Subscribe to my Simple Photography Tips

Not a simple photography tip as such, an announcement that I'm off blogging for a month while I head for the hills of northern Spain - taking a photography break in both senses of the word. Taking some images for some commercial friends like Cicerone Press, Aku and Leki

There are moments on a walk when the route ahead seems to disappear. From where we stand, the path is unclear. It bends behind rocks, appears to be swallowed by the landscape. We can see enough to know that there is a way forward, but not enough to understand the whole route. To me that expresses much about life.

The light and the angles and the clarity to the hills of Martin Down in Wiltshire, UK, called for some time spent looking and sharing some thoughts about the composition tips and the effects of foreground on the background.

There is a growing body of research suggesting that singing can have real benefits for mental wellbeing. Singing uses the breath, the body, attention and emotion all at once. It can steady breathing, lift mood, reduce stress and help people feel more connected, particularly when singing with others.

With Image One, I was down low, with my phone camera upside down to get the lens at a 'snail-height. I checked the image, everything was in focus, mind, body, and shell, but not the eye stalk with the little beady at the tip.

This image, taken on a photo-journal trip in the Ionian Sea, can be read many ways. For me, the suggestion is that time at anchor is not wasted. Planning the route ahead when you're not having the demands of life interfering with every thought, is a place of wisdom.

There was a moment in the cooking where quite a lot of moisture was rising from the mix. It provides a good illustration of one of the hazards of photographing food, but also the same thing can be a benefit.

Here's the challenge - it's time to look afresh, eyes and heart combined. Don't make excuses, it takes two to make relationship, and you can start by making your heart pay attention, and be generous in the doing.

We often believe we are seeing clearly, when in truth we are seeing by the light we have chosen, inherited, or failed to question. That is true in photography. It is also true in how we see people.

Image One is taken looking directly down, but with the shop lighting coming in from the top of image. What I'd point out is, that with translucent items like this worn glass, the light passes through them, so each 'pebble' contains 'inherent' light of it's own which is what gives them the beautiful nature combined with texture.

Let your eyes search the still dark areas to the left middle, the writhing water of the foreground slipping into the fast moving runnel that carries your eye back towards the sun. Within a short while the mist will be gone, and you will see other things - but for now, love the moment

Seek to remove the horizon - it does things to the brain when you do. You Start to look for shape, and balance. Rowers and kayakers stop being athletes for a moment. They become lines, spacing and rhythm across the water.

Notice details of trees, moss on logs, or rocks, the way a wave surges back leaving a mist in the air. The light that shines through a hole in the cloud in the distance. Instead of concentrating only on the subject, notice the space between you and it. Notice how distance changes things. Contrast softens. Colours fade. Shapes simplify - either blending, or becoming more defined.

The light changes minute by minute during dusk. A sky that feels dull can become rich blue ten minutes later. Artificial lighting strengthens as the winter evening progresses. Stand still, watch the light change, and let the scene reveal itself before taking the photograph.

We were high in the Pyrenees, having risen early to avoid the heat as we climbed towards the col, leaving Spain behind us. In the distance stood Vignemale, the highest peak in the French Pyrenees at 3,298 metres. I found myself transfixed. Ridge after ridge dissolved gently into blue. It is an effect I have always loved.

With Image Two, I've changed the angle slightly, and cropped in enough to exclude the candlestick. The brain is now much more focused than previously, when it may have been rather distracted. Because of the background I didn't lower the camera angle, or there would have been too much extraneous junk in the background, and the artificial light, in the form of a spotlight, would have caught the surface of the lens and caused undesirable internal reflections leading to flare

Most of us were taught we have five senses. In reality, we also have senses that help us read our body, movement, and internal state. Sunrise and sunset are perfect moments to practise them, because the world slows down enough for you to feel what is usually drowned out.