As part of our celebration of Britain, we’re featuring some of the wonderfully talented people that do their best to capture its beauty for all to enjoy. David Taylor is a photographer we love at Birchall Tea. David is based in Northumberland, which with its dramatic coastline and rugged beauty, has long inspired exploration. We recently shared a pot of tea with David to discuss his work and his love for the rugged landscapes of the North East.
Q 1. What is it about Northumberland that makes you most happy to call it home?
I was born in Newcastle and now live in the market town of Hexham in south Northumberland. Being from the region I’m obviously biased, but it is truly a great place to live. The people of the region are friendly, the history of the area is fascinating, and the countryside and coast have a rugged beauty that invites exploration. Northumberland is still relatively undiscovered as a tourist destination too. This means you can often have a hill or a beach virtually to yourself.
Q 2. When did you start photographing British landscapes? How do they inspire your work?
I became interested in photography as a teenager, though at that point I shot anything and everything. It wasn’t until the late 1990s that I really became interested in landscape photography specifically. This developed from a love of hill walking. It seemed a natural move from walking through the landscape to wanting to photograph it. The truly inspirational aspect of Britain’s landscapes is their sheer variety. You could spend a lifetime travelling around Britain and see only a fraction of this diversity.
Q 3. What do you try to capture most in your work?
I like to capture the drama of a landscape. This is generally conveyed by interesting light. The way the low raking light of early morning or late evening reveals the shape and texture of a landscape is something I never tire of seeing and shooting. I also like to return to specific locations over the course of the year to see how the locations change with the season. Recording these changes is endlessly fascinating to me.
Q 4. What season do you love the most?
Each season has its own challenges and rewards. Winter appeals because the starkness of the landscape makes it easier to shoot very graphic photos. Spring sees the return of colour to the landscape. Summer is strangely difficult – the early sunrises and late sunsets can be make for long days, and the landscape is often uniformly green (except in late summer when heather begins to flower). However, autumn is probably my favourite season: the days aren’t too long or too short; the foliage of trees and the landscape begins to turn a wonderful rusty colour; and you get very photogenic weather such as early morning mist.
Q 5. What’s the hardest and best thing about being a landscape photographer?
The hardest part of being a landscape photographer in Britain is dealing with British weather! No matter how good modern weather forecasting is (and it is good) there is always a strong chance that conditions will unexpectedly change part-way through a photography session – often for the worse, particularly in the hills. Oddly enough though, changeability is also one of the best aspects of being a landscape photographer. Although it can be frustrating when things don’t go to plan, this is more than made up by those times when conditions exceed expectations. Some of my favourite shots are those that weren’t planned but were created when the weather put on a show.
To view more of David’s wonderful pictures please visit his website www.davidtaylorphotography.co.uk. Alternatively you can connect on Facebook at www.facebook.com/davidtaylorlandscapephotography or on Twitter @dtphotography
To view more of David’s wonderful pictures please visit his website www.davidtaylorphotography.co.uk. Alternatively you can connect on Facebook at www.facebook.com/davidtaylorlandscapephotography or on Twitter @dtphotography
