Hello. Vlog number five today. Hello, hello….does that sound alright or does that sound a bit
stupid? Who knows. Vlog number five. I haven't had much time to do vlogging recently with
starting a new business, two kids that don’t sleep, making YouTube videos for you guys.
I’ve got a lot going on and I just don't get out and about as much as I would like
to. I want to make more of these vlogs. I want to get out and show you some amazing
places especially the amazing places we have here in the UK. Hopefully, as my business
builds, it’ll give me a little bit more time to get out and make more of these videos
on a regular basis. Today, however, I have some time constraints due to all those things
so I’ve got a few hours in the day to get out and take some photographs. I don’t know
if you get but I’ve woken up in a very reflective and slightly sombre mood today. No particular
reason. Just one of those days. I find that my photography really really is a good thing
to do on a day like this because it’s positive, it gets you out there, a bit of fresh air,
a few landscape photographs and it gives you chance to think and reflect. Generally, I’ll
then produce some kind of really good idea that I can then carry forward with lots of
positivity. Today I’m heading out to Brimham Rocks which is run by the National Trust.
It’s just an amazing array of rock formations somewhere deep in the Yorkshire Dales again.
I’m going to get out now up to Brimham Rocks. A fairly decent little drive and then, hopefully,
be back in time tonight for the football as Wales are in the semi-final of the European
Championship. England tanked it. Absolutely disgusting but I have a lot of Welsh people
in my family so fully backing Wales tonight in the semi-final. Hopefully, they will have
some success against Portugal. So good luck to Wales tonight and I will, hopefully, be
back to watch that. So let’s go. I want to get out and and start capturing those pictures now.
With the camera of course.
Okay so I'm here Brimham Rocks and, as you
can see from that shot, it’s a busy place and that leads me on to something I’ve been
meaning to talk about when it comes to your landscape photography and that’s accessibility.
If you come to play place like this where it’s easy to access, there’s big car park
park, you can expect lots and lots of people. I'm just capturing a timelapse of the moment
of that scene there. It's a nice scene. It is really beautiful but because of that the
National Trust has built up Brimham Rocks here and there’s lots of people come and
visit, therefore, there will be lots of people capturing that shot. Accessibility is what
it's all about because the places are difficult to get to where that's through someone allowing
you access or going the extra mile to make an effort to get into beautiful locations,
whether that’s hiking up a mountain, buying a travel ticket to go somewhere amazing like
Iceland, for example. Go the extra mile, put the effort in and it will pay off. You might
find if you’re working harder than the next guy, then you’re going to find success.
So that’s a little something I’ve ben meaning to talk about. Nearly dropped the
camera, restart my intervalometer. I’m just sat on the edge at the moment and I really
nearly dropped my camera into that void there. There’s my feet. Probably, about a 20 foot
drop so I really don't want to drop my camera over the edge of there because it definitely
won't recover this time.
It's very popular with the rock climbers here….
[More slack]
[Ok i'm up on the top]
Good climb?
Err, i did it very wrong....and...yeah... a little bit scary
Could I have one of the Pork Pies please?
Any drinks?
Could I have a bottle of diet Pepsi please.
Thanks
I’ve just stopped for a bit of lunch and I’ve gone for the classic pork pie. It was
quite busy down by the visitor’s centre. Although it was nice, I'm looking for a bit
of quiet contemplation, like I said earlier. So I’ve found this spot, precariously sat
on the edge of this cliff again. Take a look at this… just move my legs aside… you
can see that’s pretty far down. That is a good 30 foot drop down there and another
15 foot drop to the side of it, so yep. So I’m going to eat my nice healthy snack and
then get on with, burn some of it off, hopefully. Look, I know you shouldn’t eat pork pies
but that was bloody delicious! Look at this one! I’d love to be around when that eventually
Look at this one. I would love to be around when that eventually falls. Amazing!
I’ve just stopped here to talk to you about a couple of things, things
that been nagging me. One of them is people not understanding what it takes to be a good
landscape photographer or for that matter a good photographer. The biggest part of it
to me or one of the biggest parts of it for me, where the real effort goes in, is planning.
If you’re not planning your photographs then you’re missing out, probably. You need
to do some research, decide what kind of shot you want to get. With a landscape, like I
said in the critique the other day, you need to plan where you want the sun to be in your
shot because it moves around in the different seasons. So you need to decide when you’re
going to attend there, what time of day to get the light right and all these things need
to be going through your head. So planning is absolutely key and thinking about the lighting
and how it's lighting your scene. That’s what’s going to take your photography, in
particular your landscapes, to the next level. Now another little thing of annoyance is when
photographers do go out and put this extra effort in, we have people just not not really
understanding what it takes and not appreciating it as art which it absolutely is. Photography,
for some reason, has become devalued. Part of it may be because of things like Instagram,
everybody sharing photos from their camera. Sometimes these are good but it's not what
makes a good photographer. It’s the skill, it’s the art, it’s that vision that the
photographer has and they go out and create some amazing work. So then when people, suddenly
out of nowhere, just expect you to start sending high res images. Just because you’ve shared
them on Facebook, they think they have a right to ask for hi-res images. For me, you might
as well be asking an artist that’s drawn pencil drawing, a really beautiful pencil
drawing, to give you give you it free and a ship it halfway across the world. It's just
unreal. As photographers, we need to value our own work first and then try and spread
the message that photography isn't easy. It’s not just pointing your iPhone at someone and
then pressing a button or pointing at a scene and pressing a button. It’s much, much more
than that. It takes planning, it takes preparation. Like yesterday, when I took those shots of
the owls, me and my friend were sat in a bird hide for about eight hours and that’s what
it takes to get those really amazing images. You might only get one or two chances to capture
those perfect images. That isn’t easy. You could put an amateur in that situation and
they might miss it, the one or two opportunities they’ve had to see those owls. So that's
where the skill lies. It's in practice, it’s in preparation. All those things combined.
Hard work like I was talking before. All those things combined make a good photographer who
ends up with beautiful images. I'm sure I’m preaching to the converted here but people
need to see that is quality work. There’s time gone into it. There’s cost associated
with that, whether it's effort, whether it's money. I talked before about investing in
your photography and that’s what you’ve got do to be good. But we need to start pressing
this and telling people, letting them know what the value of photography is. So I just
wanted to take that little minute out of this day. I think that's what was getting me down
this morning a little bit. I love this, I absolutely love it. I love this art and, hopefully,
you can see this. I want you to love it. I want it to be inclusive for everybody that’s
following me, everybody that’s subscribing. This should be inclusive. I’m not trying
to shut anybody out. It’s not about having expensive gear. It’s not about having the
best lenses, filters, anything like that. You can go out and shoot amazing pictures
with an iPhone. I think it's about respect for this art form. Just because we’ve gone
digital now, it's a lot easier to get into, it’s a lot more accessible, which is great.
I love that. It shouldn't be an excuse to devalue it. That's what I’m saying. So we
just need to spread that message. I really think we do.
Right, I think that is my rant
over now. I’ve got that off my chest. I think that's what’s been bugging me. I’m
going to go capture some images now. Personally, I am not the best at planning. It is really
a weakness in what I do. I’m going to have a look around, grab a couple of really nice
shots and then get on my way home. I did have a bit of a plan today and this
is the shot I came for of these three rocks here. You’ve got the moody clouds. the long
exposure going and that’s what my shoot today is all about. Hopefully, it’s going
to turn into a really beautiful black and white photo. With the light, the rocks, it’s
got black and white written all over it, trying to capture some nice mood in those clouds.
That’s what I’m going for. Hopefully, you’ll be able to see now what that looks
like and you’ll agree that it's a pretty good image and worth the effort and everything
else I’ve put in today to come out and capture this image. So I’m back at the car and it's
been a great day. I’ve just met a guy called Dean. We talked a little photography. Dean,
I hope you watching. If not, either way, it was still great to meet you. I've now got
to get back home, get this video edited. I’ve got a load of other stuff to do tonight as
well. But I need to get this video edited and out for you guys to go watch it. I would
love you to subscribe to the channel, if you haven’t done so already. I’ve got videos
going up on a Sunday and on a Wednesday. there’ll be more this, there’ll be more tutorials.
Lots more to come. Please do subscribe, if you haven’t done so already. I’ll see
one another video very soon. I’m Adam! This is First Man Photography…
Out!!!!