North Norfolk

... and finding the sweet spots of a camera.

I like people doing things. Not posing for the camera, but alive and within the landscape; a part of the landscape itself.

'A song is anything than can walk by itself.'– Bob Dylan

Which is the same for a visual image. A supporting caption might add something, but is not necessary for the image to 'walk'.

One of the things that most appeals to me about north Norfolk is this sense of space, a landscape far bigger than the individuals it contains. And after the space there is the north Norfolk colour, an altogether more difficult aspect to define. For example, to me, the blue of a north Norfolk sky is like no other. The same goes for every other colour! Some artists – painters – know this, though only a few ever capture the truth of it. A camera, perhaps, stands even less of a chance. It can't stray as far as an artisit's palette. But I constantly study these colours, a certain lilac behind every tone, a high sky that allows the most astonishing clouds and variations of light.

Of course, a camera can exaggerate light as well as colours, twist them, make them too saturated or filter them in ways a part of us knows is not natural, which is why I often choose black and white. But there are other choices too. A camera needn't be such a blunt instrument. By experimentation I have founded my own belief that every camera has certain 'sweet spots'; much the same way as a musical instrument often reveals. In my opinion certain camera settings complement the particular location or subject. I contemplate this a great deal, for in so many ways I wish my lens were a brush and palette of luxurious oils. Except a camera is rapid, takes no prisoners, can stop a moment that might otherwise be missed.