18 16 May 2020I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113
Technique LOCAL PHOTO WALKSpickinguplitterfromthepath,to
awarenessofwhatlocal
environmentalissuesweface.I enjoythis
areaandhopeotherscantoo.
OccasionallyI meetpeoplewhenout
andabout.Peopleareinterestedinthe
photosthatI amcreating.I aminterested
intheirdog.Wewereconnecting(nowwe
keepa distance)!
ThisyearI evenstartedtakingthesteps
ofhostinganexhibitioninourlocalvillage
hallofthesephotosfromthearea.It’s
sadlybeenpostponed,butsucha goal
bringsaddedpurposetothephotosI
make.Oneortwolocalshaveaskedabout
a photocalendar.Whoknows,I mightone
dayevenmakea little money out of this.
Challenges
Therearerestrictionsinstayinglocal.You
mightnotliveinthemostaesthetically
pleasingarea,oronethatfeelsdifficultto
captureina picture.Repetitionmay
reducemotivationandleadyour
photographyintogoingstale.Butonthe
fl ip side, challenges stretch us. Your hand
Whyitworks
RARELYdoalltheelementscome
togetherin a singlemomentfora
photographof theoutdoors;thetime
of day,theweatherconditions,the
directionof light,thesubjectandthe
composition.Yetregularlocalphoto
walksincreasethosechances– solong
asyouensureyoukeeptothecurrent
governmentguidelines– becauseyou
cangoforit whenconditionsareright
andapplyyourlocalknowledgeintoa
previsualisedshot.
I knowthisfieldwell– seenfroma
viewpointlookingupa gentlehilland
consequentlyintoa mostlyclear
horizon,directlyfacingsunrise.Often
therearehorsesin thefield– I’llknow
whenbecauseit’stwominutesfrom
myhome.Thisis oneof severalphotos
I haveof thisfieldfromovertheyears
that ticks all of the boxes for me.maybeforcedintonewtechniquesand
exploringatdifferenttimesofday.By
critiquingyourexistingimagesand
applyingimprovementsforthenexttime,
tweakstocompositionscantransformthe
sameview.Hopefullyyouwillbegin
nurturinga certainstylethatreflectsyour
localareaandhowyouseeit.Youmight
evendeveloplonger-termphotoprojects,
suchascapturingthesameviewover
differentseasons,documentinglocaldog
walkersorstudyinglocalwildlife.
AsI stepoutofthedooronthissunny
day,I canvisualisemid-morningsunrays
castingdynamicshadowsofthevertical
pinetreesofmylocalwoodland.It’sa
fifteen-minutewalkfromthehouseand
that’swhereI’mgoingforthenexthour.
There’sasmucha chancethatI willstop
somewheredifferentalongtheway
becausetheareastilloffersup
surprises.Youmaystillbethinkingtowait
untilthelockdownblowsoverandgoona
bigphotographytrip(whichwouldbe
great),butI’dencourageyouto
responsibly try out local photo walks.▲
Localknowledgeenables
youtocapturea sceneat
theperfectmoment
NikonD800,70-200mm,
1/1000sec at f/2.8, ISO 160