Finding new perspectives
Water based photography on the Norfolk Broads
Hello, I’m Gill and I write a photography blog inspired by the landscapes of Suffolk and beyond. Please subscribe to read more of my writing and visit my website to view my images.
As the day slips towards evening the wind drops and the sun begins to sink westward. I am sitting outside our camper van by the edge of a small dyke on the Norfolk Broads in the company of my partner and 2 good friends, eating dinner and listening to the sounds of nature all around. If I could describe what makes a perfect evening this would be it.
Getting up and walking towards the tranquil water I can see a thin band of mist floating above the grazing marsh. The little wooden sailing boats rafted up on the edge of the dyke are motionless, their reflections crystal clear in the mirror like surface of the water.
As a child I dreamed of owning one of these boats and sailing away on an adventure with friends. My inspiration for such thoughts came from the pages of Arthur Ransome’s books which I loved. Swallows and Amazons, We didn’t mean to go to Sea, Secret Water and Coot Club, which was set in this part of the Norfolk Broads, were my favourites.
Although I got my boat in the end, and owning it was definitely an adventure, I never quite fulfilled my childhood dreams. If you have read my very first Substack post you will see that my route into landscape photography was a little unusual and involved a 65 foot Dutch sailing barge, and boats have played a part in my photography ever since.
Being back in Norfolk (in an area Arthur Ransome visited numerous times) was a chance to relax, unwind and reconnect with a slower pace of life. We had decided to hire a 1960’s wooden motor launch so that we could see the Broads how they were intended to be seen, from the water.
I was curious to know what I could make creatively of an area I have only ever photographed from the land.
To begin with however we headed out to Thurne for a sunrise shoot. Day boats are not available for hire before 9am so we had to be content with some land based photography to start the day.
We could not have picked a more perfect morning to photograph the Broads, the water was still, the mist lay just above the surface and the reflections were stunning. There was also frost on the grass, cormorants in the trees and kingfishers flitting along the edge of the reed covered banks. All of this gave us lots of options for photography but in the end I chose some classic compositions which I felt captured the essence of the Broads.
Picking up our little boat a few hours later we headed along Upton Dyke, into the River Bure and past numerous drainage mills which are a constant reminder that no matter how wild this landscape appears it is in fact a man made one, initially formed by peat digging in the 12th century. The mills are a later response to sea level rise and local flooding.
Today the Broads is a dedicated National Park attracting thousands of holiday makers every year. Large pleasure boats tour the waterways from dawn to dusk, but despite this the landscape is a tranquil one and nature is everywhere.
Photography from the water is a very different experience to land based photography and I was curious to see what I could do creatively. As the light was quite harsh early on I pointed my camera at the water and played around with a few abstracts which I enjoyed collating into a triptych.
As the day progressed there were numerous opportunities to photograph more intimate scenes and one of my favourites featured a boat hidden amongst the reeds.
There are 63 drainage mills left on the Broads, some have been beautifully restored while others have been left in ruins. Photographing them from the river gave me a completely different perspective and allowed me to capture some of the mills that are impossible to access from the land.
Our trip on the water wouldn’t have been complete without a few images of the wooden sailing boats that have so fascinated me throughout my life. Having spent some time as a yacht photographer it was fun to capture some of these beautiful boats under sail.
Finally, although I only had my 70-200mm lens with me I couldn’t resist trying to capture some of the wildlife that we saw. The first two shots really needed a longer lens but I wanted to include them because they were a major part of the trip and one of the reasons I love visiting this landscape. The third shot was taken with a borrowed 200-500mm lens which is now something I feel I would like to add to my kit list.
Our trip out on the Broads was so much fun, very relaxing and so good for the soul and as Arthur Ransome says in Coot Club
The klop, klop of water under the bows of a small boat will cure most troubles in this world.
And for one weekend it certainly did!
Finding different perspectives on familiar places definitely helps with creativity. Getting out on a boat was my way to achieve this but you could try these much more simple solutions:
Look at the landscape in a different way. Shoot with a different focal length or a different lens, change your aperture and shoot wide open for a shallow depth of field, mix up your viewpoints, shoot in black and white, try a different camera technique like ICM or multiple exposure or pick a theme and produce a small series of images to depict this.
Be constantly curious - ask yourself what if… and then give it a try. The beauty of digital photography is the ease and ability we all have to experiment. It doesn’t matter if ideas fail, at least you have tried and gained a little bit more knowledge in the process.
Don’t let conditions spoil your photography. If the sky is not looking good for landscapes try something else. There is so much to photograph, but often our mindset can be our biggest obstacle. I have found that if I relax and open my mind to all possibilities then creativity flows much easier.
And finally, keep trying. Revisit places, try something new and build on knowledge gained from previous visits. At the end of the day I think great shots are not made by chance they are crafted from experience.
I will leave you with another quote from one of Arthur Ransome’s books - Swallowdale.
When a thing’s done, it’s done, and if it’s not done right, do it differently next time.
I would love to hear your thoughts on new perspectives and how you approach familiar landscapes, or anything else that has inspired you in this article. Please feel free to comment below.
Thank you so much for reading and until next week enjoy your photography.
Gill
Stunning photography. Totally resonate with the Swallows and Amazons aspirations!
A wonderful read as usual Gill. The photographs were gorgeous, especially of the yacht hidden in the reads - I keep going back to that one time and time again.
With regard to bringing back childhood memories, I am looking from the opposite perspective. 12 months ago we came to live in a little Lancashire village which is surrounded by lovely countryside, and nestles next to a canal. I joined the local Facebook Noticeboard site, and regularly post photographs I have taken of the local area. I am finding that people that spent their childhood in the village but have now moved away (America, Canada, Australia) say how they look forward to my photos as they bring back such happy memories. After a year I have taken all the obvious shots, but changing weather and looking for worthy photos of small details keep me fresh and creative.