. 455 00:29:24,790 --> 00:29:27,795 Not a lot you can do about it, but I mean, we're here, could have been somewhere 456 00:29:27,795 --> 00:29:29,557 else, but we're not and we're happy. 457 00:29:30,911 --> 00:29:32,732 Excellent. 458 00:29:32,732 --> 00:29:39,557 Ian Meads is a question from, he says, some of my little John's photographs seem 459 00:29:39,557 --> 00:29:40,738 quite heavily toned. 460 00:29:40,738 --> 00:29:45,200 Would she achieve a near heavenly Hudson River schoolie look? 461 00:29:45,781 --> 00:29:48,823 Either that, or he's remarkably lucky buggered over the weather. 462 00:29:50,425 --> 00:29:54,467 Would these edits disqualify images from an NLPA consideration? 463 00:29:54,467 --> 00:29:59,090 Now, I'm going to tweak the question slightly, because I think it's more about. 464 00:29:59,791 --> 00:30:02,354 The NLPA stuff is more about deception or not. 465 00:30:02,354 --> 00:30:08,522 And I'm intrigued as how far you go with your pictures in terms of color and 466 00:30:08,522 --> 00:30:12,846 whether you have any lines that you draw in terms of going too far. 467 00:30:15,438 --> 00:30:17,339 If I don't like it, I've gone too far. 468 00:30:19,221 --> 00:30:23,705 I don't tend to draw a line, there's no set process. 469 00:30:23,705 --> 00:30:28,469 It's like when I go out, I don't use filters, don't use a tripod, I take a 470 00:30:28,469 --> 00:30:32,052 single shot, I don't blend, don't focus stack. 471 00:30:33,514 --> 00:30:35,856 When I process, I don't do selections. 472 00:30:35,876 --> 00:30:37,717 So I'll use a... 473 00:30:40,106 --> 00:30:45,890 I use a grad in Lightroom, that's it. 474 00:30:45,890 --> 00:30:50,413 As regards selections, you know, I don't select the sky, I don't select any 475 00:30:50,413 --> 00:30:51,294 objects. 476 00:30:51,434 --> 00:30:56,138 I might clone out a couple of spots here and there, but then everything else is to 477 00:30:56,138 --> 00:30:57,218 do with the color. 478 00:30:57,219 --> 00:31:00,441 So it's really all you're doing is just changing the hues a little bit, but it's 479 00:31:00,441 --> 00:31:02,042 about color matching for me. 480 00:31:02,142 --> 00:31:05,705 It's not about changing that because I can change it or changing that color because 481 00:31:05,705 --> 00:31:06,505 it's like. 482 00:31:07,742 --> 00:31:09,803 I guess, I mean, Joel talked about luck and everything else. 483 00:31:09,803 --> 00:31:12,005 Now I am very lucky, I know that. 484 00:31:12,065 --> 00:31:18,650 And I can look at a scene and I envisage it in my mind's eye and I'm fairly sure 485 00:31:18,871 --> 00:31:21,433 about the color, how everything's gonna appear. 486 00:31:21,433 --> 00:31:24,676 But then again, that might change, because split toning is a very, very personal 487 00:31:24,676 --> 00:31:25,356 thing. 488 00:31:25,696 --> 00:31:29,540 So, and when I say a personal thing, that can change from the morning to the night. 489 00:31:29,540 --> 00:31:33,343 It can change from whether I'm in a good mood or a bad mood or if some, you know, 490 00:31:33,343 --> 00:31:36,305 if I'm listening to Leonard Cohen or Katrina in the waves. 491 00:31:36,918 --> 00:31:39,840 not that I listen to Catoone in the waves, it was just only cheer. 492 00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:44,203 Think of, spur of the moment, I'm far more likely to be listening to Leonard Cohen or 493 00:31:44,304 --> 00:31:45,104 whatever. 494 00:31:45,144 --> 00:31:50,328 But, so when I approach it, it's a case of color matching. 495 00:31:50,629 --> 00:31:55,673 And I think that's why I look at artists, and I like James Norton, Claire Hayley, 496 00:31:55,673 --> 00:31:57,114 all these sorts of people. 497 00:31:57,675 --> 00:32:02,178 I love going to exhibitions, you know, the new Scottish Wing at the Scottish Gallery 498 00:32:02,699 --> 00:32:03,540 in Princess Street. 499 00:32:03,540 --> 00:32:06,181 It's fantastic, you know, Alexander Naismith with his... 500 00:32:06,850 --> 00:32:10,371 gorgeous images of a new town being built. 501 00:32:11,472 --> 00:32:17,756 And there's, you know, there's just, I find those, I find going to galleries is 502 00:32:17,756 --> 00:32:18,517 very inspiring. 503 00:32:18,517 --> 00:32:22,539 I don't tend to look at other photographers' work or being inspired by 504 00:32:22,539 --> 00:32:22,759 it. 505 00:32:22,759 --> 00:32:24,480 Never have, it's just the way I am. 506 00:32:25,241 --> 00:32:28,303 That's not to say that the photographers aren't inspiring. 507 00:32:28,303 --> 00:32:31,665 I just, I look at paintings, I look at artists, whether that's because I'm 508 00:32:31,665 --> 00:32:32,545 looking at... 509 00:32:33,622 --> 00:32:36,503 something that's not quite the real world, I don't know, but I've always found 510 00:32:36,503 --> 00:32:42,645 artists more inspiring, probably because I can't replicate what they do. 511 00:32:43,085 --> 00:32:48,047 I can look at other photographers' work and think, I wish it was there, but I 512 00:32:48,047 --> 00:32:50,588 don't tend to wish I'd taken what they'd taken. 513 00:32:51,869 --> 00:32:55,230 But painterly, yeah, Hudson River School, definitely. 514 00:32:55,671 --> 00:32:59,332 Because, and as much as the color, it's the dark and the light, you know, without 515 00:32:59,332 --> 00:33:01,513 the light, there wouldn't be any darkness, without the darkness, there wouldn't be 516 00:33:01,513 --> 00:33:02,293 any light. 517 00:33:03,262 --> 00:33:04,445 It's that blend, isn't it? 518 00:33:04,445 --> 00:33:09,217 It's that little bit of, you know, reality's overrated, to be honest. 519 00:33:09,719 --> 00:33:13,680 Is it still important that you've taken a photograph of something? 520 00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:15,882 Is the subject matter still important to you? 521 00:33:15,882 --> 00:33:18,563 As in, you know, you've taken a photograph of some calp. 522 00:33:18,563 --> 00:33:22,785 Is it still important it looks like the calp that you saw? 523 00:33:22,785 --> 00:33:23,945 Same with the mountain. 524 00:33:23,945 --> 00:33:26,606 You know, is it still important that it looks like the mountain? 525 00:33:27,503 --> 00:33:29,163 I don't change the shape or anything else. 526 00:33:29,163 --> 00:33:31,904 I might split tone, well I do split tone it. 527 00:33:32,904 --> 00:33:36,485 But I look at the colors, you look at the luminance of the colors because that maybe 528 00:33:36,485 --> 00:33:38,626 enhances a leading line, a curve, a scene. 529 00:33:38,626 --> 00:33:40,806 Because the curves are just gorgeous. 530 00:33:41,827 --> 00:33:45,068 And it's something that blend between, I don't like, I mean, it's actually looking 531 00:33:45,068 --> 00:33:48,009 quite good for going later. 532 00:33:48,009 --> 00:33:51,478 The beach in front of the house, I've never done kelp on our beach before. 533 00:33:51,478 --> 00:33:55,560 But yesterday's tide was really low, so went out and it was like, jeesh, who knew? 534 00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:58,743 I've been driving like 30 minutes to get to the kelp or I've been going into Red 535 00:33:58,743 --> 00:34:02,205 Point and walking for a mile and you want to see the kelp outside the front of the 536 00:34:02,205 --> 00:34:02,465 house. 537 00:34:02,465 --> 00:34:04,086 It's absolutely bloody amazing. 538 00:34:04,086 --> 00:34:05,687 It's phenomenal. 539 00:34:05,687 --> 00:34:08,329 So I'll be, sorry, the dog's just moving. 540 00:34:08,329 --> 00:34:09,410 You okay, darling? 541 00:34:10,211 --> 00:34:11,931 Sorry, dog's just licking the cat now. 542 00:34:12,352 --> 00:34:14,474 So I'll be putting on my shorts, my knee pads. 543 00:34:14,474 --> 00:34:17,936 I've got some knee pads from a skater shop in Edinburgh. 544 00:34:19,157 --> 00:34:20,257 And my corks. 545 00:34:21,686 --> 00:34:26,156 Yeah, well it's a bit, it's black shorts, black crocs, black knee pads. 546 00:34:26,177 --> 00:34:29,025 So it's like, it's almost like a Newcastle strip I'm wearing because the rest of me 547 00:34:29,025 --> 00:34:30,327 is so bloody white. 548 00:34:31,293 --> 00:34:34,295 Mark, can we have a picture of that for the podcast? 549 00:34:34,295 --> 00:34:36,958 I just think that would be, that would really make it. 550 00:34:36,958 --> 00:34:38,073 It really would. 551 00:34:38,073 --> 00:34:38,995 Bloody chance. 552 00:34:38,995 --> 00:34:40,498 New chance. 553 00:34:41,460 --> 00:34:45,163 In terms of, I mean, I'll answer that from the natural landscape photography side of 554 00:34:45,163 --> 00:34:45,223 it. 555 00:34:45,223 --> 00:34:51,188 I mean, our rules don't really specify any level of what you can change in an image. 556 00:34:51,188 --> 00:34:54,311 It's more about deception because at the end of the day, you look at black and 557 00:34:54,311 --> 00:34:55,172 white photography. 558 00:34:55,172 --> 00:34:59,996 It's that's about as far away as you can get removed from reality in terms of 559 00:34:59,996 --> 00:35:00,856 color. 560 00:35:00,937 --> 00:35:04,280 But it's still a photograph can still look like a place. 561 00:35:04,280 --> 00:35:08,023 You know, you could still say that photograph isn't deceptive. 562 00:35:08,023 --> 00:35:12,625 And you can make some quite dramatic color changes to a picture and it can still not 563 00:35:12,625 --> 00:35:13,345 be deceptive. 564 00:35:13,345 --> 00:35:20,128 So that's really that my answer is as long as it's not deceptive, as long as you're 565 00:35:20,128 --> 00:35:23,450 not deceiving somebody with what you've taken, then that's fine. 566 00:35:26,751 --> 00:35:28,732 Whether that's a good criteria, I don't know. 567 00:35:29,813 --> 00:35:33,734 Do you have any rules or guidelines about what you do, Joe? 568 00:35:34,617 --> 00:35:36,917 Yes, I do. 569 00:35:36,937 --> 00:35:38,298 There shouldn't be any. 570 00:35:40,859 --> 00:35:43,160 Well, you know, this is so fascinating. 571 00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:48,943 I think that it's lovely hearing Mark talk about it because it just illustrates the 572 00:35:48,943 --> 00:35:54,905 kind of the knots that we tend to get ourselves tied up in around it, mainly 573 00:35:54,905 --> 00:36:00,407 because painters can really well do what they want and nobody criticizes or judges 574 00:36:00,407 --> 00:36:02,328 them negatively as a result. 575 00:36:02,608 --> 00:36:03,393 And yet, 576 00:36:03,393 --> 00:36:08,575 In photography, in the world of photography, there is a lot of ambiguity 577 00:36:08,575 --> 00:36:10,736 about what we should and shouldn't be doing. 578 00:36:10,736 --> 00:36:13,017 And actually, it's a, you know, it's a free world. 579 00:36:13,017 --> 00:36:15,698 And in my humble opinion, it's an art. 580 00:36:15,698 --> 00:36:18,559 So it is really up to the individual. 581 00:36:18,899 --> 00:36:25,822 I mean, I, my own view of it is that what I love about nature and photography, and 582 00:36:25,822 --> 00:36:31,584 that synthesis of the two is the fact that you have this sort of a feeling of 583 00:36:31,617 --> 00:36:34,297 of linkage to the original experience. 584 00:36:34,418 --> 00:36:37,739 And, you know, I look at Mark's pictures, I still have that. 585 00:36:37,739 --> 00:36:43,962 So yes, the colors may be toned or they may be, they're painted in a way, they 586 00:36:43,962 --> 00:36:47,483 have that, they have him in them, his vision. 587 00:36:47,623 --> 00:36:51,465 And that's what is part of what makes them wonderful as well as being brilliant 588 00:36:51,465 --> 00:36:52,605 compositions. 589 00:36:52,845 --> 00:36:58,367 And I would say in my own case, it's really just, you know, I probably do a lot 590 00:36:58,367 --> 00:37:01,517 more editing than Mark does, but you just might not notice because 591 00:37:01,517 --> 00:37:07,298 I'm trying to stay as if it was the real thing you were looking at, even though 592 00:37:07,298 --> 00:37:08,098 clearly it's not. 593 00:37:08,098 --> 00:37:09,019 It's just a photo. 594 00:37:09,019 --> 00:37:13,580 It's a two dimensional description of what was in front of the camera at the time. 595 00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:20,862 But I love the feeling of as if I could reach out and touch what is there and that 596 00:37:20,862 --> 00:37:21,902 you believe it. 597 00:37:21,902 --> 00:37:23,462 It's basically it's about belief. 598 00:37:23,462 --> 00:37:25,703 It's a kind of faith almost. 599 00:37:26,663 --> 00:37:31,564 And my photos for me, if I don't have that feeling of credibility, then 600 00:37:32,053 --> 00:37:33,533 something's got lost along the way. 601 00:37:33,533 --> 00:37:36,534 So that's the only rule, if you like. 602 00:37:36,534 --> 00:37:39,415 And I wouldn't, you know, one should never rule out anything. 603 00:37:39,415 --> 00:37:44,756 I mean, I do some, I have made pictures in the past, which are collages, you know, 604 00:37:44,756 --> 00:37:49,397 which synthesize different images together, which have a kind of creative 605 00:37:49,397 --> 00:37:50,437 intent. 606 00:37:51,558 --> 00:37:53,898 But I've always have a justification for it. 607 00:37:53,898 --> 00:37:57,259 I never do it just for the sake of it or because it's a technique. 608 00:37:57,839 --> 00:38:01,300 But if there's an idea, if there's a concept that I want to explore, then I'll 609 00:38:01,300 --> 00:38:01,940 use. 610 00:38:01,957 --> 00:38:04,278 those kind of techniques. 611 00:38:04,298 --> 00:38:09,982 But on the whole, my joy of photography comes from looking at nature and just 612 00:38:09,982 --> 00:38:12,304 trying to find a way of distilling its beauty. 613 00:38:12,304 --> 00:38:17,808 So, you know, and I think sometimes that involves a bit of editing at the final 614 00:38:17,808 --> 00:38:18,928 result stage. 615 00:38:22,063 --> 00:38:27,133 We've got a question from myself here, Mark. 616 00:38:27,133 --> 00:38:28,474 When are you doing a book? 617 00:38:31,562 --> 00:38:35,584 I'm uploading quite a few kelp images end of this week. 618 00:38:35,584 --> 00:38:40,667 I'm just, I'm doing these next two days because incredibly low, but then that 619 00:38:40,667 --> 00:38:41,347 should be it. 620 00:38:41,347 --> 00:38:45,429 And I'll be uploading images to Kozu for the kelp. 621 00:38:45,429 --> 00:38:47,050 I need to write the other book. 622 00:38:47,050 --> 00:38:49,151 I'd like to do a little bit of writing with a book. 623 00:38:49,311 --> 00:38:51,512 I mean, I know exactly what I want to do in my head. 624 00:38:51,633 --> 00:38:54,955 It's been a while trying to working out what exactly I want to do and how I want 625 00:38:54,955 --> 00:38:55,375 to do it. 626 00:38:55,375 --> 00:39:00,677 And I keep on getting requests to do a book of spiels, if you like, so. 627 00:39:00,746 --> 00:39:02,607 picture on one side and a spiel on the other. 628 00:39:02,607 --> 00:39:05,850 And the idea of the book that I want to do isn't too far away from that. 629 00:39:05,850 --> 00:39:08,777 Well, hopefully it'll be a good day. 630 00:39:08,777 --> 00:39:12,698 I'm going to jump in there because I think that will be hugely popular. 631 00:39:13,139 --> 00:39:18,001 You know, whatever, Mark, you probably may not think of yourself as a writer, but 632 00:39:18,041 --> 00:39:25,225 people read what you write and I know how much pleasure and joy it gives them, you 633 00:39:25,225 --> 00:39:28,126 know, because with your humor as well as your pictures. 634 00:39:28,126 --> 00:39:32,888 So I think that combination will be a really a winning one for sure. 635 00:39:37,071 --> 00:39:40,546 Have you got any questions, Joe? 636 00:39:42,661 --> 00:39:44,823 think we've covered most of the territory. 637 00:39:44,964 --> 00:39:46,826 I could just listen to Mark all day. 638 00:39:46,887 --> 00:39:50,905 So you're on an easy ticket here, Tim. 639 00:39:50,905 --> 00:39:51,669 it won't... 640 00:39:53,463 --> 00:39:56,725 I'll be I'll be interested in terms of in terms of the books, I think you've already 641 00:39:56,725 --> 00:39:59,167 got quite a few different ideas for books in you. 642 00:40:00,748 --> 00:40:04,972 And like you say, you've got the kelp ideas that became part of a sort of light 643 00:40:04,972 --> 00:40:06,073 sub project. 644 00:40:06,073 --> 00:40:10,956 If you've got any, any other projects that you've been working on up in your area, 645 00:40:11,677 --> 00:40:13,798 location based or subject based or 646 00:40:14,902 --> 00:40:19,565 Not particularly, there is one, once I've done the calc this next couple of days and 647 00:40:19,565 --> 00:40:22,087 gotten them uploaded, I've got to decide how much I want to write with that. 648 00:40:22,087 --> 00:40:26,271 I don't think you need to write necessarily too much because it's a 649 00:40:26,271 --> 00:40:29,193 different sort of a thing, but there will be obviously because it's made there will 650 00:40:29,193 --> 00:40:30,494 be a little bit of writing. 651 00:40:31,655 --> 00:40:37,320 There's a location I wanna do that Joe has been to that I would like to do more in 652 00:40:37,320 --> 00:40:38,901 depth, but that's something small. 653 00:40:38,901 --> 00:40:43,225 It's just a small area that I haven't really seen, but it's a beautiful little 654 00:40:43,225 --> 00:40:43,405 area. 655 00:40:43,405 --> 00:40:44,254 So then it... 656 00:40:44,254 --> 00:40:49,199 you get concerned, but if you do photograph a little area and you 657 00:40:49,199 --> 00:40:52,543 photograph it well and it looks beautiful, then more people visit it. 658 00:40:53,444 --> 00:40:55,706 And it's the unspoiled little corner. 659 00:40:55,887 --> 00:41:00,873 So then you've got to decide, you know, what comes first, the area or you. 660 00:41:00,873 --> 00:41:04,096 And I think it has to be the area that comes first. 661 00:41:08,122 --> 00:41:13,926 Yeah, I mean, other than that, I always find that, if I start thinking about 662 00:41:13,926 --> 00:41:18,430 projects and that sort of interferes with my frame of mind, of just going out and 663 00:41:18,430 --> 00:41:22,433 just photographing whatever it is that's unlucky enough to pass the camera. 664 00:41:24,375 --> 00:41:26,316 I'd like to do a bit more with the reeds. 665 00:41:27,417 --> 00:41:28,839 I really enjoy photographing the reeds. 666 00:41:28,839 --> 00:41:34,323 I mean, I suppose I'm drawn to sort of still peaceful, I suppose almost Oriental. 667 00:41:34,323 --> 00:41:37,645 I think the last book I bought wasn't on photography, it was Japanese art. 668 00:41:37,750 --> 00:41:40,130 I think a couple of weeks last time I was down in Edinburgh. 669 00:41:41,651 --> 00:41:45,372 And I love the calmness of some of those scenes with the reads. 670 00:41:46,172 --> 00:41:51,274 Different sort of style from the I mean, yeah, I mean, the kelp's peaceful, but 671 00:41:51,274 --> 00:41:54,075 there's something else about the reads, the quality of them. 672 00:41:54,795 --> 00:41:56,436 That's just a little different. 673 00:41:57,736 --> 00:41:58,457 Yeah. 674 00:41:58,578 --> 00:42:00,219 it must play a role there. 675 00:42:00,219 --> 00:42:06,742 It's really interesting actually that is such a wonderful theme to return to. 676 00:42:06,742 --> 00:42:14,547 And when I was much younger, I actually met Harry Callahan, the great American 677 00:42:14,547 --> 00:42:20,970 photographer in Washington and bought his sort of auto, what was effectively his 678 00:42:20,970 --> 00:42:24,572 autobiography at the time, which is mainly pictures. 679 00:42:25,009 --> 00:42:31,170 There's a lovely passage in there describing how, you know, he was a regular 680 00:42:31,170 --> 00:42:38,592 amateur photographer and Ansel Adams came to his camera club in Chicago, wherever it 681 00:42:38,592 --> 00:42:46,054 was, and at the end of it, Harry Callahan realized that he could photograph 682 00:42:46,054 --> 00:42:46,934 anything. 683 00:42:48,395 --> 00:42:52,456 And he said, I mean, up to that point, you obviously had a kind of very fixed idea of 684 00:42:52,456 --> 00:42:54,296 what a photograph should look like. 685 00:42:54,445 --> 00:42:58,488 And Ansel had sort of liberate, well, I mean, this might surprise you actually, 686 00:42:58,488 --> 00:43:01,931 because a lot of people probably think Ansel Adams is very kind of technical 687 00:43:01,931 --> 00:43:04,893 photographer, with very precise and so on. 688 00:43:05,173 --> 00:43:12,159 But he was also very creative and he did, he essentially described the creative 689 00:43:12,159 --> 00:43:15,982 process well enough to make Harry Callahan realize that he could photograph anything, 690 00:43:15,982 --> 00:43:17,763 anything could be an abstraction. 691 00:43:17,763 --> 00:43:24,049 And the series that followed, which essentially Harry Callahan, I think, 692 00:43:24,049 --> 00:43:30,412 kind of attributed to launching his career was a series of reads on a pond. 693 00:43:30,412 --> 00:43:35,616 And that was the kind of, you know, the opening for his work, which anybody who 694 00:43:35,616 --> 00:43:40,899 knows his work is very, very personal and very experimental, very varied. 695 00:43:40,899 --> 00:43:43,260 Yeah, yeah, exactly. 696 00:43:43,863 --> 00:43:44,824 I don't know. 697 00:43:44,985 --> 00:43:49,148 I'll make a note so I'll look him up as soon as we're finished. 698 00:43:49,148 --> 00:43:50,858 get it thankful when you pop in Mark. 699 00:43:52,861 --> 00:43:57,283 But Mark, also it's really interesting to hear that painting has been such an 700 00:43:57,283 --> 00:43:58,304 inspiration for you. 701 00:43:58,304 --> 00:44:04,887 I mean, in a way I'm not surprised, but the fact you buy books on art and perhaps 702 00:44:04,887 --> 00:44:07,329 do your researches online, maybe on that as well. 703 00:44:07,329 --> 00:44:14,292 Because I mean, I too have, find a huge amount of inspiration from painting. 704 00:44:14,292 --> 00:44:20,316 And in fact, it was, for me, one of the decisive moments in my life as a 705 00:44:20,316 --> 00:44:21,796 photographer was 706 00:44:22,445 --> 00:44:27,648 when I was in the US having been an art student and then I was working as an 707 00:44:27,648 --> 00:44:29,229 assistant photographer. 708 00:44:29,549 --> 00:44:35,093 And I remember being at the Canyon de Chey in Arizona, it was in 1982. 709 00:44:36,154 --> 00:44:43,039 And looking at, and this by the way, was a canyon which had been photographed by 710 00:44:43,039 --> 00:44:49,063 Timothy O'Sullivan in the 1860s and then subsequently by Ansel Adams. 711 00:44:49,063 --> 00:44:51,304 And I was aware of both of those pictures. 712 00:44:51,304 --> 00:44:52,113 So I had the... 713 00:44:52,113 --> 00:44:54,673 photographer's reference point. 714 00:44:54,673 --> 00:45:00,735 But when I looked at these amazing rock walls, I was struck that they were very 715 00:45:00,735 --> 00:45:01,855 painterly. 716 00:45:01,875 --> 00:45:07,637 But I also thought, wow, no human artist could ever match the beauty of what I'm 717 00:45:07,637 --> 00:45:10,118 looking at or get anywhere near it. 718 00:45:10,118 --> 00:45:14,779 Nature itself, it struck me that nature was the art. 719 00:45:14,819 --> 00:45:19,240 And that's what essentially consolidated the idea of being a photographer in my 720 00:45:19,240 --> 00:45:19,920 mind. 721 00:45:19,937 --> 00:45:25,640 I felt that that's what I wanted to do, to be, you know, even though you might think, 722 00:45:25,640 --> 00:45:30,182 well, painting is more, quote unquote, creative because you can do what you want. 723 00:45:30,722 --> 00:45:35,445 But actually, it was the idea of honoring the beauty of the natural world that 724 00:45:35,905 --> 00:45:39,087 seemed the right, philosophically, the right solution for me. 725 00:45:39,087 --> 00:45:44,250 I love taking pictures anyway, but I also had to had to resolve that in my mind. 726 00:45:44,250 --> 00:45:46,351 And that was that was an important moment. 727 00:45:46,351 --> 00:45:49,725 So there's always that the link with with. 728 00:45:49,725 --> 00:45:55,988 painting and with creating art is very, very strongly associated with the beauty 729 00:45:55,988 --> 00:45:57,229 of nature in my mind. 730 00:45:57,229 --> 00:46:02,492 And I hope that that's a, you know, and we all have our own different ways in and 731 00:46:02,492 --> 00:46:05,494 finding different ways of getting inspired. 732 00:46:05,494 --> 00:46:11,658 But I do think that investigating that curiosity about other art forms is 733 00:46:11,658 --> 00:46:16,360 incredibly helpful for our own creative processes as photographers. 734 00:46:25,658 --> 00:46:29,639 It's funny, you know, because that decision's come quite early on and it's 735 00:46:29,639 --> 00:46:33,640 strange that even though I've sort of like had a previous life, if you like, 736 00:46:33,640 --> 00:46:38,482 obviously, detective for however many years and everything else, and yet I've 737 00:46:38,482 --> 00:46:42,983 been doing photography for 14 years now, but I can't recall a time when I didn't 738 00:46:42,983 --> 00:46:44,143 take photographs. 739 00:46:44,203 --> 00:46:47,904 I can't recall a time when I didn't look at the world that way. 740 00:46:48,264 --> 00:46:51,985 It's almost like that part of my life has been sort of extinguished. 741 00:46:53,190 --> 00:46:58,332 And I love every single day of this second life, going out and seeing things. 742 00:46:59,833 --> 00:47:05,476 And again, it could be because I've come to it quite late on, that that's why my 743 00:47:05,476 --> 00:47:06,577 approach is the way it is. 744 00:47:06,577 --> 00:47:13,220 It's not being formulated by any sort of training or study or whatever else. 745 00:47:13,261 --> 00:47:17,243 Because I mean, there's so many times I'll say different things and then you read a 746 00:47:17,243 --> 00:47:19,444 quote from somebody else and you think, I've been saying that. 747 00:47:19,444 --> 00:47:22,005 And it's sort of like the thought process comes to you. 748 00:47:23,210 --> 00:47:25,974 then it shows obviously that nothing's really fresh. 749 00:47:25,974 --> 00:47:31,243 You know, you're talking about a gentleman taking a photograph in 1860 off the canyon 750 00:47:31,243 --> 00:47:33,426 and bringing up new ideas. 751 00:47:33,426 --> 00:47:35,128 There's no new ideas really. 752 00:47:39,369 --> 00:47:43,590 I think that's true, there's a huge amount of recycling effectively that goes on, but 753 00:47:43,590 --> 00:47:46,771 every generation has to discover nature for themselves. 754 00:47:50,232 --> 00:47:55,933 So where I think the difficulty in many ways for us now is that there's so many 755 00:47:55,933 --> 00:48:01,375 people using cameras or phones, and there's a certain degree of almost sort of 756 00:48:01,375 --> 00:48:05,836 overexposure and then it becomes so ubiquitous. 757 00:48:07,073 --> 00:48:10,535 And also the damage to the natural world is a great concern. 758 00:48:10,535 --> 00:48:15,357 I mean, you know, all three of us are very conscious of the fact that the honey pot 759 00:48:15,357 --> 00:48:18,939 locations, as we call them, are being, are definitely being damaged. 760 00:48:18,939 --> 00:48:25,123 I think it's just by photographers, of course, but by, you know, by Instagram and 761 00:48:25,143 --> 00:48:27,164 tourism and so on. 762 00:48:27,164 --> 00:48:30,145 And that's a worry in a way. 763 00:48:30,166 --> 00:48:34,788 The fact that we do want to interact with nature, we want to engage with it. 764 00:48:34,788 --> 00:48:35,569 And yet... 765 00:48:35,569 --> 00:48:37,030 We'd also like to preserve it. 766 00:48:37,030 --> 00:48:42,855 And that might be one other question or conversation that I'd really like to have 767 00:48:42,855 --> 00:48:48,281 with Mark is how we can be more, I don't know whether we can be positive or 768 00:48:48,281 --> 00:48:48,801 proactive. 769 00:48:48,801 --> 00:48:54,126 We're trying to promote the cause of nature not maybe that consciously, but 770 00:48:54,386 --> 00:48:56,874 that's certainly part of it. 771 00:48:56,874 --> 00:48:59,995 is the number of tours that are run abroad. 772 00:48:59,995 --> 00:49:03,356 People are going abroad, they're taking people to Iceland, and they're going to 773 00:49:03,536 --> 00:49:04,737 various other places. 774 00:49:04,737 --> 00:49:07,857 And I mean, I do stay close to home. 775 00:49:08,198 --> 00:49:13,519 I'm doing the lakes twice in September, but that's two trips back to back, see 776 00:49:13,519 --> 00:49:16,400 relatives, do whatever else and be in the lakes. 777 00:49:18,420 --> 00:49:22,678 But there's an awful lot of air travel and whatever in the name of photography. 778 00:49:22,678 --> 00:49:26,382 But then again, if I advertise tours and I don't, well, to be fair, I don't really 779 00:49:26,382 --> 00:49:27,604 get anybody coming from abroad. 780 00:49:27,604 --> 00:49:31,188 There was nobody sort of comes in from away. 781 00:49:31,649 --> 00:49:34,812 My, I suppose, known really locally, that's it. 782 00:49:37,346 --> 00:49:39,591 But it is, you know, we're still, you know, traveling here, there and 783 00:49:39,591 --> 00:49:40,453 everywhere. 784 00:49:40,453 --> 00:49:42,438 But then again, some people have got to make a living as well. 785 00:49:42,438 --> 00:49:47,369 So it's bouncing, putting food on the table with them. 786 00:49:49,334 --> 00:49:53,895 protecting areas but I mean I don't you know I'm in the certain areas that I just 787 00:49:53,895 --> 00:49:58,157 don't go to because I mean you hear about the bit in front of Stub Durg, Unibuck, a 788 00:49:58,157 --> 00:50:02,379 little more and it's just like you know a midden because there's people just walking 789 00:50:02,379 --> 00:50:03,579 through every day. 790 00:50:05,480 --> 00:50:09,242 But then you've got the rabies tours and the mini buses you know I mean you'll see 791 00:50:09,242 --> 00:50:12,863 them Tim and an 792 00:50:20,830 --> 00:50:22,754 Yeah, it is what it is. 793 00:50:24,059 --> 00:50:28,901 think anywhere, anyway, you put a lay by in the highlands is going to be tourist 794 00:50:28,901 --> 00:50:29,761 damage. 795 00:50:29,922 --> 00:50:31,202 It's just inevitable. 796 00:50:31,903 --> 00:50:36,085 And when you look at lock about the look at lock bar and lock in our catfish are 797 00:50:36,085 --> 00:50:41,328 there where it's not really a well known tourist spot, but just photographers there 798 00:50:41,328 --> 00:50:45,590 have done an amazing amount of impact. 799 00:50:46,671 --> 00:50:50,173 But but one of the nice things I think you can promote from your point of view of 800 00:50:50,173 --> 00:50:54,174 going out is the fact that just walking around. 801 00:50:54,303 --> 00:50:56,805 anywhere is the most creative thing you can do. 802 00:50:56,805 --> 00:51:00,910 And you'll more than likely come out with original photographs if you treat the 803 00:51:00,910 --> 00:51:05,006 world like that and have less impact on the land as well. 804 00:51:05,006 --> 00:51:06,886 Well, I think that's very true. 805 00:51:06,886 --> 00:51:12,548 I mean, we get back into the preconceived ideas notion and photography guidebooks 806 00:51:12,548 --> 00:51:13,088 and whatever else. 807 00:51:13,088 --> 00:51:16,588 And people, for me, it just becomes stamp collecting. 808 00:51:17,209 --> 00:51:19,249 They're going to set locations, take and set pictures. 809 00:51:19,249 --> 00:51:23,791 And okay, yeah, take your own picture, do your own interpretation of it. 810 00:51:23,791 --> 00:51:28,152 But I think there's a danger that we miss out on why we're taking photographs. 811 00:51:28,172 --> 00:51:31,933 But then you have to realize that some people are perhaps doing it for different 812 00:51:31,933 --> 00:51:32,793 reasons. 813 00:51:33,433 --> 00:51:35,042 I would say Joe and I are both 814 00:51:35,042 --> 00:51:38,805 taking photographs through a love of the landscape, as opposed to a love of 815 00:51:38,805 --> 00:51:47,813 photography, or a love of the kit, or, you know, the camera is just a conduit between 816 00:51:47,813 --> 00:51:49,254 us and the outside world. 817 00:51:49,515 --> 00:51:52,017 But for other people, the camera is the most important thing. 818 00:51:55,067 --> 00:51:57,848 Sharing photographs, I think, is one of the things that people get out of 819 00:51:57,848 --> 00:52:04,252 photography, and the social interactions that come from that, I think, is something 820 00:52:04,252 --> 00:52:07,034 that's underestimated with a lot of people. 821 00:52:07,054 --> 00:52:11,077 And you take pictures of your local backyard, and you won't get as many social 822 00:52:11,077 --> 00:52:13,839 interactions on social media from it. 823 00:52:13,839 --> 00:52:17,221 And if that's part of the driver, I'm not saying whether it should be or shouldn't 824 00:52:17,221 --> 00:52:19,382 be, but for some people it is important. 825 00:52:20,130 --> 00:52:24,552 Do you get back down to that success and failure viewpoint again? 826 00:52:24,552 --> 00:52:27,233 You must get X number or likes. 827 00:52:27,334 --> 00:52:32,356 I noticed somebody made a comment on one of Rachel Talibart's pictures recently 828 00:52:32,356 --> 00:52:36,659 because it was pictures that wasn't waves or whatever else, but she was doing 829 00:52:36,659 --> 00:52:37,779 something different. 830 00:52:37,819 --> 00:52:41,661 So somebody commented about it hadn't had the same interaction. 831 00:52:41,661 --> 00:52:44,343 But that doesn't mean you say that you stop doing that. 832 00:52:44,503 --> 00:52:46,804 You know, you follow what's in your heart as an artist. 833 00:52:46,804 --> 00:52:49,365 You follow what's in your heart and you take photographs of that. 834 00:52:50,342 --> 00:52:53,843 I could just go back to the lakes and start doing like long exposures over all 835 00:52:53,843 --> 00:52:57,364 this water or whatever and get like loads more involvement. 836 00:52:57,364 --> 00:52:58,745 I wouldn't be satisfied. 837 00:53:00,266 --> 00:53:03,567 And I would consider that almost a failure if you like because I'm not doing what I 838 00:53:03,567 --> 00:53:04,507 want to do. 839 00:53:05,708 --> 00:53:09,869 I think it's very important just to, and it's easy enough to say, I mean, I've got 840 00:53:09,869 --> 00:53:14,051 a ridiculous number of people like that have clicked like or follow me page, 841 00:53:14,051 --> 00:53:16,952 whether it be Facebook, Instagram or whatever else. 842 00:53:18,093 --> 00:53:20,202 But I'll still just keep doing what I want to do. 843 00:53:20,202 --> 00:53:26,251 It's important for me to do me as opposed to doing Joe or somebody else. 844 00:53:26,452 --> 00:53:30,037 The most important thing is taking your own photographs, not some other bugger. 845 00:53:31,677 --> 00:53:34,751 Yeah, you could be really successful just by posting cat and dog photographs for the 846 00:53:34,751 --> 00:53:35,814 next decade. 847 00:53:36,125 --> 00:53:37,206 Thanks for watching! 848 00:53:38,272 --> 00:53:39,596 Yeah, I know he's excellent. 849 00:53:39,596 --> 00:53:40,577 Hey darling. 850 00:53:46,999 --> 00:53:49,286 That's doubled our YouTube exposure already. 851 00:53:51,483 --> 00:53:52,763 What are you after? 852 00:53:52,924 --> 00:53:53,604 Oi! 853 00:53:54,685 --> 00:53:56,486 I've got cheese biscuits in my pocket. 854 00:53:56,486 --> 00:53:58,848 Well, I've just taken Rach down to Inverness and dropped off at the railway 855 00:53:58,848 --> 00:54:00,069 station because she's... 856 00:54:00,990 --> 00:54:03,111 what we were saying before, she's got to go down and spend a bit of time with her 857 00:54:03,111 --> 00:54:03,771 mum. 858 00:54:05,093 --> 00:54:06,834 But yes, I've got cheesy biscuits in my pocket. 859 00:54:06,834 --> 00:54:10,117 So he's like, is anybody doing anything with that? 860 00:54:10,117 --> 00:54:11,657 Because you know, if you're looking for... 861 00:54:12,979 --> 00:54:17,222 How many kelp photographs have you had ruined by a high-impact dog? 862 00:54:18,622 --> 00:54:22,082 Oh, it's funny actually, you know, it was really funny yesterday. 863 00:54:22,082 --> 00:54:25,944 He reached, followed me down to the beach and the tide was so low that all the kelp 864 00:54:25,944 --> 00:54:29,905 that was further out into the sea was actually poking through, which I've not 865 00:54:29,905 --> 00:54:30,425 seen before. 866 00:54:30,425 --> 00:54:33,345 I mean, it's incredibly low and it's supposed to be really, really low today. 867 00:54:33,586 --> 00:54:37,487 But so this kelp was coming up through the water and he was just going brisk, 868 00:54:37,487 --> 00:54:41,388 shouting at the sea because these monsters were rising up out of it. 869 00:54:41,388 --> 00:54:44,709 And obviously these monsters were going to then start advancing onto the beach and 870 00:54:44,709 --> 00:54:46,369 they could perhaps eat his mum. 871 00:54:46,369 --> 00:54:48,269 So he was like, take care of mum. 872 00:54:48,522 --> 00:54:50,042 Monsters, monsters. 873 00:54:50,883 --> 00:54:53,243 He's just an idiot, completely annoying. 874 00:54:53,584 --> 00:54:57,486 Oh yeah, I was doing the reeds, there's a little lock in it as you go across to 875 00:54:57,486 --> 00:54:58,346 Slaggan. 876 00:54:58,346 --> 00:55:01,047 Really nice little 5K walk out, 5K back. 877 00:55:01,267 --> 00:55:03,288 But there's a lock in it, it's not too far out there. 878 00:55:03,648 --> 00:55:07,930 And Num Nuts decides he's gonna like, oh, it's quite warm, I'm just gonna get in the 879 00:55:07,930 --> 00:55:08,891 water and paddle about a bit. 880 00:55:08,891 --> 00:55:11,432 So of course, as Joe was saying, calm waters. 881 00:55:11,432 --> 00:55:14,933 Not calm waters when you've got a six stone box of paddling through it. 882 00:55:15,375 --> 00:55:16,685 Washing machine pun. 883 00:55:18,565 --> 00:55:19,843 Yeah, he's lovely. 884 00:55:19,843 --> 00:55:21,443 you very much for that Mark. 885 00:55:21,703 --> 00:55:23,124 That's absolutely brilliant. 886 00:55:24,164 --> 00:55:26,845 We might have another couple of questions coming in but I'll send you those over 887 00:55:26,845 --> 00:55:27,065 email. 888 00:55:27,065 --> 00:55:29,005 We can put them in the article later. 889 00:55:30,046 --> 00:55:33,187 And thank you very much Joe for taking part as usual. 890 00:55:33,887 --> 00:55:39,069 We'll be back with the next, if anybody is looking for questions for the next ones, 891 00:55:39,069 --> 00:55:42,210 we'll be announcing them in the next issue. 892 00:55:42,610 --> 00:55:45,030 So until then, goodbye. 893 00:55:46,375 --> 00:55:47,211 Goodbye.