Jobs Outdoors: Nick Livesey, Mountain Photographer

© Des Watkins

Some years ago UKH regular Nick Livesey upped sticks to North Wales to chance a living as a mountain photographer, a career choice based on his passion for the hills. Here he tells us about the job, and offers some advice for anyone thinking of starting out working in landscape photography.

Glyderau  © Nicholas Livesey
Glyderau
© Nicholas Livesey, Apr 2014

"Good shots don't happen by accident very often and consistently taking good photographs requires a lot of work"

How did you first get into mountains?

I was a relative latecomer to the hills and made my first visit to the Lake District at the age of 29. It changed my life completely. However, before finally getting my act together and putting the fells beneath my boots I had been growing increasingly obsessed with them after coming across books by Wainwright and W.A.Poucher a few years previously. I was blown away by what I saw and couldn't believe we had scenery like that in Britain. My imagination ran riot thinking about what it would be like to climb those mountains. To me they were mysterious, a little bit frightening but so very beautiful and I knew that one day I would have to experience them first hand.

What were you doing before mountain photography?

Before I made the leap and moved to Wales I worked in a warehouse in Corby (Northants) driving fork lifts, operating a 50 metre long cutting machine and humping carpets about. It was hard, tiring work, there were no windows in the place and I was bored senseless, constantly day dreaming about my next trip to the hills which thankfully were plentiful. Before that, in what seems like a life time ago now, I was a guitar teacher, studio engineer and session musician.

Portrait of the artist  © Des Watkins
Portrait of the artist
© Des Watkins

"I quit my job, filled my car with as much as it could carry and moved to North Wales"

So what do the hills mean to you; what place do they have in your life?

The moment I discovered those books I could think of little else but the hills and on my first real mountain day on Harrison Stickle – high adventure for me at the time - I found something that gave me a sense of joy and wellbeing that had been missing from my life until that point. From that day forward the mountains of Britain have been an all-consuming passion. Before I lived in the hills, they provided a perfect form of escapism, but to my mind it was an escape to reality, not from it. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the mountains probably saved me from an early grave due to a long history of self-medication. The hills showed me that there was much more to life than being confined to a grotty council estate, trying to 'score', surrounded by crime, violence and alpha male posturing; they showed me that a life filled with beauty, adventure, happiness and fulfilment was possible, even for people like me.

What place do the hills have in my life? They are my life!

When did it dawn that you could make a living at mountain photography?

I first realised that it might be possible for me get somewhere in this game about three years ago when magazines like Trail, TGO and Summit began asking me for images. That was a fantastic ego boost and an affirmation that my photography was going in the right direction, but living four hours from the nearest mountain meant it could only be a vanity project. The money you earn for a double page spread in a hillwalking magazine will just about pay for the petrol and accommodation cost of getting the shot in the first place; oh, and a few beers if you're lucky! If I was to make a go of it, something had to give and it did! One day when I was out in the Rhinogydd my fiancé phoned me and in no uncertain terms gave me the boot. Four days later I quit my job, filled my car with as much as it could carry and went for an interview at the Moel Siabod Café, praying I would get the job after burning my bridges back home. It was an incredibly rash thing to do but I decided that if I was going to be miserable then I'd be better off in the hills than moping around Corby or going back to Peterborough where I grew up.

Did the new career kick in straight away, or was it a gradual buildup?

Moving to Wales was a game changer. I've only been taking photographs seriously for about four years and I was making a bit of progress but plodding along really until I made my home in the mountains just over two years ago. Being here has meant that I am more prolific and on the spot when conditions are good which stacks the odds in my favour if an editor wants an image of a specific place at a particular time of year. At the moment my photography career is gaining momentum all the time and things like an interview in Summit Magazine and a film about me on UKC have been really helpful in raising my profile, which has had the knock on effect of more people wanting workshops than I have time to do!

A perfect evening on Carnedd Llewelyn  © Nicholas Livesey
A perfect evening on Carnedd Llewelyn
© Nicholas Livesey, May 2014

What are the main perks of the job?

The simple answer is that people give me money for enjoying myself out on the hill which, to me, seems preposterous. Not that I'm complaining! Living here and doing what I do, I feel like I'm permanently on holiday, especially in summer when I can get out seven days a week if the weather isn't too bad.

Which avenues do you use to sell your work?

I'm published regularly in magazines but the most satisfying (and lucrative) outlet for my work is the 'Soul of Snowdonia' gallery based at the Siabod Café which we set up in January 2014 and is doing really well. There can be no greater compliment to a photographer than someone spending their hard earned cash on your work and have it hanging in their home. It gives me a very warm glow knowing that my photographs of Snowdonia are hanging in homes across Britain, Europe, America and even Australia. And in an age when most images are viewed on a screen it's wonderful to see mountain pictures printed really big and nicely framed; they really come alive in a way that can't be experienced in a digital format.

Is it an easy living? (ha ha)

It's easier to make a living at this if you live in the hills but even then it's not that easy. It also helps if you can write and teach too but before going into workshops you need a proven record that you can do the business and a reputation; that takes time of course. Networking is also very important and to no small extent is it true to say that it isn't what you know but who you know.

There are very few landscape photographers that are in a position to go professional full-time without doing weddings and commercial photography. I couldn't stomach that so although I'm making a reasonable and regular income from it I still do shifts in the café to make sure I can pay my rent at the end of the month. At the moment I think I have the balance just right and can shoot exactly what I want, when I want without compromising my artistic integrity or selling out.

Snowdon Mists  © Nicholas Livesey
Snowdon Mists
© Nicholas Livesey, Jun 2014

"The holy grail for me is very specific and relatively rare. It's something I call the 'magic slot'"

Why Snowdonia specifically?

That's a very good question. To follow this dream I could have gone anywhere, and considered getting a hotel job in the Lake District or the Highlands, places I have spent a lot of time in and really love. However I have always felt most at home in Snowdonia. I came here at least one weekend a month with my mountaineering club for almost 10 years and became very familiar with Northern Snowdonia, so it seemed the natural choice. Snowdonia has a bit of everything, almost a Scotland in miniature, and even after hundreds of days out here there are still so many new places to discover. I'm bagging the Welsh Nuttalls at the moment. What I didn't expect though is how my relationship with the place would change when I came to live here. Before my move it didn't matter where I was, the Lakes, Scotland or the Peak; as long as I was in a beautiful place with hills all around me I was happy. I quickly realised that I wasn't documenting trips or holidays anymore, I was recording my day to day life. Focussing on Snowdonia rather than going here, there and everywhere has brought a deeper appreciation of the place and is incredibly rewarding in a way that might be difficult to understand unless you have experienced it. I suppose I should take a holiday somewhere else just so I can come home again but I have no desire to leave Wales at the moment. It's the difference between a one night stand, a long distance relationship and a committed long term union with someone you adore.

Can you describe a typical day at work?

I'll give you a typical summer day, which don't involve early starts!

I get up at about 8am and after procrastinating with Facebook, emails and UKH/UKC I'll go down to the café for some breakfast and banter with some of the local instructors before mooching around the gallery for an hour or two. After that I might nip into Betws y Coed and hang around Cotswold for more chatting and a browse through the sale rails before picking up a bottle of wine for my processing session later! In the afternoon I'll go home and get my kit together, clean my filters and charge my batteries while thinking about where I'll go in the evening, taking into consideration the weather and where the light will be. If I'm not staying local and going to the Rhinogydd for example, I'll leave at about 4pm and have a slow walk up to my summit of choice where I'll play the waiting game. If the light's been good I'll descend in the gloaming, arriving back at the car just as darkness falls and then drive home, usually stopping at the take away in Blaenau Ffestiniog for some late tea. Once home I crack on with my images into the early hours…and then repeat!

A variation on this theme is if I'm staying local, Ogwen or Snowdon for instance, I'll run down the hill to make last orders in the Tyn y Coed back in Capel Curig.

How much gear do you usually lug around?

I take all the usual seasonal hillwalking kit, but as for photographic gear I take very little compared to many other photographers. One body, a wide angle lens, tripod, filters, remote release, a couple of batteries and memory cards. That's all I take because that's all I need. I suppose that adds another couple of kg to my pack but when you're used to carrying a rope or climbing rack you hardly notice it. A must-have extra is my down jacket as I usually spend a couple of hours sitting around while I'm waiting for the show to start.

Shadowfax - On Crimpiau  © Nicholas Livesey
Shadowfax - On Crimpiau
© Nicholas Livesey, Nov 2013

"I'm not really interested in photography, cameras etc. I see that stuff as peripheral to the main point of the exercise - to express my love of the hills and inspire others"

Tripod or handheld?

As I usually shoot in low light at the start or end of the day a tripod is an essential piece of kit. If I was just displaying my photography on the web then I could up the ISO and shoot handheld more often but for my large prints I want the best quality RAW file I can possibly capture with the minimum of noise. A tripod also helps me to slow down and really nail the composition. There's nothing worse than getting great light and later realising that the shot isn't as good as it could have been because I rushed the composition. That said, I have just moved to a full frame camera so depending on its high ISO capabilities I may end up doing more shooting on the hoof.

Filters in the field, or time with software when you get back indoors – which best described your approach?

I have used grad filters since my early days with the Canon G12 and now I'm using the Lee filter system which, while not cheap, is an invaluable tool in my arsenal. Naturally, at dawn or dusk the dynamic range is huge and far too wide for any camera to faithfully record so they redress the balance. I could resort to exposure blending but I prefer to get everything as close to perfect 'in-camera' at the point of capture so I can go home knowing I have bagged the shot rather than leaving anything to chance. I've always used Lightroom for processing and version 6 is great as it now includes a panoramic mode which has speeded up my workflow no end. The majority of my images are stitches, often in three rows of three to retain a conventional aspect ratio but giving a wide view which replicates the field of human vision and enables me to produce very large and detailed prints. As for the amount of time I spend working with the RAW files, if it's more than 15 minutes then I know I'm polishing a turd!

Do you spend time planning and setting up specific shots, or is it more of a lucky dip?

Most of my shots are planned inasmuch as I usually have a very specific shot in mind. My camera rarely comes out of my pack unless I've arrived at a location I want to 'work'. That means I miss a lot of the more opportunistic shots but what I aim to do is come away with one decent shot per session and I'm very happy if I do. When I'm out on the hill I'm constantly making mental notes of places I will come back to when the time is right. This can sometimes be months later when the sun is setting or rising in the optimum place. When that time comes the window of opportunity is sometimes short so it's not unusual for me to return to the same place day after day until the conditions give me something I'm happy with. I almost never run around shooting endless variations of the same scene in similar light. I try to capture a definitive image or rather an encapsulation of the location on that particular occasion. There's also the danger, when in a frenzied bout of snapping, that you won't really experience the moment because you're in too much of a flap. My approach is to arrive early, set up the shot then sit and wait. That way, and though it might sound pretentious, I'm able to absorb the atmosphere, get in tune with my surroundings and feel the spirit of the hills. Solo wild campers will know exactly what I mean by this.

Crimpiau dawn  © Nick Livesey
Crimpiau dawn
© Nick Livesey

Given the option, most of us would pick a sunny day for our hill trips: What is your preferred weather for mountain photography?

In my opinion sunny, cloudless days in the mountains are for scrambling or rock climbing, not photography. The holy grail for me is very specific and relatively rare involving something I call the 'magic slot'. For instance, take an overcast day where there is a strip of clear sky on the horizon for the sun to either rise or fall into, that's the slot. In conditions like that the light is incredibly vivid and you can take photographs bursting with drama and atmosphere which is what I always hope to capture in my work. If it's been an iffy day I often drive up to Pen y Pass, Ogwen or Nant Gwynant so I can see what's going on out to sea. If the 'magic slot' is in evidence then it's game on and I'll dash up a mountain for last light.

On a related note, gritty drama is core to your photographs: do you have a philosophy, or an ideal of photography that underpins this?

Well, I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy a nice blue sky day roaming around or climbing, and never more so than after a prolonged spell of crappy weather, but on such days I'm not terribly moved by what I see, it's just, well, very pleasant. Long before I became a photographer I considered the perfect hillwalking day to be one of racing clouds and constantly changing light, the kind of thing that stirs the emotions and awakens an almost childlike sense of wonder. On days like that you feel you're witnessing a grand performance of the elements which is so much more affecting than the static backdrop of a fine summer day. Needless to say, those are the days on which to capture intriguing images that fire the imagination, draw the viewer in and elicit an emotional response.

Do I have a philosophy that underpins my photography? Absolutely and it is the real driver behind what I do. You might be surprised to learn that I'm not really interested in photography, cameras or lenses etc. I see all that stuff as peripheral to the main point of the whole exercise which is to express my love of the hills and inspire others to get out there and experience the beauty, peace and happiness that I have. If I was more eloquent I would be a writer and I tried to be one for a while, but as I'm not I've found photography to be the perfect medium for me to put my message out there which, put simply is this; loving relationships with friends and family aside, there is nothing more fulfilling, life affirming and enriching than stepping away from the insanity of 21st century western civilisation and getting closer to the natural world. If taking pretty pictures was the be all and end all it would be a pretty shallow pursuit for me and a complete waste of all the time and energy I put into it.

Fancy a fresh start in mountain photography? Here's Nick's advice

  • Go out alone. If you're out with the specific intention of taking photographs in the mountains it is a good idea to go solo if you have the requisite experience and can handle yourself in the hills after dark. Going alone means you'll have no distractions or pressure to please anyone but yourself. You can go where you want, stop whenever the fancy takes you and concentrate solely on your photography. Even if you are out with other photographers who don't mid hanging around it's likely you will take similar shots and compositions and this does little to help you develop your own 'voice' or style.
  • Stay out late or get up early. It's no secret that the best light occurs at the start and end of the day in the fabled 'Golden Hours'. Shooting mountain landscapes at mid-day just won't cut it if want to capture something special. The exception is on days of sunshine and showers or being on the edge of a weather system where there's plenty of drama and contrast in a scene. When you first capture great light you'll notice the difference straight away and may, as I have, become addicted to chasing it.
    At work in the Glyderau  © Nick Livesey
    At work in the Glyderau
    © Nick Livesey
  • Be honest with yourself. These days most of us who start out in photography process the hell out of our shots, ramping up the HDR to 11 or whacking up the saturation and sharpness. Get it out of your system as soon as possible. Some photographers never get past this stage because they are seduced by 'likes' on facebook from friends and family or vacuous comments such as 'amazing capature' on flickr etc. While it's very nice to get lots of praise it's a good idea to take it with a pinch of salt and ask yourself whether it's your photography or processing that is gaining all the attention. Look at what the top photographers are doing and take your inspiration from them. All the best mountain and landscape photographers have one thing in common, a passion for their subject matter that transcends their love of photography and that usually means they are not trying to create an idealised image that didn't exist in reality. Try to cultivate a relationship with and respect for the landscape and think about your emotional response to it. That is what you should be trying capture and convey to your audience. If you don't feel it, then they certainly won't!
  • Don't worry about not having expensive gear. If you own a digital compact camera then you already have everything you need to take fantastic photographs. In my early days my most successful image (an inversion on the Aonach Eagach) was taken with a £60 Samsung. It went on to appear on the front cover of Summit magazine and was commended in the Landscape Photographer of the Year competition. If you've got crappy light, a poor composition and a boring subject then the best kit in the world won't save you. Get out with what you've got, chase good light and crack on with it. You'll instinctively know when it's time to upgrade your gear.
  • Put the work in. If you get out in the hills a lot then you will be gifted with a good shot every now and then provided you've got a decent composition and get everything in focus. However, good shots don't happen by accident very often and consistently taking good photographs requires a lot of work. This involves knowing where to go on a particular day or season and programmes like the Photographer's Ephemeris help enormously when planning shoots. Studying the weather should be second nature for all hill goers but especially so for the mountain photographer. If it looks good for that dream shot then get out of bed and go for it. I once got up at 3am three days running to get a dawn shot from Crib Goch…it's now one of my best-selling prints. It would have been so easy to stay in bed but I'm so glad I didn't! It's worth considering that the guys getting all the great shots are putting in a great deal of effort. If you want to get better and start to get your work noticed then there are no shortcuts. It's very hard work.
  • On the technical side of things it's worth taking a bit of time to understand how a camera works, shooting in manual mode and cracking the exposure triangle; it's not rocket science or a dark art so don't be scared of it. Compositionally, learn all about the rule of thirds, leading lines etc until they become second nature.
  • Most importantly though, enjoy your journey, try to find your own path and revel in having busy mountains all to yourself and showing everyone what they are missing in the golden hours.


About Nick Livesey

Nick Livesey is a semi-professional mountain photographer based in heart of Snowdonia, and a partner in the Soul of Snowdonia Gallery which can be found at the Moel Siabod Café in Capel Curig. He also provides one to one and small group workshops, leads photography walks and gives illustrated talks.

www.nickliveseymountainimages.co.uk




14 Jul, 2015
Nice in-depth interview and as ever some great pics. Agree with pretty much everything, especially regarding the work ethic. Keep enjoying doing what your doing!
19 Jul, 2015
ah hah! so this is what you get up to when your not at siabod cafe giving me grief for being a climber... haha ;) "Pughy"
21 Jul, 2015
Pughy, I give you grief for being a boulderer...I've no problem with (trad) climbers ;)
22 Jul, 2015
haha :D I do sport climbing to! trad ok maybe not...
Loading Notifications...
Facebook Twitter Copy Email