Craft and Technique

Michael Pilkington

A smartphone can encourage a different relationship with photography - one built around immediacy, experimentation and responsiveness.

Paul Gallagher

For me, black and white photography has never been an effect or stylistic option. It is a way of understanding light, structure, atmosphere, and interpretation. Over time, I have come to realise that monochrome photography is not about removing colour, but about seeing differently.

Michael Pilkington

Having visited the Highlands of Iceland a few times before, and seeing some of the images that can be had from a higher perspective, I was motivated to acquire a drone. It really brings a new perspective to this wild and beautiful landscape.

Paul Gallagher

Infrared photography invites us to work in another light, quite literally. It reveals a version of the landscape that the eye cannot see and, in doing so, challenges many of our assumptions about exposure, contrast and conditions. What began for me as a technical experiment gradually became a les...

Michael Pilkington

The life of an image extends beyond capture and editing. It begins in the field with intention, moves through careful refinement in post-processing, and finds its fullest expression when it is realised as a print.

Michael Pilkington

On a recent visit to the Outer Hebrides I wanted to try something different. In fact this wasn't my initial intention but when viewing the peat stained sand patterns and the reflection of the deep azure sky in the wet sands beyond, I found myself relishing the creation of some rather abstract ima...

Paul Gallagher

When we consider photographing trees, the word ‘tree’ is in the title and often influences the way we see and make photographs of them. If we are subliminally instructing ourselves to photograph a 'tree', we will be inclined to adhere to the brief in mind and photograph the entire tree from base ...

Michael Pilkington

Much of landscape photography is built on the pursuit of simplicity, clarity and visual order. In this article, I reflect on my growing fascination with complexity and disorder in the natural world, particularly in woodland environments, and how learning to embrace chaos rather than exclude it ha...

Michael Pilkington

It is not uncommon to shy away from what can be seen as the garish effects of IR in an image. However, treated sympathetically, it can still dominate an image and be pleasing to the eye.