The first book in a new venture called FotoVue, Photographing The Lake District combines a photo-location guide of almost 70 of the best and most photogenic places with practical guidance on everything from the best time of day and year to specific techniques to help get the picture you really want. The photos used as examples are the inspiration while the accompanying text is the route to improving the quality of your own photographs.
Of the 318 pages 230 are given over to specific locations, divided into 6 Wainwright style areas and examined in detail. Wasdale, for example, has four seperate locations combining 19 individual viewpoints. Each viewpoint has advice on the best style of picture, from sunset to waterfalls, and the best time of day and year. As if that's not enough you get accessibility advice, with many of the locations close to the road, and a pointer to the latter sections of the book which explains the techniques required. There's even notes to indicate where locations are wheelchair accessible. The level of detail is astonishing but it's neither confusing nor off-putting as many dedicated photography books can be. It's as close as you can get to having the professional by your side, guiding you every step of the way.
When it comes to the photographer Stuart Holmes is one of the most respected professionals working in the Lake District. I've met Stuart from Kendal to Keswick and Langdale to Borrowdale, you can hardly not know him if you work in this industry and while I've envied his abilities and marvelled at some of his images I never for a moment expected the scale of his revelations in this book. It's like someone revealing their secret wild camp locations, except that the knowledge of these photographic locations provide him with his living! As if that's not enough he goes on to explain the techniques of exposure, depth of field, shutter speed and ISO, and explains them in a language and style that really works. Exposure and histograms, HDR and exposure blending are all there but where manuals are confusing to all but the dedicated and would-be pro Photographing The Lake District explains the concepts with a rare simplicity and clarity. The contents of these 38 pages alone will improve any amateurs output - you even get a sun-position compass and sun elevation graphic on the inside of the front cover for instant reference.
Wasdale
While the amateur photographer will undoubtedly find the guide indespensible, especially if visiting the are and time-limited, the professional will also find it enormously helpful with it's detail on precise viewpoints. Published in the familar Rockfax guide book size it's small enough to fit in a pack for use in the field but large enough to sit amongst the coffee table sized volumes at home. On its own it's a truly astonishing debut from fotoVue but with guides for the Peak District, North Wales, Yorkshire Dales, Scotland, UK Wildlife, Urban Landscapes, London and Iceland already announced you're going to need to make a big space on your bookshelves over the next couple of years.