UKC

....apart from the obvious of owning a decent camera and having an eye for good shots what other advice can the people of UK offer?

Are there any good websites to recommend? Including Photoshop and other's?

Cheers,

AT

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In reply to An Triubhas:

Look at the likes of Gordon Stainforth, Paul HIll, Don McCullin's later work, Tim Parkin, Paul Strand, Ansel Adam, and start to figure out what you like and don't like.

My 2p which will be likely to get shouted down - don't get too hung up on photoshop until you've learned to get things broadly right in camera first. No amount of tweaking can save a crap shot.

In reply to An Triubhas:

get out taking pics.
For planning when to go out and where there is some useful software for showing where the sun will be on any particular day, one example being:

http://photoephemeris.com/
is a not bad program for that and had a free desktop version plus you can get a iphone or android variant for a couple of quid which useful.

In reply to An Triubhas: Nick Livsey does workshops which I am thinking of going on one.

http://www.nickliveseymountainimages.co.uk/section615404.html

In reply to An Triubhas: blipfoto.com is an excellent website for learning tricks, tips, how to use your camera, ask questions, see what others have done and how, and it helps for motivation as well. I couldn't recommend it enough for hugely increasing your learning curve.

Practice practice practice!

In reply to An Triubhas: Take alook at some of the stuff Joe Cornish has done, in particular - Scotland's Mountains, A Lanscape Photographer's View

In reply to Brian:

Your landscapes are stunning - I wish I could get close to those.

In reply to An Triubhas:

Dont get hung up on the technical side of things. Photoshop and its ilk are massive programmes i barely use a tenth of what it offers. Cameras/lens have and always will do a few key things...start reading around focal length/depth of field/perspective, shutter speed aperture size/F numbers understand the fundamental differences between a wide lens and a long lens.

The black boxes... still exposes light onto a given medium,how you manipulate this (as above) is were the art/vision side comes in.

your personal vision is IMHO 99% of the whole game, every other aspect of photography can be learned surprising quickly.

In summary the technical aspects, read lots you'll get there, ultimately as the grand master of mono once said ''its the 12 inches behind the camera that's the important bit''

i also liked AA's something along the lines of...your photography is about every book you ever read, every lover, heart break, loss, victory, sadness, joy...etc etc you get the picture.

In reply to Tall Clare:

Wow that's some company you've put Tim Parkin in there! Is that really who you meant?

My tips for the OP would be: make the effort to be out at dawn and dusk, preferably alone or if not with someone who doesn't care how long you take. Get up high and down low, don't just shoot from standing. Try to simplify, and clarify - try to isolate or emphasise what has caught your eye. Use a tripod - it allows you to study and refine a composition. Don't use ultra-wideangles (<24mm on FX, <16mm on DX) except as a last resort. ND grads are useful (but can be applied in post with recent cameras and careful exposure). Edit ruthlessly - you learn as much from failures as successes.

I get inspiration from books mainly: any decent coffee-table hardback older than 7 years or so (before digital flipped the industry) will have good pics. Take time to 'read' the images, try to work out why you like some and not others.

In reply to Adam Long:

Yep - there's a range of quality and experience in my suggestions.

In reply to An Triubhas:

Some other people to look at include Burtynsky, Waplington, Stephen Shore, John Davies - don't just go for the obvious landscapes.

In reply to Skyfall:

+1
Ditto that!

In reply to An Triubhas:

Immerse and engage with the landscape, then photograph the discussion!

In reply to An Triubhas: Some good advice here and I echo everything that Adam has said...oh, and as icnoble said, I do do workshops!

My best tip for you is to feel something for the subject you are trying to capture and really want to communicate that feeling to others

In reply to An Triubhas:Interesting article here - http://www.ephotozine.com/article/weather-and-lighting-landscape-photograph...

In reply to Tall Clare:

No Fay Godwin? Schoolgirl error.

all good stuff and to the OP, aye don't be hung up on the technique heavy discussions on some of the landscape blogs and forums. there is a lot of measurbating goes on over there.

Have a look at Charlie Waite and Joe Cornish, might be yer bag, also try the New Topography (includiong the aforementioned Stephen Shore and the fabulous Robert Adams).

Landscape don't need to be pretty... mkay??