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Trevor Sherwin 5/30/25 Trevor Sherwin 5/30/25

Venice in Solitude by Christopher Thomas | My Photo Bookshelf

A beautifully crafted book by Christopher Thomas, featuring 83 city portraits of Venice taken on Polaroid Type 55 film.

There’s something undeniably captivating about film photography, and even though I shoot digitally, I’ve always been drawn to its timeless quality. I follow the work of many photographers who shoot on film, and I find myself constantly inspired by the nostalgic mood it evokes. While I haven't yet explored film myself, I hope to one day have the time and patience to experiment with it. So, when I discovered Venice in Solitude by Christopher Thomas—a beautifully crafted book of black and white film photography capturing one of my favourite cities, it felt like a natural addition to my collection.

Synopsis

From the lonely, rain-swept piazzas to silent rows of empty gondolas, one of the world's busiest and most beautiful cities lies frozen in time in this stunningly illustrated book that captures the city without people. Whether you're a first-time tourist or seasoned traveler, it's virtually impossible to find yourself alone in Venice. The city's many architectural splendors, its winding canals, ancient piazzas and charming markets are marvelous to visit--and crowded with people in every season. In these hauntingly beautiful photographs, Crhistopher Thomas takes readers on a solitary tour of the city Lord Byron once called "the Most Serene Republic."

Venice in Solitude by Christopher Thomas

As he did with his previous volume, New York Sleeps, Thomas uses long-term exposures and a now discontinued large-format Polaroid film to capture places bereft of humans in the early hours of the day. Readers can almost feel the ghosts of Titian, Shakespeare, Vivaldi, and Henry James wandering these canals and cobblestones; and they can experience the city as it was intended to be: an ingeniously planned, aesthetically delightful oasis of beauty, light, shadows--and serenity.

My thoughts about the book

In 2010, Christopher Thomas temporarily set up home in Venice, embarking on a new photographic project, capturing 100 pictures using his large-format Linhof Technika camera, a selection of lenses, a tripod, a dark velvet cloth, and many boxes of Polaroid Type 55 film. This book features 83 of the photos Christopher made.

The book itself is beautifully produced, bound in linen with one of Christopher Thomas’s photographs—showing a row of gondolas—featured on the front cover. This image offers a fitting preview of the photographic style and atmosphere found throughout the book (more on that later). Inside, the book opens with another image leading into an introduction written by Ira Stehmann, an editor and co-editor of numerous fine-art photography books. In the introduction, Stehmann discusses Thomas’s background, his photographic approach, and the equipment used for the project. She also reflects on the work as a whole, exploring the choice of subjects and the feelings of enchantment and surrealism it evokes—sentiments I strongly share when viewing these images.

Accompanying the photographs is a collection of poems by Albert Ostermaier, a contemporary poet from Munich, Germany. I consider myself a novice when it comes to poetry, and while I found some of the pieces a little difficult to fully grasp, they add an intriguing and thoughtful layer to the book. Overall, the poems are a welcome addition, complementing the mood and tone of the photography effectively.

The images are presented almost exclusively one per spread, surrounded by generous white space, occasionally interrupted by a title or a poem. Second only to the photographs themselves is the way they are displayed—uncropped, with the rough, original film borders left intact. As someone once described it, “a perfect negative surrounded by an imperfect frame” (a line I’ll admit I borrowed from Wikipedia). I love this approach, as it lends a timeless quality to images of a timeless city.

While I admire every aspect of how this book is presented, it’s the work itself that truly matters—and it does not disappoint. These city portraits are wonderfully varied, ranging from classic views of Venice to hidden corners that would be difficult to find without a local’s knowledge. To capture the true essence of Venice in any medium, both the well-known landmarks and the lesser-seen places must be included, and I believe this body of work succeeds in doing exactly that.

If you love Venice, classical architecture, black and white imagery, and the unique character of film photography, this book delivers all of that and more. It’s a beautifully crafted tribute to one of the world’s most enchanting cities.

Book Details

Hardcover
Size: 300mm x 280mm
Pages: 160
Availability at the time of writing: Available from the author’s website here: https://www.christopher-thomas.de/product/venice-in-solitude

Until next time.

Trevor

Trevor Sherwin 5/22/25 Trevor Sherwin 5/22/25

Landscape Photography in Snowdonia

A landscape photography trip to Snowdonia/Eryri in north Wales in March 2025.

A few months ago, in late March, I spent several days in Snowdonia (Eryri) with my camera, exploring and photographing its strikingly rugged landscape. As with previous trips to North Wales, I had a few locations I wanted to visit, but I also left plenty of room in my plans for spontaneous detours, exploring areas I may not have been to (or even researched) before.

I set off early on the first day, arriving at the car park in the Ogwen Valley around lunchtime and not wanting to waste much time, I set off for a circular hike up and around the Glyders.

While most of the photos I took on this trip are in colour, there were moments when the subject and lighting naturally suited a monochrome treatment. I’ve chosen to group all the black and white images at the end of this post, not because they were an afterthought, but because I believe they work best when presented together, so stick around to the end of this blog to see them.

The view looking west toward Y Garn from the the Glyders in Snowdonia — *Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 15mm | 1/125th Second | f/8 | ISO125*

From the path leading from Ogwen Cottage towards Llyn Idwal, I veered left midway along the Cwm Bochlwyd Path, past Llyn Bochlwyd and made my way up Y Gribin (The Ridge). The last section of Y Gribin was rather technical with some scrambling needed as I plotted my path up towards Bwlch y Ddwy Glyder (Pass of the Two Glyders), but once there, I was greeted with some cracking views towards Tryfan and across the Ogwen Valley.

Tryfan and the Ogwen Valley from the the Glyders in Snowdonia — *Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 18mm | 1/100th Second | f/7.1 | ISO125*

As you can see from this view looking west toward Y Garn, the light was fairly flat that afternoon, which, in hindsight, summed up the tone of the entire trip. During my three days in Snowdonia, I can only recall one or two brief moments of direct sunlight. That wasn’t necessarily an issue for me, as I’m not a big believer in ‘bad’ or ‘wrong’ light; I just need to adapt and make the most of the conditions I’m given.

With distant views defused slightly by the haze, I chose to stick with my 10–24mm wide-angle lens and focus on the textures and forms of the rocks as the primary subject in this set of images. I also used my Kase circular polariser throughout the afternoon, which helped cut through some of the haze, adding a touch of clarity and a bit more punch to the final shots.

From Bwlch y Ddwy Glyder, I headed west toward Glyder Fawr, and as I climbed toward the summit, I came across this imposing jagged rock formation jutting up into the sky. Trying to capture some of the awe and dominance the structure was projecting as I stood beneath it, I moved in closer, staying low, and manoeuvred around until I landed on the composition you see here.

The rocky summit of Glyder Fawr up on the Glyders in Snowdonia — *Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 19mm | 1/60th Second | f/8 | ISO125*

At just over 1,000 metres, Glyder Fawr is the highest peak in the Glyderau range and photographing the area around its peak was my favourite part of this walk around the Glyders. The rock formations appeared otherworldly and made for some interesting subjects to photograph. According to Sir Ifor Williams (a Welsh scholar), the word "Glyder" derives from the Welsh word "Gludair", meaning a heap of stones, and that’s a pretty accurate description of the landscape up there.

This location provided great views across the Nant Peris valley towards the Snowdon massif, and contrary to the flat, featureless clouds I had around me on the Glyderau massif, the clouds towards the south were a lot more dramatic, and none more so than in this photo below where the clouds seemed to converge directly above Snowdon. Composing so that the fractured stones in the foreground mirrored those interesting cloud formations in the sky, I took the photo below, which turned out to be my favourite of the day, maybe even my favourite of the entire trip to Snowdonia.

The rocky summit of Glyder Fawr looking towards Mount Snowdon from the Glyders in Snowdonia — *Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1/60th Second | f/8 | ISO125*

As I explored the peak further, I looked for different ways to make interesting compositions of the incredible rock formations. After taking the photos below, I used some dodging and burning in post-processing to enhance the subtle light falling across the landscape. This helped to separate the various layers and added a stronger sense of depth as the rocks stretched out before me.

After spending some time on Glyder Fawr’s summit, it was time to make my way downhill towards Llyn Y Cwm (Lake of the Dogs) and over to Y Garn, the final peak I’d be summiting before making my way back down towards Llyn Idwal. The descent towards the small lake was tricky as it was steep with lots of loose scree, so I had to tread carefully as I made my way down.

After navigating that rather sketchy 250-metre descent, I arrived at the top of the Devil’s Kitchen and from here, I had some great views of Tryfan and the Ogwen valley. It was at this point that I felt “inspired” to take the selfie below. The views were stunning, but I wanted to demonstrate the scale of the landscape and placing myself in the scene was a way I could achieve that.

With the selfie taken, I made my way up to Y Garn and then back down the mountain to Llyn Idwal.

A selfie of Trevor Sherwin taken from the Glyders with Tryfan and the Ogwen Valley in Snowdonia — *Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 43mm | 1/125th Second | f/9 | ISO125*

A small pool of water up on the Glyders in Snowdonia — *Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 20mm | 1/60th Second | f/10 | ISO125*

While passing Llyn Idwal on my way back down, there was some nicely diffused light hitting the steep, rocky face of Glyder Fawr, and I thought it would round the hike off nicely to get a photo from ground level of the peak I’d not long been standing atop just an hour or two before.

This is a popular spot to photograph Cwm Idwal, but instead of trying to get the entire lake and valley in the frame, I decided on a vertical composition, which gave me the room needed to include more of the foreground rocks in the photo. It was a tricky one to compose as achieving a balanced feel depended on how the foreground was arranged, and with a little shuffling left and right, I landed on this composition here, which I think, to my eye at least, works well.

A photo of Cwm Idwal and the Glyders in the Ogwen Valley — *Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 0.8 Seconds | f/13 | ISO125*

The next and final stop of the day was over on the opposite side of the valley at this popular spot along Afon Lloer. It’s a popular location as this vantage point provides a fantastic view of Tryfan and the Glyderau Massif behind.

It’s a composition I’ve photographed on each of my previous visits to Snowdonia and feel I’ve never quite come away with a picture good enough to put the location to bed. There’s always something I’m not happy with, and with the clouds starting to thin and the sunlight hitting the landscape for the first time that day, maybe this would be the time I get “the shot”.

I mentioned previously that I had just one or two periods of direct sunlight on this entire trip, and this was one of them. Just as the sun was dipping, it illuminated the top half of Tryfan, and I had just enough time to fire off a few photos, with this one below being the best of those I took.

A view of Tryfan and the Glyders across the Ogwen Valley taken from Afon Lloer in Snowdonia — *Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1/10th Second | f/8 | ISO125*

The next morning, I drove along the Nant Gwynant valley to photograph Snowdonia's second most famous lone tree. I like the way this old tree emerges from behind the rock with its branches reaching up into the sky, splitting the valley in the background and having seen it photographed a few times before, I decided to pop down to see what I could make of it.

A lone tree beside the lake in the Nant Gwynant valley, Snowdonia — *Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 12mm | 1/100th Second | f/10 | ISO400*

Compositionally, the two most important factors for me were to ensure the tree was positioned correctly in the centre of the valley’s “V” shape and that my camera was close enough to the ground so that the lowest branch didn’t overlap and get lost in the background. I took a photo in both landscape and portrait orientations and feel the landscape version just about wins as the tree has more space around it, particularly on the right.

Although I had my drone with me throughout the trip, for various reasons I didn’t use it as much as I thought I would, but while standing next to the lake, I was curious to see how the valley would look from up high.

This would be the second and last time I would see the sun hitting the landscape during this trip. As the drone gained some altitude, the clouds briefly parted, illuminating the south-eastern side of the Snowdon Massif. The light didn’t last long, but I managed to take this aerial photo before it disappeared again.

An aerial photo of the Nant Gwynant valley taken with a drone in Snowdonia — *DJI Mini 3 Pro | 24mm (effective) | 1/640th Second | f/1.7 | ISO100*

One thing I wanted to achieve during this visit to Snowdonia was to explore new (to me) areas without researching any particular photo spots, enabling me to come away from the trip having photographed both well-known and lesser-known locations. This was the case on the previous day during my walk around the Glyders as although I had researched the route, I hadn’t researched any photographic compositions. With this in mind and once finished photographing beside the lake, I headed off on a small circular walk around the eastern side of the valley to gain a little elevation and explore this area further.

By this point, there was plenty of ambient light, but it was nicely defused by the clouds and not too long after leaving the side of the lake, I came across this small stone building nestled perfectly in the landscape. I continued past the cottage to get to a bit higher, and with the mountains providing a great backdrop, out came the camera, and I took this photo below.

A small farmhouse nestled in the hills in Snowdonia — *Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 32mm | 1/25th Second | f/11 | ISO125*

With the lovely, defused light, this scene, with the traditional stone building set in the landscape, has a timeless, painterly feel, which I like a lot. However, in the spirit of staying transparent to those who read this blog, the building (which is actively used) has a modern solar panel on the side of the roof and it didn’t fit with the look and timeless feel I wanted to achieve with this picture, so I used some artistic license and cloned it out.

Working my way around this small circular walk in the Snowdonia hills, I came across this unassuming cascade of water tumbling down one of the hills. Ordinarily, I might have carried on walking, and I very nearly did, but I decided to stop and spent a few minutes composing this small scene nestled in the landscape. Using a combination of a circular polarising and 3-stop neutral density filters, I was able to slow the shutter speed and take some of the glare out of the scene.

A small cascading waterfall photographed in Snowdonia — *Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 11mm | 0.8 Seconds | f/9 | ISO125*

Later that day, I made my way back across to the Ogwen Valley as I had some unfinished business with an elevated scene I’d attempted to photograph on my way back down from Y Garn on the previous day. On that previous attempt, the conditions weren’t great for photography as the light was flat and with so much distance between the camera and the subject, the hazy conditions left a lot to be desired.

Fast forward a day, and the conditions had improved. The sky offered more visual interest, and soft, dappled light was falling on the landscape, highlighting its contours and adding depth. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but it was certainly good enough to pull the camera out and start composing a few shots.

It’s a composition that unfortunately slices through Llyn Idwal, but necessary if I wanted to keep Tryfan fully in frame as a main focal point and after waiting a short while for some light to fall on Tryfan’s peak, I took the image below, had a snack and then made my way back down the slope.

A view of the Ogwen Valley and Tryfan in Snowdonia — *Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 19mm | 1/60th Second | f/11 | ISO125*

I’m fascinated by the shapes, lines and textures on the rocky face of Glyder Fawr, and while passing by on my way back to the car park, I noticed some subtle light bouncing off it. Out came the camera once more, and composing a square crop to help with the balance, I took this photo below.

The rocky face of Glyder Fawr in Snowdonia — *Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 27mm | 1/80th Second | f/8 | ISO125*

For the last stop of the day and with the clouds starting to clear, I wanted to get a view of the valley looking towards the west. I headed a couple of miles east along the A5 to an elevated spot along the path that takes you up to Ffynnon Llugwy, a mountain lake and the source of Afon Llugwy. I didn’t hike all the way up, just enough to get a better view of Tryfan and the Glyders behind.

I took a few photos with the telephoto lens but wasn’t really happy with what I was seeing. The scene was too busy and the light on the landscape wasn’t particularly great either. So, after some experimentation with focal lengths and with the afterglow of the sun casting some lovely pastel colours across the sky, I took this wider, silhouetted picture of the view in front of me. I like the abstract nature of this photo and feel the strong shapes of the mountains against the softly lit sky behind work well.

A silhouette of Mount Tryfan in the Ogwen Valley in Snowdonia — *Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 32mm | 1/4 Second | f/11 | ISO125*

The forecast for the following morning called for low cloud cover and rain, so I opted against heading to any of the higher elevations where visibility would be severely limited. Instead, I began the day by revisiting the lone tree in the Nant Gwynant valley. With cloud levels expected to drop as low as 100–200 metres, I anticipated near-zero visibility, ideal conditions, I hoped, for capturing the tree as a minimalist subject, standing quietly in the misty, rain-soaked landscape.

As you can see, from this spot at least the rain had yet to start, and the clouds weren’t quite low enough. I took a couple more photos while I was there and headed back to the car.

Before travelling home later the same day, I’d planned a little time around Llanberis and the famous Dinorwig Slate Quarry. With low cloud and rainy conditions expected, I was hoping to use them to my advantage and capture some mist and mood in my photos, but before heading to the quarry, I made a quick stop at Dolbadarn Castle.

It’s a location I’d seen many times from afar but never actually visited, and I was keen to have a good look around, maybe take a picture or two while there. By the time I arrived, the rain was falling quite hard, and after having a look around, reading some of the information boards about the castle’s history, I composed this atmospheric photo below of the castle and partly obscured Snowdon range in the background.

Dolbadarn Castle in Snowdonia photographed in the rain — *Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 14mm | 1/80th Second | f/8 | ISO125*

Leaving Dolbadarn Castle, I made my way up to Dinorwig Quarry. I wanted to have a good explore and photograph what caught my eye, and first up, as I made my way towards the Anglesey Barracks, these old trees grabbed my attention.

A woodland near the Anglesey Barracks in Snowdonia — *Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 23mm | 0.6 Seconds | f/11 | ISO125*

As mentioned before, I don’t subscribe to the notion that there is good and bad light. In my opinion, different subjects work in different light, but if I’m being honest, the light I had to photograph both the trees above and the barracks below was flat and uninspiring. I was struggling a bit.

I don’t mind the composition I found of the Anglesey Barracks below as it provides a useful frame around the subject, and the picture feels a little painterly, which I also like. That being said, I feel that with more interesting sidelight or a little mist, both pictures could have been so much better. A location to return to, I think.

The Anglesey Barracks in Snowdonia — *Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 14mm | 1/8th Second | f/10 | ISO125*

Dotted around the quarry are a few lone trees that seem to be growing out from the hills of slate, and I used this one below as a subject with a distant view of Dolbadarn Castle in the background. The rain in the air had defused the background, allowing the tree to stand out as the main subject, and I opted to zoom in a little to make the tree more of a feature, giving the image a slightly more intimate feel.

A lone tree growing from the slate rubble Dinorwig Slate Quarry, Snowdonia — *Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm | 84mm | 1/50th Second | f/2.8 | ISO125*

Further up the hill, I found myself standing on the edge of a pool of water called Sinc Harriet. After heavy rain, the volume of water in this pit can rise rapidly, but I guess there hadn’t been too much rain before my visit, as the levels were quite low. So low in fact, the slate rubble beneath was visible, and with the wind creating some ripples on its surface, I spent some time creating some abstract images, all with a slight painterly feel thanks to the texture on the water.

Abstract images taken in Dinorwig Slate Quarry, Snowdonia

Moving on from Sinc Harriet, and with visibility on the low side, I set off along the path to capture some small, intimate views of the quarry. Although I’ve been a fan of the square crop for a while now, I’ve grown to appreciate how well it suits small scenes like this. With a square crop, I find it easier to achieve balance as no one side is dominant, and it allows me to be more creative with my compositions.

The walls of slate in the Dinorwig Slate Quarry, Snowdonia — *Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 55mm | 1/200th Second | f/8 | ISO230*

My last stop before driving back to leafy Surrey was at the lone tree in Llanberis. In the photography community at least, it’s quite a popular scene and having visited once before in less than ideal conditions for my style of landscape photography, I decided to pop by to see what I could make of it this time.

Down by the lake, the visibility was better, but like it was up at Sinc Harriet, the water levels here were also low. Not to be deterred, I lowered the camera down, using the exposed rubble to build a bit of a foreground and making sure the tree was positioned correctly, centred in the distant valley, I took the photo.

The lone tree in Llanberis in Snowdonia — *Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 12mm | 1/40th Second | f/10 | ISO125*

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I processed some of the photos I took on this trip in black and instead of injecting them in-line alongside the other photos, I wanted this collection to stand on its own as a black and white set.

Some of the pictures I’ve shared below are monochrome renderings of the same colour photos from above, but a few of them are unique to this set, consciously taken to be produced as black and white photos.

A black and white photo of a lone tree beside the lake in the Nant Gwynant valley, Snowdonia — *Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1/100th Second | f/10 | ISO400*

A black and white photo of a tree in the woodland in Snowdonia — *Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 35mm | 1/25th Second | f/16 | ISO400*

An aerial photo of the Snowdon Massif taken with a drone in Snowdonia — *DJI Mini 3 Pro | 24mm (effective) | 1/6400th Second | f/1.7 | ISO100*

A black and white photo of Dolbadarn Castle in Snowdonia photographed in the rain — *Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 14mm | 1/80th Second | f/8 | ISO125*

A black and white photo of a lone tree in the Dinorwig Slate Quarry, Snowdonia — *Fujifilm XT5 | XF70-300mm | 300mm | 1/125th Second | f/8 | ISO400*

A black and white photo of the slate walls in the Dinorwig Slate Quarry, Snowdonia — *Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 55mm | 1/200th Second | f/8 | ISO230*

*Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 19mm | 1/40th Second | f/11 | ISO125*

A black and white photo of the lone tree in Llanberis in Snowdonia — *Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 12mm | 1/40th Second | f/10 | ISO125*

That’s a wrap for another landscape photography trip to Snowdonia, but if you want to see more photos of this stunning landscape in North Wales, I’ve written some more blog posts and shared many more pictures, which you can find links to below.

On Location Photographing Snowdonia Part One

On Location Photographing Snowdonia Part Two

Photographing Snowdonia in Late Spring blog post

On Location | Photographing a Wintry Snowdonia

As ever, if you have any questions or suggestions, please leave a comment below. Otherwise, thanks for stopping by.

Until next time.

Trevor

Trevor Sherwin 5/2/25 Trevor Sherwin 5/2/25

How I Edit My Black and White Photos of London

My step-by-step process for editing this black and white photo of St Paul’s Cathedral in London

Every photographer has a different approach to editing. Some prefer a straight-out-of-camera (SOOC) image, letting the camera handle all the processing. Others work with raw files in editing programs like Adobe Lightroom or Capture One, taking the time to carefully refine each image and maintain full creative control.

There’s no right or wrong way to do it—whether you skip post-processing entirely or spend minutes (or even hours) perfecting a single photo, it all comes down to personal preference. As for me, I see post-processing as a vital part of my photographic workflow. I like having full control over how the raw file is developed, and it’s not out of the question for me to spend up to an hour fine-tuning just one image.

Okay, it’s pretty rare for me to spend an hour or more on a single photo. Most of the time, I wrap things up in about 10 to 20 minutes. That might still seem like a lot to some, but post-processing is a part of the process I genuinely enjoy. It’s a chance to unwind, maybe with a drink in hand and some background music playing, while I spend some quiet time with my images. It’s a way for me to stay connected to photography even when I can’t be out in the field with my camera.

So, when I’ve carved out a little time, poured myself a glass of whatever, and I’m ready to get to work on my most recent Timeless City images, what does my process typically look like?

In this post, I’ll walk you through the editing process I used for a photo I took of St Paul’s Cathedral, titled Dual Realms.

I’ll also include a few before-and-after photos as a little peek behind the curtain. A post-processing video might explain things better, but since I don’t make videos and prefer to write, this will have to do.

One last thing to note: there’s no right or wrong way to process your work. This is simply the method I use. I’m not claiming to be an expert—just sharing my approach in case it’s helpful or interesting to anyone. And if you have any tips or suggestions to improve the workflow, feel free to share them in the comments below!

Now, let’s get started.

The applications I use to process my raw images

I’ve been a subscriber to Adobe Cloud for a few years and predominantly use Lightroom Classic and Photoshop desktop versions to process my photos. If I were to hazard a guess, the ratio I use these two would be around 95% Lightroom and 5% Photoshop. Nearly all of the heavy lifting I do happens in Lightroom, and I’ll typically export to Photoshop just to apply some finishing touches or use features not available in Lightroom.

The raw file

This is the original file, freshly imported into Adobe Lightroom. It’s a 3:2 vertical image of St Paul’s Cathedral in London, taken during the winter months—which explains the bare trees. I took the photo in a vertical format to give myself more flexibility when cropping to a square. This way, I have extra space at the top and bottom to fine-tune the cathedral’s position in the frame, allowing for more precise control over how much sky or reflection to include.

Another important consideration for me is getting the verticals straight and keeping the camera level when taking the shot. It means less correction later in post and reflects my overall approach: to get as much right as possible in-camera from the start.

When importing to Lightroom, the default Adobe Colour profile was applied, and if you’re at all interested, the exif data of the photo is as follows: Fujifilm X-T50 | XF10-24mm Lens | 10mm | ISO125 | F/10 | 1/20th Second.

Cropping and straightening the image

The first step in my process is locking in the composition. As I mentioned earlier, shooting in a vertical orientation gave me the flexibility to decide how much sky and reflection to include. This helped me create what feels, at least to my eye, like a visually balanced image.

How i edit my black and white photos - the crop

In the previous section, I talked about making sure the photo is straight and level while in the field, but in the screenshot above, you can see I’ve made a slight rotation, which suggests it wasn’t perfectly straight. What I’ve found is that even when the camera is completely level at the time of capture, a photo can still appear slightly off if there’s no clear visual reference, like a straight horizon, to show what "level" actually looks like. In those situations, even if I know the shot was technically straight, I’ll sometimes make small adjustments to the crop, so the final image looks balanced to the eye.

Here’s the cropped image:

How i edit my black and white photos - after the crop

How I convert my photos to black and white

I don’t really feel this step needs its own section, as the process I use is so incredibly simple. When I’m ready to convert an image to black and white, I simply select the B&W option in Lightroom’s Basic Development Panel.

How i edit my black and white photos - converted to black and white

Once I’ve converted the image to black and white, I get stuck into the processing.

It’s worth saying at this point, the settings I apply are applicable to this photo and the final look I’m trying to achieve, and will not necessarily apply to your photos. The goal here is simply to show you my process and how I arrive at the finished result. The exact numbers aren’t all that important and likely won’t be useful beyond this specific example.

The Curves panel

With my limited experience of observing others process their photos, many will start from Lightroom’s Basic Development Panel and work their way down the options to adjust their photo. Maybe my brain’s wired slightly differently, but my approach is to first set a black/white point and add a little contrast if needed. This is what I’ve done for the image below to add a little punch and lift the black point, as the shadows were very dark.

How i edit my black and white photos - after the curves

Adding more drama to the sky (burning)

Although not too obvious in the original raw file but to the eye, there was much more interest in the sky when I took the photo, and this section is all about bringing that back while introducing a little more drama at the same time.

If I were to give anyone one piece of advice when it comes to post-processing their images, it is to make small, subtle changes and build them up over time. When changes are made using a single mask to the sky (for instance), and if those changes involve some significant slider action, this can often result in garish results and a halo around the subject. This could easily be the case in a scene like this due to the delicate masking needed around the trees and dome.

How i edit my black and white photos - the masks applied to the sky in Lightroom

I typically take photos of London for my Timeless City project when the sky is cloudy, as I prefer a more defused light across the scene rather than the high contrast look I get when the sun is out. By bringing back some of that contrast in the sky and lowering the exposure, it provides more drama and a natural-looking vignette around the top of the frame.

As you can see from the screen grab above, I’ve used multiple masks at different stages through the edit (hence the non-sequential numbering) to subtly bring back detail, reduce the exposure and increase the clarity in the clouds. You can see the results of these changes below.

How i edit my black and white photos - adding more drama to the sky

Increasing the exposure in the shadows (Dodging)

Next, I’ll be bringing a little life back into the darkest shadows. With the light well defused by the layer of cloud above, I could still see the details and textures in the darker areas while taking the photo and knowing that detail does exist in the raw file, I simply needed to increase the exposure.

For this step, I used the Radial Gradient mask. As with previous edits, I prefer to make several smaller, more precise selections rather than applying large, sweeping adjustments. For each of the masks shown below, I’ve increased the exposure by between 0.5 and 1 stop to achieve the desired effect more subtly.

Below, you can see the results of those adjustments. There’s a bit more detail in the foliage, though the effect is quite subtle. I’ll bring out even more detail from those areas a bit later in the process.

How i edit my black and white photos - increasing the exposure in the shadows

Making the reflections pop

This composition of St Paul’s Cathedral is all about the reflection, and to be sure it gets the right attention when viewing the image, it needs to stand out just a little more.

The first, larger mask shown in the screen grabs below was made with a Radial Gradient, and all I’ve done there is increase the exposure in the water by half a stop. Like before, it doesn’t need to be dramatic. Just subtle changes layering on top of each other to help gradually build towards the final result.

I used the second Linear Gradient mask above to gently lower the luminance at the very bottom of the frame. The increased exposure from the previous step extended a bit too close to the edge, and I wanted the area nearest to the camera to remain darker. You can see the results of this adjustment below.

How i edit my black and white photos - making the reflections pop

Applying some global edits using the Basic Develop Panel

By using masks to target specific areas, most of the work is now completed, but there are some small changes I wanted to make to the entire image using the Basic Develop settings. Specifically, I plan to lift the shadows a little and add some contrast back into the image.

The changes applied were Contrast +20, Shadows +30, Whites +13 and Blacks +16. Also, to soften the overall look and feel of the image and make it a little less “crunchy”, I will typically lower the Clarity and Dehaze sliders, and in this case, I lowered both by -10.

How i edit my black and white photos - applying global edits with the basic develop panel

Sharpening the image in Photoshop

A note on sharpening. Opinions vary as to when to apply it. During the edit, or only when the file is being exported for a particular use case, such as web, socials or print. This is just my approach. I will typically add some sharpening when editing, call it a “base sharpening” if you like. This is usually fine for all of my online needs, but if I feel I need to add any more sharpening for print, I will do so when preparing the file before sending it to the printer.

So far, all of the edits have been applied in Lightroom, but the next step is one made in Photoshop.

I’ve never really been a big fan of how Lightroom sharpens my raw files, and instead, I use the High Pass filter in Photoshop to sharpen my photos. It’s a great tool to detect the edges (or high contrast areas) in a frame, which, when combined with a contrast-boosting blending mode, sharpens the photo without affecting the areas with less contrast, such as the sky.

With the image exported from Lightroom to Photoshop, I create a duplicate layer and then, from the menu, select Filter - Other - High Pass. Next, I input the Radius amount, which determines how much sharpening will be added. Choosing the right number depends on the resolution of the file and how much sharpening you want to add, and I will typically stick to between 1-2 pixels at this stage, with the view that I can add more later if needed. For this image, I made the radius 2 pixels.

Next, I use the Overlay blending mode for the same layer. This blending mode will hide the grey areas and add contrast to the edges highlighted by the High Pass filter, resulting in a clean, sharper file. The image below is probably too small for you to see a difference, but trust me, it is sharper.

How i edit my black and white photos - how I sharpen my photos

Although for this image I used Photoshop for adding a little sharpening, as features are being added to Lightroom, my dependency on Photoshop continues to reduce, and these days I will typically use it to sharpen with the High Pass filter, the occasional Orton effect and for more complex cloning/distraction removal. Other than that, it all pretty much happens in Lightroom.

Boosting the whites

Once back into Lightroom, I have one last edit to make. I feel the whites in the sky and reflections could do with a boost, so I’ve added a mask for the sky and radial gradient for the reflection and boosted the whites by +21.

With the whites increased and both the sky and reflection getting a little more punch, that’s the last of the processing steps complete.

Below is the final image with all the edits applied. My goal during the processing was to bring the drama back to the sky, enhance the contrast in the reflections, and ensure that St Paul’s Cathedral stood out in the scene. I’m happy to say that I’ve achieved those objectives and am pleased with the final result.

How i edit my black and white photos - the final image

No two photos are ever the same, and each one requires its own unique approach to editing. However, I hope this article has given you a good overview of my general process and the tools I use when processing my black and white photos of London.

Below, you’ll find a few more before-and-after images that show the changes between the raw file and the final edit. It’s important to me that the cloudy skies retain as much detail as possible, so I typically expose for the sky and bring out the shadow details during the editing process.

Hopefully, you found this article useful and at the risk of repeating myself, I strongly believe there is no right or wrong in terms of how people choose to edit their photos, but if you have any comments or suggestions about my workflow, or have any questions for me to help you with yours, feel free to leave a comment below or contact me directly via my Contact Page.

Just one last point before I wrap up. The image I used for this article is part of my limited-edition Timeless City print collection and is available to buy from my store. There’s a link to the print store below.

TIMELESS CITY PRINT STORE

Feel free to follow the link above to browse my Timeless City print store.

Until next time.

Trevor

This Pleasant Land | My Photo Bookshelf

An exploration of Britain through a collection of photographic projects telling just a few of the many stories of what shapes this unique landscape.

Over time, I’ve found myself more and more drawn to the British landscape. At some point, I realised that no one person can truly see and photograph it all — at least not properly. And honestly, I’m okay with that. These days, I’m more than happy to explore this country I call home through the eyes of the many talented photographers who are just as passionate about capturing its beauty and diversity.

This Pleasant Land brings together 24 small photographic collections. Each one is different in subject, but they all share a common thread: every collection tells its own unique story about the British landscape in one way or another.

Synopsis

24 photographers capture Britain today.

The British Landscape is changing. Geographically, politically, even emotionally, the boundary lines of Britain - and what it means to be British - are in flux. This book looks at the new terrains, memories and myths of this contemporary landscape through the eyes of some of the world's most exciting photographers.

My thoughts about the book

The book, written by Rosalind Jana, an arts and culture writer based in London, starts with an interesting and insightful introduction, exploring the deeper meaning of photographing the British landscape. Referring to some of the projects that feature in the book, Rosalind talks about the many connections and motivations that inspire their creation, such as childhood memories, political context, and even those who simply want to represent the subject as a visual point of interest.

After the introduction, the first of the 24 projects begins, each one paired with a short piece of writing that adds a bit of context to the photos that follow. All the featured projects were shot within the last 20 years, making this book a contemporary, 21st-century snapshot of the British landscape.

Each project in the book tells a unique story — from the way humans shape the landscape and how natural and man-made elements interact, to a series of abstract cyanotype prints made along the Dumfriesshire coast. There’s a collection focused on seaside holiday resorts, and another featuring powerful portraits of female farmers working the land in Scotland. And that’s just scratching the surface. This book takes you on a photographic journey across Britain, weaving together stories of art, beauty, history, and politics.

If you’re someone who prefers a more traditionally picturesque view of the landscape, this book might not resonate as much as some of the others I’ve shared in the Photo Bookshelf series — and that’s totally okay. But if, like me, you’re drawn to the variety of projects, the stories behind them, and the motivations that drive them, then I’d definitely recommend picking up a copy for yourself.

Hoxton Mini Press is an independent book publisher based in London. Although this was the first book of theirs I purchased, I’ve since spent countless hours exploring their extensive catalogue. The book has a traditional, high-quality feel, and the combination of compelling writing and striking imagery made it an incredibly enjoyable read.

Book Details

Hardcover
Size: 237mm x 285mm
Pages: 224
Availability at the time of writing: Available from the Hoxton Mini Press website here: https://www.hoxtonminipress.com/products/this-pleasant-land

Until next time.

Trevor

Trevor Sherwin 3/30/25 Trevor Sherwin 3/30/25

Seascapes by Nigel Danson | My Photo Bookshelf

Nigel Danson's Seascapes, the third book in his series, beautifully captures the dynamic and ever-changing coastal landscapes through a stunning collection of photographs.

Following Vistas and Woodlands, Nigel Danson released Seascapes, the third and final book in his landscape photography collection. As a proud owner of the first two, I was eager to add this one to my photo bookshelf.

Author’s synopsis

Throughout this book you will see that I have tried to capture the essence of why I love being on the coast and by the sea. A massive part of that is how the sea interacts with the land. I am fascinated by this connection and how the sea has shaped the landscape through constant erosion and pounding of the rock, sand and salt water.

I share my favourite seascape images and talk about why I photographed them, how I composed them and the cameras and settings I shot them with.

Seascapes are the most dynamic of all forms of landscape photography. In this book I take you on a journey of discovery of coastal views, stunning beaches and epic waves. These images all hold a special place in my heart.

My thoughts about the book

Keeping the familiar design of the trilogy, Seascapes features the same cloth finish and foil lettering as Vistas and Woodlands, a detail I really appreciate. The book has a high-quality look and feel, perfectly complementing the photography inside.

The book opens with an introduction by Nigel, where he reflects on his connection to the sea and coast, shaped by childhood memories. This resonates with me, as much of my photography is driven by a deep sense of connection and nostalgia, and I can appreciate the desire to create work that goes beyond aesthetics and holds personal meaning. I guess there is a stronger authenticity to work created in such a way.

The book is divided into chapters: Coastal, A Wider View, Waves, and Abstract, and each starts with a brief paragraph in the way of a small introduction to the topic. As expected, the photography throughout is outstanding, showcasing a wide variety of work that makes for a compelling and diverse exploration of the book’s theme.

Nigel is one of the UK’s most highly regarded and accomplished landscape photographers, a reputation built not only on his exceptional skill and talent but also on his dedication to his craft. His success is not just a result of his ability behind the camera but also the time, effort, and passion he invests in projects like this book. His commitment to creating high-quality, thoughtful work is what truly sets him apart.

Book Details

Linen cloth Hardcover
Size: 300mm x 240mm
Pages: 128 litho printed pages on 200gsm silk art, FSC sustainably sourced paper
Availability at the time of writing: Limited edition still available from Nigel Danson’s website here: https://www.nigeldanson.com/products/p/seascapes

Links to my review of the other two books in the series can be found below:

Vistas - Landscape Photography by Nigel Danson

Until next time.

Trevor

Trevor Sherwin 3/17/25 Trevor Sherwin 3/17/25

New Photos | Winter 2024

A collection of photos taken during Winter 2024.

In keeping with the previous four seasonal photo updates, I’ve collected a few of my favourite photos taken during the winter months of 2024/2025. This is an opportunity for those visiting my site and reading my blog to see my latest work before it’s posted to social media in a format and style I want it to be presented in. There are no algorithms or preferential treatment here, meaning you get to see the photos I post in the way I want them viewed.

As ever, I welcome any feedback, comments or suggestions either by email, through my contact page or just as a comment at the end of this post.

Below are the previous four instalments of my “New Photos” series.

December 2024 to February 2025 - Winter 2024 collection.

In a change from the previous seasonal collections, I’ve started this one with a few photos I took of London during winter. It may not be apparent to everyone just how much the different seasons affects the photos I take in the city, and for sure, visually, the differences might be less obvious than other landscape photography subjects, but the time of year still makes a huge difference to how I go about taking cityscape photos in London.

The main seasonal factors that affect the photos I take are the weather conditions, the sun’s lower position during the day and where and when the sun rises and sets. I’ll expand on these as we go.

Photographing London

Although most of London requires you to obtain a permit(s), or at least formal permission to fly a drone, there are a few specific locations where my sub-250g drone can be flown freely and here, in front of the Isle of Dogs, is one of them. This photo I took of Canary Wharf highlights one of the key factors that affect my photos in London during the Winter….. the weather.

Blue sky days can be few and far between in the Winter, and the days are more likely to be cloudy like this. But to tell the truth, that’s how I like it. In the summer, I feel I am endlessly dodging the high contrast sunny conditions, which I don’t usually like to photograph in. Unless the light is amazing and the sunset/sunrise epic, I would much rather have an overcast, moody day to photograph the city.

A dronescape of London taken on a cloudy day by Trevor Sherwin

I’ve recently started to lean towards a vertical composition using the traditional 10x8 aspect ratio. I feel I can emphasise the height and scale of the city better in a vertical format, and cropping down to the 10x8 aspect ratio makes the overall composition look more balanced than the taller, native 3x2 my camera uses.

Another advantage of photographing London in the winter is being able to get to the city before sunrise and take some photos while it’s still dark. Of course, I could simply hang around after sunset in the evening, but the advantage of taking photos early in the morning is that it’s a lot quieter, and I don’t have to contend with so many people around me walking in and out of frame.

The last point I’ll make about photographing London at different times of the year is where the sun rises and sets. You should get to know what scenes work best at specific times of year to capture the best photos. The photo above taken from the Horizon 22 viewing platform is a good example as in the summer months, the son would be setting way off to the right and this view looking towards The Shard with the sun setting just off to the right would not be possible.

Ok, so this panoramic photo I took of Canary Wharf from across the Thames is proof that we still get some cloudless skies in the winter and the fact that the skies over London are always grey is a bit of a myth really.

A panoramic view of Canary Wharf in London taken by Trevor Sherwin Photography

The Winter Landscape

This winter, I didn’t get out into the landscape of woodlands as much as usual. Instead, I spent more time photographing London, taking photos for my Timeless City project. I guess some things always have to give.

I did, however, venture out into the wintry landscape a few times and have shared some of the photos I took along the way. All the photos in the landscape section of this post were taken during a handful of trips to a local forest in East Sussex. This is my go-to for woodland photography, but with lots of open heathland and the odd lookout point, it’s also great for a bit of landscape photography.

A wintry landscape scene in Sussex UK taken by Trevor Sherwin Photography

A Scots Pine tree in Sussex UK taken on a frosty winters day by Trevor Sherwin Photography

I’m really pleased with these close-up icy scenes I found next to a small waterfall in the forest. I took three compositions of the ice, and with lots of relative depth, each one needed to be photo stacked to get the image sharp from front to back. I’m really happy with the resulting triptych below.

I’ve also posted a photo I took of the wider scene underneath, and the small patch of ice on the bottom right of the frame is where I took these close-up images of the ice so you can see how tight I needed to get.

An close up view of ice taken by Trevor Sherwin Photography

A small waterfall with frozen ice taken by Trevor Sherwin Photography

An abstract view of ice taken by Trevor Sherwin Photography

Some birch trees in Sussex UK taken on a foggy winters day by Trevor Sherwin Photography

Photographing the woodland

Along with some misty woodland adventures I had during the winter months, I also took this first group of four photos shown below. Sometimes, the eye sees what the eye sees, and on this cold but mistless morning, I was drawn to the stronger shapes created by some of the more prominent trees in the scenes I came across.

For these to work, I had to find a strong woodland subject with some character, set against thicker foliage to help remove background distractions, and with the ambient light being dull and gloomy, the resulting collection of photos all have a dark, moody feel to them.

A dark woodland scene taken in Sussex by Trevor Sherwin Photography

A foggy woodland scene taken in Sussex during winter by Trevor Sherwin Photography

A frosty woodland scene taken in Sussex by Trevor Sherwin Photography

A closeup view of a tree trunk in a winters woodland taken by Trevor Sherwin Photography

A foggy woodland scene taken in Kent during winter by Trevor Sherwin Photography

A trip to the East Sussex Coast

Finally, a trip to the seaside. I decided to head down to the coast on a chilly February afternoon to revisit my favourite lighthouse at Beachy Head, followed by a few hours in Eastbourne to photograph some of the starling murmuration around the pier.

A photo of Beachy Head Lighthouse taken in Sussex by Trevor Sherwin Photography

The starling murmuration over Eastbourne Pier in Sussex taken by Trevor Sherwin Photography

Once the sun had just about set and the starlings safely nested under the pier, I took this last picture of what I think is the most picturesque pier along the Sussex Coast. I like the soft, blue tones across the scene, but that subtle belt of colour in the sky adds a touch of interest and is a welcome addition.

A blue-hour landscape photo of Eastbourne Pier in Sussex taken by Trevor Sherwin Photography

With the winter months behind me, it’s time to look forward to spring and the colour it brings to the landscape. I’ve got a few adventures planned and some new ideas for projects that will help me focus on photographing my local landscape more this year. Time will tell if that all works out as planned but if it does, you’ll see those photos here first.

As I mentioned before, feel free to drop a comment below as it’s always good to hear your thoughts about the pictures I take and how they might resonate with you.

Until next time,
Trevor

Trevor Sherwin 3/5/25 Trevor Sherwin 3/5/25

Land by Fay Godwin | My Photo Bookshelf

Land by Fay Godwin is the superb result of a decade-long photographic project to capture an unfiltered view of Britain’s diverse landscapes

As I delved deeper into the history of landscape photography, it was inevitable that I would come across some of the most well-known American photographers, such as Ansel Adams and Edward Weston. But what about the iconic British landscape photographers? Of course, we have David Ward, Charlie Waite, and my personal favourite, Joe Cornish—all still actively practicing landscape photography. However, in the same breath, one must also recognize Fay Godwin, one of the few professional landscape photographers of her time.

Fay Godwin travelled across the UK, documenting its landscapes through her lens. In 1985, she released Land, a book featuring photographs primarily taken in the preceding decade. This book and its accompanying exhibition cemented her status as one of the UK’s most treasured landscape photographers.

Author’s synopsis

This magnificent collection of photographs is a unique celebration of the British landscape by one of the finest landscape photographers of our day. Combining documentary realism with a poetic instinct, elemental forms with visual irony, Fay Godwin brings a distinct and individual vision to her work.

Paying tribute to the achievement of a ‘true artist’, the novelist John Fowles makes his own eloquent statement on art and the landscape in his penetrating essay.

My thoughts about the book

While researching Fay Godwin’s work, I came across the video I’ve linked to below, and one thing Fay talked about that stuck with me was her take on landscape photography and her dislike for the blue sky, green grass, “postcard” scenes. Fay tried to portray a “real” view of Britain’s landscape, sometimes picturesque, sometimes bleak, but always natural and always honest.

‘Land’ starts with a multi-page essay by John Fowles, followed by an introduction by Ian Jeffrey. From there, we get Fay’s photos. Taken over ten years, the pictures (kind of) flow geographically, starting up in Scotland, working down the UK, and ending with photos taken on England’s south coast. Along the way, Fay photographed various landscapes, some more picturesque than others, visiting locations such as the Scottish Highlands, Yorkshire, Wales, Wiltshire and Kent.

It’s evident from the photos included that Fay had a remarkable ability to find beauty in a wide range of subjects. Some are familiar, such as the sweeping natural vistas of Glencoe and the Lake District, while others are more unconventional, like a close-up of a cobbled road in Yorkshire or a rusted car partially submerged in water in Kent. This diverse subject matter reinforces my belief that Fay was less concerned with adhering to traditional landscape photography conventions and more focused on capturing an authentic, unfiltered view of Britain’s landscape, one she openly admitted to finding far more compelling to photograph.

With such varied subjects, one might expect the sequencing to feel disjointed, but impressively, that’s not the case. The images flow seamlessly, a testament to Fay’s careful attention to the book’s layout.

Fay Godwin (17 February 1931 – 27 May 2005) was a British photographer known for her black-and-white landscapes of the British countryside and coast.

Along with the video, this book has reminded me that landscape photography isn’t just about finding picturesque views of the world around me. It’s about capturing something I find interesting, regardless of social norms and by doing this, I can create a more honest and unique body of work.

Book Details

Softcover
Size: 260mm x 260mm
Pages: 160
Availability at the time of writing: Unavailable from the usual UK booksellers. Consider buying a used copy.

Trevor Sherwin 2/18/25 Trevor Sherwin 2/18/25

Wish You Were Here by Vanda Ralevska | My Photo Bookshelf

A companion book set created by Vanda Ralevska featuring a collection of photos of the iconic British seaside.

I’ve always loved spending time by the British seaside in the warmer months. I love the energy, the vibrancy and who doesn’t love eating a traditional fish and chips on a deck chair while staring out to sea? But, as I’ve grown a little older, I’ve started to visit the coast more often in the colder (and wetter) months. Nothing beats grabbing a hot coffee and having a relaxed wander along a quiet promenade with just the sound of the distant waves breaking on the beach.

So, when fellow photographer (and now friend) Vanda Ralevska released her Wish You Were Here book set featuring some outstanding photography of the British Seaside, I knew I had to purchase myself a copy.

Author’s synopsis

This companion book set explores the nostalgia of the English seaside throughout the seasons, from the sombre beauty of winter months to its restored splendour in the glorious days of summer.

There is a melancholy about the English seaside in winter. No matter what Mother Nature throws at it, there is a resilience that enables it to resurrect its full magnificence in summer months.

It goes into hibernation, it falls into slumber and sleeps dormant like a perennial plant, just to flourish when the sun and warmth come back.

Wish youy were here photo book by Vanda Ralevska

Like trees that are bare and stark in winter. But in the summer they become beautiful, vibrant and everything we love about them.

What started as a pure fascination and attraction turned into a lifelong passion. There isn't any other place I would rather be than a beach. Though I enjoy the peaceful and quiet wintertime most, I find the bright and sunny weather as captivating as the bleak and gloomy days. Therefore, I felt I needed to capture both sides of the English seaside and separate them into two books that complement each other.

My thoughts about the book

First things first, and I’m not just saying this, but I love these books. The photos included are well-crafted, and expertly composed, with subtle seaside humour and ironies implied throughout. As I mentioned in the intro, I love both sides of the seaside experience, from the fun, warm, summery days to the calmer but much colder days in the winter and this companion book set encapsulates those experiences perfectly.

Kis me quick photo book by Vanda Ralevska

The book set is comprised of two books. Kiss Me Quick is fun, vibrant, and full of photos of blue skies and seaside colours. The pictures included are colourful but well-controlled and have an aesthetically pleasing but subtle high-key processing applied to them. The photos are all in square format, which, as you may have read here, is one of my favourite aspect ratios and works incredibly well for this collection.

The image sequencing throughout is, in my opinion, a bit of a master class and taught me a thing or two about how well a book can be pulled together. There is a good mix of clever, humorous, and more subtle pairings. I know first-hand that Vanda invested a considerable amount of thought into sequencing the images for both books and the results speak for themselves.

The second book, in contrast to the first, represents a more subdued, desolate seaside experience and with the lack of blue skies and vibrant summer tones, Vanda chose to process this collection in monochrome, which suits the work well. Having recently embarked on my own black-and-white journey with my Timeless City project, I felt a deeper connection and was able to appreciate this collection of work far more than I might have before when processing predominantly colour work.

Individually, these books hold their own as separate collections of photographic work, but putting them together as a single book set was a master stroke by Vanda as together, they tell the complete seasonal story of the British seaside that most of us in the UK have experienced at some point in our lives.

Book Details

Hardcover
Size: 210mm x 230mm
Pages: 140 (Wish You Were Here)/124 (Kiss Me Quick)
Availability at the time of writing: Available directly from Vanda’s website here: https://mylenscapes.uk/wish-you-were-here/

Trevor Sherwin 2/12/25 Trevor Sherwin 2/12/25

Creating my limited edition Timeless City prints of London

Take a peak into the process I follow when choosing, printing and sending my limited edition, Timeless City, fine art prints of London.

Taking photos can be such a creative and fulfilling process and after capturing that epic vista at sunset or carefully crafted cityscape scene, for me, viewing work on a screen does not compare to the impact I get from holding a fine-art print in my hand or seeing it mounted, framed and hanging on the wall. A physical print can bring a photo to life and transport the viewer to another time and place, evoking all kinds of emotions and memories.

With so many photos observed on social media for just a few seconds before the inevitable swipe of the screen, the physical print invites viewers to slow down and engage deeply with the work. It’s a more intentional way of experiencing photography. As Ansel Adams famously said, "The negative is the equivalent of the composer's score, and the print is the performance.” Maybe, for the modern age, you could replace the negative with the digital raw, but you get the point.

Examples of limited edition prints of London hanging on the wall

Printing my Timeless City, black and white photos of London

When my Timeless City project started to gain a little momentum and a body of work was forming, I thought about ways I could transport the photos I’ve taken from the screen into print and one of the options I’ve decided to pursue is to offer fine-art prints for those who follow the project to own.

I wrote this blog post to accompany the new print store for two reasons.

To share the attention to detail and craftsmanship that goes into producing my high-quality, archival fine-art prints.
To help photographers who are starting their own printing journey by outlining my process.

Choosing the photos for the limited edition prints

Choosing the photos I want to include in a limited edition collection is an important and (to me at least) difficult decision. On the one hand, I’m including what I subjectively consider some of my very best work, which I hope will also appeal to a potential print-buying audience. On the other hand, I have to be comfortable with the fact that those images will be limited in number and once finished, never printed in the same way again.

Once shortlisted and to ensure quality, I printed the images at their intended sizes—7x7” and 10x10”. I printed the shortlisted photos at this early stage because I’m aware that not all images translate well from screen to paper, and this step helps eliminate any that don’t quite hit the bar. This step also helped me narrow the selection to an initial 12 prints I wanted to start with.

Choosing the right paper to print my photos

There are several things to consider when printing images and paper choice is arguably the most important decision I needed to make. In my mind, I have a particular look I want to achieve, one that I feel suits the work best and here’s a brief breakdown of the process I went through when choosing the right paper for this project.

Paper Size: I want the finished work to have a more intimate look and feel. There’s a quiet subtlety to my black and white photos of London and I don’t want the prints to overwhelm the space they are displayed. I think a smaller picture with a wide mount and subtle frame suits the work better. The other benefit of printing the photos in 7”x7” and 10”10” is that I can print, sign and send the work directly, meaning I can control the entire printing process and ensure a high degree of quality control.
Paper Type: By paper type, I mean choosing between normal, photo-quality paper or acid-free, archival paper. For limited-edition, fine-art prints that will appeal to both casual buyers who appreciate my work and the serious print collector, I feel there is only one option for this project and that is acid-free, archival paper.
Paper Finish: When testing the different papers from my preferred manufacturer (Fotospeed), I found they had a range of colour temperatures and finishes, from smooth to textured, from matt to glossy and from warm to cool. I already knew I wanted a cooler, non-textured, semi-gloss finish so I purchased a test pack of papers with various options that aligned with what I wanted and got busy testing.

After extensive testing and lots of printer ink used, I found Fotospeed’s Platinum Baryta 300gsm the best paper for the job. I love how my black-and-white cityscape work looks and with a throwback to the dark room look Baryta paper provides, there is a classic, even ‘timeless’ look to the final print. Here’s a description of the paper I pulled directly from Fotospeed’s website:

Platinum Baryta 300 is 100% acid-free, Fine Art paper with a smooth unglazed gloss surface. A natural white base and state of the art micro-porous ink receiving layer delivers a high D-MAX (2.99) and wide colour gamut. Platinum Baryta 300 reveals delicate highlights and smooth transitions to shadows for both colour and B&W printing. The paper is approved by the Fine Art Trade Guild and when used in conjunction with pigment inks will ensure a print life of more than 85 years.

The process I follow for printing my Timeless City photos

As I mentioned at the start of this post, the experience of viewing pictures on screen doesn’t come close to the feeling of holding a print in your hand, but it doesn’t stop there. To get the very best print possible, a few things need to be done to adapt the image so that how it looks on screen is as close as possible to how it looks on paper.

Preparing the image file for printing

There is a big difference between viewing an image on a backlit monitor to an image on paper with only reflective light available. Ultimately this means that if I don’t tweak the image first, it will likely print dark, soft and lack contrast. So these are the main things I change for each image before printing.

I will normally boost the brightness by half a stop or more, increase contrast, and sharpen the image. Alongside these standard tweaks, I will often selectively dodge and burn (decrease or increase brightness) in specific places to ensure those areas retain detail and contrast once on paper.

Although Platinum Baryta 300gsm is on the whiter end of the fine art paper spectrum, it still prints a little warm for the look I am after, so for every photo, I adjust the white balance slightly to cool the image down meaning the printed image will appear more neutral and not to warm. This is purely to taste and not a necessary step for everyone.

Using the correct printer settings

When sending the image to the printer, certain settings must be used. I won’t list them all, but two points I feel are incredibly important to get right are using the right profile for the paper and printer combination and setting the right paper type in the printer settings.

Using the correct ICC Profile: As I mentioned before, my paper is manufactured by Fotospeed and they provide standard ICC profiles (and instructions) for all papers when printed on a Canon or Epsom printer. All I had to do was download the right profile, install it and select that profile in the print options.

Setting the paper type: The second setting I always check is choosing the right paper type from within my Canon printer’s settings. Again, Fotospeed provides a handy table on their website which matches their paper to the options available in the printer settings. For example, to get the best results when printing on Platinum Baryta, I need to select “Photo Paper Pro Lustre” from the Canon printer settings. Without setting this, I won’t get the final look I want.

Hard-proofing to make sure the print looks right

With the image prepared and printer settings set, the only real way to know I’ve made the right choices is to start printing. This is called hard proofing (or hard-copy proof) and will typically consist of smaller versions of the image or just small cropped sections at 100%. This initial method helps to get a good idea of the tones, luminance and quality while preserving paper and ink.

Creating my Artist’s proof

With the smaller or partial version looking right, the last stage in the proofing process is to print the image on the right paper, at the final 7x7'“ and 10x10” sizes. Different photographers and artists will have various ways as to how they manage and even sell their artist proofs as they’re not included in the count of limited editions sold, but if you want to read a bit more on the Artist’s Proof, you can start here at Wikipedia.

Signing and certifying my limited edition prints of London

All of my limited edition prints are signed and numbered on the white border, underneath the picture. I sign close enough to the picture so that the collector can choose to show or hide my signature when the print is mounted and framed. With the Platinum Baryta being a semi-glossy paper, I need to sign with ink as a pencil won’t work and my pen of choice right now is the Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen Fineliner XS India ink pen. Whatever the pen you choose, the most important thing about choosing one to sign archival prints is that they should be waterproof, permanent, acid-free and pH neutral.

If selling my prints as limited editions is to be successful, I have to instil confidence in the buyer that the print run is truly limited and I will only sell the number of copies of a given print I say I will. Once advertised and the first in a limited edition run is sold, there is no going back and nor should there be. This is where the certificate of authenticity (COA) comes in. Alongside proving the work’s provenance and authenticity, the COA is my signed contract to the buyer on which I certify the image is a genuine limited edition.

The certificate I provide with every print includes the following information;

Logo and title
Statement of authenticity
Name of the print and edition number
Date the photo was taken and printed
Dimensions of the print and image of the artwork
Medium the image is printed on
My signature and date the certificate was signed

How I pack and ship my limited edition, fine art prints

As I researched how to package and send my prints, I had four key objectives.

Secure: The way I package the prints must be tough and secure as I don’t want the print to be damaged during transit.
Sustainable and environmentally friendly: The materials used to manufacture the packaging should be sustainably sourced with minimal plastic used, and fully recyclable.
Archival: To ensure longevity, any materials that come in contact with the print must be acid-free and pH-neutral.
Presentable: I want the end-to-end experience of buying a print to be one of quality and attention to detail, and that starts with how the print is received and opened so, alongside being secure and sustainable, the packaging has to look presentable too.

So with these four objectives in mind, here’s a quick breakdown of some of the key materials I use to package and ship my print:

Black presentation box: The presentation box I use looks good, keeps the print secure and is environmentally friendly. The boxes I use are biodegradable, made from recycled materials, sustainably sourced and fully recyclable. In addition, the A4-sized box I use is compostable.
Glassine Envelope: Each print is placed in an envelope before it goes into the presentation box. I opted for Glassine envelopes as they are recyclable, compostable, biodegradable and manufactured with renewable materials. Anything that comes in contact with the print must be archival, so the glassine envelope is also acid-free and pH-neutral.
It’s important to be as transparent as possible when discussing sustainability so it should be said that the manufacturing process of glassine envelopes is quite resource-intensive but this will be minimal compared to similar petrochemical & fossil-fuel-based materials such as plastic.
White card and envelope: I use a white card to print the certificate of authenticity and place it in a white envelope. I use a white card sheet to add rigidity to the print while in the glassine envelope. The card and envelopes I use are made from 100% recycled materials.
Mailing bags: Having had many deliveries left on my doorstep, exposed to the elements, I do not want to risk the same happening to one of my prints without being adequately protected, so unfortunately this is where I feel I am forced to use plastic packaging (for now at least). Although far from ideal, I have ensured the mailing bags I use are made from fully recycled plastic and code 4 LDPE, meaning they can be recycled using most standard domestic services. I will continue to seek alternatives and update the post when I have one. All suggestions are gratefully received.

Final thoughts

Hopefully, that provides a useful insight into the process and equipment I use when producing my limited-edition, fine art prints.

Whether you're a collector considering purchasing my work or a fellow photographer beginning your fine-art printing journey, I hope this article helps you appreciate the craftsmanship behind each print I make. If you have any questions about my Timeless City project, feel free to reach out to me via my contact page and if you are interested in owning your own limited edition print of London, visit my Timeless City store using the button below.

TIMELESS CITY PRINT STORE

Until next time.

Trevor

Trevor Sherwin 1/20/25 Trevor Sherwin 1/20/25

Journeys Into the Wild: The Photography of Peter Dombrovskis | My Photo Bookshelf

A book featuring the photographic work of the great conservationist, Peter Dombrovskis.

If one of my all-time favourite landscape photographers, Joe Cornish talks highly of any photographer, I take notice and after watching some videos a few years ago featuring Joe talking about the late Peter Dombrovskis and discussing his work, it quickly became apparent to me this was a photographer I needed to know more about.

Peter Dombrovskis was a landscape and conservation photographer known for taking pictures of Tasmanian wild places and was instrumental in preventing the damming of the Franklin River in the 1980s. Peter died in 1996 while photographing the Western Arthur Range in southwest Tasmania, but even now, 30 years later, he still has a strong following in the landscape photography community. After reading this book, I can see why.

Author’s synopsis

Journeys into the Wild is a poetic escape to a fragile and breathtaking wilderness, with celebrated photographer Peter Dombrovskis as your guide. Commentary and an extended introduction by Bob Brown allow readers to engage with the photographs on a deeper level.

Bob Brown and Peter Dombrovskis forged their friendship in the battle to save the Gordon and Franklin rivers. As a founder of the Wilderness Society, Bob organised the blockade of dam works on the Franklin, recruiting Peter and his iconic photography to make the case for conservation over profit.

Journeys Into the Wild - The Photography of Peter Dombrovskis

During the campaign, Bob accompanied Peter on one of his kayak trips down the Franklin and observed his process as a photographer. Peter would go on to take one of the most famous photographs in Australian history, Morning Mist, Rock Island Bend, Franklin River, an image that featured in calendars and diaries across Australia and that was integral to the success of the campaign. The two remained friends until Peter’s death in 1996.

My thoughts about the book

I’m so glad I purchased a copy of this book because it tells such a compelling story about the power of passion, perseverance and photography, and how, when used together, they can bring about meaningful change for the better.

Created by former Australian politician and environmentalist Bob Brown, Journeys into the Wild tells Peter Dombrovskis’ story, about his emigration from Latvia to Australia when young, his first camera, the friendships he made and how all of that forged a path for him to become one of the most influential conservation photographers of his time His work was used in a campaign to help protect thousands of square miles of unspoilt Tasmanian wilderness and for that story alone, it’s a book worth reading.

Dombrovskis was equally known for his large format, landscape photography and this book includes much of his work, with a particular focus on the National Parks of Tasmania. From wide, landscape vistas such as the peaks of Cradle Mountain to close-up, intimate compositions of a leaf’s skeleton at Mount Mulu, this book is a feast for anyone who appreciates natural landscape photography. The Tasmanian landscape is incredibly diverse and quite different to what I see photographed today. Dombrovskis was able to tune into the finer details and record them on film so future viewers of his work would get a glimpse into how the national parks of Tasmania looked many decades ago and as a result of the work he and Bob Brown undertook, how those national parks thankfully, still look today.

I know I’m a relative latecomer to Peter Dombrovskis’ photographic party, and many who read this will already be aware of his work or have a copy of one of his books. Still, none of that matters, as after finishing this book, it’s clear that like many of the landscape photography greats, his story and accompanying work has and will continue to stand the test of time for future generations to discover.

Book Details

Hardcover
Size: 280mm x 220mm
Pages: 200
Availability at the time of writing: Limited availability in Europe but there are some about. I purchased my copy from https://www.abebooks.co.uk/.

Trevor Sherwin 1/19/25 Trevor Sherwin 1/19/25

New Photos | Autumn 2024

A collection of photos taken during Autumn 2024.

This is now the fourth instalment of my “New Photos” series, a project conceived to ensure my photography is seen on my website and in my newsletter before being shared on social media. These aren’t portfolios showcasing my very best work, but more a snapshot of the share-worthy photos I made during those three months and if, during that time I manage to take just one or two portfolio images then I consider that a bonus.

Below are the previous three instalments of my “New Photos” series.

New landscape photography gallery | Winter 2023

New landscape photography gallery | Spring 2024

New landscape photography gallery | Summer 2024

September to November 2024 - Autumn 2024 collection.

One thing you might notice in this edition is just how few traditionally wide landscape photos I took during the autumn. For various reasons back in 2023, I didn’t have the time I wanted to photograph the changing colours in my local forest, so in 2024, I made a concerted effort to spend more of my photography time there and as a result, I had less time to photograph what would be considered traditional landscapes.

(You can click on the smaller photos to see a larger version)

Apart from the photo of Brighton’s West Pier below and London’s cityscapes further down, the only shareworthy landscape images I photographed were taken from the same spot. This viewpoint overlooks part of my local forest and is one I visit often before venturing off amongst the trees to photograph the woodland.

Landscape Photography

A photo of an autumnal landscape in sussex taken by Trevor Sherwin

I’ve spoken before about the West Pier along England’s south coast in Brighton and how I visit from time to time to photograph this composition, capturing its skeletal remains as it slowly gets taken by the sea. On this particular morning in early autumn, conditions weren’t great and I had no light to speak of, but I kept this photo because of the additional context it provided. The water was clear and for the first time in countless visits, I could see the scattered pieces of metal that had fallen into the sea when the pier collapsed, adding to the story of this cursed seaside structure.

A long exposure photo of the West Pier in Brighton, Sussex taken by Trevor Sherwin

Cityscape photography in London

These days, nearly all the time I have to photograph London is spent creating work for my Timeless City project. I tend not to share those photos here as I’m still building that body of work, adapting and learning as I go, but every so often, I’ll take a picture I feel should also be processed in colour. Alongside this, I feel that my shift to taking more black-and-white cityscape photos is now starting to influence my colour work, (for the better I hope). My colour photos are more muted with less busy compositions and a simpler colour pallet.

A photo of the London Eye along the Thames in London taken by Trevor Sherwin

A photo of the Shard from St Paul's Cathedral in London taken by Trevor Sherwin

A photo of the London Eye during sunrise in London taken by Trevor Sherwin

A photo of Tower Bridge in London taken by Trevor Sherwin

Photographing an autumnal woodland

As mentioned above, I spent a lot more time this year amongst the trees, photographing the colours as they changed from deep, late summer greens to vibrant oranges, yellows and finally the dull browns of late autumn. My ability to look closer at the woodland has slowly improved and as such I thoroughly enjoyed my time last year, stretching myself photographically, and finding new, intimate compositions while revisiting some old favourites along the way.

A woodland photo of trees in the woodland during autumn taken by Trevor Sherwin

Although I’m generally happy with the photos I took of the Autumnal woodland in 2024, particularly the tighter, intimate compositions, I still feel I lack the vision and awareness to spot the small scenes around my feet and as a result, I don’t take anywhere near as many photos of small scenes as I would like. I did manage to take a few, however. The green fern at the beginning of autumn and bookending the season, a collection of frosty fallen leaves towards the end of November.

A photograph of a green fern during autumn taken by Trevor Sherwin

Photographing the northern lights in Sussex

As I left work one evening in October, the socials were ablaze with aurora alerts for the south of England and having missed the opportunity to photograph the northern lights back in May, I quickly decided to head out of the city and into Sussex to try to capture them. I wrote more about this amazing evening of photography in the blog post below.

A photograph of the northern lights taken in Sussex over Bodiam Castle by Trevor Sherwin

Photographing the Brecon Beacons in Late Autumn

In mid-November, I made a late dash to the Brecon Beacons to photograph the waterfalls. Being so late in the season, nearly all the leaves had fallen, leaving very little foliage on the trees, but I dug deep, got creative and came away with a handful of photos I liked.

The Brecon Beacons waterfalls in late autumn. A blog post written by Trevor Sherwin Photography

Wow, that’s over 40 photos I’ve shared from my photo outings in Autumn. I’m pretty happy with that. As always, feel free to message me or leave a comment with any questions or feedback you may have.

Until next time,
Trevor

Trevor Sherwin 1/3/25 Trevor Sherwin 1/3/25

Outdoor Photogrphy Magazine Feature

I was featured in a recent edition of Outdoor Photography magazine. Read the article here.

After a very generous recommendation from the talented Vanda Ralevska, I was recently (and very kindly) asked by writer and author, Nick Smith, to be interviewed for a multi-page feature in the UK’s Outdoor Photography Magazine. We met one afternoon in London and talked about all things photography such as how I got started, why I enjoy photographing the London cityscape and the synergies between cityscape and woodland photography.

I was also given a PDF copy to share with viewers of my website. If you have a few minutes, I welcome you to have a read and as always, feel free to post any questions or feedback in the comments below.

Outdoor Photography Magazine Feature Page 1

Outdoor Photography Magazine Feature Page 2

Outdoor Photography Magazine Feature Page 3

Outdoor Photography Magazine Feature Page 4

Alternatively, you can read the article using this embedded version or download it directly here.

Until next time.
Trevor

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On Location Trevor Sherwin 12/29/24 On Location Trevor Sherwin 12/29/24

A Late Autumn Trip to the Brecon Beacons Waterfalls

A late autumn trip to photograph the waterfalls in the Brecon Beacons.

I’ve been making my annual trip to photograph the waterfalls in the Brecon Beacons for a few years now and although this year was no different, due to other commitments, I was limited as to when I could travel and ended up scheduling this year’s trip in mid-November.

Photographically (and in my opinion), the waterfall trails look their best while there are still plenty of leaves on the trees. Apart from adding life and colour to the woodland scenes, when the trees have their leaves, it helps to limit how much of the brighter sky creeps into the frame, as it can be incredibly distracting when composing the photos. With it being a few weeks later than I would have ideally wanted to visit, I was concerned I may not come away with anything of note this time.
Spoiler alert, I was right to be concerned as shortly after I arrived it became clear that most of the trees were now void of their leaves. I didn’t, however, allow it to sway my enthusiasm to push on and make the best of my time there, I just had to be prepared to dig a little deeper to get a keeper or two.

Looking up towards some cascades at the Blaen-y-glyn Falls

In previous posts about my trips to the Brecon Beacons, I’ve shared some extra information to help people looking to visit and photograph this fantastic area of Wales. In this post, I’ll refrain from repeating myself, but, if you’re after some additional info such as the best places to park, etc, you’ll find that in my previously published articles about my trips to the Brecon Beacons which added to the end of this article for your convenience.
The Four Falls Walk
During the trip, I spent much of my time along the Four Falls Walk and this section of the blog includes some of the photos I took there. The flow along Afon Mellte and Afon Hepste wasn’t particularly strong but there was just enough water to create some interesting compositions as it made its way down the valley.
I started this photography trip here, opposite Sgwd Clun Gwyn Uchaf. It’s a little tricky to get to, but I think this vantage point provides the best view of the falls. The first image is one I’ve taken before but something I noticed while there is that without any leaves to block the view, I was able to shoot from behind the trees, using the trunks to add a frame within a frame. You can see this in a few of the photos I’ve shared below. They are compositions that probably only work after the leaves have fallen and a good reminder that even when conditions aren’t what you intended, there are always new photographic opportunities to discover.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1/3rd Second | f/13 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1/2 Second | f/13 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 32mm | 0.4 Seconds | f/14 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 27mm | 1.3 Seconds | f/10 | ISO125

Although there were a few trees clinging on to their autumnal colours dotted around (as pictured above), most of that autumn colour was now lying around on the floor and by looking for ways to include these fallen leaves in the image, I could still communicate what time of year the pictures were taken.
The leaves provided some fantastic foreground details and by getting low, as I did here at Sgwd Yr Pannawr, I was able to use them to help build a more interesting composition of the waterfall.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 11mm | 1.3 Seconds | f/14 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 21mm | 0.8 Seconds | f/11 | ISO125

While photographing Sgwd Yr Pannawr, I took the opportunity to wander back upstream a few hundred metres to this spot alongside Sgwd Clun Gwyn Uchaf. I tried a few different places to get an interesting composition here, even climbing down and getting closer to those rocks below my feet, but I found that the lower I descended, the more of the sky crept into the frame, creating a rather large and distracting highlight at the top of the image.
After a little trial and error, nothing seemed to work and I soon realised that I needed to keep things simple and of all the photos I took, this classic composition of the falls was the one I liked the most.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 13mm | 0.4 Seconds | f/14 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm | 56mm | 1 Second | f/11 | ISO125

Needing no introduction is Sgwd Yr Eira. A popular spot along the trail, particularly as it provides the unique opportunity for those visiting to walk directly behind the waterfall and because of this, there tends to be a lot more people here throughout the day. It’s for this reason i like to come here earlier in the morning as I often find myself here alone, allowing me to work on various compositions without needing to wait for people to move out of my frame.
I tried and failed to make use of what was left of the leaves along the banks so instead, used the cascades in the water to add some foreground interest to my compositions. Without too much water flowing downstream, the river was shallow enough for me to wade out towards the middle, and by playing around with different focal lengths and shutter speeds, I had a great time finding different ways to photograph the water with the falls in the background.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 12mm | 0.8 Seconds | f/9 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 12mm | 0.4 Seconds | f/9 | ISO400

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 25mm | 1 Second | f/10 | ISO125

The Elidir Trail
Moving on from my time along the Four Falls Walk, I also spent a little time along the Elidir Trail. I typically prefer to photograph this area in overcast conditions as it avoids having to deal with harsh contrast and specular highlights across the scene but during this trip, the weather was a bit all over the place with long periods of clear skies. Along the Four Falls Walk, this is a little easier to deal with as the walls along the gorge are typically a lot higher, shading the falls from the sun but along the Elidir Trail, a lot more of the sunlight can creep into the scene and I struggled with this brighter light a lot more when the sun made an appearance. For that reason, and with there being very little foliage left, I only managed to take a couple of waterfall photos I’m happy with.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 13mm | 5 Seconds | f/13 | ISO125

I took my first image above at Sgwd Gwladus (Lady Falls) and with the best composition being obvious (and for that reason shot a million times before), I find the trick to this location is to look for objects around the water to add compositional interest. During previous visits to this spot, I used the ferns for some foreground interest but this time, I found this large branch on the water’s edge and used it to add interest, a frame and a lead in line towards the falls.
The second waterfall photo I liked from those I took along the Elidir Trail was this one below at Sgwd Ddwli Isaf (Lower Gushing Falls). To add a little drama to this modestly sized cascade, I placed the camera close to this small overhand and once again, I used the fallen leaves on the rocks to provide a sense of time as well as a little interest to the lower part of the frame.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 11mm | 1.3 Seconds | f/18 | ISO125

As I did along the Four Falls Walk, I also tried to photograph some alternative, intimate compositions such as the two I’ve shared below. Both are very different subjects but to my eye at least, they share a similar sense of natural chaos which I had fun trying to make a composition from.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 31mm | 0.6 Seconds | f/11 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 55mm | 1/15th Second | f/8 | ISO125

The Blaen-y-glyn Falls
One thing I try to do on each trip to the Brecon Beacons is visit at least one new location and this time, I decided to drive across to explore the Blaen-y-glyn Falls. This circular walk is quite straightforward but soon after I arrived it became apparent that conditions were not optimal, and photos would be hard to come by. To get the best photos, I feel it’s an area that benefits a lot from fuller foliage and stronger flow in the river and having none of these, this visit quickly became a scouting opportunity.
I did, however, take a couple of photos from an offshoot to the main waterfall route which I came across as I made my way up the valley. With the sun to the south and these cascades running more west to east, enough of the harsh sunlight was blocked and by getting in close to the falls, I was able to add a little drama to the final composition. You can get a better idea of the size of these falls from the selfie photo I shared at the beginning of this article.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 13mm | 1/2 Second | f/9 | ISO125

Climbing higher along this small offshoot I came across another waterfall, much taller than the one above but again, one I found tricky to photograph in its entirety. Noticing this fallen branch wedged at the base of the falls, I moved in a bit closer and composed an image around it. The falling water was like a spotlight pointing down towards the branch which I positioned to the left of me, creating a useful diagonal line, anchoring the composition nicely.
I love the mood, the simplified arrangement and balance offered by the square crop and by playing around with both long and short exposures, I ended up with these two versions below. I struggled to choose a favourite from the two, so I’ve included them both.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 31mm | 30 Seconds | f/9 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 32mm | 0.8 Seconds | f/9 | ISO125

Sychryd Falls
The last stop on my tour of Waterfall Country was here at Sychryd Falls. Although I knew the trees would be bare, I was hoping there would be plenty of leaves on the rocks to use to build a new composition but as you can see, there were some, enough to get a sense of time, but nowhere near enough to create a feature of them.
In the end, the scattering of leaves played a supporting role, and I used the small cascades and ferns closest to me to build a strong foreground, leading the eye towards the main falls and bridge in the background.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 11mm | 1/2 Second | f/10 | ISO125

Looking back as I write this post, I’m pleasantly surprised by how many photos I like and was able to share from this recent trip to the Brecon Beacons. Spoiled by amazing conditions on previous visits, there were many a time I had to dig deep to overcome an initial feeling of being underwhelmed by the scene in front of me, but after having many words with myself to look deeper and think outside the box, I found myself driving home with images I was excited to start processing.
As I mentioned, here are two articles documenting a couple of my previous trips to Waterfall Country which also include some useful information to help those visiting this location for the first time.

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.
Until next time.
Trevor

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Photobook Trevor Sherwin 12/14/24 Photobook Trevor Sherwin 12/14/24

The Great Wilderness by Alex Nail | My Photo Bookshelf

The Great Wilderness is a book by Alex Nail featuring some stunning pictures of Scotland’s most remote mountain area.

I’ve followed and admired Alex Nail’s mountain photography for a few years through his website, YouTube, and podcasts and although I missed out on Alex’s first book “Northwest” (still hope to own a copy one day), when The Great Wilderness was announced, I made sure to buy myself a copy.

Author’s synopsis
“The Great Wilderness” is a luxury hardback photography book of Scotland’s most remote mountain area. It shows the Highlands during ephemeral moments of light, weather, and seasonal change. The images were captured over a 4-year period backpacking through the mountain areas of Fisherfield, Dundonnell and Letterewe. Alongside the images are stories of adventure in the mountains.
The book is designed, printed and bound entirely in the UK and uses the finest materials and production processes throughout. Depicting spectacular scenery in exceptional conditions, this book is for anyone who loves the outdoors.

My thoughts about the book
As I mentioned above, I missed out on owning a copy of Alex’s previous book, Northwest which has a chapter dedicated to The Great Wilderness, but as Alex mentions in his introduction, with so much to see and photograph there, a single chapter wasn’t enough. The Great Wilderness book project was born.
For those unaware (as I was), The Great Wilderness is a mountainous region formed of a small number of privately owned estates and in 2019, Alex set off on his multi-year adventure to photograph them.
The book starts with a wonderfully written foreword by one of the UK’s finest landscape photographers, Joe Cornish. Then on to Alex’s introduction, explaining more about the area, the reason for starting the project and a little about his photographic/editing ethos.
The pictures in the book are typically printed big with some panoramic images spanning both pages and this design decision helps portray (to a book’s best ability) the impact one might feel being there with Alex as he took the photo. I’m typically not a fan of pictures spanning the spine but I’ve since come to learn that in some situations, and with certain book designs it can work and this is one of them.
The image sequencing flows well and the book is organised by chapters, each featuring incredible photography from a different part of the region with names I won’t even attempt to pronounce and with the photos taken in different conditions with a range of compositional techniques used, by the time I had finished, I felt I had been shown a true representation of this fascinating landscape.
What a labour of love this book is. I really mean that. Not only is this book full of stunning mountain photography that would have taken huge amounts of time, planning and effort to create, but the book itself has been designed with so much attention to detail such as the choice of cloth for the cover, the beautifully written “on-location” stories and the incredible maps and illustrations created by Alex himself.
A fantastic landscape photography photo book and if it’s still available when reading this, I encourage you to pop over to Alex Nail’s website to buy yourself a copy.
Book Details
Hardcover
Size: 240mm x 300mm
Pages: 136 Litho printed pages
Availability at the time of writing: Available from the author’s website: https://www.alexnail.com/great-wilderness-book/

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Articles Trevor Sherwin 11/27/24 Articles Trevor Sherwin 11/27/24

New Photos | Summer 2024

A collection of photos taken during Summer 2024.

Like many landscape photographers, I struggle to take photos in the summer. I prefer to take my photos during the calmer, relaxing sunrise hours meaning some ridiculously early mornings which, along with the green, monotone colours summer provides, can take their toll on my enthusiasm to get up and head out in the morning. This year’s summer months may have been the most challenging yet. Of course, I know that with fuller foliage and the right conditions, the woodland can look incredibly beautiful. Still, throughout June, July and August, I felt I was constantly battling a general lack of motivation and my desire to find some of those early morning summer scenes I knew were out there.
The desire to head out and enjoy the summer woodland in the morning did win out a few times, and I was able to take a few new photos while revisiting some old friends.
Alongside some summertime woodland photography, I’ve also shared a few pictures I took while in Cornwall, London and the Sussex landscape.
June to August 2024 - Summer 2024 collection.
Below is the first of three collections I’ve shared from my woodland adventures in this post. This collection was taken early in the summer when the woodlands were still awash with bright, vivid green tones.
(You can click in the smaller photos to see a larger version)

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Next up, I’ve shared some photos I took at my local forest towards the end of June. My local forest is largely made up of open heathland and every now and then, when the conditions are right, I can be greeted with some fantastic foggy conditions such as those I photographed below.

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After I spent some time taking photos of London’s rooftops from the Garden at 120 back in July, I made my way down to Tower Bridge and experienced some of the best light I’d ever seen as the sun set across the city. I remember the weather couldn’t make its mind up. One minute it was sunny, the next it was raining and just as the sun set, the entire sky erupted in fiery reds, and I just happened to be at one of my favourite Thameside viewpoints to witness it.

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Towards the end of summer, I was yet again blessed with some fantastic foggy conditions in my local forest. This time around the fog was thick enough to penetrate the woodland, so I left the open heathland and ventured in to seek out compositions amongst the trees.

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In August. I spent a week in North Cornwall with my family and although this wasn’t a dedicated photography trip, I did manage to head out a few times on my own with my camera to take a few pictures. My first stop was The Rumps where I took a mixture of photos, both with my main camera at ground level and from above by sending my drone up and out to sea, pointing it back towards the coast.
Although happy with the photos I took from the ground, I love the photos I took with the drone. I’ve never seen The Rumps from this angle and with the waves crashing along the coast and dark clouds above, the resulting photos were packed full of drama and mood.

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I visited a few other spots during the week, including Bedruthan and Trebarwith Beach. From here, I ended up taking a few black and white photos as I wanted to try something a little different (for me) and the rough, foamy water created some interesting contrast and dynamism in the pictures. With my recent fondness for the square crop, I decided to use it here to add a little consistency to the final set.

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As I was staying only a few minutes down the road in Tintagel, I couldn’t leave without paying a visit to this well-known viewpoint in Boscastle. It was a cloudy morning and there was no chance of any sunrise colour but that didn’t put me off at all. With the heather in full bloom, it made up for the lack of colour in the sky and I spent a fantastic few hours photographing this fantastic coastal view.
The last photo of Cornwall below is a top-down drone photo I took at Bossiney Cove. A cute little beach just a few minutes’ drive from Tintagel.

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Finishing off this collection of photos I took during the summer months are these more traditional landscape photos taken while out and about in Sussex. All of these landscapes are familiar to me, but all show off the vibrant colour summer can provide.

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Until next time,
Trevor

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On Location Trevor Sherwin 10/17/24 On Location Trevor Sherwin 10/17/24

Photographing the Aurora Borealis in Sussex

An unforgettable night of photography, capturing the northern lights above Bodiam Castle in East Sussex.

Just wow! What a night of photography that was.
I’ve done a little research (Wikipedia) and as I understand things, we are reaching peak activity in the sun’s 11-year solar cycle. The poles are soon to flip and during this time, there’s an increase in solar flares, sunspots and radiation. This means more solar particles spewing out into space, some of which interact with the earth’s magnetic field, increasing the likelihood of aurora borealis (northern lights) or aurora australis (southern lights).
I already knew we were reaching peak activity in the solar cycle but what I hadn’t anticipated was that we in the southern counties of England would also experience this spectacular celestial phenomenon.
As I finished work in London back on the 10th of October, I was heading out into the city to catch a sunset, but as I sat on the train, I spotted lots of people posting on their social stories about the possibility of northern lights across the UK later that night. Having missed the previous display back in May and clear skies predicted, there was no way I was going to let another chance to photograph the aurora pass me by. So, taking only a moment to decide, I made my way south and away from the bright lights of the city.
Having decided to give photographing the aurora a try, all I needed now was a location. I wanted an interesting subject, away from artificial lights and I needed to face north when taking the photo. It took me a minute as every place I could think of would leave me facing anything but north, but scanning my photo library for inspiration, I decided to head to Bodiam Castle in East Sussex, a familiar place I’ve photographed many times before. Leaving the train, I jumped in my car and made my way there.
I arrived on location around an hour later and it was already very dark. I said hi to a fellow photographer called Lee who was already set up and busy taking pictures before heading to my usual spot to compose this framed view of the castle. It’s not pointing directly to the north, it’s more of a north-westerly direction but I figured if the lights did kick off in the sky, it should still work.
Initially, I was feeling a little underwhelmed (and a bit anxious). As you can see in the first image below, there was a subtle magenta hue in the sky and a very pale green towards the horizon but nothing like the vivid colours I was hoping for. Was this all we would see tonight? The photo below is a blend of two images, one for the sky and foreground to capture those subtle aurora tones and another with the castle slightly illuminated with my head torch.

The conditions were ideal. Clear skies, hardly a breath of wind and with the water still, the reflections were perfect. After 30 minutes or so, another photographer hurried towards us pointing to activity happening behind us to the northeast. Looking the other way and with trees behind us, there was no way we would have spotted it from where we stood. Quickly, we grabbed the cameras and went to find a better vantage point.
Although this new position was facing directly north, the moat was a lot narrower and the castle too close. Even with my wide-angle lens, I still couldn’t include enough of the scene in a single frame, so I needed a different approach. The only way this was going to work was by mounting my camera vertically, levelling my tripod and panning the camera from left to right, taking a stitched panoramic image.

I took 6 vertical pictures, making sure I left plenty of space above the castle to showcase as much of the fantastic display nature was gifting us as I could. I stitched them together and edited the photo later in Lightroom to make the final image you can see above. It’s not my favourite composition of the castle and I would have loved for the aurora to be more evenly spread across the sky but I’m still really happy with the final image.
With the vibrant light most vivid directly above the right-hand turret, I also used one of the individual frames from the panoramic image above and edited it separately to help show off those amazing northern lights above the castle.

While standing face-on to the castle, I noticed that the small area of vivid light towards the right-hand side was very slowly making its way across the sky, meaning the framed composition of the castle I had originally set out to capture might be back on. Off I popped back over to the corner, composed the photo and waited. Towards the opposite side from where I stood, there were at least two other photographers taking pictures, so I decided once again not to throw some light onto the castle just in case it interrupted their shoot. Instead, I would try to bring a little of the castle’s detail back in post by recovering the shadows. In hindsight, I think this was a mistake on my part and I’ll expand on that at the end.
Thankfully, I got the light I was after. It did indeed move across the sky, and I clicked away, taking various photos as the light and colours changed. This is easily my favourite photo of the night. I assure you; those vivid colours have not been enhanced with saturation and vibrance sliders; apart from some basic editing most of the work was done using the white balance sliders by cooling off the temperature and bumping the tint a little.

Confident I had the photo I wanted; I made my way over to the far side of the castle to see how things were looking from there. As you can see, the aurora was still visible but as I was now looking towards the southeast it only partly covered the sky. I actually like the results as the brighter, colourful sky on the left balances nicely against the stronger, dominant castle on the right. Although I’m not sold on the bright blue light in the castle windows (they are growing on me though), I do really like the dim orange glow in the windows closer to the camera. Whatever you or I think of them, collectively they appear to bring life to the castle, giving the impression someone is still living there.

What an absolutely amazing night that was. I am blown away by the photos I was able to make, particularly as it was such a unique event to see the aurora borealis as far south as East Sussex. Who knows when that might happen again?
That being said, it was my first time photographing the northern lights and there were certainly lessons I can learn, most notably not taking more opportunity to cast a little light onto the castle like I did in the first photo above. With just a small amount of light pointed towards the castle, it brought out so much more detail and resulted in much less noise in the shadow areas. I mentioned that if I used my head torch more, I might ruin other photographer’s images but in reality, I’m sure I could have been a touch more selfish and used it a couple more times without causing too much upset.
All in all, it was a great experience, so much so, I’m now tempted to give astrophotography a go. Watch this space.
Until next time
Trevor

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Photobook Trevor Sherwin 9/30/24 Photobook Trevor Sherwin 9/30/24

Photographs & Stories by Michael Kenna | My Photo Bookshelf

A special book looking back at 50 years of photography taken by Michael Kenna

I’ve long admired Michael Kenna’s pictures, but only recently since taking black and white photography more seriously in my own work did I start to study Michael’s photography more closely. I studied his work online and watched lots of video interviews, but I really wanted to see his work in print, so luck would have it that while I was looking into the books Kenna had published, he announced Photographs and Stories. This book caught my attention as it was a great opportunity to look back at his work spanning 50 years and I wasted no time popping it into my basket.

Author’s synopsis
In celebration of Michael Kenna’s fiftieth year as a photographer, we are thrilled to announce the publication of Michael Kenna: Photographs and Stories.
Kenna has selected one image for each year beginning 1973, when he enrolled in the Banbury School of Art, and for each subsequent year. Following the “Photographs” section is “Stories,” in which Kenna gives context to each image and considers how it connected to his own life at the time.
Michael Kenna is arguably the most influential landscape photographer of his generation. Often working at dawn or during the night, he has concentrated primarily on the interaction between the ephemeral atmospheric conditions of the natural landscape, and human-made structures and sculptural mass.

Over ninety books and catalogs have been published on his work. His exquisite, hand crafted, silver gelatin prints have been exhibited throughout the world and are included in such permanent museum collections as The National Gallery, Washington, D.C.; The Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai; and The Victoria and Albert Museum, London. In 2022, Mr. Kenna was made an Officer in the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture.

My thoughts about the book
First off, I love how this book has been presented. It oozes class. The cloth cover, the stunning cover picture, the foil lettering and best thing of all, the Japanese Kasadaka paper inside. It’s a thick, warm matt paper that fits with Michael’s monotone work perfectly. It looks amazing and feels even better to touch.
The book opens with a foreword by Ann Jastrab, Executive Director, Centre for Photographic Art in CA and then flows straight into Michael’s pictures. As you can imagine the photos included are incredible and with them sequenced in chronological order, one thing that stands out to me is how Michael’s style has remained so consistent over the years. To stay true to one’s artistic vision, shrugging off contemporary trends and the lure of modern camera equipment must take significant amounts of self-belief. There was, however, one conspicuous shift in style and that came in 1989 when Kenna transitioned to the square format. From this point in the book, all of the photos were in a 1:1 aspect ratio.
While studying photobooks over time, I’ve started to learn what I think works and what doesn’t (for me) and one of those things I do like with regards to design is to keep the photo pages clean and uncluttered with minimal text and this book is a perfect example of that. Under each image is just a few words detailing where and when the picture was taken, but the stories behind each photo are printed toward the end of this fine book. This approach is fast becoming one I prefer the most when there is a story to be told about the image and is a great compromise between letting the pictures breathe on the page whilst still ensuring their stories can be told.
This book is special. While reading it I enjoyed a delightfully visual and tactile experience and because of that, it gets elevated right up there as one of my favourites.
Book Details
Hardcover
Size: 11.5 x 13 inches
Pages: 106
Photos: 51 duotone plates printed on Japanese Kasadaka paper
Availability at the time of writing: Back in print. Available from https://www.setantabooks.com

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Articles Trevor Sherwin 9/16/24 Articles Trevor Sherwin 9/16/24

The square photo format

In this article, I delve into the square aspect ratio and explore the benefits it brings to my photography.

When I first embarked on my Timeless City photography project, I quickly decided that along with being black and white, all of the photos in the series would be presented as squares. Although I’m still certain this was the right thing to do, it was a snap decision at the time as I wanted to instil some consistency in how the work would be presented and avoid a mix of different aspect ratios.
If you want to learn a little more about why I started this Timeless City project, check out Timeless City: An Introduction.

Alongside the consistency aspect, I strongly believed that applying constraints to how my work is produced would encourage me to think (and in this case see) differently. I’ve been shooting with a 3:2 aspect ratio for years, and up until recently, I would only occasionally change this after the shoot, back in post. So, seeing and composing a square frame has forced me to think deeply about my compositional habits.
One final thought on composition: I believe there are no rigid rules in photography. You’ll hear about techniques like using the rule of thirds or leading lines, and while these can be valuable tools for learning, they should serve more as guides than strict rules. Whether you choose to follow or ignore them is entirely up to you, because ultimately, you're the one pressing the shutter. If your approach works and the image resonates, then you've succeeded in capturing something uniquely yours.
But why did I choose the square for this project?
I’ve been wanting to write this article for a while; not just to explain my decision to use the square crop, but also to help me better understand why I’m so drawn to it. As I mentioned earlier, choosing the square format was an instinctive decision that felt right for the project as a whole. However, it was only afterwards that I began to reflect on what it adds to each individual image. Ultimately, no matter how the work is presented, it's the strength of the photos themselves that will define the overall success of the project.

The points below are based on a combination of studying the photos I’ve taken for this project and researching the compositional techniques used by photographers I admire. While much of this may have been discussed before, I wanted to write this article as a way to process and understand it through my own work. These are my personal, evolving opinions, and I welcome you to share your own thoughts on the square crop in the comments at the end of the article.
With all that being said, let’s dive in.
The square creates a classic, timeless look to my photos
I want to start with this point because I feel it’s less about composition and more about style, yet it’s a key reason I chose the square format for this project. In a world dominated by 3:2 and 4:3 aspect ratios, I associate the square format with classic medium format cameras like the Rolleiflex or Hasselblad, used by legendary photographers of the past. To me, the square frame evokes a vintage, nostalgic feel. While I’m photographing the contemporary world and can’t (nor do I want to) eliminate all signs of modernity, I believe the square format helps them subtly fade into the background, if only a little, to help achieve a more timeless look.

Placing the subject anywhere in the frame with a square photo
One thing I quickly noticed when composing photos with a square crop is that I could place the subject almost anywhere in the frame without it feeling unbalanced. The square format offers more freedom, as traditional compositional guides seem to carry less weight. Whether I position the subject near the centre or closer to the edge, the image still feels balanced. This flexibility allows me to be more creative and simply have more fun when taking my photos.

A neutral shape which encourages the viewer to look around the image
Lacking a dominant direction, the square photo offers equal visual weight on all sides, encouraging the viewer to look around the frame as opposed to looking side to side or up and down. The symmetry helps prevent the viewer from feeling pulled in a particular direction, encouraging a more immersive exploration of the entire frame. This balanced approach prevents the eye from being directed by dominant shapes or lines, fostering a more comprehensive and immersive exploration of all elements within the image.

Square photos can often convey a sense of calm
Building on the point I made earlier about the square format lacking a dominant direction, I’ve noticed that square photos, both my own and those of other photographers, often convey a sense of calm. I touched on this in my project introduction, referencing the work of the great Michael Kenna and how his use of the square format contributes to the zen-like quality present in much of his photography.
Without the horizontal or vertical bias of a rectangular frame, the square format introduces a sense of stability and harmony. In the chaotic and busy environments I photograph, particularly in my London cityscape work, the square composition helps create a more peaceful, uncluttered feeling.

The square can enhance geometric shapes
Although visual tension in a photo can be a positive thing, it can sometimes detract from the feeling I’m trying to create with my images and when including strong geometric shapes in my photos like in those below, the neutrality of the square crop helps them to feel more centred and balanced within the frame.

Embrace the use of negative space and minimalism with square photos
I’ve already spoken about how the square can convey a sense of calm, but this also goes for instilling a minimalistic feeling in the photos by introducing a more balanced composition. Without the directional bias a rectangle brings to the image, it helps to make every element in the frame, including negative space, equally important, creating a harmonious visual experience.

A square photo can enhance diagonal lines
When I want to introduce visual tension in my photos, I often incorporate diagonal lines into the composition. The inherent stability of the square frame, with its equal sides, contrasts perfectly with the dynamic energy of diagonals. These lines not only add depth but also guide the viewer's eye through the image, creating a more engaging and visually compelling experience.

Symmetry with the square photo
With all sides being equal, the square aspect ratio is ideal for symmetrical compositions. It enhances both vertical and horizontal symmetry, creating a balanced frame that doesn’t favour one direction over the other. This allows symmetrical scenes to shine, amplifying their sense of order and precision. The square format also reinforces simplicity and calm, as the symmetry within the image offers a clean and visually satisfying composition. From architecture to reflections, the square format beautifully highlights the inherent harmony of symmetrical subjects.

A frame within the frame is enhanced with a square crop
I love incorporating frames within my compositions, particularly with a 1:1 aspect ratio. The equal dimensions allow the frame to be uniformly sized on all sides, enhancing the balance of the composition. This uniformity not only creates a sense of harmony but also contributes to the quieter, more relaxed atmosphere I try to portray in my work.

That being said, using frames within the frame doesn’t necessarily require a symmetrical composition. As I mentioned earlier, the square format offers compositional freedom, allowing you to place the subject or the frame itself off-centre. You can also experiment with the dynamic energy that diagonal lines can bring into the image, adding visual interest and movement while still maintaining balance.

Taking square photos and my thoughts about cropping

Before concluding this article, I want to discuss how I compose and capture square photos while out in the field. My Fujifilm XT5 allows me to set a 1:1 aspect ratio directly in-camera, and unlike some other brands, this setting is non-destructive, meaning I can adjust or remove the crop during post-production. Surprisingly, some cameras permanently discard the cropped-out portions of an image, so if that’s the case for you, consider adding compositional grid lines to your camera's display to guide your framing and apply the crop later when editing in your chosen software.

And please! Do not let anyone tell you cropping photos is bad. That’s just ridiculous. There is no right or wrong with photography.

This small study into square format photography and the compositional benefits it can bring has been a great opportunity to dive a little deeper into the work I’ve been creating and I hope that this newfound awareness of the impact a square crop can have on my pictures will help me in my continuous drive to develop my photographic eye. As I mentioned before, please feel free to leave any comments, sharing your own thoughts on the square photo below.
Until next time.
Trevor

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Articles Trevor Sherwin 9/11/24 Articles Trevor Sherwin 9/11/24

My Favourite Photography YouTube Channels in 2024

An updated list of my most watched photography-related YouTube channels.

YouTube is fantastic. It was and remains a game-changer for those with something to say, wanting to pass on knowledge or simply showcase their creations, and as a free resource to learn or be inspired from, there’s not much better out there. The thing is, for all the good it provides, you sometimes have to wade through a lot of average, or even poor content to find it and having done a lot of that work already, I’ve cultivated a healthy list of photography-related YouTube channels. So, to help those also looking for good, high-quality content, I’ve created a list of the channels I enjoy the most. These are the channels that when a new video is released, go straight into my watch list, which is the best endorsement I can provide them.
Back in 2020, I posted a blog listing my Top 10 Landscape Photography YouTube channels and given a few years have passed, I thought I would post an updated list, but this time, I’ve decided not to limit it to landscape photography specifically, but to also include some other of my favourite photography related channels. The point is that although I might consider myself more of a landscape photographer, my interest in the craft spans many genres and regardless of the equipment used or the subject being photographed, I can learn or gain inspiration from pretty much anywhere.
The list is a little longer than my previous post in 2020, so I grouped a few of them by themes. You can jump directly to the list you want to browse by clicking the links below.

Contents

In the field photography YouTube channels
YouTube channels featuring film photographers
Studio-based and interview-style photography YouTube channels
Before diving in, do remember to balance watching videos about photography with actually going out and practising it yourself. Try to use the videos you watch to inspire and motivate you and not replace your creative outlet entirely.

In the field photography YouTube channels

This list of channels features photographers who typically create their videos while taking photos in the field. I love that I can be instantly transported anywhere in the world and learn from the photographers who took the time to video and share their adventures with us.
Simon Baxter
Simon Baxter has been an inspiration to me since I started to take woodland photography more seriously. I have watched his channel for many years now and he really is the master of seeking out woodland compositions. He takes the time to get to know the environment he photographs and expertly walks you through the compositions he frames, helping you to make sense of the naturally chaotic environment the woodland can be.

Fototripper
Fototripper is a channel run by Gavin Hardcastle, a landscape photographer from the UK, now living in Canada. Gavin is a great landscape photographer, an excellent teacher, and a really funny guy. If you want a great mix of landscape photography and comedy, this is the channel for you.

Thomas Heaton
Thomas should not need any introduction. He’s a bit of a superstar amongst the YouTube landscape photography community and for good reason. He has a huge following, an honest and unpretentious manner, and makes fantastic videos from all over the world. Thomas seems to be able to find a photo out of nothing and even on those rare occasions when he can’t, he is content to go home empty-handed due to his “good shot or not shot” approach.

Courtney Victoria
Courtney Victoria spends a lot of time her time photographing the British woodland. A very capable photographer who likes to get nice and close, capturing the smaller scenes she finds there. If you’re not a fan of small woodland scenes, fear not, you will be a fan of Courtney’s woodland jigs. Check her videos to see what I mean.

Nigel Danson
Nigel is one of the best landscape photography teachers on YouTube. His videos provide a great mix of on-location photography and studio-based talks and tuition. He is particularly good at examining and critiquing his own work so others can learn the same lessons he does.

Andy Mumford
Apart from being a fellow Fujifilm shooter (I know, it’s not all about the gear.. blah blah), Andy is an incredibly talented travel and landscape photographer. Andy frequently visits the Dolomites and his photos and videos created there are both engaging and always polished. Andy doesn’t make videos as regularly as others but when he does, they go straight onto my watch list.

Alex Nail
Alex is full-time landscape photographer known for his mountain and wilderness images. You will typically see Alex photographing the landscape during longer trips and expeditions, so he may not upload every week, but when he does, the work he creates is usually pretty epic and worth waiting for.

James Popsys
What I like about James Popsys is how encourages his viewers to think differently, resist the conventional and just have fun with the camera. We landscape photographers will typically shiver at the thought of photographing a scene with a blown-out sky, but James certainly doesn’t and prefers a more high-key look to photos he takes, typically of landscapes influenced by humans. If you like interesting and entertaining YouTube videos (and a bit of gear talk), this is the channel for you.

Mali Davies Photography
What to say about Mali? An open, friendly creative Yorkshireman. Be it exploring the British countryside or pounding the city streets, whatever the subject, Mali’s photography and videos are really engaging, and his work is always top-notch. Well worth a watch. “Sithee”!

Michael Shainblum
A landscape photographer based in California. Michael produces some of the most stunning and original landscape photography out there. He has a calm, relaxing tone to his film making and comfortable photographing a wide range of subjects, from the wide, epic vista, down to close-up macro subjects. A must subscribe.

Simon Booth
If you like small-scene and intimate photography, Simon’s channel is for you. Simon’s knowledge of the environment he photographs is unrivalled in my opinion and along with some beautiful close-up work, his videos are full of educational titbits about the subjects he photographs.

AOWS
A channel by Spanish-American, black-and-white landscape photographer Adrian Vila. I’ve not historically taken a lot of black and white photos, but it is something I’ve started to do more of recently and I’ve become a big fan of Adrian’s mono work. He has a distinctive approach to the way he shoots and edits his work and I’ve spent many an hour following Adrian’s journeys around Europe and America, often sleeping in the back of his car as he searches for the next subject to photograph.

Nick Page
If I had to describe Nick’s landscape photography in one word, I think I would choose “EPIC”. Nick is an incredibly relatable and down-to-earth character and I thoroughly enjoy is “in the field” videos which usually result in yet another incredible landscape photo.

Photography online
Probably one of the most polished, photography shows on YouTube hosted by Ruth Taylor, Marcus McAdam along with the rest of the Photography Online Team. This no-nonsense show is packed full of useful information with features covering a breadth of topics including film, nature and landscape photography.

Murray Livingston
I haven’t followed Murray Livingston’s work for too long, but in that short time, I’ve started to really enjoy his photography and videos. Originally from South Africa and now residing in Scotland, Murray’s videos are quiet and contemplative, and his landscape photography is of an incredibly high quality.

Alan Schaller
Up until now, the YouTube channels I’ve listed have been broadly landscape photography-based, but I think it’s important to mix things up and be inspired by work from outside of your general wheelhouse. You can usually find Alan Schaller walking the streets of London taking incredible black and white street photos of the people and places he comes across and by having a slightly eccentric nature, it makes for some entertaining videos.

First Man Photography
First Man Photography is a channel hosted by Adam Karnacz; a landscape photographer based in Yorkshire. Besides being a talented photographer, Adam will frequently go above and beyond to bring his audience more interesting videos, for example, taking a printer up a mountain to take, edit and print a photo while on location. First Man Photography has been around for nearly 10 years, so I’d be surprised if you’ve not come across him yet, but for the one or two who haven’t, I recommend taking a look.

Adam Gibbs
Although Adam is originally from the UK, he has lived in Canada for a few decades and along with some regular travel further afield, he spends much of his time driving his small camper van to remote locations across Canada to photograph the landscape. Whether taking photos of wide vistas or small, intimate patterns in the rock, Adam’s work is typically subtle and calming and his videos have a similar feel (unless he gets together with Gavin Hardcastle, that is).

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YouTube channels featuring film photographers

Although some of the photographers I’ve already mentioned will occasionally use film cameras, I decided to create a separate list of channels I follow where film cameras are their tools of trade. All of the channels that focus on film photography I follow have a familiar calm, quiet, methodical theme running through them, so if you’re looking to strip away some of the technology used in modern photography and get back to basics, these channels are well worth a look.
Ben Horne
If you are after a pure photography experience, look no further than Ben Horne. He shoots wilderness photography on large-format film at places like Zion and Death Valley National Park. Ben will regularly head out on a trip (usually four times a year) and document his journey as he seeks new and different compositions of the places he is already familiar with. After the trip Ben will release a series of videos from the trip, finishing up with an image review where he shares his thoughts about the pictures he took.

Kyle McDougall
Kyle McDougall's channel focuses on film photography, creative exploration, and personal growth through the many projects he undertakes. He clearly and articulately explains his thought process and reasoning for the trips he takes, projects he undertakes and gear he uses. Like the other film channels I watch, Kyle’s videos are incredibly relaxing and informative and even though I’ve not dabbled in film photography myself (yet), it hasn’t stopped me from learning a great deal from this channel.

Nick Carver
I’ve followed Nick Carver’s photographer for just a couple of years after Thomas Heaton mentioned him on one of his videos. Nick is an American film photographer, often found by the side of the road photographing former Taco Bell restaurants. Whether it’s an urban location or the middle of a desert, Nick is happy to make a project out of almost any subject and alongside his presenting style, having such an open mind to what makes a good photo is why I’m eager to watch his videos when a new one drops.

Jess Hobbs
Based in Montreal, Jess Hobs shoots predominantly with film, typically taking pictures of the natural spaces around her. There’s not been a video for a few months, and although I wouldn’t normally include dormant channels on this list, long pauses in video releases are not unusual for her and I think Jess’s videos good enough to stay subscribed for when the next one drops.

Chris Darnell
Chris Darnell is an American landscape photographer who takes his pictures on both film and digital cameras. Spending much of his time seeking fresh compositions in America’s western national parks such as Zion and Bryce Canyon, Chris uses large and medium format cameras, communicating his creative thought process as he goes.

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Studio-based and interview-style photography YouTube channels

Here you will find some of the channels I regularly watch that are typically filmed indoors. Some might be a group video with standard webcams, others are filmed in a formal, studio setting but regardless of their style or equipment used, they are all great channels in their own right.
Glyn Dewis
I first came across Glyn Lewis when he presented the “He shoots, he draws” podcast with Dave Clayton a few years ago and continued to follow him as his YouTube channel started to gain a lot more traction. Here he interviews various people from the creative industry from photographers to animators who openly share a wealth of knowledge they’ve gained throughout their careers. For a one-man band, it’s a pretty slick show and if like me, you just love to hear the stories of anyone involved in a creativity, then this is a podcast well worth a look.

Brews n' Views
What’s not to like about a channel about photography and beer? Brews n’ Views has been going for about a year now and is essentially a few good friends who all enjoy an IPA (or five) and getting together to chat photography. The videos usually start with a quick chat about the beers they’ve brought, followed by presenting the work of guest photographers or those they’ve come across online. Some of the videos can be a little on the long side (2-3 hours!!) but it’s still a great way to see work from photographers you might never come across otherwise.

The Photography Pubcast
Like the Brews n’ Views channel I just mentioned, The Photography Pubcast follows a similar theme but is hosted by a few good friends mostly dotted around the UK, having a light-hearted chat about pretty much anything (with a bit of photography thrown in here and there). There are a few funny characters, with plenty of friendly banter and without too much in the way of photos being shown on screen, it’s the kind of video you can have on in the background while doing a bit of editing yourself.

Matt Payne
Matt Payne is a photographer based in Colorado and alongside being an experienced landscape and nature photographer himself, he has been interviewing other people from the photographic world since 2017. Originally an audio-only series, Matt started to film his conversations a little later and now boasts an impressive library of interviews spanning many photographic genres.

The Art of Photography
Ted Forbes and his Art of Photography channel should need no introduction. Ted has been presenting on his channel for years and if you’re looking for photobook hints, tips and inspiration, this is the channel for you. Ted gets sent a ton of photobooks from his viewers and regularly showcases them on his channel, offering subtle but constructive feedback as and when needed.

Sean Tucker
Photographically, I would say Sean is best known as a street and portrait photographer, but his videos are much more than that. Focusing on photography, creativity, and personal growth, Sean offers thoughtful tutorials and insights on photography techniques, gear, and editing while also delving into the deeper, philosophical aspects of being a creative person. A great channel for tackling self-doubt and seeking purpose in your work.

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So, there’s my list of some of my favourite photography-related YouTube videos. I’m currently subscribed to around 160 YouTube channels and although many are now inactive, I still skip far more videos than I watch, but having a good selection of channels allows me to watch just the very best shows that peak my interest, so you can’t have too many in my opinion. With that in mind, please feel free to share your favourite channels in the comments.

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Photobook Trevor Sherwin 8/20/24 Photobook Trevor Sherwin 8/20/24

Gathering Time by Simon Baxter | My Photo Bookshelf

A book featuring the work of woodland photographer Simon Baxter.

If you visit my website regularly, then it will be no secret that I love woodland photography and have been actively taking photos of trees for a few years now, so when Simon Baxter, one of the most talented woodland photographers out there releases a book, it automatically has a place on my bookshelf.

Author’s synopsis
‘Gathering Time’ is a photographic book by professional woodland photographer, Simon Baxter. It expresses the calm, quiet awe and emotion of woodland, as well as Simon’s unique connection to this beautifully complex world. Driven by the freely available therapeutic benefits of nature close to home, Simon has spent several years crafting woodland images to communicate his fascination with trees and appreciation for the sanctuary their home has provided.

My thoughts about the book
Gathering Time was released a few years ago and although I’ve just got around to posting about it here, it’s a book I’ve owned for some time and often flick through when in need of some inspiration. It’s one of those rare photography books where you will struggle to spot any filler images as every one in there is of such a high quality and very much deserves its place in the book (can you tell I’m a fan of his work yet?).
The book starts with a wonderfully written forward by Joe Cornish (another of my landscape photography heroes), followed by the book’s introduction. Simon’s introduction tells the story of what led him to photograph the woodland and the many benefits it brings. Amongst the beautiful woodland imagery are a scattering of essays, each telling a story, recalling memories or providing a window into Simon’s thought process. It’s a clever and insightful way to organise the book and group the photos together both visually with the sequencing and conceptually with the writing.
I’m a big proponent of using photography and nature to help improve mental well-being and Simon writes openly about his own, personal struggles both physically and mentally and how surrounding himself with the natural world went a long way to support his physical and mental healing.
I’ve spent many hours flicking through the pages of this beautifully crafted photography book and if you appreciate high-quality woodland imagery as I do, then Gathering Time should be at the very top of your photography book wishlist.
Book Details
Hardcover
Size: 300mm x 240mm
Pages: 128
Photos: 90
Availability at the time of writing: Still in print. Available from the author’s website: https://baxter.photos/shop/gathering-time

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