Outdoor Photography. Chiz Dakin

      

      OUTDOOR PHOTOGRAPHY

      PEOPLE • ACTION • PLACES

      by

      Jon Sparks and Chiz Dakin

      2 POLICE SQUARE, MILNTHORPE, CUMBRIA LA7 7PY

      www.cicerone.co.uk

      About the Authors

      Chiz Dakin is an award-winning freelance photographer, with particular interest in outdoor themes such as landscape, adventure sports and travel. Oh, and she never thought she’d say this, but wildlife too.

      She’s a keen mountain walker, scrambler/mountaineer and cyclist and enjoys a variety of watersports (sea-kayaking, diving and windsurfing in particular) whenever she gets the chance.

      She also finds photography is a great excuse to indulge in her passion for travelling. She’s now visited some part of all seven continents, and has made some epic trips, such as driving from Cairns to Perth via Broome in Australia, semi-circumnavigating Antarctica in an icebreaker and summiting a peak over 6000m high in Ladakh. She also publishes her own range of greetings cards, and runs workshops on outdoor photography in Derbyshire and Southern Spain.

      Chiz lives in the Derwent Valley Heritage Corridor, very close to the Peak District.

      She was the winner of the Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild (OWPG) Award for Excellence in Photography in 2008.

      Other Cicerone guides by Chiz

      Cycling in the Peak District

      Jon Sparks has been passionate about photography and the outdoors since childhood. A six-week trek in the Karakoram Mountains, Pakistan, in 1990 was a turning-point; the learning curve was steep, but the pictures were rewarding. His first exhibition soon followed, and four years later he became a full-time photographer.

      Jon specialises in landscape and outdoor subjects, and his picture library includes images from New Zealand, Canada, Morocco, Australia, Pakistan, Jordan and more than 20 European nations. He also supplies images to the global libraries Corbis and Alamy. He publishes Lake District greetings cards and postcards, and so far has his name on over thirty books, including guides to every current Nikon digital SLR.

      Jon is a member of the Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild. He lives in Garstang, Lancashire, close to the Forest of Bowland – which can be a distraction from writing.

      Other Cicerone guides by Jon

      The Lancashire Cycleway

      © Jon Sparks and Chiz Dakin 2002, 2011

      Second edition 2011

      ISBN: 978 1 85284 646 6

      First edition 2002

      ISBN-10: 1 85284 356 X

      ISBN-13: 978 1 85284 356 4

      Printed by KHL Printing, Singapore

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

      All photographs are by the authors, as indicated – Jon (Sparks) and Chiz (Dakin).

      Disclaimer

      Every effort has been made to ensure that the instructions and techniques in this book cover the subject safely and in full detail. However, the authors and publishers cannot accept any responsibility for any accident, injury, loss or damage sustained while following any of the techniques described.

      Front cover (main): Above Easedale Tarn, Lake District (Jon)

      Back cover: On Parlick, Forest of Bowland (Jon)

      CONTENTS

       FIRST LIGHT

       1 BEYOND POINT AND SHOOT

       2 HARDWARE FOR THE OUTDOOR PHOTOGRAPHER

       3 PLACES AND PEOPLE

       4 WILDLIFE AND NATURE

       5 WALKING AND RUNNING

       6 ROPED SPORTS – CLIMBING, ABSEILING AND MOUNTAINEERING

       7 WHEEL SPORTS

       8 ON THE WATER

       9 UNDERWATER

       10 TREKKING AND EXPEDITIONS

       11 EXTREME CONDITIONS

       12 BRING IT BACK HOME

       13 PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

       APPENDIX I Geekspeak

       APPENDIX II Movies

       APPENDIX III Links and further reading

      Aonach Mor, Scotland: Hoar frost crystals on a foreground rock add interest, and it’s unlikely a tour bus will reach here!

      FIRST LIGHT

      Approaching Black Clough, Forest of Bowland (Jon)

      ‘Which comes first, photography or the outdoors?’ For us this is like the question of the chicken and the egg. The two are inextricably entwined. However, there’s no confusion as far as this book is concerned.

      This book is written for people who love the outdoors and, above all, for people who love doing things in the outdoors. We assume that you want your photographs to reflect that passion. It’s not about winning prizes at the camera club, or impressing people with your latest slide show. What it’s about is getting out there. You want pictures that capture what it’s like and how it makes you feel.

      Photography should add to the outdoor experience. It shouldn’t get in the way. If it helps you focus your mind on the texture of a rock or the play of light on a waterfall, it enhances your experience. If all you can think about is filters and f-stops, it does just the opposite.

      However, if you’re serious, photography can’t just be an afterthought. Ideally it will be an integrated part of your outdoor activity. And if you are serious, you want to be in control of the picture-making