All Aboard, Flash ,Bang ,Wallop !

Its official November was the the dullest month on record , its not my photographers paranoia that informs me that the UK available light in winter is rubbish but the weather centre has confirmed my suspicions !

Okay, the above statement might be a bit pessimistic but the long shadows and clear skies of winter are becoming rarer, or so it seems to me ! It also seems that snow is becoming a rarer event !  I have a head full of locations I hope to visit should the UK "enjoy" snow this winter however I have not had the opportunity to shoot snow covered streets locally for years.   Is global warming making life harder for us street togs ?

Inspired by the cover shot of Shirley Bakers iconic book "Streets & Spaces" I'm desperate to shoot the urban landscape under snow. All of the great photographers appear to have captured city scenes with a magical scattering of the white stuff,  our cities  take on a different personality when naked trees, streets and fresh snow feature,  the graphic shapes lend themselves to a classic monochrome approach.even when shooting in colour. I hope we get snow soon !

I hesitate to say it but I think it might be time to start using flash on the streets, as the dismal greyness of England is becoming a problem for me. I know that some of you reading this will think  I'm a lost soul who has gone to the dark side for introducing a artificial light source to the views I capture but my mind is made up, subtle has never been my approach anyway !

I'm looking forward to the challenges of this new approach which will give me the opportunity to create a new (to me) look, I might exploit slow speeds with the flash or introduce some coloured filters, it will be interesting to see how my subjects respond to this less than discreet form of image capture ! It could literally put me on the recieving end of the "Wallop" from my headline !

Summing up, I think it is important for photographers to adapt and evolve as the alternative is to stand still creatively,  going through the motions of tried and tested behaviors (comfort zone) will sooner or later lead to stagnation and a loss of enthusiasm for your image making.

Change , Adapt and evolve !

All aboard , destination unknown but the journey will be fun !

Keep it real  !