Next Stop – Scotland

Monumental

I’m pleased to announce MHT’s next destination – Scotland. Due to commitments in London, we have had to shelve travel plans to China. People often ask why we have no landscapes from the United Kingdom despite having a portfolio of London images. The simple answer is that our preference is to really immerse ourselves in a location rather than rushing around to cover a lot of ground. When we had 2 weeks in the UK enroute to Cuba last year, it was clear that we wouldn’t be able to do justice to London nor the landscapes around the country if we tried to do both. To even get the feel of a new city takes a few days and may involve :

• working out what makes the locals tick
• finding idiosyncrasies that distinguish them from people in other parts of the world
• getting a handle on the culture, arts, architecture
• attempting to see the city through a local’s eyes
• mastering the public transport system
• trying to see icons in a new way

At the end of all this I can start working out what I want to achieve photographically.

After consultation with my fellow Timecatcher team mates  based in the UK, Adam Burton and Ian Cameron, we came to the unanimous conclusion that with the timeframe of a few weeks in the UK, Scotland would be the best landscape destination providing a nice combination of mountains and coastal locations. I’m expecting to meet up with Ian so I might be able to do an interview for the blog. In addition to being a fantastic photographer (who still  uses medium format and film), he seems a very eloquent guy judging from the emails we’ve exchanged.

I’m also really pleased to announce that three of my images have made the shortlist of the Take a View – Landscape Photographer of the Year competition. Since I have no UK landscapes, these were all in the urban view category. Regardless of whether any of them make it through to the prize winning stage, I’m planning to attend the exhibition at the National Theatre in London which conveniently opens while I’m still over there. Expect a full report.

The final piece of news I have is that this blog will be undergoing a make-over in the next couple of days. Jack Brauer, who built our main website, is going to be integrating the blog so that it shares the same look as www.magichourtravelscapes.com as well as allowing more control over certain features. So the next you hear from us, it will be from our revamped blog. See you on the other side!