Milestones and reflections
And ideas for reviving your landscape photography
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.
At the beginning of every year I usually spend some time thinking about what I am going to do next photographically. For me photography is not just a hobby, it is my business and my whole way of life so it is important for me to keep it fresh and inspiring.
I have spent the Christmas and new year period ill with flu. This is a time when I would traditionally have been out with the camera making images for myself rather than for any specific client or work project. This year I have been indoors champing at the bit to get out, frustrated by my lack of energy and the frosty and snow conditions that I was missing.
So instead of making images I have been planning new work, creating new workshops and adding products to my new website. I have also been thinking about my major new project for 2026 /27 and it is one that has been a long time coming.
I moved to Suffolk in July 2007, originally choosing to live in the middle of the county before moving to the coast a few years later. At the time Suffolk felt familiar - it was a place I visited regularly in my youth, coming here for weekends with my parents to walk, to swim in the sea or to watch birds at RSPB Minsmere. It was a place I knew, but one that I didn’t really feel that I belonged to. Belonging comes with knowing and that takes time.
Almost 20 years later and I feel much closer to that state. Suffolk feels a part of me and I feel a contentment within its landscapes.
For the last few months I have been working on the idea of producing a ‘Suffolk book’, filled with my images from the last 20 years. A retrospective of sorts, but perhaps more of a love letter to the landscape that now feels like home - and a place where I feel I belong.
My plan is to make 10 images this year - keystone images that I can use to intersect the main body of work - images that say who I am as a photographer. And while I am making these shots I will also be crafting the book. I have a portfolio of images, a theme and plenty of ideas, so this year will all be about image making, image selection, sequencing, book writing and design.
Projects are usually the challenge I need to feel inspired, but they don’t have to be as large as the one I am attempting this year. Here are a few ideas to refresh your image making in 2026.
Find something small to be amazed at every day. Take the camera and find one thing of interest at least once a week. You don’t need to go anywhere special or very far from home but find something to look at and study with your camera. It could be a plant, an object in the garden or something at the bottom of the street. Whatever it is look at it with fresh eyes and see how you can portray it with your camera. Look at it from all angles and viewpoints, play with aperture and depth of field, photograph it in colour and black and white. Depict it as an abstract or with some context. However you photograph it make sure that you really look at it. Maybe you could even create a small body of work from this one item?
Take a trip out and make a colour study. Pick one colour and only make images that include that colour. You will be amazed how often the colour occurs once you start looking for it, but you will also notice how having a focus really helps your photography. Take this a step further and create colour pairs. Make one image of the landscape and then pick a small scene from the same landscape for a closer shot. Make sure both images have the same colour palette and tones. I have written about this concept before and you can find more details in this post.
Visit a familiar place and tell a story in 9 images. Pick out small scenes from a particular landscape that tell a story or create a theme about a certain place. Creating grids of images is something I love to do and I really find it helps my image making. I have written about this process too and you can find lots of helpful info here
Find a poem or piece of writing that you love and see if you can make some images that are inspired by it. This is an idea I used in the summer to create a handmade zine. You can find all the information here about this project and two others that might also inspire some creativity. I am also running a workshop in May that tacks this theme and I only have two spaces left if anyone would like to join us.
If you are still feeling uninspired why not join my paid subscriber community where I run a monthly challenge to help grow your landscape photography. We have a different themed challenge every month and weekly posts to help tackle it. Images are shared on the subscriber chat for comments and feedback.
After two weeks of flu I am now feeling better and am ready to begin my photographic journey into 2026. I hope you will all join me in some way whether that is on a workshop, walk or just through the pages of Substack. It will be great to have your company.
That's quite a project you've set yourself for this year Gill - but a rewarding one too and I hope it goes well for you. I'll look forward to seeing how it progresses over the year, it's always interesting to understand a photographers process when it comes to projects.
Good morning Gill and a belated new year to you. I love a project I’ve currently two on the go , they’re just a great way to motivate you to get out with the camera . I’m still waiting for the snow to hit here in the lakes so i can capture some winter images.