Notes from the woods.

A fox rounded the bend five metres ahead, and I kept the camera down. A while later, in another wood, I raised it for an hour for a family of woodpeckers. Two encounters, two opposite choices, and one question underneath: does the creature come before the picture?

I have compositions I visit over and over. When I find a new one, it joins the rest. Another place that becomes part of the practice for years, perhaps the rest of my working life. A composition where I think I have said everything may still be revisited. It might not...

There is a photograph on my website that embarrasses me. It has been there for some time. It is technically accomplished. The light is doing something interesting. Several people have told me they like it. I know, with reasonable certainty, that it is not good enough,...

There is a photograph I made sometime in the mid-late 2000s that won an award. I cannot remember which award or which competition, but I remember the image clearly: a wide coastal view, a dramatic sky doing exactly what dramatic skies are supposed to do, the kind of...

I stood in the Lake District holding my camera, surrounded by everything that should have made a perfect photograph. Strong composition. Golden light. A location that had graced countless calendars and Instagram feeds. The image felt completely flat. I had followed a...