Nigel we have a tendency to under rate ourself a bit . You’re not only a good photographer but an outstanding photographer with the ability to communicate the skills and knowledge to help others to become a better photographer. I thank you for that. Looking forward in 2020 to your RUclips adventures. Good health to you and your family in the coming year. Cheers 🍻 Richard
The best photographers I know are also the most humble about their own talents. You fit into that category, Nigel. Thank you for your insights and the example you set for all of us.
Good video Nigel. My experience on continuous improving is to never start with expectations when going out but always start with a clear and a open mind. Creativity and images is improving when I become more “connected” to a location. Thanks for sharing!
Thank You. I have went back to a location time and time again and I still haven't got what I wanted. Also I am the same. Loads of new locations and blaming everything but myself. Then two videos, One from you and another from Thomas Heaton thought me to go back time and time again and try and not to give up, slow down, different times and seasons. You have also inspired me to start my own RUclips channel and I know that 2020 should be a woundeful year. Last year, depression and anxiety with no motivational or goals. This year is already started if BETTER.
I have seen a lot of your videos and none of them have been boring, to me anyway, you have shown me what to do when something is out of place, when I am just not thinking of photography, but that's why I am out there to do and for that I thank you. I know that its not just me.
Happy New Year Nigel! I always learn a lot from your videos and I really appreciate your real and down to earth style and delivery. You're not afraid to talk about your mistakes along the journey and what you've learned from them. That makes your experience even more valuable for struggling photographers like me. Thanks, brother!
Thank you, Nigel. Your way of explaining your thinking when making photos and the tool you use to point to different areas in the photo are so useful for learning. You are one of my favorite RUclips teachers. Thank you!
Finding your videos really interesting and useful because basically everything you talk about can be transferred to drone photography. Keep them coming, thank you!
Really appreciate you taking the time to honestly voice your internal thoughts about your work - thoughts no doubt shared by all of us. Great to hear them from you, and broken down. Thanks mate 😊
I love that I can always take away a lesson from your videos. I have been going back to some of the same locations this past year after looking at my photos with a more critical eye. It does help on the return trips. Thanks for helping me improve as a photographer.
I liked the addition of the map as I get to see more of GB without actually going there. So much of your skies and landscapes remind me of New Zealand, you manage to capture scenery that feels wild, and rarely touched which is a nice surprise. Your enthusiasm is catchy.
This is probably some of the best advice I have heard, and something I will implement into my work going forwards!! Thanks for sharing - I feel like this will really help me.
Hey Nigel! I like the videos when you go in depth describing what works and (even more) what doesn’t work in your compositions. I love seeing the photos and critiquing the photos before I hear your reactions to them and learning more about composition that way.
This video comes for the right time. I am in a phase of my photography - now want to switch from a snapshooter - where I am somehow unsure what to do. I admire your work and feel relived when hearing that you also struggled at the beginning. Thank you for your sincerity!
I've definitely been enjoying the videos from you on the mental processing of good compositions and the evaluations of good images or why one might be slightly lacking. Thank you! All of your videos have been very inspiring.
Love this simple video. Love the the slight difference of perspectives also vs showing lightening differences. Crazy how much of a difference it makes.
Very helpful video. Especially the point about looking for excuses outside yourself and of course discussing the details of your shots. Will keep you in mind next time!
Nice video, Nigel. It takes a lot if courage to put yourself out there like that, and proclaim yourself as a "Good Photographer." I always tell my students and peers, don't claim that you are a poor photographer, or an amateur photographer. Give your photos the opportunity to speak for themselves.
Yes work and awareness matter. Getting informed/expert feed-back does too. Navel-gazing has a tendency to slow us down. It's a good start, thanks. Anything I missed from these 12 mn? I think I even added an extra element that helps improve our photography (external feed-back)... .
Some wise thoughts here, thank you! I have been painting recently from “reference images”. This has freed me up to more drastically alter photographs in post processing, in particular to consider radical crops and big changes in exposure. The result is not generally of publishable quality, but often gives me ideas about what I could do the next time I come to the same place. Radical cropping as a scouting tool helps a lot in beach scenes in cloudy weather. With low bushes or beach grass, a wide angle scene usually has flat lighting. However, at the size scale of the plants, there are many compositions with more dramatic lighting.
Nigel.....Your humbleness and honesty are commendable and a good part of why I subscribe and have recommended subscriptions to fellow photographers. That and the quality of your content and production has me looking forward each week to your latest RUclips Video. With all of that said......I and I am sure others will say....we all have seen your photography and video production consistently improve over time, and I like to think you have helped me also improve. Thank You Friend.
Thanks so much, Nigel, for sharing with us your wisdom which is clearly developing; & is flavoured with depth, honesty & humility. I look forward to pondering your words in every video.
Good to be reminded of this. I am still a bad photographer, but it does not stop me from trying. When I review my photos I first ask myself does this further me telling a story (of a trip or event). If so, I put it in a sequence/slideshow with occasional text. Only those photos I go on to steps like you described.
Revisiting local locations is something I do quite alot, and I mostly manage to find something new. Luckily I live quite near to the Copper coast in Ireland and as you know coastal scences are constantly changing.
Nice and interesting video Nigel! I think the learning process never stops. I have improved my understanding of what's good and what's wrong in an image in the last year following your videos. Thanks for creating such great contents!
I like how the scene looks so normal and boring in the video but so nice in the photo, of course because of that you could find a perfect composition. Sometimes I ask myself what is the point of shooting famous places where you can find thousands of photos of them and all of them look identical and you can't even tell which photographer took which photo, I really hate the copy and paste. Whereas going to a boring scene which a normal photographer wouldn't ever think about making a good photo in it, and search for a good composition and end up with a perfect photo, this is the real challenge which a lot a lot of photographers try to avoid because in the most cases they fail. whereas it's somewhat easy to take an amazing photo of an amazing place !
Your comment is spot on and it reminds me of one of my favorite photography quotes: “To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” - Elliott Erwitt
I agree! I love the challenge of making an ordinary place look extraordinary. However, I also love the challenge of shooting extraordinary places in ways nobody has thought to shoot before, giving people a whole new perspective on it!
@@abbipaints450 I can also agree that is even a biggest challenge, because you already have an idea how all of them take the photo, so find a new different way is totally hard.
Yes indeed. I've experienced it first hand... watching friends end up with nothing because they're looking for something that has already gone, while I catch a moment nobody expected. Not that I'm especially good, just they never saw what I saw because their heads were full of what everyone else saw.
You have really inspired me to work hard on my photography, and improve upon my skills. I've learned a lot from you.. I'm thinking to use only a single lens, a 50mm prime and work on my composition, going to the same location in different light conditions and shoot as if I'm shooting on a film camera.
Great video Nigel. There is one element in both images you didn’t mention, but is more noticeable in the landscape image. Above the trees to the right, you thought might be a distraction, is a line of lighter (white) cloud sky, which mirrors the direction of the line of treetops. It’s hard to tell on my phone, so I’ll have a look on my iMac later, but it might add to the overall image, rather than detract. In the portrait, you can see the same lighter band above the hills in the distance, again matching the direction of the hills as they go towards the water.
i like you nigel, your down to earth and honest about your journey to where you are now. there are a lot of people who watch videos on you tube and think that every pro photographer turns up some place take one shot and its perfect but we all know thats not the case although i think we all get that lucky shot at some point. im glad i subscribed to your channel. i like going to cornwall as there are so many places down there and with the change in seasons and weather every visit is different even high and low tides make a huge difference
A short video but very telling and thought provoking. We don't like to look at our disappointing efforts and yet we all know that we will learn more from them if we just think how they could have been improved.
You cracked it right at the end of your video....its what's between your ears that counts.....thank you for sharing your thoughts on photography with us.....
This is good. I do feel like I've improved over the last few years specifically because I consider "how could I have made a better image" and I never blame the weather or anything external, I think, "where should I have stood, crouched or climbed" to have made a better composition? What setting SHOULD I have used. I love watching photographers on You Tube. I learn so much. I'm not a landscape photographer, more of a documentary photographer, but I still learn from videos like this, also Simon Baxter here on You Tube. Love watching Jared Polin's image critiques, Fstoppers, SLRLounge etc. So inspiring, to see beyond the surface.
Happy New Year Nigel! Thank you for your advice! I’m now looking over my images and seeing how to improve my compositions. Thank you for making this wonderful video!
Seeing that first beach photo gave me inspiration. I live in Michigan, USA, where this time of year is hard for me to have the motivation to get out. But that beach looks a lot like our beaches, and it just makes me want to get back out and try again.
An old rule for taking photos like this one is to have a clear subject. A lone tree, weathered and decaying structure, large rock, clump of flowers, person, animal, or any other object. There needs to be something for the viewer's eye to center on. You were trying to do this with the trail, but it does not stand out enough to accomplish the goal. The frustration with shooting landscapes is there's rarely anything in the frame that accomplishes this. The best shot I saw was video of you walking in the tall grass. The simple truth is while a scene can be very pleasing to the naked eye, it just doesn't work when photographed. It's why great landscape photos are so appealing. They are difficult to find, but really stand out when discovered and captured properly.
Thanks for the video - really usable. I hadn't seen the value of allowing some movement in the grass, but you're right! I was at Formby too on Thursday, though the wind kept me off the beach. If (when) you revisit, have a look in the woods too - the trees grow out of dunes, which gives an interesting hummocky effect.
For This year i'm trying to get a good landscape/nature photo every month. And reviewing my photo's and what i could do better are a good way to achieve this.
great video as usual. thank you for sharing your experience with us and looking forward to learn how to mimic your editing style... I use darktable though.
Looking forward to what happens on another trip to Formby. I like the idea of looking at what is good and bad in the images and trying to improve. And, if possible, going back to the site to take more photos. Great quote from Ansel Adams, true in many areas not just photography.
Great video Nigel. I was complaining to myself about the people in your shot there in the middle of the video but ya know what, that single person alone on the beach I think added something to the video...
This is a great point, due to time constraints I set myself a rule of not travelling more than 10-15mins away from home so 1) I spend more timing shooting as less travelling 2) have to visit the same places over and over. This taught me this point - so many shots I would never have captured and it makes you look in some unusual places. Would be great to see your best shot from within 5/10mins of your home.
Funnily enough, I've been thinking along similar lines just this last week. I made a list of everywhere I have scouted out for (wildlife) photography and made notes on each- to make sure that I wasn't discounting any locations prematurely, and to encourage me to go back to some. Anything to encourage me to be more organised is a good thing! Thanks for sharing this video. Hannah
The shot at 9:10 suffers a bit from the extreme wide angle foreground problem. If you crop about 1/4 from the bottom of the frame away, that problem is solved and the picture tells another story. I tried it with a screen capture from that picture. On my 4K display, I got a 2000 pixel high image inside the white border for starters and I cropped exactly 500 pixels away from its height. Try it. Now put a hiker and a dog in it in the foreground on the beach.
Wow! What a beautiful place to photograph. I rather like the landscape version and felt the trees added a bit of an anchor to the image and another interesting layer. Love to here a video on seeing light in relationship to photography. I think it's an interesting subject and a learned skill. Thanks Nigel, always enjoy your videos.
I seem to do things on what you say is good. You do have to put the extra effert in to hopefully improve, i don't find it an effert though , because i love it. Although i think of myself as a beginner with promise . But its up to others to decide weather i have any ability or not.
I started photography few months ago and I feel like my biggest issue is the ability to judge whether a picture is good or not.Therefore I always go on reddit like r/photocritique to ask others to judge my picture and I've learnt alot from there.
I kind of had an argument with an old friend about process. When you shoot give the camera subtle movements a little up or a little down. To the left and to the right. Even fashion shooters work this way. You should show a sequence of images. Like a 1, 2, 3, 4, then boom hero shot. I do this with food, portrait, landscape. Cause the clients I work with want me to shoot all three especially if I'm shooting editorial.
Considering the limited gear I have , I recon I'm a pretty good photographer .If my main camera body doesn't pack up on me , then the only thing on this years wish list , is an ND 64 filter ( and maybe , MAYBE , a rain hood ) .
I'm just an average amateur photographer, being outdoors is what I enjoy the most be it with the camera, running or Mountain biking! Nice video Nigel, just wondering if that Portrait shot would look ok with a 1:1 crop.
I was a photographer in the Army doing photojournalism. So the photography subject is different an how you go about getting the shot. I knew if I got a bad shot very rarely did I blame the camera. Only because it would be a glitch with the camera. But 90% of the time the bad shot was because of me. It was because I didn’t take advantage of the the situation. I was just lazy. I placed myself in the wrong spot, but with photojournalism you often don’t have a choice. You take the shot you can get. You also have to know your limitations. But being an artist helps. I draw and paint and did that before I was a photographer. That helped me take great pictures. I could see the picture before talking it. But I still don’t always take a good picture. After I print the photos. I say to myself what was I thinking?
I don't live far from Formby and have been to that location The beach and sand dunes are amazing... but the trees at the side are characterful especially when it's windy.. It might be worth having them on there own in a future composition...? I've tried but I'd love to see how you managed it.. Thanks for your great advice...!!
Hi John - yes they looked great but I wanted to spend my time just on the grasses otherwise I would have ended up doing far too much... But will be back.
Would you ever consider using Photoshop to move the person in your picture and accomplish your envisioned composition? Like the idea and the sea, grass, and sky combination. The grass texture is really rich. Good luck in the New Year.
Did you try the shot in b&w? If you lowered the exposure on the sky and water and did some dodge and burn on the grass, just might be worth a try. All the best for the New Year!
I recognize your struggle to improve your photography! I think there are two qualities to an image: technical quality and image quality. Depending on who you are your skills are probably more on one side than the other. For myself I was born with more technical skills (I am an engineer) and have easily understood technical qualities in images like exposure, shutter times, sharpness etc. I used to do black and white processing and also processed my Ektachromes with the E6 process at home. 15 years ago I bought my first digital camera, a Nikon D70. After a while I understood that my images weren't very good! I did some reading and understood that the image quality of my photos wasn't any good. I have since then been working on mainly improving my image quality skills. I try not to solve my problems with new gear unless I really have a technical problem. I think the important thing for improvement, as you suggest, is to have a process for identifying what is bad and improve it!
Good educational video! What type of lighting do you use? It looks like, particularly in your cabin studio, that you have window light (or maybe it is window light).
Nigel we have a tendency to under rate ourself a bit . You’re not only a good photographer but an outstanding photographer with the ability to communicate the skills and knowledge to help others to become a better photographer. I thank you for that. Looking forward in 2020 to your RUclips adventures. Good health to you and your family in the coming year. Cheers 🍻 Richard
Agreed.
The best photographers I know are also the most humble about their own talents. You fit into that category, Nigel. Thank you for your insights and the example you set for all of us.
Many thanks Nina - too kind.
I love videos like this: 1 important message only. They are not only shorter, but more powerful. Excellent job. Thank you!
Nigel: "This is amazing, what a great start to the year!"
Me: *Holding back tears* It was...wasn't it...
oof
Good video Nigel. My experience on continuous improving is to never start with expectations when going out but always start with a clear and a open mind. Creativity and images is improving when I become more “connected” to a location.
Thanks for sharing!
Thank You. I have went back to a location time and time again and I still haven't got what I wanted. Also I am the same. Loads of new locations and blaming everything but myself. Then two videos, One from you and another from Thomas Heaton thought me to go back time and time again and try and not to give up, slow down, different times and seasons. You have also inspired me to start my own RUclips channel and I know that 2020 should be a woundeful year.
Last year, depression and anxiety with no motivational or goals. This year is already started if BETTER.
Marc Terry Photography do it mate!
@@patrickparisienne1917 I am going to try
Oi mate !! Best of luck :)
Good luck 👏👍👍
I have seen a lot of your videos and none of them have been boring, to me anyway, you have shown me what to do when something is out of place, when I am just not thinking of photography, but that's why I am out there to do and for that I thank you. I know that its not just me.
Happy New Year Nigel! I always learn a lot from your videos and I really appreciate your real and down to earth style and delivery. You're not afraid to talk about your mistakes along the journey and what you've learned from them. That makes your experience even more valuable for struggling photographers like me. Thanks, brother!
Thank you, Nigel. Your way of explaining your thinking when making photos and the tool you use to point to different areas in the photo are so useful for learning. You are one of my favorite RUclips teachers. Thank you!
Finding your videos really interesting and useful because basically everything you talk about can be transferred to drone photography. Keep them coming, thank you!
I too am just an average ameteur photographer, but love the learning process, technically, and artistically. Either way I love capturing the images!
Really appreciate you taking the time to honestly voice your internal thoughts about your work - thoughts no doubt shared by all of us. Great to hear them from you, and broken down. Thanks mate 😊
I love that I can always take away a lesson from your videos. I have been going back to some of the same locations this past year after looking at my photos with a more critical eye. It does help on the return trips. Thanks for helping me improve as a photographer.
I liked the addition of the map as I get to see more of GB without actually going there. So much of your skies and landscapes remind me of New Zealand, you manage to capture scenery that feels wild, and rarely touched which is a nice surprise. Your enthusiasm is catchy.
I am a lazy photographer. I am seldom out of bed when the light is best.
I am with you
But why 😆
the trick is not going to bed before the light is the best ;)
Ditto, the spirit is willing but the body not so much, especially to leave the comfort of a warm bed on an icy morning.
@@moalabs I have stopped on the way home from a midnight shift to take a few pictures
You nailed a subject that we all wish to know MORE about: being a good (or at least better) photographer! Thanks for this video...
This is probably some of the best advice I have heard, and something I will implement into my work going forwards!! Thanks for sharing - I feel like this will really help me.
Damn, that intro hit me a bit :/ What a year it was...
Thank you so much for your content Nigel, we have learned a lot from you!
Hey Nigel! I like the videos when you go in depth describing what works and (even more) what doesn’t work in your compositions. I love seeing the photos and critiquing the photos before I hear your reactions to them and learning more about composition that way.
This video comes for the right time. I am in a phase of my photography - now want to switch from a snapshooter - where I am somehow unsure what to do. I admire your work and feel relived when hearing that you also struggled at the beginning. Thank you for your sincerity!
I've definitely been enjoying the videos from you on the mental processing of good compositions and the evaluations of good images or why one might be slightly lacking. Thank you! All of your videos have been very inspiring.
More of these please! Such great insights. So good to see your thought patterns as you assess your pictures and plan your compositions
Love this simple video. Love the the slight difference of perspectives also vs showing lightening differences. Crazy how much of a difference it makes.
Very helpful video. Especially the point about looking for excuses outside yourself and of course discussing the details of your shots. Will keep you in mind next time!
Nice video, Nigel. It takes a lot if courage to put yourself out there like that, and proclaim yourself as a "Good Photographer." I always tell my students and peers, don't claim that you are a poor photographer, or an amateur photographer. Give your photos the opportunity to speak for themselves.
I loved this video, you're so inspiring. Your thoughts on the images, were very beneficial to my learning. Thank you.
Yes work and awareness matter. Getting informed/expert feed-back does too. Navel-gazing has a tendency to slow us down. It's a good start, thanks. Anything I missed from these 12 mn? I think I even added an extra element that helps improve our photography (external feed-back)... .
Thanks for putting your time in, there are some very valid points made here... thanks Nigel.
Some wise thoughts here, thank you! I have been painting recently from “reference images”. This has freed me up to more drastically alter photographs in post processing, in particular to consider radical crops and big changes in exposure. The result is not generally of publishable quality, but often gives me ideas about what I could do the next time I come to the same place. Radical cropping as a scouting tool helps a lot in beach scenes in cloudy weather. With low bushes or beach grass, a wide angle scene usually has flat lighting. However, at the size scale of the plants, there are many compositions with more dramatic lighting.
Nigel.....Your humbleness and honesty are commendable and a good part of why I subscribe and have recommended subscriptions to fellow photographers. That and the quality of your content and production has me looking forward each week to your latest RUclips Video. With all of that said......I and I am sure others will say....we all have seen your photography and video production consistently improve over time, and I like to think you have helped me also improve. Thank You Friend.
As always, thanks for a great video - always look forward to seeing them
Thanks so much, Nigel, for sharing with us your wisdom which is clearly developing; & is flavoured with depth, honesty & humility. I look forward to pondering your words in every video.
Thanks a lot Robert
Good to be reminded of this. I am still a bad photographer, but it does not stop me from trying. When I review my photos I first ask myself does this further me telling a story (of a trip or event). If so, I put it in a sequence/slideshow with occasional text. Only those photos I go on to steps like you described.
Revisiting local locations is something I do quite alot, and I mostly manage to find something new. Luckily I live quite near to the Copper coast in Ireland and as you know coastal scences are constantly changing.
Nice and interesting video Nigel! I think the learning process never stops. I have improved my understanding of what's good and what's wrong in an image in the last year following your videos. Thanks for creating such great contents!
I love how open you are about your process. Great video!
Happy new year Nigel!!! And a new year with you, I will enjoy it!!!
Fabulous job with your audio in these opening conditions. Impressive.
I like how the scene looks so normal and boring in the video but so nice in the photo, of course because of that you could find a perfect composition.
Sometimes I ask myself what is the point of shooting famous places where you can find thousands of photos of them and all of them look identical and you can't even tell which photographer took which photo, I really hate the copy and paste.
Whereas going to a boring scene which a normal photographer wouldn't ever think about making a good photo in it, and search for a good composition and end up with a perfect photo, this is the real challenge which a lot a lot of photographers try to avoid because in the most cases they fail.
whereas it's somewhat easy to take an amazing photo of an amazing place !
Your comment is spot on and it reminds me of one of my favorite photography quotes: “To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” - Elliott Erwitt
I agree! I love the challenge of making an ordinary place look extraordinary. However, I also love the challenge of shooting extraordinary places in ways nobody has thought to shoot before, giving people a whole new perspective on it!
@@nicknichols4249 Oh thanks a lot 😅🙏
@@abbipaints450 I can also agree that is even a biggest challenge, because you already have an idea how all of them take the photo, so find a new different way is totally hard.
Yes indeed. I've experienced it first hand... watching friends end up with nothing because they're looking for something that has already gone, while I catch a moment nobody expected. Not that I'm especially good, just they never saw what I saw because their heads were full of what everyone else saw.
Egad,the image with the person is stunning. I hear what you say about balance and the position of the person, but it works for this viewer!
You have really inspired me to work hard on my photography, and improve upon my skills. I've learned a lot from you..
I'm thinking to use only a single lens, a 50mm prime and work on my composition, going to the same location in different light conditions and shoot as if I'm shooting on a film camera.
A very helpful and timely new year video, Nigel, thanks and best wishes for a successful 2020!
Great video Nigel. There is one element in both images you didn’t mention, but is more noticeable in the landscape image. Above the trees to the right, you thought might be a distraction, is a line of lighter (white) cloud sky, which mirrors the direction of the line of treetops. It’s hard to tell on my phone, so I’ll have a look on my iMac later, but it might add to the overall image, rather than detract. In the portrait, you can see the same lighter band above the hills in the distance, again matching the direction of the hills as they go towards the water.
i like you nigel, your down to earth and honest about your journey to where you are now. there are a lot of people who watch videos on you tube and think that every pro photographer turns up some place take one shot and its perfect but we all know thats not the case although i think we all get that lucky shot at some point. im glad i subscribed to your channel. i like going to cornwall as there are so many places down there and with the change in seasons and weather every visit is different even high and low tides make a huge difference
A short video but very telling and thought provoking. We don't like to look at our disappointing efforts and yet we all know that we will learn more from them if we just think how they could have been improved.
Thank You for taking us along.
Thank you sooooo much for the map!! I like knowing where you are taking photos.
Great video and insight. Thanks for showing those photos and your thought process.
I never blame my gear, I always think... Nigel would have found a great image here! I wonder what he would have found here.
Very kind - I often don't find an image though!
Nigel Danson as a young photographer I find you videos so encouraging and informative and your attitude is refreshing! Keep them coming!
I blamed my gear for years. And then I passed by a mirror...
You cracked it right at the end of your video....its what's between your ears that counts.....thank you for sharing your thoughts on photography with us.....
This is good. I do feel like I've improved over the last few years specifically because I consider "how could I have made a better image" and I never blame the weather or anything external, I think, "where should I have stood, crouched or climbed" to have made a better composition? What setting SHOULD I have used. I love watching photographers on You Tube. I learn so much. I'm not a landscape photographer, more of a documentary photographer, but I still learn from videos like this, also Simon Baxter here on You Tube. Love watching Jared Polin's image critiques, Fstoppers, SLRLounge etc. So inspiring, to see beyond the surface.
Happy New Year Nigel! Thank you for your advice! I’m now looking over my images and seeing how to improve my compositions.
Thank you for making this wonderful video!
Seeing that first beach photo gave me inspiration. I live in Michigan, USA, where this time of year is hard for me to have the motivation to get out. But that beach looks a lot like our beaches, and it just makes me want to get back out and try again.
I really struggle with my local beach. But you make it look effortless. Still new to photography but I found this really helpful. Thanks
Thanks Adam - good luck next time.
mate that image is so lovely, epic shot, I love it
WOW! 1/3"...must have had to wait a while for the still grass. TY!
...never mind...you sought out less clarity as I went further in the vid...well done
An old rule for taking photos like this one is to have a clear subject. A lone tree, weathered and decaying structure, large rock, clump of flowers, person, animal, or any other object. There needs to be something for the viewer's eye to center on. You were trying to do this with the trail, but it does not stand out enough to accomplish the goal. The frustration with shooting landscapes is there's rarely anything in the frame that accomplishes this. The best shot I saw was video of you walking in the tall grass. The simple truth is while a scene can be very pleasing to the naked eye, it just doesn't work when photographed. It's why great landscape photos are so appealing. They are difficult to find, but really stand out when discovered and captured properly.
Thanks for the video - really usable. I hadn't seen the value of allowing some movement in the grass, but you're right!
I was at Formby too on Thursday, though the wind kept me off the beach. If (when) you revisit, have a look in the woods too - the trees grow out of dunes, which gives an interesting hummocky effect.
Love your insight... so much love your thought process... have a beautiful week!!
It's a never ending process to learn I enjoy that even with the age of 65 years have a nice Sunday Nigel
For This year i'm trying to get a good landscape/nature photo every month. And reviewing my photo's and what i could do better are a good way to achieve this.
Excellent thoughts...thanks!
great video as usual. thank you for sharing your experience with us and looking forward to learn how to mimic your editing style... I use darktable though.
Great lesson !!
Looking forward to what happens on another trip to Formby. I like the idea of looking at what is good and bad in the images and trying to improve. And, if possible, going back to the site to take more photos.
Great quote from Ansel Adams, true in many areas not just photography.
Great video Nigel. I was complaining to myself about the people in your shot there in the middle of the video but ya know what, that single person alone on the beach I think added something to the video...
Great video Nigel thanks for sharing.
This is a great point, due to time constraints I set myself a rule of not travelling more than 10-15mins away from home so 1) I spend more timing shooting as less travelling 2) have to visit the same places over and over. This taught me this point - so many shots I would never have captured and it makes you look in some unusual places. Would be great to see your best shot from within 5/10mins of your home.
Funnily enough, I've been thinking along similar lines just this last week. I made a list of everywhere I have scouted out for (wildlife) photography and made notes on each- to make sure that I wasn't discounting any locations prematurely, and to encourage me to go back to some. Anything to encourage me to be more organised is a good thing! Thanks for sharing this video. Hannah
Good video, I actually really liked the simplicity of the 1st portrait image.
Sick first comment ty for an awesome and insightful video brother keep up the good work hope your 2020 brings many blessings
I've got lots of "boring" beaches like this near me. Gotta shoot more of them!
Very inspiring, thanks for sharing these thoughts!
The shot at 9:10 suffers a bit from the extreme wide angle foreground problem. If you crop about 1/4 from the bottom of the frame away, that problem is solved and the picture tells another story. I tried it with a screen capture from that picture. On my 4K display, I got a 2000 pixel high image inside the white border for starters and I cropped exactly 500 pixels away from its height. Try it. Now put a hiker and a dog in it in the foreground on the beach.
Happy new yeeear!!! and thank you a LOT for everything you share!
Wow! What a beautiful place to photograph. I rather like the landscape version and felt the trees added a bit of an anchor to the image and another interesting layer. Love to here a video on seeing light in relationship to photography. I think it's an interesting subject and a learned skill. Thanks Nigel, always enjoy your videos.
I seem to do things on what you say is good. You do have to put the extra effert in to hopefully improve, i don't find it an effert though , because i love it. Although i think of myself as a beginner with promise . But its up to others to decide weather i have any ability or not.
You inspire me and I love your photography!
Thanks Lucia
I started photography few months ago and I feel like my biggest issue is the ability to judge whether a picture is good or not.Therefore I always go on reddit like r/photocritique to ask others to judge my picture and I've learnt alot from there.
A good, strong message for all of us there, well done Nigel, see you next time Del.
That edit on the title screen made me feel like I was angrily narrowing my eyes at "The difference between good and bad photographers".
I kind of had an argument with an old friend about process. When you shoot give the camera subtle movements a little up or a little down. To the left and to the right. Even fashion shooters work this way. You should show a sequence of images. Like a 1, 2, 3, 4, then boom hero shot. I do this with food, portrait, landscape. Cause the clients I work with want me to shoot all three especially if I'm shooting editorial.
Always great to watch your vlogs
Thanks Nigel, a really helpful video, definitely food for thought.
Considering the limited gear I have , I recon I'm a pretty good photographer .If my main camera body doesn't pack up on me , then the only thing on this years wish list , is an ND 64 filter ( and maybe , MAYBE , a rain hood ) .
I'm just an average amateur photographer, being outdoors is what I enjoy the most be it with the camera, running or Mountain biking! Nice video Nigel, just wondering if that Portrait shot would look ok with a 1:1 crop.
Thanks - I think it needs more than a crop (ha)
Looking forwarded to your painterly edit!
Happy New year Nigel
I was out at the beach today funny enough,i had a go with my first black & whites,nice day but cold,really enjoyed it though
Awesome - hope you got some great shots.
Great video..thank you!
Your work is amazing. This year, I want to get out and shoot more landscapes.
I was a photographer in the Army doing photojournalism. So the photography subject is different an how you go about getting the shot. I knew if I got a bad shot very rarely did I blame the camera. Only because it would be a glitch with the camera. But 90% of the time the bad shot was because of me. It was because I didn’t take advantage of the the situation. I was just lazy. I placed myself in the wrong spot, but with photojournalism you often don’t have a choice. You take the shot you can get. You also have to know your limitations. But being an artist helps. I draw and paint and did that before I was a photographer. That helped me take great pictures. I could see the picture before talking it. But I still don’t always take a good picture. After I print the photos. I say to myself what was I thinking?
I don't live far from Formby and have been to that location The beach and sand dunes are amazing... but the trees at the side are characterful especially when it's windy.. It might be worth having them on there own in a future composition...? I've tried but I'd love to see how you managed it.. Thanks for your great advice...!!
Hi John - yes they looked great but I wanted to spend my time just on the grasses otherwise I would have ended up doing far too much... But will be back.
@@NigelDanson look forward to seeing what manage to achieve..!
YOU USED MY FAVORITE FONT YAY
Would you ever consider using Photoshop to move the person in your picture and accomplish your envisioned composition? Like the idea and the sea, grass, and sky combination. The grass texture is really rich. Good luck in the New Year.
No - I would never do that. To me it has to happen. Called me old fashioned.
Did you try the shot in b&w? If you lowered the exposure on the sky and water and did some dodge and burn on the grass, just might be worth a try. All the best for the New Year!
I recognize your struggle to improve your photography!
I think there are two qualities to an image: technical quality and image quality. Depending on who you are your skills are probably more on one side than the other. For myself I was born with more technical skills (I am an engineer) and have easily understood technical qualities in images like exposure, shutter times, sharpness etc. I used to do black and white processing and also processed my Ektachromes with the E6 process at home. 15 years ago I bought my first digital camera, a Nikon D70. After a while I understood that my images weren't very good! I did some reading and understood that the image quality of my photos wasn't any good. I have since then been working on mainly improving my image quality skills. I try not to solve my problems with new gear unless I really have a technical problem.
I think the important thing for improvement, as you suggest, is to have a process for identifying what is bad and improve it!
Great video, and great message (revisiting photos, and revisiting the location!!). I think Ansel was bragging a bit at the end though - don’t you?😉🙊
It's quite an interesting location Formby Beach actually. Bleak, flat and windy at a first glance, but there is magic there.
Good educational video! What type of lighting do you use? It looks like, particularly in your cabin studio, that you have window light (or maybe it is window light).