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“I just took the scene rather than compose the scene.” - That is a pearl of wisdom that REALLY resonated with me.

Someone with 200k subscribers, those dazzling pictures and with your humility...talking like a student and teaching all the way. Hmm. So rare so good! Thank you Nigel!

This is by far one of the most inspirational videos about photography I've ever watched. It's not just about how good your photos look, or how long your journey has been. It's more about the character it shows, the effort that you've made to get to where you wanted to be. If I had been in your shoes, I'd probably have thought "oh well, I know how to do B\W like a pro, therefore I must be a B\W photographer". And I would have stopped there. And then I'd have thought "Oh well, if pictures with long lenses come easier to me, that must be my niche". And I'd have kept doing that. And your work shows that you'd probably have been amazing at both. That sort of drive, that's what I've been missing for most of my life, and people like you help people like me to stop sitting on their asses and try and assess what they want to become. It's about photography, but it's about experiencing life, really.

I hope that one day I am as good as you were when you were bad!

Nice to see when the pros share their lightbulb moments and "failures". Just goes to show that even the best learn through failing.

Great idea for a vid - I'd have to say that the biggest progression for me was getting non-family/friends to critique your photos. Your Mum is always going to love your photos!

Hi Nigel. It’s great to see your trials and the success & failures. I’m certainly on the same road as you once were. I’ve only been learning for 3 years now & I’m in my 70’s. Trying. Failing & doing it all again. I appreciate your commitment and it gives me the strength to keep learning. Failing and trying. Thank you. Neville.

Tracking your journey as a landscape photographer from the 80's to the present was an excellent idea. Self reflection and honesty goes a long way to revelling the passion you have developed into becoming a master craftsman. I really look forward to watching your weekly thoughts and ideas. Best wishes!

Love your channel, love the calm atmosphere you create when narrating. I love also the way you connect to your audience on such a personal level. I am sure so many of us watching can point on at least one thing in each one of your videos where it feels like we once were in our lives. Keep it up! Glad to see you're say and doing well :)

I think this is one of your most helpful videos. Thinking about what needs improving, and showing what you've done is key. We all need to do that.

LMAO! The face he makes when he says, "Things kinda went downhill because I had three kids." :D

One of the best and most inspiring photography videos I have seen for a while on KZfaq

I see from your knuckles that you entered the Canon/Nikon debate. Always risky!

Thank you for sharing your beginnings! I'm a brand-new photographer that has fallen in love with landscape photography and I've been watching all your videos and it's helped me so much already.

I certaintly think b/w shots give more atmosphere. I have never really done much in b/w but seeing yours has given me some inspiration. And its barley cos it flops over, wheat stands up.

The feeling one gets watching your videos resonates clearly your desire and efforts to make us ALL better photographers. Your passion is contagious.

It is lovely to hear your progression as a photographer, which gives me hope that I can arrive at a similar point. I have found that the big struggle has always been balancing the time commitment for family and hobbies to allow for improvement of my landscape photography. On the up side, as my kids grew up, my sport and portrait photography skills grew by leaps and bounds and that has still allowed to grow as a photographer. Love your videos Nigel.

I appreciate your humility at being able to criticize your own work. A few years ago I took a design class (helped my photography a great deal) and black and white photography class. I thought I knew quite a bit, but realized I had a lot to learn. Also the "crit" session in both classes where the instructor and other student comment and criticize your work was pretty humbling--and instructive.

catching up with many of your videos, you generosity of sharong is amazing, thank you. So many things you've said in this video is so easily identifiable to me.

Thanks for sharing Your older images. I guess this show that anything is possible if you just work hard for it. "Never give up" fits in Photography just as much as every other places. Best wishes to all.

Great to see your journey in images Nigel, always interesting to see how we progress and develop!

This is probably the best 19 minutes I've spent in many years learning about photography. At last I now believe I know what "telling a story" means in the context of landscape photography, and come to think of it, some other genres as well. Thank you, Nigel!

I loved this episode! Sometimes it feels like I am not improving as much as I would like but seeing your pictures really showed that it takes time to gain experience and get better at it! I think this video also recaps pretty well the most important lesson I learned from your videos: your need to see a photo as elements in a scene, not just seeing it as a beautiful scene.

I've been taking pictures for a long time, since I was about 11. When I first started, as with most people, I took pictures of what was in my limited universe. Eventually I started looking at things differently, and bought many art books by various masters to get a perspective on the way they viewed their universes. When Lautrec paints people in a cafe he saw it very differently than those people sitting in that cafe and that was part of his brilliance. I'm certainly not putting myself at that level of artistry of course, but your point is well taken that it takes a lot of learning to look at things a in a way to be able to express them truly artistically.

Thank you so much for posting this really thoughful and helpful video. Really great to see how you evolved and improved--truly inspirational!

Great to see your journey Nigel

Indeed interesting to observe the learning process. Thanks Nigel for sharing this.

Thanks Nigel, I thought I would share a couple areas over the years that has made a difference for me, and to see overlap or if anyone can benefits from my2 cents: To have enough light on the foreground (90% of the time). Getting color balance right for each scene - often when a shot has a great composition, but it just does not look right on the screen, the colors are off. To open up scenes. Particularly in Capture One when lens falloff is not automatically corrected, the first thing I do is bring it to 100%. This then changes the overall balance in the scene. I have found that for landscape, most of the time I want an open look from no vignetting. A couple times I focused on the same scene like every day for a month. Different moods, times of day, light. My purpose was not to try to get the best shot ever (although of course that is always nice), rather to really understand the nature of light, color, contrast, softness, hardness, hand-held, tripod, etc. When I first did this, my photography jumped to another level. It brings cognition. It is like riding horses, in the beginning we work to get everything right, and then on a long trail ride in the mountains where you are beyond sore, you have to relax and let the rhythm and connection take the lead. That is when you become a good rider. I believe the same in photography, where the connection takes the lead, and you intuit the lens choices, the moments, the composition that is natural for the connection, and the abilities become second nature to make it so. Doing my own printing (with pigment inks and a good assortment of papers on hand) has really improved my photography. On screen, because we can move so easily from one picture to the next, an image can look great for the short time we are viewing it. But on a print, we sometimes look at it for like an hour, absorbed in it. We both see its beauty and nuance over the details to bring it to perfection. A shot that stands well in print, is a composition, lighting, texture that can endure.

Really appreciate this video - as well as many others of yours! It's really helping me look with a more disciplined perspective now, after so many years of dabbling in photography.

That photo of your kid being scared by that bug is amazing. I love it!

Thank you for this! Been a big fan for about a year now. As a photography novice, it really helps to see your tutorial videos and also see how you started out and improved.

It's great to see your old black&white photos. I don't know how popular photography was in the 80's, but would you have thought that in a few decades photography will be so popular? I mean with a smartphone everyone is a 'photographer' nowadays.

I think the one way people can really improve their photography is just by shooting. I ran into the same brick wall myself when starting out where I would read all I couild about photography, the techniques, the genres, and even followed on social media, famous photographers online but I realized after a while that while I had the technical skills down and could calculate equivalent exposures for example, I needed to get out and shoot. And I think that's where the "good/great" photographers improve and everyone else sort of gets stuck... they know the technical, now they need to go and apply it and challenge themselves. Even if you're new, I'd say go out and shoot. Once you have basic exposure theory down, and even before you learn about composition -- just shooting will help you improve because you'll learn and develop as you go, as I feel photography is one of those things that you learn by doing, once you have the foundation (ie. basic exposure theory) mastered. Composition will push you even further too, but you have to get out and shoot first, and continue to shoot, learning from your mistakes and trying new things. You can only do so much by just reading and following others on social media and videos. I would even go as far as forget about the gear, or more rather, the brand or how old your gear is. As long as you have a camera that's maybe made within the past 10 years, and a set of lenses (primes or the trinity of lenses or something similar) that's all you need. The improvement will be made through experience, and whether you're shooting with a 10 year old kit or a brand new kit, the same photography principles still apply. So "forget" about the gear and focus on your shooting. Over time you will find that you need to add or remove pieces of gear from your kit, but that's part of the learning process too. Figuring out what you need for the types of photos you want to make, but you won't figure this out unless you go out and shoot.

LOL, when the lightbulb turns on! 👍

Wow. I have followed you for some time now and I learn much from you. But, this video is especially meaningful to me. As you share self-critique of photo images of the past, you really did a nice job of explaining the whys and wherefores of what you saw then and how you would do it differently now. For instance, I could understand your struggle with seeing in color but thinking in B&W and trying to figure out why the color image disappointed. I am there right now! Composition and contrast, too. I think it's that you are being candid with insight into your thought process then vs now more than a 'dry' offering of technical instruction. It's like, we're sitting across the table and 'Yes, you're answering questions I didn't know how to ask', if you know what I'm trying to say here. Thanks Nigel!

Hello Nigel. I’m somewhat ‘tired’ of this kind of improve composition videos, but, this one was great to watch. Really enjoyed, maybe because In some extent I reviewed my own story! 😊 This was an excellent insight and still learned something I think. I took a lot of inspiration from your work, photos and videos. Well done and thank you! 😉

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience with us

Nigel.....thank you for sharing........awesomeness at its best Friend.

I always enjoy your videos, keep up the great content. Right now I feel like I am in a photography slump. I have only been taking pictures since Christmas of 2015, but I feel like my progression has almost stalled. I want to improve, so I keep studying others work, watching videos to get ideas to try. You are an inspiration for me.

Another great insight Nigel, the photo of the waterfall in Yosemite I saw in one of your other videos and I just love it, i have never been there but you get a real sense of the size and power of that waterfall through the black and white image and the tree just gives it such a scale, thanks for keeping us going! Look forward to the mid-week installment! All the best.

Read some of the reviews, people can be so cruel. I’ve learned a lot from your videos, keep them coming. Good job Nigel.

I am 14 now at the beginning of my photo journey so this is relatable to a point

Thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge, great video!

I think photography is just like anything else in life. You evolve, learn and grow. One day something doesn’t make sense then the next it does and it unlocks the next phase. I believe it’s how you apply yourself to a problem and experience which determines the speed with which you unlock knowledge. As you mentioned Nigel, there were setbacks in the 2000’s for you, and that’s exactly it, life happens. But if we keep taking one step forward towards a goal, then eventually we can unlock the knowledge to our next phase and grow. And as you have done here, reflectivity on the past can help appreciate the present. 👍

That's the most informative video ever. I needed this one, thank you

Thank you so much for sharing your photographic journey! It's very inspiring and helpful! Love it and subscribed! Keep up the great work!

Nigel, your authenticity is one of your greatest strengths. Thank you for sharing your journey with us. Very helpful. Some of my current landscapes look like your old ones, so I know there is hope!

Enjoy your photography path from the beginning. I have only been an amateur photographer since 2017 but can relate with my early quality and the progress I have made up to now. I have learned from your KZfaq videos along with those from Thomas Heaton, Mads Peter Iverson, Mark Denney, Simon Baxter and others. Of course, I learn the most from "playing" with the camera and LR/PS. Thanks for all your help. I enjoy your videos very much and look forward to a new each Sunday.

Thank you so much for your honest story, Nigel. This is one of the videos I enjoyed most on your channel so far!

An inspirational episode Nigel as it demonstrated that we all start from a point in our photographic journey and patience and perseverance will be necessary companions in order to undertake the journey and improve, which by your candidacy showed some of the key stages you have went through

I thoroughly enjoyed the journey through your evolving experience and understanding of landscape photography. Instructive and inspiring.

Hey nigel. Maybe you could do a video about when your thinking to enter pictures to win competitions, how would one go about doing that? And maybe talk about what happened for you when you won for sun tree etc

Hi Nigel You can tell your subscribers who are worried about notifications pinging a lot during the day about this. There's an option in KZfaq to receive all your notifications (the ones where you've clicked the bell) in one batch at any time of the day. I chose 5pm which works for me. It's a really useful service! I just happened to specifically watch this video at 9am today because I saw your post about it on Instagram yesterday. Thanks for another great video!

Great video, nice to hear tips that do not rest solely on gear... very refreshing.

Incredible self-reflective piece perfect for me as I struggle the most with landscape. Thanks for your honesty and pro tips. I also struggle with getting out due to family/busy city life.

"Fantastic to see you again" Loving the channel Nigel, thanks for sharing all you do! Loved seeing your early photos, proof it's a lifelong passion! I miss my D200, at it's base iso (200) it had fantastic image quality. Cheers.

Thanks for this video, to me it's one of your best. I've been watching and learning for a long time, but seeing your older images along with your descriptions of what didn't work well and how you've improved over time with thought and practice is a really powerful motivator. The first 12 or 14 minutes has a lot of similarity with my own photo history. I have photos that fit every stage you went through. I have old b/w film shots that are better than anything I took in my early DSLR days. I remember being really proud of some photos with my 20D that I no-longer much care for as well as being disappointed I couldn't capture a beautiful scene in a photo that had any impact approaching what it was like to be there. Everyone knows that time and practice help and seeing someone with great skill comparing old photos to new ones is always going to be interesting, but the details you included make all the difference. The timelines for the changes in format/cameras, that there was a period where you were using a lot of contrast and saturation or over-darkening the sky because dramatic felt like it meant good are all things I, and I assume a lot of your viewers, went through as well. It's really inspiring to see that while I/we may never have the same dedication to practice and improve, we have the potential to keep learning and improving with the work and thought we put in to it. Thanks for not just reminding us that learning and growing is a journey, but by grounding that story to what I assume are many of our shared experiences to help it really hit home.

Great video and it was fantastic to see your evolution ! Congrats

Midway through grasping the lightbulb, and enjoying my photography more and more because of advice and encouragement from ND and his peers! Great!!

Thanks Nigel, this video was great. 🙏

I've just started watching your videos. Besides being interesting and helpful to me, you come across as being sincere and humble - a good human.

It's really neat to see the 'before' vs the 'after' and see the changes and evolutions! Really inspirational.

Never apologise for starting photography in a darkroom, it's the best way to learn.

Very inspirational Nigel - thanks.

Storytelling is so important, in connection with technical elements that develop through ‘getting out’ in the field. Great to see how success unfolds through the hard yards of environment and experience. Thanks, Nigel 🙏👍🏻

Enjoyed listening to your journey. Interesting tip about using a long lens. Sometimes I get overwhelmed by large landscapes and not sure where to focus. Thank you!

Really appreciate the honesty here, so useful to see others have been through similar struggles.

After 7 years I see the same mistakes in my works and the way of thinking. Great to see the progress - the best reward is to know You are improving in something You love! Stay Safe Nigel!

I like your videos especially for the way you explain things. It has been an amazing progress of your photography skills 😲👌🏼 really helpful tips, thanks for sharing with us.

I really enjoyed this video as I enjoyed how you evolved over time with your photography. I completely agree on nailing the foreground. It is something of a challenge here in Arizona but it is getting there 😊.

Very interesting thoughts. The idea of just shooting a pretty scene rather than composing an image is one I've struggled with and didn't really understand until you articulated it. Thank you!

This current situation has at least provided me with opportunity to go through the hard drives and look at and reprocess a range of photos I've taken over the years. My process then compared to now has noticeably changed. Enjoying the trips down memory lane too. Good to see your journey through photography also Nigel.

Great discussion .. and great photos of course

i just found your channel today - thanks for the great videos! as a beginner it was super motivating to see your progress.

I love watching/listening to your thought process. Thanks so much for your knowledge!

Congrats on improving your photos over the years. Thanks for the great examples and explaining them.

Criticism is my light bulb. I have had so many photos, I thought were award worthy until photogs pointed out ghosting, chrome, vignetting, the fine details that your average Joe does not see.

Seeing the development in your images and style across your life like this was a real learning experience. Thanks.

Another great video. I see your first camera was an Ilford. My first camera was an Ilford instamatic which I got when I was 9. It came with a 12/24 film cassette in black and white only and I loved it. I fell out of love with photography when digital started and only came back to it in 2017 when I went to New Zealand. The love affair has started again and now I am retired I have more time to indulge (coved-19 permitting). Channels like yours provides excellent inspiration.

Love this, very relatable!

Nice progression, it gives a lot of hope ❤️✌🏻 What I find interesting is that the first couple of photos were taken as I was smth like 6 years old 😆😅

That was a great video. Thanks for the undertone of patience which is something I struggle with regarding my photography. I am also a dad with two kids and struggle to get out to do landscapes. It was somewhere reassuring to see you have been through the same challenges. I learnt allot from this!

That was great to see your progression and how you have changed. I really like how you explained the changes you have made in order to get where you are now. The photo with the sun inside it is amazing! Thanks for sharing and can't wait to see your next one!

I enjoyed watching, I think it's always a worthwhile exercise to go through your library of photographs. It brings back a lot of memories and you can learn a lot from it.

Really enjoying all your videos and tutorials, Nigel. I've been a new subscriber since finding your channel just after lockdown. Thanks for the effort you put in and for sharing your knowledge.

Your videos are inspiring. Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge and your look. Greetings from Brazil

Great video Nigel, I went out today to take some photos of places around me since I can't go that far at the moment and I only took one lens with me which was 45mm lens. I was looking at the photos once I got home this evening and they lack a lot. I think its that story line, wrong time of the day, to much to look at within the scene and I felt a bit down over this. But its not something I like to shoot as I normally like to shoot landscapes and your photos I can see where I went wrong today and what I want to shoot. I have these ideas in my head of places I want to photograph but I currently can't get there yet with travel restrictions. Great to see where you started and you finding your way over the year and only in the more recent years you've really found your way and its like everything just clicked together and you now what to do with the scene. Love your work Nigel!

Thanks Nigel, as always you are very interesting and have such great experience to share with us. Keep up the great work!

This is great Nige, so good to see your journey, Iv pretty much covered the same steps myself except the nirvana stage towards the end! This gives me faith and hope in my own journey, thanks very much 👊

What a fascinating insight into your photographic journey, amazing what people go through for their art, glad you came out the other end as you did. 😎

Thanks for sharing. This one really hit it home for me. Jan.

So great to see your journey. You really brought home some good points that I needed to hear. Thank you and give Pebbles a pat for me.

Thank you for this Nigel. Combined with a local gallery’s weekly subject-specific contest, this is forcing me to take a longer view of my work. I can see several avenues for improvement - very exciting!

Nigel, thank you - this was such a valuable video.

You journey thru you photos are an amazing one... Thank you for all your insights... such a journey it is... have a fantastic and safe week:))))

thanks NIgel

Thank you another video that will help me up my game, pleasure watching you as always

Great video Nigel - useful to understand the progression and the road you've taken! Thank you for that! Bell has been clicked here for many moons - always look forward to the videos! All the best!

Moral of the story: don't have kids. All joking aside, this video was extremely helpful and motivating. I'm currently in the same place you were at the beginning, where I'm struggling with colour and composition, so I prefer to shoot mostly in black and white. Definitely will put the things I learned into practice once this whole quarantine thing's over. Stay safe!