Using My Camera as a Paintbrush

The lighting was particularly awesome when I took these impressionist photos.

I was on board the TranzAlpine – one of the world’s great train journeys from Christchurch, over the Alps to the West Coast of New Zealand.

These impressionist photographs needed minimal editing, other than removal of lens dust spots. When taking them I looked for great light first and then sought different tones and textures.  You can see the transitions from farm land to the lower hills; through the tussocks (grasses) and then higher up into the mountains with glacial river beds, pristine icy water (the rivers were low at this time) and snowy outcrops. I used focal lengths between 130mm and 200mm, slow shutter speeds and moved my camera to ‘paint’ the scenes.

These have been printed onto Ilford Gallerie Prestige smooth gloss 310g inkjet paper and  look like paintings rather than photographs.