Normal practice is for landscape images to be shot in the Golden Hour, associated with daybreak or sunset, which provides a glowing ambience due to sunlight being redder and softer at these times. Quite often the darker shadows and harsher contrast of the middle of the day is purposely avoided as are episodes of rain.

There may be truth in these judgements but there are also times when the weather is changeable that should not be overlooked. To my mind changing conditions provide the opportunity to add drama to photography and I am consciously looking for these occasions to include more variety into my work.

This is not to say the Golden Hour should be avoided, as I recognise the inherent qualities of such images, I also want to include images taken in variable conditions which have alternative high quality. I hope that my portfolio images reflect what I have been trying to achieve, producing a broader based result. Of course, there are aspects of the “variable” approach that need to be taken into account, not least the likelihood that changing conditions may deteriorate to such an extent that a shoot has to be abandoned. In this case my philosophy is “if you don’t go, you won’t know”. Also, reaction to changing conditions has to be quick-acting to avoid a fleeting glimpse being all that is obtained.

I think I have produced a representative collection of my 2019-2020 work, that I hope will provide food for thought.