A Landscape Photography Project to Capture the Changing Seasons
Each season offers the landscape photographer something unique and wonderful. One of the best ways to discover those changes is to photograph the same location every season. Sounds like a great idea for a photography project, doesn't it? I thought it was, so I decided to photograph Holne Bridge on Dartmoor during summer, autumn, winter and spring. However, things didn't turn out how I expected them to.
The Value of Photography Projects
Undertaking a photography project can be a big commitment. In 2019 I began a yearlong photography project to capture a photograph every month from the same location and despite the tight brief, I still found it challenging. But a photography project should be challenging, shouldn’t it? I am also in the middle of my biggest ever photography project and despite 12 months passing by, I don’t feel like I’m making any significant progress.
Despite what I’ve said, a photography project is a wonderful thing, and every photographer should undertake one. They can be incredibly rewarding and stretch your skills as a photographer. The important thing is to make sure the project is achievable. There is no point in undertaking a 365 project when you know from the outset you won’t be able to capture an image every day.
A Failed Photography Project?
On the topic of completing photography projects, I have just completed a project that I’ve been working on for the last year. Well, I say completed, but that’s that not strictly true. Yes, it’s finished, but is it complete? I’ll explain everything in the video below.
What do you think? Is that a photography project failure? Let me know in the comments below.
Lastly, if you’re interested here is a list of gear and services, I used to create the print.
Photograph printed with the Canon imagePROGRAF Pro-300 - my video review
Paper from Fotospeed
Picture frames from Picture Frames Express
Project Photographs - Holne Bridge on Dartmoor
Here are the final 4 photographs.
Holne Bridge, Dartmoor - Summer - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 20mm, f/11, 0.6 sec at ISO 200, Kase CPL.
Holne Bridge, Dartmoor - Autumn - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 19mm, f/11, 1 sec at ISO 800, Kase CPL.
Holne Bridge, Dartmoor - Winter - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 22mm, f/11, 0.5 sec at ISO 200, Kase CPL.
Holne Bridge, Dartmoor - Spring - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 18mm, f/16, 1/5 sec at ISO 64, Kase CPL.
My Photography is Not a Priority
In the blog this week I tell you why photography is not a priority for me!
Burnt Out?
I love creating videos for my YouTube channel. I was already passionate about landscape photography and creating videos about my time out with the camera was a natural extension of my desire to share my photography.
However, there is no doubt it is a lot of hard work. Sometimes my ideas are a bit grand and a little over adventurous. These ideas sometimes pay off, but I normally have to put in a lot of extra effort. It was after one of those "go the extra mile" videos that I decided I need a little rest.
Landscape Photography Not a Priority
I wasn't burnt out. I just needed a rest. I had spent the previous day driving all over the country taking photographs, but I still had the following day free. I wanted to use that spare day to create another full-on landscape photography video, but I decided that I would benefit more from not making photography a priority.
So I headed out for a walk up Conic Hill near Loch Lomond on a beautiful summers day. I still took my camera, but it wasn't my goal to even get it out of the bag. Relaxing from the photography got me thinking and I decided to share my results in this video:
So just a short video. A bit of a brain dump and a chance to try my hand at some cinematic style video. I hope you liked it. Did the message resonate with you? Let me know in the comments below.
Loch Lomond Panorama
As I said in the video, I did take one image and here it is:
Loch Lomond from Conic Hill - Super Wide Panorama on a Super Sunny Day: Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70 mm f/2.8 at 52mm, 1/160th sec @ ISO 64, f/11, 12 image panoramic stitch.