The hard yards of landscape photography

The winning images of a national photography competition or a high price sale of a landscape print, is normally the cue for a frenzy of articles, online discussion and given time the question is asked "What is landscape photography?" November witnessed the annual results of a UK landscape photography competition and the news of a world record image sale. It is fair to say that there was some 'heated' discussion as metaphorical lines were drawn in the sand and views became decidedly polarised.

So, who were the people engaged in publicly discussing what is and isn't landscape photography? It is said that the camera is a window to the photographers soul and curious soul that I am, I wondered what landscapes appeal to those involved in the discussions. Tellingly, there is an imbalance in these discussions. There appears minimal engagement from landscape photographers whose image galleries/portfolios suggest a map was needed and are not averse to traversing the land at very unsociable hours, in all weather and seasons. Those more active in opining what is and isn't landscape photography, show compelling evidence in their landscape image galleries/portfolios that a satnav was relied on in guiding them to their landscape, showed an aversion to losing sight of the car and were more inspired to make images in fair weather. To my mind they are undoubtedly landscape photographers, technically proficient, passionate about the landscape and more than entitled to their view, it is a pity that too many seemed to settle consistently for easy endeavour.

 An American president went some, but not all, of the way of answering for me, What Landscape Photography is, in describing the endeavour of a Landscape photographer in the Field.

'It is not the critic who counts; not the critic who points out how the composition stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the photographer who is actually out in the field, whose boots are stained by mud and scuffed on rock, face marred by sweat, sleet and wind and head torch band; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to make atmospheric images; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends their self in the worthy cause of storm lighting and dawn colour; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if they fail, at least fails while daring greatly, so that their place shall never be with those cold and timid souls on tripod holed ground, who neither know victory nor defeat.'

Winter light and colour

This post covers two excursions to the Brecon Beacons National Park and locations avoiding the high winds and gusts to gale force intensity, the sheltered lee side of scarps/hill sides.

The first trip was an afternoon excursion to the eastern flank of Y Mynydd Du, to coincide with the departure of a weather front and the relative shelter of the Old Red Sandstone escarpment. Anomalously high Autumn temperatures - well into winter and grass was still holding a green tinge of growth - and an absence of frosts, hadn't brought the rich palette of colour to the upland sedges and grasses, the cold spell over the festive season might have rectified this.  This area also encapsulates the headwaters of the Afon Tawe and the lake Llyn y Fan Fawr, it is fair to suggest there's no shortage of moisture and recent heavy rainfall had left the ground saturated with surface water streaming down the hill, streams in torrential flow and below ground the natural soil pipes were revealed with water flowing into normally dry gulleys.

The moorland also has a number of eroding peat hags, an increasing UK wide phenomena that is causing some debate as to the cause, in environmental and earth science circles

Eroding Peat hag

The erosion of preat hags does reveal a ground surface covered in rock debris, much of it angular in nature and probably a relict land surface from the the end of the last glacial stadial 11,500+ years BP when this area would have resembled arctic tundra.

Rock debris revealed by eroding Peat.

On the theme of controversy and Ice age landforms, Llyn y Fan Fawr has prompted some discussion of its origin, an active glacier is the popular consensus, there are alternative views though.

View to Llyn Y Fan Fawr and present outlet stream (not visible)

I can't find any references, but the moorland does seem to have a suite of landforms arraigned normal to the down valley glacier ice flow.

There's also a scatter of erratics, that might be from winnowed moraine or till and on the western flank of Fan Gyhirych a series of lineations that are discordant to the southerly dipping bedrock, these have been postulated as glacial lineations.

Fan Gyhirych glacial(?) lineations

With the wind easing, I ventured up onto the escarpment for a look around. On the way up, the path  exposed these mudstone, siltstone and sandstone beds, that nicely sum up the composition of the Brownstones formation.

Sandstone, siltone and mudstone beds, of the Old Red Devonian, Brownstones formation.

The wind was still on the strong side, so only Fan Hir was visited for a view over to Fforest Fawr and with ominous cloud rolling in from the west it was back to the car.

View from Fan Hir

On the way down, a stop to record the infant Afon Tawe flowing through soliflucted sheets of glacial till.

Infant Afon Tawe

The 2nd trip was an afternoon excursion too, the morning wasn't the best and the Mountain Weather Forecast hinted strongly that even with a weather front clearing, walking at elevated and exposed routes would be challenging, so keeping the tripod steady seemed optimistic for dusk, more interesting was the forecast of sunshine and snow showers.  The car parks for popular low level walks would be full, so the National Nature Reserve of Craig Cerrig Gleisiad and Fan Frynach, seemed the best bet for quiet and some views. The National Nature reserve has a lot to offer from a geomorphology and flora perspective, I'll hope to cover these aspects in future posts/visits, as the images on this trip were of the views. I'll add that the Mountain weather forecast was spot on.

Cadair Arthur

I've always known the peaks of Corn Du and Pen y Fan as Cadair Arthur, but this name seems to have fallen from favour in recent times. A pity, as viewed from the NE the twin summits do appear arm chair like, the connection with Arthur I have no idea, but there's a thread of Arthurian folklore in the Brecon Beacons NP.

Breaks in the cloud were few and the showers were light in intensity, the final image, just caught some light before the sun dropped below the hills.

The National Nature Reserve makes for an interesting outing with plenty to see and varied routes at high and low levels.

Plan C and a fallible technique

My better 1/2 decided that she too would accompany me on a dawn foray! What precipitated this outbreak of female enthusiasm, was the weather forecast which promised - light winds, temperature inversion, frost, valley fog/mist patches, sunshine etc, with the proviso of cloud and rain spreading onto the Brecon Beacons NP from the SE by late morning. Negotiations then ensued which established there were some conditions i.e No long walks in head torch light, the location should also minimise walking, the location should minimise travel and maximise sleep …   I explained that with sunrise at 08.20'sh, somewhere on the moorland on Mynydd Llangynidr would minimise walk time from the car to a decent viewpoint and Mynydd Llangynidr was the one of the closer options for the Brecon Beacons NP, so a plan was hatched, we will call this Plan A. 

Setting out later than expected, she wasn't going to be hurried and there was no little indecision about what to wear, which meant repacking and changing for conditions that wouldn't be of arctic severity. The car journey suggested that low cloud was already well on its way and there were fog/mist patches, which slowed travel down. I muted an option of Plan B a quick drive up to the Blorenge, mostly to see if the Black Mountain were clear and assess how thick the cloud layer was, oh and catch the sunrise colour. I was informed that we had visited this locale a few weeks before and told to stick to Plan A. Pity, as a break in the fog/mist revealed broken cloud with that tinge of magenta. As so often of late, Plan A utterly unravelled as the cloud/fog was extensive on the Heads of the Valleys Road and the mountain road barrier at Trefil was shut and locked. Plan B was needed - Table Mountain above Crickhowell was considered and rejected in view of the incoming cloud. Plan C - get somewhere high enough and as far away from the incoming low level cloud as possible. 

Dropping down into the Usk Valley from Cwm Onnau and the Black Mountains were clear of cloud, some patchy valley mist in the Rhiangol valley, a high layer of broken cloud was overhead and the sun was shining. So,  Mynydd Troed an outlier of the Black Mountains would be Plan C. 

Views from the North side of Mynydd Troed.

Castle Dinas

Western escarpment of the Black Mountains

Views from the South side of Mynydd Troed 

A wise decision to abandon Plan A 

Valley mist in Cwm Sorgwm

Views over to the Brecon Fans

Cloud streaming up the Usk Valley

My technique was less than satisfactory, as I'd somehow adjusted the Iso setting to a value beyond optimal, though not an unacceptable Iso speed, the error was spotted and readjusted. I'm not sure how this happened, as I thought the camera set up fool proof, hmmm gloves maybe? Worse, in a sequence of long tele photo images, some were 'soft'. The fact that some were sharp, pointed to the tripod technique and I'm opting for a combination of soft ground - 'springy' moss, peat and a stiff breeze as contributory factors, these aren't uncommon ground and wind conditions in uplands and I should have adapted my technique accordingly, mea culpa.

Brecon Fans disappearing

With the wind increasing and pushing the cloud onwards, Mynydd Troed was overwhelmed and with limited visibility a compass bearing taken and followed back to the car. Plan C delivered a great vantage point to witness a weather phenomena and an excursion, albeit cut short, that was thoroughly enjoyable.

Out with the old and in with the new

The festive season and fate dictated that the weather gods smiled broadly on the days I was committed to entertaining family, so no surprises there then.   I did manage two dawn trips to the southern slopes of Fforest Fawr. The 1st promised a scene of snow mantled hills, hoar frosted rocks and moorland, with cold clear air and the ethereal dawn colours of blue and magenta, with the proviso that cloud was moving in by noon as a warm weather front crossed the UK. At an unearthly hour the headtorch revealed much promise, a severe frost coating everything in the Forest of Dean, 2 kettles to clear the frost from the car windscreens. On the way the and full beam headlights revealed hoar frosted trees and grass. Sadly, the weather front c/w cloud, had other ideas, the twinkle of stars disappeared near Abergavenny. Maybe the cloud might break up or the distant horizon would be clear for sunrise?  Nope. 

It was interesting to witness the phenomena of verglas formation unfold, as the incoming warm air melted the hoar frost, which instantly froze, coating rock with ice. I'd always assumed rain falling on sub zero rock as the cause of verglas. 

Hope was sustained, with cloud breaking up to the south east. Alas, the snow/frost thawing on the hills generated a blanket of hill fog and my cunning plan utterly unravelled.  With the hill summits shrouded in fog, the cloud started to break up letting through some sunlight, sigh.

A small positive was the overhead cloud and diffuse light, which presented some photographic interest in the Limestone pavement.

Maidenhair Spleenwort

Lichen and limestone gryke

So, that was it for 2014. Might 2015 deliver a more obliging sunrise over Fforest Fawr?

A new year and a renewed optimism, the Met office mountain weather forecast again wrote of broken cloud, excellent visibility etc. Time to visit to Fforest Fawr again. Deja vu as the car windscreen was de-frosted at an unearthly hour of the night and the Forest of Dean was impressively sparkling in hoar frost. Parking up in Fforest Fawr, the frost had disappeared, whilst getting 'suited and booted' I was conscious of the cold and brisk wind, cloud was moving briskly across the sky and with head torch illuminating the way, I too moved briskly to get warm.

The cloud obscuring where the sun would rise  ...

The view to the SE

Ah well, the sun would clear the cloud eventually. Which it duly did and so the cloud in view cleared too, hmmm.

Suffusion doline, limestone pavement and fast disappearing cloud.

With the cloud absent from both the desired composition and overhead, my spirits dropped a tad. A blank sky, post sunrise, is a depressing sight as 1) it reveals the full misery of a cyan coloured horizon and b) the 'cool' colour imparted to shadows and neutral surfaces. The exposed limestone pavement is neutral grey in colour, great for warm light, not so great for shaded aspects and why overhead cloud is so welcome in colour photography.  

On the plus side, it was a great day for a wander, viewpoints explored and much to ponder on the landforms and topography. Thoughts turned to the afternoon light and a hill to the SE showed some potential. On the way back to the car I spotted this in the grass.

Cordyceps militaris

The Scarlet Caterpillarclub (Cordyceps militaris) a fungus that parasites moth larvae.

The new location demonstrated the stark difference in ease of traversing limestone and sandstone terrain.  I reacquainted myself with the tedium and effort of traversing Molinia dominant moorland on the quartzitic sandstones and from there on, kept to the bracken/nardus terrain instead. In comparison with other areas of the Brecon Beacons NP, the size of the sinkholes through the quartzite sandstone were notable.  Some viewpoints were also found and even some clouds put in an appearance too.

Fforest Fawr view

Where the quartzite bedrock is exposed there are fine examples of glacial striae, polished surfaces, chatter marks etc

Chatter marks and glacial polish, glacial ice movement from left to right.

Incoming sheet cloud from the SW was the sign that sunset would be a non event and time to go home, not a bad day on the hills though.

Why?

The southern slopes of the Black Mountains were visited, again.  Which raises the question - why?  The answer is complex.  This area of the Black Mountains has a suite of landforms which appear to relate to phenomena associated with a very cold climate.  Debris from rock slope failures - possibly paraglacial or seismic in origin - appears extensively modified by periglacial processes. More surprisingly, Table Mountain is also thought to be a landslide, resulting from the down wasting of a valley glacier. Both events are thought to have occurred towards end of the Devensian stadial, but there are also alternative theories, it's an interesting wander and the landform suites possibly relate to a number of climatic events.

There are also the insights along the route, from the impact of farming - Ffridd wall, hedge laying, woodland management and relating the the underlying geology with flora. There is also the intangible pleasure of observing the rich tapestry of nature, viz on this trip; a Red Kite shadowed by two Ravens; a Wren foraging in the block slopes; a Fox crossing a distant field; a field conspicuously littered with Mole hills; Fairy inkcaps in a decaying Oak, berry laden Hawthorns, hill ponies grazing, scat on a prominent boulder - the lichen community reflecting a nutrient rich environment and hinting strongly that this boulder has demarcated an animals territory for a while ...

There's also the benefit of stretching the legs and schlepping the photography kit helps puts some debit in the calorific bank, with the festive season calorific binge looming...

Fairy Inkcaps ~ Leica apo macro elmarit 100/2.8

Leica vario elmar R 21-35mm Asph

Then there's the creative itch to be scratched, making a photograph, especially with the quality of light around the winter solstice, when the sun is at its lowest zenith, with a backdrop of broken cloud, rain showers, sunset and with good fortune, there's real potential for atmosphere. The good fortune is light shining through a break in the cloud illuminating the scene. My fortune on this trip was mixed, well broken cloud on the ascent, the first image captures the last light before a hill spur shadow falls across the boulder lobe. The second image has warm but weak sunlight filtered through cloud, the main sunbeam was slightly higher up the hillside, the cloud was failing to breakup sufficiently over the Brecon Beacon massif to the WSW.

Leica vario elmarit R 28-90 Asph

I thought that was the light gone for this trip, the cloud seemed unbroken to the south west, obscuring the sunset and so made my way back across the block slope, as I wanted to look at possibilities for a dawn scenario. On the way some 'Dog Lichens' (Peltigera membranacea) caught my eye.

Dog Lichens ~ Leica vario elmarit R 28-90 Asph

Sunset was a non event, but the cloud was breaking up to the south and dusk provided a display of red/magenta lighting reflected from and diffused by the clouds, a welcome and unexpected bonus. The wind eased too, which was helpful as exposure times were in the order of 4 to 8 seconds duration in the gloaming light.

 Leica vario elmarit R 28-90 Asph 

 Leica vario elmarit R 28-90 Asph 

The opportunity doesn't arise that often, but it is interesting to make images in the colours of dusk, the human eye doesn't pick up the colours as well as the camera sensor and for this trip it was definitely worth waiting around for.

Showing willing

Two successive trips, both to the same location and both with a forecast of broken cloud and sunshine.

1st trip
The clouds indeed were breaking up, there just wasn't enough cloud and the sky was probably 95% cloud free, which offers the prospect of distinctly uninspiring cool blue shadows and cyan sky.

The cloud breaking up

It's fair to say my inspiration level dimmed a bit and I abandoned the big view for what was on offer on the ground, amongst the boulder lobes.

Lichen community

2nd trip
Was a sky of unbroken cloud, but with blue skies to the West, there was a tantalising prospect of the cloud breaking up or clearing,  towards sunset.  The diffuse light was more suited to studies of the ecology of the upland environ and the Ffridd wall provided some inspiration.

Ophioparma ventosa

Parmelia saxatilis with lichenous fungi

Moss and lichen community

Moving on up onto the open hillside, above the bracken line and into grassland, heavily grazed by hill ponies and sheep, but crucially never improved with fertiliser or ploughed, the ancient nutrient poor soils are a haven for fungi. Surveys of Welsh uplands reveal its international importance for many species of grassland fungi and it's known by ecologists as 'Waxcap grassland'.

Scarlet Waxcaps

Orange Waxcaps

A wander around some impressive landslide debris and then it was time to commence the vigil for sunset and a view across the hillside, over landslide debris (paraglacial), soliflucted boulder lobes and till (periglacial) to the southern outliers of the Black Mountains. By the time the cloud cleared, the sun had already set ... IF the cloud had cleared 20 mins earlier, the foreground would have been awash with the last light of sunset, the retreating cloud sheet would have turned magenta ... on such small margins, sigh.

Blue Hour

The cloud at least presented an opportunity for a 'blue hour' image and then it was on with the head torch and a journey down to the car. A landscape photographer certainly needs a philosophical outlook on weather and observing/photographing the ecology helps to make a trip worthwhile when the weather doesn't play ball.

3 Fine Art Landscape Photography prints sold for $10 Million

Sadly, they weren't mine. The prints were by Fine Art landscape photographer Peter Lik and purchased by an unnamed private collector. One print sold for a world record $6.5M sticker price, the two other prints comparative bargains at $2.4M and $1.1M.  Peter Lik, normally garners a mixed reception from photographer comments online, some of the kinder ones are 'marketing genius' and the negative comments are fairly extensive in breadth and depth of critique. I can confidently predict, the print sale  will generate a fairly lively discussion in the worlds news media, art forums, photography forums, peanut galleries ...

The good news, aside from Peter Lik's healthy bank balance and the announcement a mere fortnight before Xmas never a bad time to raise your profile as a seller, is that it will raise the profile of landscape photography and perhaps somewhere there might be an intelligent discussion on the craft of landscape photography as Fine Art.