Understanding our creativity

And finding the right direction.

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.

Llynnau Mymbyr

I want to start this blog off by wishing you all a happy new year!

Christmas has been a restful time for me although I didn’t put my camera away completely and as a self employed creative, I never really switched off either (my brain is always pondering new ideas or things I want to photograph). But I did manage to get away and have a change of scene which was lovely.

My original idea for the first blog post of 2024 was to write about my Christmas trip to Wales and the photographic opportunities that I found there, but like many of my ideas, this has morphed and changed and the message is now slightly different.

Wales is somewhere I enjoy visiting. It has all the drama of the mountains, a beautiful coastline and varied scenery  - however the weather can be a little challenging at times and it was certainly that way over Christmas. It rained all day every day (except Boxing Day) which made photography difficult.

Travelling in our camper van meant that we were always more aware of the conditions outside. The rain drumming on the metal roof and the wind howling through the trees made the outside feel much closer and the weather that much more present. In a house it is easier to feel insulated and cut off from these things. As a result Christmas in a van in Wales felt overwhelmingly wet!

Before we set off for the Welsh mountains I had an idea in my head of all the places I wanted to visit and the potential images I might make. I had some mountain views I wanted to check out and some locations I wanted to return to in the hope of improving on previous images. However the weather had other ideas.

I don’t usually photograph in the rain but over Christmas I had no choice but to embrace it. However I couldn’t help feeling disappointed. The mountains were hidden behind veils of mist and sideways rain and the coast was wild and very grey. We visited Anglesey to photograph Penmon lighthouse and the church in the sea, we walked around the Ogwen valley but some of the paths were so wet and slippery I was frightened of falling and breaking something (either my leg or more likely my camera!) Although I was taking images, I wasn’t making the images that I had envisioned and after a while I found the whole process a bit frustrating.

Views from Rhaeadr Ogwen

Rhaeadr Ogwen

Then on Boxing Day the wind dropped, the rain cleared and the sun came out briefly. We dashed up a mountainside in the Ogwen valley and took some dawn images of Tryfan - classic shots with some lovely foreground waterfalls and the mountain in the background. It was while I was hiking uphill, with my camera bag on my back and Christmas food weighing heaving around my waist that I though ‘what am I doing?’ What is the point of all this?

I didn’t feel particularly connected with the landscape at that moment in time, (probably because I was too exhausted) I didn’t know what I was trying to say with my images and just felt that I was trying to grab a ‘classic’ landscape shot while it wasn’t raining so that I could go home and claim the trip as a photographic success.

I realised this wasn’t why I enjoyed photography and this wasn’t how I wanted to pursue it either. For me photography is all about connecting with the landscape. It is about enjoying my time in nature, not chasing classic images, but immersing myself in the wild and learning and understand the environment I am working in.

So did my trip to Wales yield any interesting images?

Well when the weather conspires against you, you have to be a bit more experimental with your photography. In the rain and mist I resorted to thinking in black and white, and although this isn’t my usual style I quite like the results. My processing style has been influenced by watching Adrian Vila on YouTube. He seems to embrace terrible weather (so that seemed fitting) and I find his whole approach to photography inspiring.

Penmon Point

Porth Cwyfan

Despite the questions I had about hiking up mountains and seeking out classic views I quite like the images I took of Tryfan, particularly as I didn’t bring the right lens with me for the images I wanted to make. I left my wide angle in Suffolk and had to resort to taking several shots to stitch together in a vertical panorama to create the image below.

Tryfan

So what I have I learned from my trip?

Firstly I have learned that preconceived ideas are counter productive and it is much better to travel to places with an open mind and react to the conditions that you find there. Going somewhere with expectations always leads to frustration if those expectations aren’t met.

Shooting in the rain can be fun and although it is very challenging it will always yield interesting results. My black and white images may not be my usual style but they convey a certain mood that I wouldn’t have captured if it wasn’t raining.

Wales made me think more carefully about my photography in general and what I want to concentrate on going forwards. As much as I love travel and awesome landscapes (and I don’t want to stop exploring them) I realise that I want to use my photography to tell stories that are more personal to me and are about landscapes that I really know and understand.

And finally calm always follows a storm and if you wait long enough the weather will change. The image below was taken on Boxing Day afternoon when the wind dropped away to nothing and the surface of Llynnau Mymbyr reflected the Welsh winter landscape in all its glory.

Reflections, Llynnau Mymbyr

Going forwards into the new year.

Now I am home I have lots of plans for 2024 most of which involve embracing my local landscape and looking beyond the obvious images. I have a large project planned for the year which will test my story telling skills and creativity. I am driven to look beyond the obvious images and delve deeper into the landscape to detail a place I feel really connected with. The theme for me this year is ‘local’ and it has been inspired by Alistair Humphreys new book of the same name.

I will leave you with a quote from another book ‘The Forest Unseen: A Year’s Watch in Nature’ by David George Haskell

We create wonderful places by giving them our attention, not by finding “pristine” places that will bring wonder to us.

I hope you will enjoy reading about my wonderful landscapes in 2024 as much as I enjoy visiting them.