Hi there! I hope you are all keeping well. Last night I attended a talk hosted by the St. Ives Camera Club with a guest speaker from Scotland who is a distinguished landscape photographer- Mr. Colin Prior.
I must say his Scottish accent got in the way at times but who needs a lot of words when all I could do was admire his photographs. They were simply astonishing and breathtaking. He drew inspirations from Ansel Adams, Galen Rowell, Vittorio Sella to Shinzo Maeda.
In his talk, he emphasized that it's not so much of the equipment that matters but the chance to capture natural beauty and be able to share and inspire other people to go out and enjoy nature. In a nutshell he believes that photographing landscapes is about taking photos of what isn't there. We tend to photograph the obvious and forget about details and what is actually in front of us. He also had his occasional rant on how the modern times have made photography less special by creating 'photographs on steroids'. It made me actually think harder on my own principles as an enthusiast.
Prior has been to many places including the Arctic but last night he promoted his new book- High Light- The Vision of Wild Scotland.
I came home totally blown by the images I saw and mesmerized by the beautiful world we live in. I know not all of us wake up in the middle of the Arctic or camp in the tallest peak just to capture the Winter sunrise or spend hours walking with a 60 litre kit on your back just to get to the remotest yet unspoilt wilderness but we can see each opportunity as a way of capturing special moments and spending more time looking and observing rather than simply clicking and being a mere passerby.
I got Alex this calendar signed by Prior as my dear hubby is big fan of the highlands. If you want to be inspired or want to know this man you can visit his site here and browse through his lovely photographs. Enjoy!
