50mm Project Begins...

I love my Nikon 50mm lens, I loved shooting with it on film and I love it equally shooting on digital. The 50mm 'sees' the world in exactly the same way the human eye does - it doesn't stretch, compress or distort the view in any way - it's a very 'true' lens.

Whenever I get the chance to shoot personal projects, I like to get away from the methods I use in my professional assignments as much as possible. My personal work is much more 'stripped down', it's slower, more observed and in a way - has a lot more meaning.

The images above were taken on a beautiful day hiking around my home town of South Cave, East Yorkshire. I'm surrounded by trails and dales which weave and undulate and provide that visual tapestry which I find so fascinating.

Slowing down with the camera is good - it takes me back to the days when film seemed expensive and it was not in abundant supply. I shot in a much more contemplative way, savoring the frames as I approached the rewind point at 24 or 36. Now with seemingly endless frames available in the digital world, I have to question if I should shoot more or shoot less - does the world need more? I don't think so - it needs more of the good stuff - the stuff that has meaning, the stuff that is carefully considered and reveals something a little bit deeper about the process of being a visual artist.

I hope January has many more days like today - slower, brighter, more considered. Don't get me wrong, I love the buzz of being busy and being swept along on a wave of commercial success, but days like today are priceless in my corner of the world.