The year 2020 has been so far a year that is incredibly surreal and strange, that itself goes without saying. Even as a landscape photographer it has meant that I have had to change plans that I had which involved travelling, still though it has not stopped me from carrying out photography though - instead I have had to adapt my photography in quite a lot of ways, which has actually been quite useful in a lot of ways as it has made me learn new things and gain new skills. So what things have I learnt during lockdown?
You do not have to travel far to carry out landscape photography:
Strange but true. Landscape photography is about getting out and about, thus travelling and exploring certain areas - some of them might be quite a distance away from where you live, but what about taking the time to explore the local area that is on your doorstep. As a landscape photographer I have discovered the hidden gems of the locality that I live within and you really do not have to travel far in order to capture stunning landscapes, in-fact the following photographs are just a small collection of ones that I have taken during lockdown that are all within a radius of less than five miles from my own doorstep.
Sometimes just staying within your local area you can come across some surprises and secrets that go unnoticed by many people who are so caught up within the rat race of society and life. Just slowing down and taking time can really make the difference and photographing the locality that you live in can be just as challenging if not more challenging than landscape photography normally would be, for lockdown has taught me how to get more creative with my landscape photography skills and has opened my eyes to other things that I have perhaps not noticed before.
The seasons and colours change:
We are now in October and although March does seem a long time ago a lot of things have changed, for the most noticeable change has to be the seasons. One minute it is spring the next, autumn is here and I am left wondering “what has happened to the year?” It goes quickly but I have noticed the seasons change incredibly fast and with that the various colours within the landscape have changed so dramatically in such a small period of time. Whilst spring to autumn might seem a long time it really is not and the changes within the season along with the nature that it brings makes for interesting observations. As we enter autumn one thing that I aim to do is carry out more woodland photography.
Be thankful for the smaller and finer things in life. Do not plan your life ahead:
It goes without saying that planning ahead is never really a good idea. Usually we all like to have some form of structure in our lives to some extent and whilst that needs some planning - perhaps the thing to do now is to not plan our lives ahead. Live within the here and the now.
Taking time for the finer things in life is also something that we should all be doing and as a landscape photographer that is incredibly true, just seeing the landscapes changing colours as we progress with the seasons is perhaps one of the finest things in life, best of all it is completely free, that and the smaller things in life, do we need to be involved in a life that is to consumed in money?
Yes I am a “Star Trek” fan and one of the things that sums everything up are the following lines from First Contact, in which the crew of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 E, travel back in time from the 24th century to one which is closer to where we are now. “The economics of the future are somewhat different. You see, money doesn't exist in the 24th century”.
Again what follows next is perhaps something that we should all learn from,
“No money? You mean, you don't get paid?”
“The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force of our lives. We work to better ourselves and the rest of humanity. Actually, we're all like yourself and Dr.Cochrane.”
Perhaps “Gene Rodenberry” did have a point with his visions, a world in which the smaller and finer things make us all better within the long run, why do we need a consumerist and capitalist society, at the end of the day what is money other than paper with a numerical value on it. And where does the paper come from? Trees. So we chop down the amazon to make money then? It would seem that way and that money is merely a piece of paper that when you take the figure that is written on it, away makes that piece of paper worth nothing at all.
For do we actually need money for the smaller and more finer things in life? Do we need money at all or should it be a more open source style of economical system?
Always Question things:
Something that I have found myself doing as of late is questioning things. We are now several months down the line from March and still things seem a little strange. Are we living in a reality which is a cross between “The Matrix” and “Logan's Run” or are we slightly slipping into “1984” in which case Orwell’s infamous book needs moving from the fiction section into the non-fiction section in all major libraries and bookstores.
Taking a look and questioning things is something that we should all be doing at this time. Could it be that there is a virus but it is not COVID? Seems strange but when you take into account the following things it would make sense to use a virus to create financial ruin across the globe in order to bring a fourth industrial revolution into existence and effect.
With that of course comes a new age of technology and a global IOT of connected devices. Even talks of “health passports” are now looking like they will become a reality as we go forwards.
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The "Great Reset" Are things ever going back to what they used to be or not? Are we now in the middle of a global world reset that means that the future will be more digital going ahead?
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What do you think?
Take the time to learn something new:
It goes without saying that during Lockdown, people have had “time” something that was rare before the pandemic or pandemic - depending on how you want to look at things, but with that extra time comes the perfect time to learn new things and gain new skills, expand on our knowledge.
For me that has included tinkering about with Wordpress and I have managed to come up with and create a new blog which is focused on smartphone photography. Yes smartphones these days have optical technologies and camera’s that in a lot of cases rival those of a DSLR or Mirrorless camera system. Random fact time “but did you know that Android was originally developed as the main UI for the digital camera”.
It is learning and tinkering with Wordpress that has meant that I have managed to pick up some new skills and gain experience. Even more better is that Wordpress is made for photographers and a lot of photographers tend to use Wordpress to make their portfolios with. Chris Sale, is a landscape photographer from Cumbria, who has used Wordpress to make his website simple yet cost effective. It gets the job done for Chris and his website is clean and easy to navigate as well.
The new blog/website that I have created can be found here - https://thephonetogger.co.uk/. It has got some articles already on there surrounding news and reviews from the world of smartphone photography so be sure to check it out. Always make time to talk to friends:
Throughout the Lockdown, if there is one thing that has kept me going more than anything else it is being able to talk to friends. Quality and not quantity is something that is incredibly true, for starters I have a very small friends circle which is a lot better than a very large circle of friends who are more like “acquaintances” to me. I have one particular friend who has been like a rock throughout this entire pandemic and we manage to talk to each other daily, if you read this then you know who you are and I am ever grateful to call you my best friend.
It is important to talk to others who we know, friends, family etc as it keeps us both healthy and sane even during these strange times, so no matter what - always make time to talk to friends.
Science is wrong:
Throughout this entire pandemic it would seem as if “the science is completely wrong”, broken almost and nonsensical. Why is it that we are having lockdowns? What difference do they make? Well if you look at countries that have had strict and harsh lockdowns - they do not work, you only have to take a look at Peru and Argentina who had the strictest of lockdowns in South America only for cases to rocket back up after they came out of lockdown. Neighboring Uruguay on the other hand had no lockdown and cases plummeted.
Europe and it was Spain and Italy who had the strictest and most draconian of lockdowns coupled with mandatory face mask usage, even outdoors and when those countries came out of lockdown, cases again went up.
Compare that to Sweden where things are back to normal and a different picture is occurring. Almost as if a giant paradigm has occurred. Why is it that we are not seeing “any evidence” that suggests that masks make any difference with this virus or indeed with any measures that are in place to curtail and control the virus, not having any evidence or being shown the evidence is questionable in the first place.
Is this a new virus? Well perhaps not, why was it found in two places before The WHO declared it a pandemic?
So could it be that this is an existing virus to which we already know and possibly have an existing vaccine for? Who knows, but if it is then this pandemic really will be one massive medical error that could have been solved ages ago. Still though in other such good news is that the University of Exeter are working with the old BSG Vaccine - amazing that we have progressed scientifically so far that the scientists are now looking at an already existing vaccine. Again some of the symptoms of COVID mirror that of TB, so could it be that this pandemic is looking at it from a hypothetical one, a TB pandemic that has been brought on due to environmental issues from around the world.
Interesting times when science goes wrong and no science is ever perfect.
Start something new:
So you are a landscape photographer, that is fantastic, but with lockdown - surely it is the time to start something new, perhaps start a blog or even a YouTube Channel.
With YouTube you as a photographer can enable people to see a behind the scenes aspect of how you capture those amazing photographs, also YouTube can be a fantastic way to connect with a wider audience and other photographers, gain inspiration and more importantly you can earn ad revenue from YouTube. Amazing that is. Also YouTube can be a fantastic place to promote your photography incredibly easily and can be the perfect platform to teach others how to capture amazing landscapes along with photography methods.
Lockdown for many of us has made us think how we can do things differently. Of anything a lot of businesses have had to make changes that I think will remain permanent after we come out of lockdown and that is fantastic to see. As a photographer it has given me food for thought with how I want to start something new and exciting, yes I have started two new blogs and refreshed this blog - but looking to the future I want to expand on my photography and one of those ways is by making a photographic calendar of images that I have taken in lockdown for 2021.
“Yes it would seem as if lockdown has provided people with all kinds of interesting ways in which businesses can adapt and thrive - a different kind of future we are all now faced with and one in which independent businesses and business will flourish”.
Make money through alternative means:
For any landscape photographer making money is crucial, that goes without saying but with lockdown it has meant that many photographers have had to make money through alternative means and methods.
This has meant that a lot of photographers have been reverting to YouTube and whilst it might seem easy at first, to earn money on here can take some time - work with YouTube and it is easy to make some money through ad revenue which can come in as an extra cash boost. Writing is another way to make money as well, so perhaps it is the ideal time to start a blog of some kind - both Wordpress and Blogger make it easy to earn money via ad revenue and the ads that can be run on a blog can also be set up so they reflect the sector of photography that you are in.
Whilst Wordpress and Blogger exist, it is worth noting that Medium is another fantastic writing platform to earn a bit of extra income through their partnership program. Finally, turn the news off:
If there is one thing that we should all be doing, that is to quite simply “turn the news off”. Yes the news these days is full of doom and gloom, what with constant pandemic news. Without the news it is possible to make our mental health A). a lot better and B). We can appreciate the other things in life such as the outdoors. A quick brisk walk is perfect for escapism (or any length of walk is also perfect for escapism).
For relaxation - listen to a podcast or music, challenge yourself and improve your photography by experimenting with items and things around the house or within the garden, as strange as it might sound the house you live in along with a garden can be the perfect place in which to practice various photographic techniques thus it might help you in the long run as well.
Investing is the last key point and during lockdown it has been the perfect time for photographers to think about the future and with that comes investments, so what is it that I could purchase online to improve my photography? A lot of things and even for photographers who have a lot of things, then there are still photography related products that can be invested in which will help you going forwards in the long run.
Again these are all things that I have learnt during lockdown as a landscape photographer, but perhaps the most important thing I have learnt is the following thing,
“Do not take life for granted”.
And just how true is that? Incredibly true - we should never take life for granted as we do not know what the future holds for us all, perhaps that should be the biggest thing that we should all do as a society, never to take life for granted.
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