Many of us have found our movements restricted during 2020 due to the Covid-19 outbreak. From a photography point of view (and whilst keeping a wide berth from the social/political side of things!) I suspect many have felt frustrated that they can’t travel and explore. Strangely, I find that some restrictions can actually help free us up creatively. They could be restrictions of location, of equipment or time. I ran into a very small scale ‘lockdown’ situation myself back in November 2018 whilst bobbing about the South Pacific…

Why Was I There? I was very luck to be asked to fly out to New Zealand and spend 12 days aboard a ship as a visiting photography lecturer and guide. It was a great gig to get and of course it was impossible to say “no” to! I managed to grab 10 days after disembarking to explore the South Island of New Zealand and will be releasing those images in December 2020 (I know, it takes me ages to share stuff!).

However, during the first 12 days of the trip I found myself confined to the cabin onboard. Whilst the ship did head to port every few days we did have an extended period at the beginning of the voyage when it was not possible to dock because of the sea conditions. This happened to coincide with me realising I didn’t have a great stomach for sea sailing but you know, you’ve just got to get on with it!

Stuck Onboard! As someone who prefers to roam alone with their camera I found being stuck onboard slightly disconcerting, BUT in some ways it was a very liberating time creatively. When you are restricted to your onboard surroundings the trick is to try and be visually receptive to what’s around you. The deep blue of the sea & sky contrasted against the bright whites of the Ship made for some interesting black & white treatment.

Any of you who’ve seen me talk or been on a workshop with me will also know how I love to shoot in little series and projects. This is something I put into practice at the location, during the edit and in the final presentation. With my camera set to black & white mode the above images are very close to what I was shooting at the time, this is vital if you’re trying to pull together aesthetically consistent and coherent sets when on location.

Advice for restrictions? My advice to anyone with a restriction on their travel or kit is to embrace it! I sometimes ‘make’ people stick to one fixed lens or focal length when on tours with me so they can really start to see in that length. We all walk around with too many options, both in terms of kit and locations, and in my experience we’re often blinded by choice.

Start small, perhaps in your garden or local woodland/beach if you’re lucky enough to be near one. Take one camera, one lens, and fix your focal length. Then make repeat visits to that location many times in various conditions and you’ll start to ‘see’ images in that focal length, and you’ll also start to appreciate the subtleties of that location. Hopefully then you’ll also start to make great images.