Join the conversation
Subcribe to comment rss feedAlan Lait chooses one of his favourite images
Alan Lait
Alan is a UK landscape and outdoor photographer, based in North Yorkshire, whose images capture the mood and beauty of the landscape. His interest in photography started from a young age, inspired by the dramatic views he often encountered while climbing mountains in the Lake District, and he has since dedicated many years to refining his photographic and printing techniques. His work has been published in magazines and exhibited at the Joe Cornish Galleries, where he was a contributing photographer for many years.
Do you have a favourite image that you would like to write an end frame on? We are always keen to get submissions, so please get in touch to discuss your idea. You can read all the previous end frame articles to get some ideas!
We see so many great photographs from talented photographers these days, in books, magazines and social media feeds, that it becomes hard to single out any favourites which stand out from the rest, but occasionally I'll see an image that I still remember a few months later. Often it won't be an image that screams for attention, but one that's understated yet undeniably beautiful. This lovely photograph of Winterton-on-Sea, in Norfolk, by Jon Gibbs, is one such image that I recalled from a couple of years ago.
Jon was the first winner of the UK Landscape Photographer of the Year in 2007, and his images have, to me at least, always been less obvious or showy, and a more naturalistic and an honest representation of the landscape. This resonates with my own approach to photography, and it's a theme I've presented talks about in recent years, too. As tempting as it can be to reach for the saturation or contrast sliders to boost the presence of an image in a social media feed, this is rarely how the landscape appears to our eyes. Often featuring the coastal dunes and waterways of Norfolk, where Jon is based, his images feel more realistic because of his softer manner of processing. Jon also has some lovely photographs from Northumberland and the Scottish Highlands, too, which is where I think I last caught up with him, during a chance meeting at the side of a road in Assynt.
This particular image is a beautiful illustration of Jon's understated style, with soft tones throughout. It's a moment of light, land, sea and weather; balancing the delicate warmth of the sun, that picks out details in the Marram grasses, with a hint of foreboding from the clouds to the right. Despite the potential of a rain shower, there's a feeling of peace and tranquillity, with those lovely warm colours in the sky reflecting on the sea, and there's a pleasing rhythm to the repeated sunlit clumps of grass, leading into the distance.