Masters of Iconic Imagery
Perusal of any photography magazine will reveal many with aspirations to start making money from their hobby; they see what has been achieved by the bigger names in the business and become inspired to follow in their footsteps. Nowadays, that is harder than it used to be, and we are awash with photographic images in this digital age, so the old staple of supplying a stock library is no longer as viable. That means that something extra is needed to make the dreams a self-financing reality.
Having your own photographic style and vision certainly will help, as will a spot of innovation. The masters listed here display both and are well known among the landscape photography community. Their craft is so well-developed that prints command a price, and their leading of photographic workshops will attract attention. Being well published with numerous books and magazine articles to their names ensures name recognition too. The images that they make go beyond the shores of Britain and Ireland to include some iconic places that we do not all get to see. There is often no substitute for getting to know your subject, and that is more important than ever in these image-crowded days.
Waite was an actor before he found that his photography provided a better income. That he was a master at it would have helped, and he is an author of several books as well as a DVD. Before income from stock photography collapsed, he had started Light & Land, a company that organises photography workshops. Aside from that, he also set up the Take a View photography competition that is well on its way towards a second decade, with collections of award-winning and commended entries coming out in book form every autumn under the title of Landscape Photographer of the Year. Otherwise, he offers one-to-one photo appraisals costing £99 for a 45-minute-long session, as well as private one-to-one photographic tuition. The website is a hub for booking these services as well as acquiring limited edition prints for prices in line with what you might expect for a master.
This master's panoramic vistas of Scotland's wild places must grace many a wall. That isn't all, but his reach also includes those from other parts of the world. For instance, he currently has a project on the go in the Karakoram, Pakistan's share of the Himalayas. When that completes, a book of the results is available, and the man himself has declared this to be his magnum opus.
He is best known through his books, calendars and prints showing the best of his native Scotland and you can buy these through the website. There once was a time when wild locations from other parts of the world appeared readily too, so the Karakoram project is no deviation. Photography workshops are part of the offer, so you can enhance your own skills in stunning locations using Prior's own knowledge too.
For longer than most, Noton stuck with film, but the rise of digital capture was too much to resist. Appearances at the Adobe Stage during the 2018 Photography Show featured much discussion of post-processing using Lightroom, as well as the importance of planning and preparation to reduce the need for computer work afterwards. There have been other changes too in that selling stock photography is no longer as lucrative as it once was, so there has been a move into book authoring and DVD production. Since 2014, there has been a monthly publication in the form of f11 Photography Magazine that is accompanied by online video tutorials.
Another large format camera user and a pro inspired to do landscape photography in place of his previous commercial work by none other than Charlie Waite (see above). The examples of his work that you find here may appear simple, but they are certainly not below par. Rather than the wider vista, the finer detail seems to be what is sought out by this practitioner, never ever a bad thing and his articles in the likes of Outdoor Photography may have started something in me too.
Looking at any of his images will leave you in no doubt that he knows how to put his large format view camera to good use; you cannot but marvel at what he can achieve and wonder how he can make something of limited lighting. For a long time, the love affair with film continued with the use of sheets of Fujifilm's respected Velvia and Provia emulsions, but the rise of digital capture could not be resisted.
Other changes in the world of photography have encouraged diversification, with books such as Scotland's Mountains, Scotland's Coast and Northumberland Coast being an important part of Cornish's work. Leading photographic workshops helps to add income, and there is another innovation that finds its way into the website's title: bricks and mortar photo galleries. The main one is in the North Yorkshire one of Northallerton, with shows by well-known and lesser-known photographers. Scarborough-based David Ward, one of the entries in this listing, was a tenant when I last looked.
It might be the age of digital capture, but here's another devotee to the use of an old style field or view camera. Even a fleeting perusal of the results will lead to the inescapable conclusion that he really knows what to do it. There are a number of books to his name too, and the theme of capturing how light and land interact feeds into these too. Of course, he hasn't missed out on the opportunity to sell his work and his tuition services, either.
