Such a wonderful article and photographs! I love the dreamy style and soft, out of focus subjects. I will definitely venture into my local heaths in search of small details.
One thing I really want to try and capture is something I've seen yesterday during a walk without both the camera and phone. I was mesmerised by a large boulder covered in quartz and numerous old lichens when I suddenly spotted a small clump of something resting on the top. Buzzard pellet! Feathers, tiny bones, a part of a miniscule skull that probably belonged to a mouse. A reminder that everything in Nature has its place and role. I don't know if I will find the pellet still there since we had a huge storm last night, but I think it could make some great, soft shots.
Thank you very much for your comments Ramona, I am glad you enjoyed the images.
The buzzard pellet sounds like a fascinating find - I love noticing all the small things in nature that make up the story of the landscape . I hope you find it again.
Very inspiring Gill: you have inspired me to get my boots on and go for a walk immediately I have finished typing this comment, inspired me to look for the little details i would normally pass by, inspire me to make a triptych of the resulting photos, and also inspire me to learn how best to produce a triptych that I can then post on my village Facebook Noticeboard page. Thank you.
Thank you so much Mark. I am glad you enjoyed the article and felt inspired to go out and try some of the ideas yourself. I hope you enjoyed your walk.
Beautiful images as always Gill (I am catching up on my reading!). I love the colours of your heathland as you show off in the first image (great management of the highlights btw). I find that stopping and taking a break always reveals something new - Thanks for the reminder, I need to do more of that.
"Finding beauty in the ordinary"??! It is when we stop and really see that we realise that the "ordinary" is actually "extraordinary"..... the small stuff is actually the big stuff! Macro is a genre I've struggled with. I feel I know what I want to portray but that feeling is often missing in my finished image! Your images have inspired me to keep trying, I think I need to stop trying for a tack sharp image, soften it down and see where that leads....
Thank you for your kind comments Jayne. I absolutely agree with your first sentence - It is when we stop and really see that we realise that the "ordinary" is actually "extraordinary". I love the macro lens for enabling this. I don't tend to worry about overall sharpness and my images are more about portraying a feeling or mood than creating a macro portrait of my subject.
Good luck with your macro photography, I hope you find a way forward with it. 🙂
Some beautiful images here Gill - I can only agree that sharp focus images are overrated! I love the soft, dreamy look you've achieved which works so well with just a small area in focus alongside the muted colours in the background. I also agree that the more graphic image of the ragwort could work well in mono.
The art of noticing is such an important skill to master and one I admit I need to work on more for those fine detailed images - I find that when I'm in nature there is so much beauty to distract me I have to consciously stop and try to look at the scene mindfully, then I manage to see much more.
Thank you so much for your comments Lin. I am glad you enjoyed the images.
I think I notice more if I am using my macro lens rather than my wider landscape lens. Seeking out images with this lens feels really mindful and absorbing and I can easily forget everything else for an hour or so.
"Paying attention and making a habit of noticing helps us cultivate an original perspective and a distinct point of view and in doing so will help our images stand out from the crowd." -- writing this down! Thank you for this inspiring post.
Great article Gill with some beautiful images. I particularly like the thistle seed and grasses sets. Noticing more artistic images is something I have to remind myself to try every so often and you’ve just done that thank you! Time to dig out the old Canon FD 100mm macro that I purchased a while back!
I love the macro lens for soft dreamy shots and I find it a great walk round lens when I am, exploring somewhere new like the heaths or woods. Sometimes small scenes have greater potential. 🙂
Another great read, albeit a day later than usual. The initial image, fantastic colours, the narrative about the sandlands drawing the read in, then wow, the sets of tryptic images, disecting the scene and separating the individual colours of that first image, I find that by the end of the post I am totally immersed where you were, the power of and the combination of images and narrative!😀
The process you describe reminds me of one of Kim Grant's blogs, where she sits down and concentrates on square metre she is sitting in, only producing images within it.
Thank you so much for your comments Chris - I am glad you enjoyed the blog. I love this kind of photography - just going our for a walk and seeing what I can find. It is very immersive and a good challenge. 🙂
I especially like the ragwort set, I shall regard it in a new light. As you know, a topic and a way of photographing that is close to my heart. The heath looks like a fascinating place.
Thank you very much Michela - the ragwort set is my favourite too. The heath is a beautiful place and I am sure you would find lots that would appeal to your style of photography.
I think you make a valid point about looking at the small individual components that go to make up the wider landscape. By shooting in a slightly different style it gives us a chance to relax and get away from the pressure (often self inflicted) to produce more conventional imagery that we often compare to others work.
I'm especially taken with the ragwort star images, which work individually or as a set. If you wished to experiment further they could work well in B&W possibly?
Thank you very much for your comments Andrew. I find photographing the smaller elements really relaxing and totally absorbing - probably more so than traditional landscape photography.
I think the Ragwort stars are my favourites. I will have a look at them in black and white - thank you for the suggestion.
Such a wonderful article and photographs! I love the dreamy style and soft, out of focus subjects. I will definitely venture into my local heaths in search of small details.
One thing I really want to try and capture is something I've seen yesterday during a walk without both the camera and phone. I was mesmerised by a large boulder covered in quartz and numerous old lichens when I suddenly spotted a small clump of something resting on the top. Buzzard pellet! Feathers, tiny bones, a part of a miniscule skull that probably belonged to a mouse. A reminder that everything in Nature has its place and role. I don't know if I will find the pellet still there since we had a huge storm last night, but I think it could make some great, soft shots.
Thank you very much for your comments Ramona, I am glad you enjoyed the images.
The buzzard pellet sounds like a fascinating find - I love noticing all the small things in nature that make up the story of the landscape . I hope you find it again.
Very inspiring Gill: you have inspired me to get my boots on and go for a walk immediately I have finished typing this comment, inspired me to look for the little details i would normally pass by, inspire me to make a triptych of the resulting photos, and also inspire me to learn how best to produce a triptych that I can then post on my village Facebook Noticeboard page. Thank you.
Thank you so much Mark. I am glad you enjoyed the article and felt inspired to go out and try some of the ideas yourself. I hope you enjoyed your walk.
Beautiful images as always Gill (I am catching up on my reading!). I love the colours of your heathland as you show off in the first image (great management of the highlights btw). I find that stopping and taking a break always reveals something new - Thanks for the reminder, I need to do more of that.
Thank you so much for reading James and for your comments. I am glad you enjoyed the images.
Beautiful photography capturing the hidden views. You have captured the essence of noticing 👁️
Thank you so much Kate, I am glad you enjoyed the images.
"Finding beauty in the ordinary"??! It is when we stop and really see that we realise that the "ordinary" is actually "extraordinary"..... the small stuff is actually the big stuff! Macro is a genre I've struggled with. I feel I know what I want to portray but that feeling is often missing in my finished image! Your images have inspired me to keep trying, I think I need to stop trying for a tack sharp image, soften it down and see where that leads....
Thank you for your kind comments Jayne. I absolutely agree with your first sentence - It is when we stop and really see that we realise that the "ordinary" is actually "extraordinary". I love the macro lens for enabling this. I don't tend to worry about overall sharpness and my images are more about portraying a feeling or mood than creating a macro portrait of my subject.
Good luck with your macro photography, I hope you find a way forward with it. 🙂
Some beautiful images here Gill - I can only agree that sharp focus images are overrated! I love the soft, dreamy look you've achieved which works so well with just a small area in focus alongside the muted colours in the background. I also agree that the more graphic image of the ragwort could work well in mono.
The art of noticing is such an important skill to master and one I admit I need to work on more for those fine detailed images - I find that when I'm in nature there is so much beauty to distract me I have to consciously stop and try to look at the scene mindfully, then I manage to see much more.
Thank you so much for your comments Lin. I am glad you enjoyed the images.
I think I notice more if I am using my macro lens rather than my wider landscape lens. Seeking out images with this lens feels really mindful and absorbing and I can easily forget everything else for an hour or so.
Oh dear - I feel the temptation rising to look at a dedicated macro lens now for my Fuji! :)
"Paying attention and making a habit of noticing helps us cultivate an original perspective and a distinct point of view and in doing so will help our images stand out from the crowd." -- writing this down! Thank you for this inspiring post.
Thank you so much Mia, I am glad you enjoyed the post.
A pretty set. And I really like those “stars”. What a great subject. Love what you did with them.
Thank you so much, I am glad you enjoyed them.
Great article Gill with some beautiful images. I particularly like the thistle seed and grasses sets. Noticing more artistic images is something I have to remind myself to try every so often and you’ve just done that thank you! Time to dig out the old Canon FD 100mm macro that I purchased a while back!
Thank you David, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
I love the macro lens for soft dreamy shots and I find it a great walk round lens when I am, exploring somewhere new like the heaths or woods. Sometimes small scenes have greater potential. 🙂
Nice images very interesting to see what can be achieved with what appear to be quite mundane subjects at first glance.
Thank you very much Philip. I love exploring these sorts of locations with the camera as there is always something interesting to photograph.
Another great read, albeit a day later than usual. The initial image, fantastic colours, the narrative about the sandlands drawing the read in, then wow, the sets of tryptic images, disecting the scene and separating the individual colours of that first image, I find that by the end of the post I am totally immersed where you were, the power of and the combination of images and narrative!😀
The process you describe reminds me of one of Kim Grant's blogs, where she sits down and concentrates on square metre she is sitting in, only producing images within it.
Until the next one, thank you!
Thank you so much for your comments Chris - I am glad you enjoyed the blog. I love this kind of photography - just going our for a walk and seeing what I can find. It is very immersive and a good challenge. 🙂
Exquisite images and thank you too for the book recommendation, which I am now off to find!
Thank you very much Deborah, I am glad you enjoyed them. 🙂
I especially like the ragwort set, I shall regard it in a new light. As you know, a topic and a way of photographing that is close to my heart. The heath looks like a fascinating place.
Thank you very much Michela - the ragwort set is my favourite too. The heath is a beautiful place and I am sure you would find lots that would appeal to your style of photography.
You captured these tiny, often ignored details so beautifully!
Thank you very much Jennifer, I am glad you enjoyed them. 🙂
Gill, A B S O L U T E L Y stunning!!! I LOVE all of these!! So lovely and soft and dreamy and ethereal. Gorgeous!! Thank you for sharing these. XO
Thank you so much Danielle, I am glad you enjoyed them. 🙂
I think you make a valid point about looking at the small individual components that go to make up the wider landscape. By shooting in a slightly different style it gives us a chance to relax and get away from the pressure (often self inflicted) to produce more conventional imagery that we often compare to others work.
I'm especially taken with the ragwort star images, which work individually or as a set. If you wished to experiment further they could work well in B&W possibly?
Thank you very much for your comments Andrew. I find photographing the smaller elements really relaxing and totally absorbing - probably more so than traditional landscape photography.
I think the Ragwort stars are my favourites. I will have a look at them in black and white - thank you for the suggestion.