Photography News Issue 40

Photography News | Issue 40 | absolutephoto.com

Technique Going for cold Winter landscapes can offer some amazing views, even if you’re not blessed with snow and ice, but in terms of technique, it’s more about adapting to the conditions and staying safe and comfortable, than altering the way you shoot...

Words by Kingsley Singleton Pictures by Various

You inch open your front door a crack and freezing air rushes into the house. It’s like a slap in the face; like the winter weather is actually trying to push you back indoors and back to your warm and cosy bed. It’s pitch-black out there, and the dawn is still hours away. It takes five minutes just to scrape the ice off your car and climbing in is as comforting as sitting in a fridge. So why do it? Why are winter mornings so beloved by landscape photographers? “The first time I climbed Helvellyn in the winter,” says John Gravett, a professional landscape photographer and photographic tutor, “I set off in the dark, and as I climbed, I was walking through thick cloud. Sunrise was just a non-event; but then the clouds cleared, leaving me with a wonderful view across a cloud inversion and a very rare Brocken spectre. I think that was the time I fell in love with shooting in the winter.” A Brocken spectre is a trick of the light and cloud, which affects depth perception,

making the observer’s shadow appear hugely magnified as it’s cast against mist below your position. With the sun at your back to cause the shadow, diffraction adds mesmerising rainbows around the shape. It’s a rare, beautiful event that needs just the right conditions to appear; but most importantly, it needs you to be there – no one has ever seen a Brocken spectre while putting their alarm clock on snooze. In fact, this is true of any great winter landscape; blanketed in white or glittering with frost, it takes a genuine effort to get out into it. But do it – actually take charge of your photography – and the rewards are sure to pay off ten-fold. John, who has been teaching landscape photography workshops for almost 20 years via Lakeland Photographic Holidays has also written multiple books and articles on the subject, so he’s perfectly placed to offer insights on the subject of winter shooting. His LakeDistrict home is also surroundedby some

of the UK’s most compelling winter scenery (well, to be fair, that’s true in any season). According to John, the reasons for making that extra effort go on and on, from the dynamic winter weather to the solitude that those conditions can allow. “I’ve been stood at the top of Skiddaw in a 70mph wind, being buffeted yet getting wonderful, dramatic images of the clouds, or up Grisedale Pike, where the clouds and the snow merged into one in the middle distance. Seeing a snow- covered dry stone wall disappearing into the murk encapsulated the feeling of total solitude. Equally wonderful is to stand next to a lake, with ice patterns at its margins, and enjoy the wonderfully clear light.” John adds that winter walking is actually a big part of the enjoyment, too; “there is far more effort to the trekking, especially when you’re going high. Carrying crampons, an ice axe, clothing and your camera gear... At the end of any day in the winter, it can leave you feeling worn out – but totally exhilarated.”

Above Make the effort to rise early in winter and, thanks to the later sunrise, you can witness and shoot some amazing things. John Gravett, of Lakeland Photographic Holidays, recalls mornings of stunning cloud inversions on the high fells, and seeing his own shadow as a ‘Brocken spectre’.