Outdoor Photography

When Morag met Valda

With a mutual admiration for one another’s work, Morag Paterson and Valda Bailey decided

to meet up at West Wittering and see what would happen when they both got into ‘the zone’

Morag says:

I have long admired Valda’s creative abstract photography and thought

it would be great to meet up and head out for a shoot together to see

what happened. Responsive and reactive interactions underpin my work,

so it seemed fi tting that there was no remit or framework for what we were

about to undertake: we would simply spend a few hours on West Wittering

beach (chosen because I was in Hampshire and Valda was travelling

from Sussex) and let things unfold.

It can take a while to get inspired at a location, whatever the

circumstances, so the day commenced with a stimulating chat. After

that I did my usual wander about, grabbing photographs of this and

that while I waited for a feeling of real engagement to manifest,

carefully watching how the camera was reacting to the light and

what possibilities it might aff ord.

The images we came away with illustrate the mental processes of each

of us as our paths crossed and uncrossed over 30m or so of shoreline on an

average September day. The day was rounded off by a deliciously relaxing

walk; cameras present, but unused.

Valda says:

When Morag contacted me suggesting a photographic and conversational

meander, I jumped at the chance. I have long been an admirer of her

work, so the opportunity to spend a few untroubled hours ambling and

nattering, taking a few photos, drinking some coff ee, then ambling some

more appealed enormously.

We washed up on a cool and breezy morning in the dying days of

summer at a somewhat forlorn café in West Wittering. Our objective was

not entirely clear, beyond a photographic perambulation recording – or

at least retaining – the myriad thoughts (some fl eeting, some a little more

durable) that circumnavigate the brain when a creative soul enters ‘the

zone’ and begins to do its thing.

Unlike many traditional landscape photographers I tend not to involve

myself in pre-visualisation, visualisation or any other variation thereof.

My spontaneous approach is dictated not only by the unpredictability

of the way I make my images, but also a preference for acting on intuition

and instinct. Having said that, I can’t pretend I didn’t spend a little time

before this particular outing wondering what I might be able to produce.

February 2018 Outdoor Photography 43

Canon EOS 5DS R with 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM

lens, ISO 640, 1/320sec at f/11 (taken by Valda)

43-47 Morag & Valda1_SW.indd 43 18/12/2017 15:20