Joe Cornish

Joe Cornish

One of the top British Landscape photographers

Joe Cornish is a renowned and highly respected traditional British Landscape Photographer best known for his near 20 year long contribution of Landscape work to the national trust and for his columns and articles in the British Photographic press

I Have been inspired and been influenced by the photography of this great famous British landscape photographer for a long time now.  His style is very unique and  he is renown the word over for his breath taking Landscape photography. His Landscapes inspire photographers from all over the world   

I was fortunate enough to meet this photographer recently at our local college who put on a Joe Cornish photography eveing for students and friends at our college, an event that proved to be a great success.

Joe talked about his photography for 2 hours, giving us all a deep insight into his world of Landscapes which was accompanied by a display of his images, digitally and in print. He was a really nice guy who gave us all a lot of tips on how to shoot such an interesting subject and didn't hold back any secrets on how to produce such lovely images

I asked Joe questions on where and why he chooses his locations to shoot his photography?. He told us all, that good photograph's can be achieved  at any interesting locations, it's basically all down to the photographer's eye to source the right shot

His Lanscape work from the Lake District has inspired some of my photography which can be seen further down this page

A lake District Landscape taken with his

       Ebony 5x4in field camera and 90mm lens

        This shot owes a lot to the moody sky which I 

            assume was taken in the evening due to the long shadows

Another famous shot from this photographer

This is a shot of Roseberry Topping

a famous hill at the top of the North Yorkshire moors

Joe's inspiration for a lot of his photography came from the famous photographer Ansel Adams who worked as a park ranger for 8 years in the Yosemite national park area of America. This photographer was very lucky living in the vicinity of such beautiful scenery which gave him a great advantage of having an abundance of brilliant photographic subjects right on his doorstep

Joe Cornish was born in Exeter England but later moved to North Yorshire to pursue his love of Lanscapes and the great outdoors. He emulated Adam's skills and philosophy of photography by living on the doorstep of some of our country's finest scenery near the Yorkshire dales and the Lake District. It was from these area's he started to compile some of his greatest master pieces

Shown here are some of his famous landscapes

Banborough Castle

Derwent water in the Lake District

Shown above are some of Joe's most Iconic images

Shown below are some of Joe's lake district shots taken from that region. You can tell by the crop of the images below which indicate they were taken with a 5" x 4" camera

Shown below is a selection of some of my Lake district Photography shots when I visited the area earlier in the Autumn this year


I have taken a lot of inspiration,tips and techniques from Joe Cornish's Landscape work and applied it to my own photography which has helped me to produce better Landscape photographs and improve my overall photography

Equipment


Shown below is some of the equipment that Joe Cornish uses to produce his photography. He mainly uses a 5"X 4" Medium format Ebony camera for his Landscape work, a camera that he swears by and is forever at his side

Camera's

Some of the cameras he uses are Nikon, Voigtlander Bessa, Mamiya 7 and Hasselblad but the vast majority of his landscape work is shot with an Ebony 5x4in field camera.



The lenses he uses

He uses a wide range of lenses, from 58mm to 360 and even 500 occasionally. But most of my work is made with 90mm, 110mm, 150mm or 210mm optics.He uses wide-angle, normal or short telephoto lens for most of his images. He owns lenses from Schneider, Rodenstock, Fujinon and Nikon. All provide excellent image quality

One of his Lake District Images






Below is a section on the equipment that Joe Cornish uses. I researched this information from the internet and from Joe's own personal website. 




Joe Cornish describes and comments on his equipment and techniques

On the camera

I have an Ebony 45SU. Mine is a slightly simplified version of the standard SU, with the rear swing and shift deleted, and it is made from mahogany, considerably lighter (if less beautiful) than the full spec Ebony model. The Ebony 45SU is, in my opinion, the easiest to deploy, fastest to set up fully featured field camera ever made. Its asymmetric rear tilt is so quick to use it is virtually the field camera equivalent of autofocus! It is so easy it sometimes feels like cheating.

On film

The thriving state of large format landscape photography today has been built on two crucial leaps forward in film production. The first was Polaroid's introduction of 5x4in Readyload film sheets, a logical evolution of their existing instant film product. This concept has now been taken over by Kodak, and Fujifilm with their virtually identical Quickload system. Freed from the shackles of the darkroom or light tent, photographers can now carry more film for much less weight than in traditional double dark slide film holders.
The second great innovation was Fujifilm's Velvia ISO 50 emulsion, introduced in 1989. Now, after seventeen years as the landscape photographer's favourite, Fujifilm have discontinued Velvia. While this is not a forum for discussing the reasons why, I feel it is worth remembering that this was a film that recorded some of the most amazing photographs of the natural world ever seen.
For my part I feel that my career as a landscape photographer has been built on Velvia. Wildlife and sports photographers embraced it too, valuing its saturated yet natural colour balance. Fujifilm's two ISO 100 Velvia replacements are very good films, but they are not the same. It will be interesting to see if one day they will reintroduce the original in a superior, updated form. I hope so.

On tripods and heads

A tripod is almost as crucial to my photography as a camera, for I wouldn't want to handhold anything whose image quality really mattered to me, whatever the shutter speed or camera. I have used both Gitzo and Manfrotto tripods all my career, and I even have a Benbo when I need to work in deep water! Manfrotto make great value tripods, but Gitzo carbon fibre range are at the top of the tripod food chain, being unbeatably stronger and lighter than any equivalent models. I have a G1227, a G1327 and a G1548, depending on how far I have to walk. In practice the mid-range model is the one I use the most.
A good tripod head is in some ways as vital as the legs. Manfrotto's 410 and 405 geared heads are brilliant for landscape. Lighter is the Gitzo 2270M pan and tilt head, and I also have the Really Right Stuff ball head, the only ball head I would be happy to use with my field camera. It is an expensive masterpiece of engineering.

On filters

I have used the Lee Filter system since long before I started endorsing their products seven or eight years ago. A landscape photographer needs absolutely neutral ND grads to control brightness range on colour transparency film, and Lee have always made the most neutral ND grads. They also make by far the best designed of the system filter holders. Not only that, but they are a British company, manufacturing in the UK, they have impeccable quality control standards, and they bend over backwards to help photographers in every way they can. They are among the real good guys of photography.

On digital

Let me get this straight. I think digital technology is amazing, brilliant, spectacular. It has helped revive photography in general, and is now making photography more accessible to everyone. It is a fantastic teaching tool on workshops. The quality of modern cameras is sensational. Trouble is, I am perfectly happy doing what I am doing. For now.
I use digital technology all the time anyway, as I scan my images for publication repro. They can then be altered and manipulated in Photoshop like any digital capture image can. Not that I do that. My aim is to reproduce as perfectly as I can what I saw out there. Where film fails to do that, Photoshop works in the same way as the traditional darkroom to restore imperfect colour and recover dark shadow detail for example. But mostly I aim to simply reproduce the transparency.

Below is a link to Joe Cornish's website with galleries and information about the photographer

http://www.joecornish.com/

Some more images from this fine photographer

Shown below is an extract from the National Trust Website that Joe works for depicting some of his photography. Joe photography of the lake district can be seen on these pages. Not only is is site inspirational for Joe Cornish's photography but it also a great source for Ideas and places to visit to capture some great photography

The National Trust Home About us Accessibility Sitemap My account Places to visit Events Become a member Local to you Donate now Shop News Newsletter NORTH WEST PLACES TO VISIT LOCAL EVENTS LOCAL NEWS LAKE DISTRICT Lake District countryside Britain's Favourite View Beatrix Potter Camping in the Lake District Lake District car parks CREATING A FOOTPRINT AT WINDERMERE VOLUNTEERING SCHOOLS & TEACHERS SHOPS, TEA-ROOMS & RESTAURANTS ACCOMMODATION WEDDINGS IN THE NORTH WEST SUPPORTER GROUPS CONTACT US Lake District countryside The National Trust has cared for the iconic mountains, fells, and farms of the Lake District for over 100 years. Each valley has a unique character - whether remote or bustling - there's something to inspire every nature lover, adrenalin seeker, literary maestro or archaeology buff... Borrowdale © NTPL / David Noton This is a spectacular landscape of rugged crags, inviting fells and wooded valleys. Borrowdale includes half of Derwentwater and the well preserved Castlerigg Stone Circle near Keswick. It has been a favourite haunt of artists and writers over the years, including Beatrix Potter. Buttermere and Ennerdale © NTPL / David Noton This tranquil area of dramatic fells, farms and woodland encompasses three lakes: Buttermere, Crummock and Loweswater. Take a boat out to enjoy the lakes from a different perspective or to see if the fish are biting. Coniston & Tarn Hows © NTPL / Mike Williams Take to the water: one of the best ways to view Coniston Water and its surrounding scenery is to take a ride on the steam yacht Gondola. At the head of Coniston Water, Tarn Hows, with its magnificent views of the mountains, is one of Coniston's favourite beauty spots. Grasmere and Great Langdale © NTPL / Leo Mason You'll find a wide range of walking opportunities, from high fells to lakeside and woodland paths, across this classic Wordsworth countryside. Stay outdoors in the fantastically located National Trust campsite at the head of Great Langdale, a sweeping glaciated valley. Hawkshead and Claife © Cumbria Tourism Explore Hawkshead, a classic Lakeland village surrounded by beautiful scenery. The village is home to the Beatrix Potter Gallery. You can take a 4-mile walk from the village along the side of Lake Windermere for superb lakeside views and discover hill walks and woodland paths along the way. Ullswater and Aira Force © NTPL / Joe Cornish Follow in Wordsworth's footsteps as you roam around the site of his famous daffodils. Ullswater is one of the most beautiful lakes in the Lake District, which winds through a glaciated valley. One of the highlights of a visit is the impressive Aira Force waterfall, around which you can follow dramatic walks. Wasdale, Eskdale and Duddon © NTPL/ Joe Cornish Wasdale is the home of England's highest mountain, Scafell Pike, and deepest lake, Wastwater. This wild area of the Lake District is remote, quiet and dramatic. There are well-marked footpaths which offer access to the fells. Extend your visit by staying at the stunningly located National Trust campsite at Wasdale Head. Windermere and Troutbeck © NTPL / Joe Cornish You'll discover fine varied walking country around Lake Windermere, at the heart of the Lake District. Hire a boat and take to the lake itself, or use the network of footpaths to reach the best high-level views. There are lots of options for places to visit, including Ambleside Roman Fort and Troutbeck Park, which was once owned by Beatrix Potter.

Top Evening hope you enjoyed the Laser show?

Thanks for a lovely evening Pip,great night with good friends and good food. Thanks to Ruth also for the transport.Can't remember did anybody take any photo's? 


Cant'e believe your table was called a lazy Susan,just thought you were referring to Suzy who couldn't be arsed to get up and pass the plates around


10/10 for the flashing trainers Jim

Supplementary landscape photographs for my course

Additional Landscape shots

Shown below is selection of various landscape photographs which I have shot over the winter months over the duration of my course. Whenever I get the chance to get out and take photographs I make the most of my spare time and head of out to anywhere my car takes me

Having one of the worst winters for years I have taken quite a few snow landscapes in and around my home town of Burton. I have found that photographing snow landscape's can be a real challenge and there are a lot of extra factors that must be considered under these circumstances

Lighting Meter's and extreme light

The camera light meter reads the light coming into the camera as extremely bright because of all the white colour in the surroundings in the photo,so to compensate, the camera under exposes a little which will produce very grey dull looking snow

These give out false readings under such bright conditions and through experimentation I have found by over exposing by 1 stop will give just about the correct exposure for snow photographs

Blue Snow

This is caused by the reflecion from the sky which gives snow a blueish colour to the snow in your photographs and could be mistaken for a colour cast. This is a natural phenomena and remedies for this type of problem include setting your white balance to a custom mode or take a meter reading from a neutral grey card.The use of various filters can also eliminate the blue cast

The cold

I have been out taking photos from the crack of dawn this winter and temperatures this year have been extremely cold with temps going down to minus 15-20C. This temps did to produce some anomalies to my camera equipment which caused the depletion of the batteries very quickly

Although my camera is totally weather sealed, I did get it very wet one morning and the battery warning was reporting an electrical fault. Changing the battery for a fully charged one remedied the situation

The shots below were all taken at various village's in and around the Burton area

When I shot the phot's below the temp gage in my car gave a reading of minus 13 at 8am in the morning

Work flow and preparing a flow chart

Work-flow and preparing a flow chart

A photography workflow is made up of a sequence of steps that a photographer has pre planned and works through to complete the process of producing his photography.

This process normally starts with the initial idea or project brief to produce a set of images on a given theme. The workflow then proceeds through a set of stages until the final images are delivered to the customer.There are a lot of steps involved in the workflow process, I have outlined some of the major ones below:

Inception or project brief

The starting point of the process.This can be working to a project brief or working to a basic idea that  the photographer has initiated. Some of these steps will involve arranging meetings with clients to discuss the project brief and initial ideas which a photographer needs to document to produce a work flow. Ideas are presented by the photographer or pre defined by the customer and a plan can be formulated to create a work flow that both parties understand and can follow.The client would be updated on the progression as the work flow proceeds


Estimate costs and resources


Is the photography going to to be taken out on location or will it be shot in a studio? Will there be travel,hotel costs?will a studio need to be hired? will models need to be hired? These are just some of the possible costs and considerations that a photographer may incur.Costs need to be estimated for what resources are needed to produce the photography. This initial assessment is vital in the work flow and very important for both parties to understand and estimate final costs to produce the photography which are all essential to produce a successful work flow.


Time is an essential factor that must be included in the cost analysis,time is money!.
Hour and hours cane be spent by the photographer, preparing the shots,getting the shots right and then post producing the final photographs to a high satisfactory level. All of this is very time consuming and adds large sums of money to the photographers expenses


Select Locations


Arrange photography locations. This could be in a studio or at a specific location outdoors. Finding the correct location well in advance before shooting the images is essential as a photographer's time is very expensive Dates will have to be pre booked if hiring a studio,travel arrangments will have to be put in place if shooting at a specific location. A plan of the shoot would have to be documented beforehand to time manage the photography and make sure all
all models,props,backgrounds and sets are all in place at the chosen locations

Meetings and communications

Regular meetings must be kept with the client to outline any changes to the original project brief or to notify of any additional costs that may occur. Meetings will also include identifying time-scales,confirming deadlines,producing updates,making alterrations to schedules. A progress report is essential to reassure the customer that everything is still on track. One of the most  convenient forms of communication is email, used by all of us everyday all over the world. Using this method of communication is instant,electronic mail can be sent and read instantly. Sample images,instructions and changes of plans can be forwrded instantly and read by the recipient in seconds

Shoot images

Shooting the images may take a while to produce if shooting out on location for various reasons. Weather conditions may not always be ideal and rain,dull and cloudy conditions which may persist could cause setbacks to the planned times scales. Other complications may arise,models not turning up or stuck in traffic for example. It's essential that the images are shot before a given deadline which will allow plenty of time for the images to be post processed and printed etc


Arrange a post  shoot meeting with the client 

This is an essential part of the workflow,it is very inportant to arrange a meeting with the client at this time after the images have been shot to discuss the final images.There may be a large amount of images that the photographer has produced and these need to be thinned down to select the best images that the client requests. At this stage confirmation of the final images and how they are to be post processed must be agreed before the work flow can continue

Post process images


Images need to be post processed. This is the process of maniputaling  your images using various types of software to change the overall appearancec of the final images


Photoshop is the main piece of software used to perform these transitions and can transform a dull lifeless unintersting image into a really vibrant eye catching image using a variety of different processes and tools. These include dodging and burning,sharpening, cropping etc. Images will then need to be graded and batch processed ready for the type of output that the client has requested


Images will need to be converted  from raw files to a more useable format such as JPG.
A final meeting with the client may be needed at this stage to view the final images to discuss the final file format


Output


This is the process of outputting the final images to the preferred medium of the clients choice. The majority of clients prefer their images to be printed. This would normally be photographs, photo books, posters or calendars. Other methods include the production or DVD's or CD's for promotional use etc. Other clients just want to purchase the final files which they use for web use and the Internet. They will produce websites or use the file on the internet for promotional  business uses etc.


Deliver product and final meeting


The final product is delivered to the customer. A meeting with the customer is essential to receive feedback and discuss product satisfaction and reflect on the photography taken. Delivering a first class product and service well within given time scales is essential for repetition of orders and recommendations to other potential clients.When the customer is satisfied with final product present the client with the final bill

Arrange payments

Payments with your customers must be completed now and an invoice for payment is presented. Some photographers demand payment straight away as they hand over the end product others allow a certain amount of time that the outstanding bill may be paid

Digital Work flow


Shown below here is a digital work flow I have researched on the Internet which outlines a lot of considerations that must be thought about before completion of the final images

Below is a Formatting error on my text I cannot resolve

There was a time when photographers bought strips of material called film. They'd put this material inside their cameras and take some pictures. When they were done, they'd take it to a photogrphy lab to be processed Here, people in white coats would process them and return in a few hours with actual photographs. This was the old fashioned workflow

Today, many of us don't use film. We have sensors, chips, flash cards, megapixels, and files. We don't look at our nagatives over light boxes, or store the film in filing cabinets. Instead, we sit at a computer managing our workflow We've become experts in IT, dealing with new concepts such as metadata etc


Shown hers is the definition of a print workflow taken from the dictionary "the sequence of industrial, administrative, or other processes through which a piece of work passes from initiation to completion".

Nowdadays, I have to consider a lot of factors along the print worflow,such as,What did I shoot and where? Where are my images stored and are they safe? Having a solid workflow keeps you organized, and allows you to focus more on the creative process than worry about the disposition of your images.

Workflow begins before you pick up your camera to shoot and record your images. You need to consider all sorts of things: Will you shoot raw files, JPEGs, or both? Is your camera's clock set to the right time. If you're using more than one camera, are their clocks synced? Is the color space correct? Will you back up your images while on location or leave them on your memory cards?