Letter from Scotland – Rubbish Light

October 20, 2011 • Richard Childs

Our minibus pulled quickly into the small lay-by and the doors flew open, my clients spilling out and gathering up their tripods and bags as they went. Before us lay a small Lochan behind which the pyramidal shape of Ben Stack reared, perfectly framed by a notch in the nearer hills. The whole scene was bathed in glorious late September light but cloud was approaching fast. One client tore off at a great speed through the gate and into the field. Setting up rapidly he fired off a couple of frames before the sun slid behind the cloud and the rest of us arrived. ‘I got it’ he proclaimed ‘and before the light went’ he continued. ‘But it didn’t go’ I said ‘it just changed’. Other clients were now scouting around the area to find suitable material for their own images and with flatter light all the autumn colour and texture of the grasses and shrubby bushes was clear to see.

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28 Responses

  1. milo42

    I totally agree its easy to get sucked into the golden hour mindset and as your shots show different weather has many opportunities.

    On October 20, 2011 at 1:17 pm • Reply
  2. Neville Stanikk

    However moody and artistic overcast weather may be, commercially it’s absolute death. I’ve sold a few moody prints but as images for publishing I’ve never sold anything but pics taken in sunny or, as I call it, “optimistic” light.

    This has long been a bugbear of mine – every winter the photographic magazines trot out the same headline, “Don’t put your camera away just cos the weather’s bad”, and then they illustrate how you can still get good pics when there are fantastic storm clouds, mountainous seas, flooding or snow drifts. That’s all well and good but I challenge anyone to take a good view in dull English overcast weather.

    Here’s a suggestion that I’ve put to photographers over the years: as Valentines Day is a source of disappointment for most people anyway, why don’t we make it a day that celebrates the dreariness of the British Isles? We could have parties where we all dress in grey (those parties in themselves would brighten up a dank part of the year) and, best of all, we could send each cards that would show how dreary Britain can be. It would a market for us photographers but the images would have to be REALLY dreary, eg. a wet car park at 4.30 on a January afternoon. There could be a competition for such a picture. The winner would be a pic that had no drama, no magic and encapsulated that feeling of cold grey dankness.

    On October 20, 2011 at 2:31 pm • Reply
    • Tim Parkin

      Selling photography is marketing – having seen the photographs that some financially successful individuals work with I believe photographic skill is subservient to business acumen and persistence (and the willingness to undercharge). I’m not saying that is is your problem but if Joseph Turner, John Constable, Atkinson Grimshaw and James Whistler were able to sell pictures in storms, fog, rain, etc. then it’s not the genre that is the problem. Perhaps people are unwilling to buy these sorts of pictures as postcards or greetings cards.

      As for good views in overcast weather, how about these – I know it’s not easy (and it is harder doing so with digital than velvia, which loves overcast weather) but it can definitely be done. Like your idea about the Valentines day event – my sort of party :-)

      Although saying that – I can see that for a certain market, sunny pictures are always going to win (cloudless blue skies probably too). Do people buy sunsets and sunrises out of interest?

      On October 20, 2011 at 7:25 pm • Reply
      • Richard Childs

        Without a doubt, the vast majority of the £500,000 worth of prints I have sold in the last seven years have been of my favoured ‘stormy’ light so I agree with Tim that such images do sell, even photographs. The point I am making is that what is generally considered ‘poor light’ more often than not yields images full of colour, shape and texture that is on a par with the fair weather work the majority of photographers choose to shoot. I do believe that the traditional commercial markets for landscapes (travel, tourism, marketing etc) still require imagery depicting golden light, blue skies, fluffy white clouds and smiley people in cotton slacks to sell locations. Where a photographer sets out to produce art this doesn’t have to be the case, we can depict the landscape in all its moods and the public do respond positively to it.

        On October 20, 2011 at 8:16 pm • Reply
        • NeilMJ

          Fully agree with your comment Richard. It all depends on the clients you’re trying to sell to! Without naming names, I’m sure we all know what type of image tends to sell in the largest national department stores. Certainly won’t stop me shooting in ‘rubbish weather’, as I agree it’s actually more beneficial in achieving the images I want to shoot. Plus, I live in North Yorkshire, so don’t have much choice!!

          On October 20, 2011 at 8:28 pm • Reply
    • NeilMJ

      I have to agree with you, Neville. I submit a lot of landscape work to various national high-street stores and although I personally actually prefer the ‘moody’ look, they almost never take any on. Gotta have a bit of sun in there somewhere, to have a chance of selling any…or get into floral photography too!

      On October 20, 2011 at 8:10 pm • Reply
      • Richard Childs

        Hello Neil, It’s interesting that the buyers in some stores are prepared to take on and sell darker paintings but not photographs. Generally this hasn’t been my experience throughout the network of retailers we have here in Scotland. Some did ask for ‘sunshine’ at the beginning but we simply insisted that that was not what I do. Thankfully the sales speak for themselves and our retailers now trust that we know our market

        On October 20, 2011 at 8:24 pm • Reply
  3. Colin Campbell

    Couldn’t agree more, in fact so much so I no longer rush out on those few sunny days. I was thinking about this over the last few weeks, especially in light of the very wet summer we’ve had and for me it’s been a case of altering not just my subject matter but how I approach an image. I find I try and pay much more attention to subject and composition as I’m no longer always waiting for interesting light.

    On October 20, 2011 at 7:05 pm • Reply
  4. Joe Wright

    I will take whatever light I’m given and try and make best use of it, being an amateur photographer with a busy life… dont we all… I can’t afford to be choosy! There’s something to be said for overcast light, it really allows the natural colours, detail and structure to show through.
    Autumn Oaks is a wonderful image Richard and as you say simply would not have worked with direct sun light, the deep rich tones would have lost all their intensity. Great article , thanks…

    On October 23, 2011 at 2:56 pm • Reply
  5. Richard Childs

    Thankyou Colin and Neil. I was forced to start working with overcast light seven years ago because we have so much of it on the West Coast. I very quickly learned that my personal favourite images were created in these conditions mostly because the images rely on composition and rich detail rather than the relatively short lived impact provided by strong sunlight. I do photograph more vivid scenes but not very often. Perhaps it’s a good thing that very few photographers have discovered how much impact soft light can have.

    On October 23, 2011 at 3:56 pm • Reply
  6. Max Rush

    Very good article thanks, I fully agree with the point about being meteorologically closed-minded. Clouds are everything to me and in Britain we do have some of the best cloud variety in the world. I used to worry about commercial pressures to depict a particular kind of weather, but I’ve forgotten about that now as nobody’s ever complained. However I do find in my work photographing London that I’m often tempted to try and make one photograph that represents a particular place in a particular season, and so have to choose which kind of light is going to be most effective. It’s still very tempting to go with some kind of direct sunlight to describe the landscape’s topography and to suggest the position of the sun, even though it’s not usually playing to film’s greatest strengths. This isn’t to say that I really think it’s better, but it’s an easy choice to make without trying all the other possibilities.
    One other thing – you say that rain is invisible in exposures over 1/2 a second, but I wish it wasn’t. So many times I’ve been out in heavy rain (especially showers) and wished I could show the beautiful linear texture we see rather than just a damp-looking haze. There are Japanese studio photographs from the 19th C made with carefully scratched plates that give a much better impression of real rain.

    On October 24, 2011 at 12:05 pm • Reply
  7. LensView

    Fully agree with you, Richard. I’ve been to Scotland (mainly the West Coast, north of Loch Alsh as well as Skye and Lewis and Harris) many times since 1992. That first year, we had so-called “bad” weather most of the three weeks we stayed in Poolewe. Only the day before we left, we got total blue skies. It was beautiful, and we wished we had had part of that for our hillwalking, but photographically it was … well, boring! It didn’t go with the landscape.
    Despite that knowledge, I still hesitate to go out photographing in cloudy or rainy weather when I’m at home (in Luxembourg) because of my misconception (see, I know it) that I just don’t have the right subjects for that weather at hand. So I still have to work on my mindset, but I’m getting there, slowly.

    On October 25, 2011 at 10:50 am • Reply
  8. Joe Rainbow

    A wonderful article Richard. Couldn’t agree more about making good use of the duller weather. It of course depends what you are shooting, but any subtle textural and colour details just seem to sing. I find that with ‘sun filled’ landscapes, the emphasis is somehow split between the actual light source and the landscape. I like the way the land seems to glow under dull light. Having said that, I am not averse to more directional sunlit images, and find a combination of the two very satisfying, as the offer completely different moods.
    In that sense, I also agree with Joe Wright. If you are busy, amateur and work all the time, you just have to adapt to the weather at the time. I don’t mind dull, it is fine drizzle and wind that gets me (and my lens) :(

    On October 25, 2011 at 6:08 pm • Reply
  9. Joe Rainbow

    P.s. I particularly like ‘Sea of Green’, which just has bags of movement.

    On October 25, 2011 at 6:10 pm • Reply
  10. Julian Barkway

    Totally agree, Richard! (And some damn fine images, too.)

    I’m currently planning a trip for the weekend and my work-colleagues just don’t get why I’m moaning about a forecast of ‘awful’ weather that threatens cloudless skies and wall-to-wall sunshine. I’m hoping I can find some suitable shady spots… Give me nice overcast skies any day!

    On October 25, 2011 at 6:18 pm • Reply
  11. Adam Pierzchala

    Ah Richard, once again you show your ability to find wonderful cameos and scenics. The crucial thing is that you use rich cloudy skies to great effect. Perhaps living in Scotland gives you more opportunity for such skies than are available in some other locations, but you still have to know to read the weather signs and be in the right place at the right time. That is a fundamental part of photographic skill just as knowing your f/stops and shutter speeds  Rgds., Adam

    On October 25, 2011 at 9:53 pm • Reply
  12. Adam Pierzchala

    Now come on LensView, Luxembourg has plenty of wonderful landscape, even the flat bits can be a good source of intimate cameos when it is overcast. And you have the Ardennes close by too, so no excuses, we look forward to an illustrated article from you too! Rgds., Adam

    On October 25, 2011 at 9:56 pm • Reply
    • LensView

      I’ll try to pick up that challange, Adam!

      On October 26, 2011 at 5:10 am • Reply
  13. Adam Pierzchala

    Mr Parkin, that Buchaille is a real beauty! One of the best images I have seen and a far cry from the more usual views. Rgds., Adam

    On October 25, 2011 at 9:59 pm • Reply
    • Tim Parkin

      Not mine adam and no Buachaille – I can’t remember the location but I’m sure Richard will enlighten us..

      On October 25, 2011 at 10:05 pm • Reply
  14. Adam Pierzchala

    oops! Very red face. Conclusions? As it’s not Buachaille, then that’s why this image goes beyond the iconic views of the great B; goes to show that Richard does make good photos; your own work obviously makes a good impression on me (how smarmy can I get…) it’s late and I need to rest in a quiet dark room :)
    Adam

    On October 25, 2011 at 10:14 pm • Reply
  15. mcbphotography

    The image is on the slopes of Blaven (Bla Bheinn) on the Isle of Skye looking towards Loch Slapin.

    I like the majority of subscribers are probably enthusiastic amateurs who never get as much time as we would like with a camera out in the landscape. Often the images are made in ‘locational bursts’ whilst away on holiday or day trips etc. Consequently after making a large financial and time commitment to such excursions I have been guilty in the past of feeling disappointed almost cheated when the weather (or should I say light) has been poor – on such occasions I have uttered the phrase (usually to myself} on the way back to the car “well that was a waste of time”!. However I have now come to accept that waiting for the light to ‘improve’ to what people may conventionally perceive as ‘good’ can almost be a false representation of the location we are trying to capture. For example anyone who has been to the West Coast of Scotland will know it is a wet place and it rains a lot shaping the very environment we are trying to capture. Sitting out the dull light for a week waiting for a 30 minute chink of good light is perhaps an example of how people/viewers would like it to be rather than how it is.

    On October 26, 2011 at 1:36 pm • Reply
  16. David Mould

    I feel, being vampirish in my outgoings, am rarely seen out in the light after about ten in the morning, but feel that success has as much to do with the time of the day, as it is to do with the weather and constraints of the light… I do think that if you get out in the early morning, it significantly increases ones chances, due to the quality of the light…inclement weather or not, of getting a half decent image regardless of what is going on round about, due only to the time of day…

    On October 26, 2011 at 6:53 pm • Reply
  17. Richard Childs

    I guess at the end of the day (and the start) it’s important to go out with an open mind and to be receptive to any conditions that may arise. This Autumn in Scotland has been as wet and windy as my first here in 2004. I am getting out when I can no matter what the weather (my clothes and boots are at this moment drip drying in my porch having taken a battering this afternoon!) in contrast to 2004 when I spent much of the time waiting for the odd ‘good’ day to take photographs that now leave me cold due to their lack of mood. While I think it’s often important to previsualise a scene and perhaps have a plan for a location being inflexible wil mean lots of missed opportunities as they present themselves. After todays hour or more of torrential rain from which I had nowhere to hide came rainbows and a blaze of light beneath peaks wreathed in cloud and I was there.

    On October 26, 2011 at 8:50 pm • Reply
  18. Richard Childs

    Well done to Mike for getting the Skye location, you must spend lots of time as I do following rivers up hills.

    On October 26, 2011 at 9:30 pm • Reply
  19. mcbphotography

    Thanks Richard!

    I think the best photo accessory of the last 12 months has to be my wellies!

    On October 26, 2011 at 11:11 pm • Reply
  20. MichelaG

    Lovely images Richard, that really “sing” and remind us all to have open minds as well as open eyes, and to follow our hearts.

    On November 3, 2011 at 8:54 pm • Reply
  21. wytchwood

    Feel like I’m coming to this discussion a bit late. I would agree with the general flow of the comments thus far. I like Richard’s way of thinking about light as one important ingredient in an image but an ingredient that comes in different flavours. Added to the base of strong composition and form it adds mood from light and sweet (golden, warm light with strong highlights) to tart and sharp (high contrast and saturation) through to a more sophisticated subdued and bitter palate (flat, diffuse and weaker light). Just like food and drink we often start with the light and sweet but as the palate matures we tend to prefer the more sophisticated acquired tastes. Beautiful images.

    On November 6, 2011 at 11:37 pm • Reply

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