Richard Walker Photography – Award Winning Landscape Photographer

MotoGP rider Bradley Smith at the British Grand Prix, Silverstone 2018

How To Shoot Motorsport Photography

August 26, 2018Richard

Okay, I’m not an expert at motorsport photography, so maybe the post title is a little misleading but please bare with me because last weekend I spent a day at the MotoGP at Silverstone and learned some very interesting things regarding settings and technique for shooting man and machine hurtling past at 200mph. Focusing Surely this is obvious right? The subject is moving at speed and so the only way to focus is using continuous mode? Well, this is what I assumed so I turned up with my Olympus OM-D E-M5ii in continuous mode and soon found that this wasn’t necessarily the best way to shoot. You may be surprised… Read More

Footprints in the snow. Shot with my iPhone 7 because I had stupidly left my camera gear at home

iPhone Photography – The Best Camera Is The One That’s With You

December 15, 2017August 15, 2018Richard

They say the best camera is the one that’s with you and that was certainly true Tuesday morning as I drove along admiring the morning light, looking for the best place to pull over only to realise with a sinking feeling that I had forgotten to put my camera gear in the car. For a few moments I was gutted, knowing that we don’t get snow very often and that by the time I drove home and got my stuff the light would be gone, I littered the car with profanities. But then, as I took one last look at the scene I was about to miss capturing, I considered… Read More

Benro Ranger 200 Inside With Olympus E-M1 and Mavic Pro

Benro Ranger 200 Backpack Review

August 16, 2017August 15, 2018Richard

Is it the right backpack for you? I can’t say but what I can say is it’s definitely worth serious consideration.

Beautiful misty morning on Lake Windermere. Winning photo in the Olympus Global Photo Contest 2017

5 Lessons From An Award Winning Photo

April 3, 2017August 15, 2018Richard

A few days ago I received an email telling me that my photo “Windermere Morning” had won the Olympus Global Photo Contest 2017. Apart from the kudos that this brings as well as the nice shiny new Olympus camera and lens, it also affords an opportunity to share my thoughts on why my particular photo may have won. I did consider calling this article “How To Create An Award Winning Photo”, but then I realised that I have no idea how to do that. I simply took a photo that won a competition and I am fully aware that this is very different. Lesson 1: You’ll never get the shot if… Read More

Cosyspeed Camslinger 160 Review

July 4, 2016August 7, 2018Richard

Update: 10% off code below video. Scroll down 🙂 There are two things I dislike about landscape photography. Firstly, tripods. These are the bane of my life, a necessary evil that cannot be carried or stored in any satisfactory way. The sooner someone invents a self-levitating camera the better. My second pet hate is backpacks. I have yet to find a backpack that does anything more than hang on my back, feeling uncomfortable, making me sweat, and being a complete pain in the arse every time I have the audacity to actually use my camera gear. You cannot work with a backpack, you fight against it. You hike for miles… Read More

The iconic Flying Scotsman steams through the valley near Levisham Station North Yorkshire Moors

Catching The Train – Photographing The Flying Scotsman

March 31, 2016August 15, 2018Richard

When I was a kid I had a Hornby train set and my pride and joy was a model Flying Scotsman. To me it was everything that an engine should be, sleek, fast and painted in a beautiful British Racing Green. Roll on 35 years and trains are no longer my thing, but great photography subjects are, which is why my ears pricked up at a breakfast TV story about the Flying Scotsman returning to the tracks after a £4m refit. I decided that it would make a nice little photography project and to that end I recently found myself wandering the North Yorkshire Moors in the vicinity… Read More

Benro FTA18C Travel Angel Tripod Review

January 10, 2016August 15, 2018Richard

Tripods are probably my least favourite thing in photography. For me a tripod is a necessary evil, a piece of gear that needs setting up, wasting shooting time, and takes up valuable space and adds too much weight to my bag. Sometimes I wish I did’t need to carry a tripod at all and indeed sometimes I can go a whole day walking in the mountains and not use it once, yet there it is, on the side of my backpack weighing me down and making me resent it bitterly. Of course, sometimes my tripod is my best friend and for that reason I always have one with me, but,… Read More

The sea swirls around the rocks in this long exposure from the beach at Ilfracombe in Devon

Lightening The Load – The Sirui T-005X Tripod

June 30, 2015August 15, 2018Richard

It’s over a year now since I sold my Canon 5D MKII and all my lenses and took up photographic arms with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 and whilst I can’t put an exact figure on the weight saving that process garnered me, it is substantial, at least 2.5kg, and what’s more it has made everything easier in terms of handling my equipment. The camera swings over my shoulder better and is less strain on my neck and one of the first things I was able to do at the time was get a smaller backpack.

Olympus 45mm f1.8 lens Review

January 9, 2015August 15, 2018Richard

Over the Christmas period I have had the opportunity to borrow my brother David’s Oly 45mm f1.8. Up until now the only primes I had around this focal length were 2 old manual lenses that I got on eBay. More about these another time but whilst I love using them for the tactile nature of going manual (there’s no doubt that I feel more connected with the whole shooting process when using these), I find I do miss a lot of candid opportunities because despite some very good focus aids built into the OM-D E-M1 I simply miss focus, a lot. Image Quality Ok, let’s get the most important point… Read More

The old boathouse on Devoke Water, Lake District, UK

Poor Light? Try Black and White

January 8, 2015August 15, 2018Richard

It’s a dilemma isn’t it? You’ve packed up all your camera gear, booked hotels, travelled hundreds or even thousands of miles with hope and excitement running through your veins, your mind overflowing with images of beautiful landscapes bathed in wonderful golden dappled light………and then you arrive and are greeted by leaden skies and dull grey land. So, what to do? Well, this is the scenario that occurred to my brother David and I on a recent visit to the English Lake District. There were, as usual when the two of us are together, two schools of thought. David favoured the “sitting in the pub taking wide aperture images of pints… Read More