14 Feb

Posted at 12:09h in Photography, Travel
[caption id="attachment_4400" align="alignright" width="300"]Travel phootgraphy by Andy Wasley: Sunrise above Clayton Holt in the South Downs National Park The sun rises above Clayton Holt.[/caption] When planning a travel photography job, preparation is important - especially for something as challenging as the Pennine Way, which I'll be tackling in April. I've spent more than enough time in mountains and on long-distance trails like the Annapurna Circuit and West Highland Way to know that nothing can be left to chance. That's especially the case where kit is concerned, and no less so for cameras than for boots, bivvy shelters and backpacks. I've not had much of a chance to get hands-on with my camera - an Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mk II - so far this year, so I took the opportunity of a frosty Saturday morning to take it on a traipse through the South Downs National Park. My aim was as much to escape London as it was to re-engage my creativity.

03 Jan

Posted at 12:36h in Photography, Travel
[caption id="attachment_4239" align="alignright" width="300"]Travel photography by Andy Wasley: Boudhanath Stupa, a sacred Buddhist Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal. Boudhanath Stupa, Kathmandu.[/caption] In 2013 I proposed to my now husband following an arduous trek along the Annapurna Circuit high in the Nepalese Himalayas. After two weeks surrounded by pristine, paper-white peaks soaring into powder-blue skies, making travel photography of quiet villages and immense vistas, even something as wonderful as our engagement now seems almost secondary to the adventure that went before it. The Annapurna Circuit winds through some 150 miles of Nepal’s most stunning mountain scenery and includes one of the highest points to which it’s possible to trek without climbing gear. We travelled in November, after the main tourist season and before snow and ice make the higher parts of the trek more technically challenging, using the superb Lonely Planet Nepal guide.

15 Nov

Posted at 18:59h in Photography, Travel
[caption id="attachment_4190" align="alignright" width="300"]travel photography landscape photography from East Sussex by Andy Wasley A walker approaches the Seven Sisters, a famous chalk cliff
formation in East Sussex, England, from nearby Seaford Head.[/caption] I’ve written often enough about how much I love landscape photography in stormy weather. The challenge of capturing the drama of a good storm, or emphasising the threat from glowering grey clouds, is enough to get me out of the door in the worst possible conditions. Every so often, though, I have to settle for sunshine and clear skies – exactly the conditions I enjoyed during a recent walk from Seaford to Eastbourne on England’s south coast. It was a chance to enjoy some of England’s best coastal views, a new lens, and a few unexpected visits from a masterpiece of British engineering.

01 Nov

Posted at 19:24h in Photography, Travel
[caption id="attachment_4140" align="alignright" width="300"]A boardwalk stretches across shingle to the horizon beneath clear blue skies at Dungeness in Kent, England. A boardwalk stretches across shingle to the horizon beneath clear blue skies at Dungeness.[/caption] Few places demand repeat exploration with quite the force of Dungeness. This peculiar wilderness on the coast of Kent combines eerie desolation, good food and spectacular biodiversity. It’s a gift of a place for anyone interested in wildlife photography. And I’m hooked. Dungeness is a triangular outcrop of shingle by Romney Marsh in Kent. It’s reasonably easy to reach by road – less so if, like me, you’re dependent on public transport. A train via Ashford to beautiful Rye gets you close, before a short bus ride takes you to the quiet little garrison town of Lydd. The nearby artillery range reverberates with the occasional crump or thud, adding to Dungeness’s otherworldly air as you walk past acres of rich farmland to the shingle beach.