The Value Of The Photography Experience

A well overdue update...

Well, it seems like just yesterday that I wrote my last Field Notes issue, when, in fact, it was almost three months ago, back in November…

It was a crazy end to last year and a start to this one, but I’m back and very excited to be writing again on Substack. It was something that fell behind a bit but was never forgotten.

I wanted to write and release this issue today to get back to it, share some of what I’ve been up to, and offer a few thoughts. Moving forward, I plan to get back into a consistent (for the most part) schedule with Field Notes, and I’m looking forward to it.

2024 Wrapped…

So, I closed out the last two months of 2024 with a couple of trips and a few exciting opportunities.

First, I finally managed to make a trip to Scotland. I thought it was something that would happen much sooner than four years after moving here, but I blame the delay on the fact that I just kept getting lured in by and stuck in North Wales! 😁

The first view I was greeted by when getting close to Glen Coe

One of the last locations on the south coast

The Scotland trip was fairly ambitious. I drove all the way to Glen Coe and back in three days (my home is near London), which was a couple of thousand kilometres when everything was said and done. I also filmed the entire trip and decided to bring not one but two 6x7 cameras with me (cue indecisiveness).

I quickly realised there was WAY too much distance to cover while also trying to shoot photos and video.

Regardless, it was amazing to finally cross the border into Scotland and experience the landscape there. In the end, I managed to pull it all together. It also served as a reminder to simplify—something I often tell myself. I think I’ll stick to one area for the next trip!

If you missed the video (it’s a big one), you can check it out here on my YouTube channel.

Slate City

Old Garage - Llanrug, Wales

I also managed to sneak in a trip to North Wales near the end of the year to work on Slate City again. Whenever I visit the area and work on this project, I fall more in love with the place.

On this trip, I brought along the large-format camera and a box of Ilford HP5+. I visited some new locations and knocked on a bunch of doors, and I managed to get access to a chapel that I’ve been trying to photograph for a couple of years now, which was exciting.

Of course, I also filmed this trip, which was fun, but it reminded me that I want to do some trips this year that focus just on photography. As much as I enjoy making videos and sharing the experience, it’s a very involved process, and I want to make sure I dedicate some days solely to image-making.

Old Chapel - North Wales

Dinorwic Quarry

I came away from the trip with a few images that I’m happy to add to the project, and it left me excited to keep working on this in 2025.

As mentioned, I filmed the trip, and if you missed it, you can watch the video here. 

BBC Feature

Speaking of Slate City, to wrap up the year, I had the pleasure of being featured on the BBC Wales website, where I spoke about the project and shared some images from it. It was very cool to have this work noticed and shared with a large audience.

You can read the feature here if you’re interested.

Limited Edition Prints

The last thing about Slate City before moving on is that I recently released three limited-edition prints from the project, which are available on my website.

As mentioned, I want to spend a lot of time this year making images for this project, and these print sales will help me make more trips to do just that.

Each image is an edition of 50, and anyone who purchases one will also get their name in the book once it’s published. If you’re interested, you can find more details here.

I also want to thank everyone who has already purchased a print. Your support is truly appreciated and will go a long way!

An Important Reminder

But moving on from the updates, there’s one thing I wanted to talk about quickly. I was thinking about it last week while I was in the south of England doing photography for the day.

On a whim, I decided to take a day trip to the Jurrasic Coast to make some images for a video I was working on about Kodak ColorPlus 200. I thought a new location would be refreshing, and it turned out to be.

I started my day at Portland Bill Lighthouse, on the Isle of Portland, and then worked my way over to West Bay and eventually Lyme Regis.

The entire day was just a lot of fun—exploring fishing villages and towns, studying the light, and searching for details, with no plans, expectations, or real purpose other than shooting some of this film to get a feel for it.

It was one of those days of photography where everything seemed to click, and by the end, I had just about finished three rolls of film, which, for me, with 35mm, is borderline record-setting.

The change in approach and pace was quite refreshing, to be honest.

For a while now, my focus has mostly been on the projects I’m doing, using large or medium format cameras, and much as I love making that work, it was nice to switch up the format with something a little more relaxed and make images purely for fun.

It ended up being a great reminder about how important the experience itself is and that photography can be something you do simply because it’s enjoyable.

It doesn’t have to be more than that if you don’t want it to be.

I think sometimes it’s easy to take the experience itself for granted or feel like it’s not enough when, in reality, it’s days of photography like this one that often stick with me the most.

In fact, I can vividly and fondly remember a number of shoot days over the years, not for the images but for the places I explored and the experiences I had.

I think it’s important to be reminded of that from time to time.

This is especially true nowadays, when we’re exposed to so many opinions (and sometimes judgments) about what photography should be, what we should or shouldn’t focus on, which types of images are considered good, how certain subjects or styles are played out or overdone, and what type of work is important. 

Basically, many things can muddy the water and make us forget that photography can look very different for each of us. There’s not one specific thing that it is or should be.

But regardless, when it comes to reasons for doing something, shouldn’t enjoyment and happiness be at the top when it comes to importance? Not saying they’re the most important, but they’re a pretty damn good reason to pursue this passion of ours, IMO.

The experience is valuable regardless of the images, and it’s important to remember that. 

Anyway, that was something I wanted to chat about briefly, as my day trip inspired it, and it’s been at the top of my mind over the weekend.

Over the past couple of years, working on projects that interest me and feel important has been what excited me most. However, it’s also nice to be reminded that I can occasionally make images purely because I enjoy the process.

That’s it for this one!

It’s good to be writing again here on Substack, and I hope you’re all doing well. I look forward to getting back to schedule with Field Notes. I’ll talk to you next week!