I decided now at the end of this year to go through the exercise of defining and selecting my best landscape photos of 2018. I wanted to make the list short so figured on 6 photos and finally ended with 7. I started with a short list of 18 from the 378 film photos I took this year.
The process of whittling the short list down was not too easy. I rejected ones that had imperfect focus, bad film, or were not strictly landscape images.
Here they are in roughly what I think is reverse order leading up to the best.
Here is a video summary of the same photos...
Whernside: Force Gill. (Fuji 690 GSW--Ilford FP4+)
This I took as we hiked up Whernside in Yorkshire. Initially it seemed wrong to feature this waterfall from such a distance with a wide angle lens (65 mm). However on reflection I became really taken with the composition. A conventional photo would have made the waterfall fill the frame substantially. This places it in the broad open country of the Yorkshire Dales.
Llyn Peninsula: (Fuji G617--Kodak Portra 400)
Next is a photo I took in the early morning while camping on the Llyn Peninsula in North Wales. We had a spectacular summer this year and this far north one has to get up early. The scene of the moon setting while the sun rises makes for an interesting photo. It is failed somewhat by the lack of cloud. I was pleased as this was my first outing with a spot meter and the resulting exposure was very accurate.
RSPB Fen Drayton: (Fuji G617--Fuji Velvia 100)
The next photo was taken closer to home at the local RSPB Reserve near Fen Drayton. This was an early photo with my new Fuji G617 camera. Taken on Fuji Velvia it really gives a sense of the water and sky on a nice day in the summer. The reeds warm color is captured as well. The wide format gives a good sense of the flatness here.
Stanley Park Vancouver BC: (Rollieflex 2.8F--Kodak Portra 400)
This I took on my recent trip to visit my son. I think it captures the cold frosty day as well as the warm light of the late afternoon sun.
Reflections RSPB Fen Drayton: (Intrepid 4x5 Mk3--Ilford FP4+)
This was an experimental photograph for me while I was testing out my new Intrepid 4x5 large format camera. I have shot large format on and off for a while with an old MPP MK3 camera. I bought the Intrepid as I saw it was lightweight and would encourage me to go hiking or backpacking with large format. I used the 6x9 rollfilm back for this photo.
I like this photo because it came out unexpectedly well and was extremely difficult to compose and focus. Trying to keep all the water elements in focus with tilts and swings was a real challenge.
Porth Meudwy Wales: (Fuji G617--Kodak Porta 800)
The fog was clearing on this part of the coast as we started our hike. The best photo of the day I really didn`t think it would be when I decided to take it. I felt the day was to foggy but I framed it correctly and the mystery that surrounds the cliff as it merges into the fog is palpable. I also like the strong colors melting into the fog bank. It captures perfectly one of those coastal days of bright intense sun and the stubborn fog. You can purchase a print if this here on my shop.
Gloucester Beech Forest-Early Spring: (Fuji G617--Kodak Portra 800)
Finally my best photo of the year. I don`t think I can recall when I have taken a photo that so reflects what I felt and saw so exactly up to this point. We were in Gloucester hiking with some friends in the early Spring. This beech forest glowed with this intense green of the new growth leaves. This is such fleeting bright green. I knew I must try but these deep forest shots never really work for me. The trees and limbs become and undifferentiated jumble in most photos.
I stopped and metered the scene and there was a family coming up behind me and I knew they would appear on the left of my frame as the came past me on the trail. (They would have been unaware how wide the view from my camera was.) Hurrying is not a route to good photographs but bang there it is.
I managed to balance the left and right sides with the darker edge of the path and the dark evergreen on the right.
You can purchase a print if this here on my shop.
The process of whittling the short list down was not too easy. I rejected ones that had imperfect focus, bad film, or were not strictly landscape images.
Here they are in roughly what I think is reverse order leading up to the best.
Here is a video summary of the same photos...
Whernside: Force Gill. (Fuji 690 GSW--Ilford FP4+)
This I took as we hiked up Whernside in Yorkshire. Initially it seemed wrong to feature this waterfall from such a distance with a wide angle lens (65 mm). However on reflection I became really taken with the composition. A conventional photo would have made the waterfall fill the frame substantially. This places it in the broad open country of the Yorkshire Dales.
Llyn Peninsula: (Fuji G617--Kodak Portra 400)
Next is a photo I took in the early morning while camping on the Llyn Peninsula in North Wales. We had a spectacular summer this year and this far north one has to get up early. The scene of the moon setting while the sun rises makes for an interesting photo. It is failed somewhat by the lack of cloud. I was pleased as this was my first outing with a spot meter and the resulting exposure was very accurate.
RSPB Fen Drayton: (Fuji G617--Fuji Velvia 100)
The next photo was taken closer to home at the local RSPB Reserve near Fen Drayton. This was an early photo with my new Fuji G617 camera. Taken on Fuji Velvia it really gives a sense of the water and sky on a nice day in the summer. The reeds warm color is captured as well. The wide format gives a good sense of the flatness here.
Stanley Park Vancouver BC: (Rollieflex 2.8F--Kodak Portra 400)
This I took on my recent trip to visit my son. I think it captures the cold frosty day as well as the warm light of the late afternoon sun.
Reflections RSPB Fen Drayton: (Intrepid 4x5 Mk3--Ilford FP4+)
This was an experimental photograph for me while I was testing out my new Intrepid 4x5 large format camera. I have shot large format on and off for a while with an old MPP MK3 camera. I bought the Intrepid as I saw it was lightweight and would encourage me to go hiking or backpacking with large format. I used the 6x9 rollfilm back for this photo.
I like this photo because it came out unexpectedly well and was extremely difficult to compose and focus. Trying to keep all the water elements in focus with tilts and swings was a real challenge.
Porth Meudwy Wales: (Fuji G617--Kodak Porta 800)
The fog was clearing on this part of the coast as we started our hike. The best photo of the day I really didn`t think it would be when I decided to take it. I felt the day was to foggy but I framed it correctly and the mystery that surrounds the cliff as it merges into the fog is palpable. I also like the strong colors melting into the fog bank. It captures perfectly one of those coastal days of bright intense sun and the stubborn fog. You can purchase a print if this here on my shop.
Gloucester Beech Forest-Early Spring: (Fuji G617--Kodak Portra 800)
Finally my best photo of the year. I don`t think I can recall when I have taken a photo that so reflects what I felt and saw so exactly up to this point. We were in Gloucester hiking with some friends in the early Spring. This beech forest glowed with this intense green of the new growth leaves. This is such fleeting bright green. I knew I must try but these deep forest shots never really work for me. The trees and limbs become and undifferentiated jumble in most photos.
I stopped and metered the scene and there was a family coming up behind me and I knew they would appear on the left of my frame as the came past me on the trail. (They would have been unaware how wide the view from my camera was.) Hurrying is not a route to good photographs but bang there it is.
I managed to balance the left and right sides with the darker edge of the path and the dark evergreen on the right.
You can purchase a print if this here on my shop.
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