Why..?
When we started our own photographic journey, many years ago, we were very keen to visit the Lake District and, within that area, to then visit some of the more photogenic locations such as, say, Blea Tarn. We had seen so many amazing images taken at this location, often simply titled… “Blea Tarn”. There was no additional information.
As city dwellers, however, we soon learned that we knew absolutely nothing about Blea Tarn - we did not know where to park, how far we might have to walk, how accessible this location might be for those with mobility issues or even what time of day or time of year might be best from a photography perspective. Worse still, we didn’t even know where on the tarn the images had actually been taken. From the north, looking south or from the south, looking north? We had to do a lot of disparate and disjointed research before our trip, just to ensure that we could spend as much time capturing images as possible and as little time as possible trying to find our way around.
It was then that we hit on an idea… What if there were guides available that not only showed the most photogenic locations to visit in a given area, but also highlighted the information that we, as infrequent travellers, lacked - parking, accessibility, distances etc.? What if… instead of looking at great images and wondering where at this location those images might have been taken, this guide showed us exactly where those images had been taken. To within, say, 3 metres? What if the guide included focal lengths too, to know if the image was taken close to a subject or if a high degree of zoom was required. “For the last time, Dougal, these cows are small… the ones out there are far away!” Because it’s no good wanting to emulate an image only to discover that it was taken with an 800mm lens when the most you have is 150mm.
Enlisting the help of Lauryn, our extremely friendly bear, we set about travelling, photographing, searching, researching and compiling. Lauryn, incidentally, carries a red Fuji Finepix S camera with her at all times and as such she is - we believe - named after Lauryn Hill from… The Fugees.
Of course, our guides are never meant to be an end point to any Lake District photographic journey, but rather a start point. As inspiration. Sure, you can visit the same Blea Tarn location that we visited, precisely, and have the very same rock formation filling your foreground that we did, but… you will undoubtedly find your own rocks, your own time of day, your own focal length and, more importantly, your own vision. We just wanted to… you know… help you to know where to start.
Our guides serve as just that… guides. But they also make for great coffee table books, or as a collection of stunning images of stunning locations. They can also serve as inspiration for children starting their own photography journey. Additionally, we sell high quality prints of each and every image we shoot and, despite her constant protests, we also offer each print with or without Lauryn photobombing the image, whichever you prefer.
Have fun, stay safe, respect and revel in nature and… of course… happy shooting!