Basalt Blues
Iceland boasts a huge array of striking basalt columns and the ones at Arnastapi, on the coast of the Snaefellsnes peninsula, are a firm favourite. They are wonderfully textural and curvaceous, so I opted for reasonably tight framing to emphasise this. I was very keen to catch them with wave swirling around at their base, but it is often impossibly windy here and very hard to make a longer exposure work. On this occasion I was able to make a 10 second exposure, which allowed me to catch enough of waves as they came and retreated, but also retained a little texture in the sea. In an ideal world, I’d have liked bigger waves and a shorter exposure to capture a little more texture in the water, but this is still one of my favourite images from Iceland. It’s very much ‘of the place’ yet perhaps not instantly recognisable.
Icy Puddles
By way of contrast, there’s nothing much more anonymous than an icy puddle in a local field, but on those rare occasions when we enjoy a really good cold spell, there’s nothing quite so enjoyable as looking for those tiny little landscapes and scenes within a small section of ice. With little sense of scale and plenty open to the imagination, you can really start to see all kinds of scenes within.
Moorland Grasses
The world at our feet has endless possibilities and we have an amazing array of different grasses here in the UK. On this occasion, I’d spent a happy couple of hours on the lower flanks of Beinn Eighe, mostly working on bigger views. These beautiful grasses, surrounding a small peaty channel, caught my eye – their golden hues really glowing in the fading light. For this kind of image, I tend to use a small aperture to ensure sufficient depth of field, allowing me to make the most of all those amazing textures. I also used a reasonably wide-angle lens (30mm) to ensure I included enough of the different grasses and to make the most of the lovely curve of the peaty channel.
Leafy Tarn
Playing around with different techniques and taking advantage of changeable conditions can serve you very well when photographing intimate landscapes. These two images of a tiny section of a favourite woodland tarn were taken moments apart on a day of sunshine and showers in autumn. One was shot at f/2.8 and I’ve focused on the reflected twigs and leaves, rendering the leaves sitting on the surface water as soft and blurry blobs. Conversely, the other was shot at f/8 – giving me a little more depth of field and here I’ve focused on the surface leaves, so creating a less surreal image. The passing shower was very much a bonus and just adds that extra ingredient that can make all the difference in these situations.
Snowy Clad Woodland
Intimate landscapes can be made with any focal length and this was another occasion where I needed a wide-angle lens. In woodland in particular, you may struggle to reveal enough of the surrounding network of trees to create depth, without using a wider focal length. Even then, you’ll still need to show a willingness to cut things off at the edges. I always try to find some sympathetic repeating patterns and echoes to give cohesion to the composition and to create some kind of journey for the eyes to travel.
Ripples and Grasses
I almost didn’t make this image. I was mesmerised by the way the ripples, breaking over the submerged grasses, were reflecting the light, yet for some reason I at first walked past. Sometimes, it’s enough just to enjoy that moment. However, on my return, I ticked myself off for being lazy and decided to see if I could capture that wonderful play of light and movement. With the help of a polarising filter I was able to create that exact balance of revealing enough of the colours and textures under water, whilst still maintaining the reflected light from the surface ripples. Too much polarisation and the light would be vanquished, not enough and the details under the water lost.
Derwent Blue and Gold
The combination of warm and cool colours works so well in many types of photography and intimate landscapes are no exception. Focusing on a small area allows us to emphasise those appealing contrasts and create a striking composition of colour and form. As ever, I’m often looking for that something extra and, here, it was the ripples on the shores of Derwent Water; a shutter speed of 1/8s allowing me to capture the movement as a perceptible, but soft backdrop.
Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of making intimate landscapes is they can be done anywhere – even in your back garden – opening your eyes and mind to the possibilities is a real joy and I think feeds back into other areas of your photography, allowing you to see the world with new eyes.
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Text and Photos by Lizzie Shepherd
Lightworx Limited
Eccliffe Mill
Gillingham
Dorset, SP8 5RE
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