Dragon's Teeth by Steve Gosling

One of my favourite contemporary black and white photographers is Steve Gosling (www.stevegoslingphotography.co.uk). His work reminds me a little of Michael Kenna, perhaps due to his diligent use of the square format, but unlike Michael, Steve happily shoots digitally. In fact he’s a fieldwork professor for Phase One (sounds impressive) and an ambassador for Olympus, Manfrotto/Gitzo tripods and Permajet.

I first met Steve on a PODAS in Iceland a few years ago and we’ve kept in touch since. He’s out this month in Australia and New Zealand doing workshops with Christian Fletcher and Joe Cornish. I was thinking of inviting him up to my place for a cup of coffee and then when I looked at the dates, I thought what a great opportunity to invite him along to my Evening Atelier series (at an incredibly generous price of just $9.95 for the evening)!

To promote the evening and his kind attendance, I asked him to send me a couple of photos to share and my favourite is the one of Dragon’s Teeth in Ireland (above). Said Steve, “It was taken on the West coast of Ireland looking towards the Blasket Islands. It’s a wonderful place for landscape and coastal photography and frequently provides the sort of weather conditions that I like to work in – changeable conditions that can provide interesting skies and light.

“This photograph was taken in gentle soft light that suited the calm feeling I was after. It’s particularly satisfying for me as I worked hard to resolve all the compositional details into a pleasing design and for once, the photographic Gods smiled on me, allowing me to arrange all the key elements in the frame without compromise.”

It really is a great, classic black and white photograph and I agree with Steve in how he has carefully positioned all the compositional elements. And having watched how methodically Steve works, it’s no surprise. The photo was taken with an Alpa TC camera, a 35mm Schneider lens and a Phase One P20+ digital back. I hope you enjoy it and check out Steve’s website for more great examples of fine B&W photography.

And if you’re in or near Sydney, you can hear Steve and myself discuss photography at my Evening Atelier on Wednesday, 28 March. Click here for details on the website.

Another photo by Steve Gosling, titled, ‘Don’t Look Now’. South Georgia.

“These three King Penguins were photographed on an amazing trip to South Georgia and Antarctica when I was an instructor on a workshop at the end of 2016. This photograph reminds me of the inquisitive nature of the penguins (keep still and they will come right up to you), the wonderful locations (dramatic mountains and swirling clouds) and the huge male Elephant Seals (framed between the penguins in the foreground). I was lucky the penguins arranged themselves like this and that the two on the right turned to line their heads up with the low hanging cloud.” The photo was taken with an Olympus OMD EM1 and a 7-14mm Pro lens.

And if you're interested in a photography workshop in the next 12 months or so, I have places left on trips going to the Arctic, New Zealand ‘Middlehurst’, Antarctica, Iran and Bolivia. Contact kim@betterphotography.com for further details.