Photographing a FROZEN mountain in a savage wind

[@TLM823]

Thank you, Alex for what turns into tutorials that we can all learn from! Much appreciated.

[@alexnail]

My pleasure, glad you enjoyed it

[@jbairdexp]

As much as I enjoy seeing your best shots, it still good that you show some of your less successful shots as well. Again, thank you for sharing your insights into how you pick out your compositions. :-)

[@chris42198]

Great content as always Alex! Thanks for posting.

[@alexnail]

My pleasure, thanks for commenting Chris

[@cragfast06]

Fantastic video, Alex. One of the most enjoyable and informative ones I have seen for a long time. I particularly enjoyed the “accidental recording” and the way you critique your own work and don’t shy away from showing the ones that didn’t really work and explaining why. 👌

[@alexnail]

Thank you! I guess these videos are a bit of a brain dump really!

[@claudehamel9228]

Excellent video. So few pros run us through composition-ing like you do, emphasizing balance. No wonder you latest book is so great!!

[@alexnail]

Thanks so much Claude!

[@howardrankin7119]

Another great video. Some superb shots and as ever I find your honest self critique most refreshing and enlightening

[@alexnail]

Thanks so much Howard!

[@robertyounger2460]

Great video and some great shots again. If you don't mind one small critique - in the panoramic of the icicles and the mountains, the tops of the mountains just seem too close to the top of the frame for my liking. Makes them feel a little cramped and that is where my eye seems to get pulled to. I would add though that your channel is quickly becoming my favorite KZbin photography channel and definitely my favorite of the UK based guys.

[@alexnail]

Thanks Robert! That kind of spacing is very much personal taste, and, if you are someone who generally has more sky in your images, then using less will always feel cramped. That said, it probably is slightly tight here and it’s due to a little lump in the icefall at the top of the frame that I am trying to crop out. If I use the panorama for a book I will also try to keep the aspect ratio quite narrow. But I think in retrospect a tiny bit more space might be better so thank you.

[@NicolasAlexanderOtto]

Hoping to get some snow on the Torridon Peaks next week! This is as per usual a highly entertaining Vlog!

[@alexnail]

There might be some hanging around. Thanks Alex

[@eamonncullen5220]

Great video, Alex, looking forward to meeting up with you and Joe Cornish in Torridon next month. Hope we get some good light. Always great to see what images you capture and the care you take with composition; some things can be corrected in PS post-processing, composition cannot though be corrected later.

[@alexnail]

Thanks Eamonn and likewise!

[@simongreer5100]

Another great video Alex. I have rented a cottage every November for 5 years now in the Glen ( sometimes March also ). I roam around with my dog taking photos and enjoying the majesty of Torridon. So even more than your Fisherfield videos, this series is very close to my heart; thank you so much for sharing. KZbin seems to be saturated with, do this to make fantastic photos; thank you for being one of the rare exceptions who shares expert knowledge and has a genuine love of the landscape. PS, Your friend MLJ has been very kind in helping me find locations in Torridon over the years I have been visiting, I would love to see you spend a day with him ( on video ), much like your trip with Joe into Fionn Loch and the Fisherfields 👍

[@alexnail]

Thanks Simon, and it would be fun to do a video with Mark, I've considered it before, its just a matter of convincing him and then getting our ducks in a row. I actually ran a workshop with him the autumn before last in Torridon and it was brilliant fun.

[@simongreer5100]

@@alexnail At the risk of seeming like a Mark / Alex Nail stalker, I follow Mark on social media and remember a post from your workshop on Sgorr Raudh.

[@robertstonephoto]

Thought that the blue ice on the distant mountain at 18:00 was quite interesting. A surprising amount of color.

[@alexnail]

Yes, I considered shooting a telephoto image of it actually and then realised I had left my telephoto lens back at the loch!

[@richardwagner3317]

Epic conditions. Glad to see someone getting out in these conditions trying to get some photos.

[@alexnail]

Well this was the second best day of nearly 4 weeks in Torridon so I had to try!

[@petermaddern6653]

Brilliant video Alex. What a great hike in challenging conditions.

[@alexnail]

Thanks Peter :)

[@georgemason2472]

Well done!

[@tompetersphotography]

Nice video Alex, nice to see these tough conditions

[@alexnail]

Thanks Tom!

[@brendanlynch7296]

Another fabulous video Alex, and as with all your location videos, genuinely inspirational. Really enjoyed hearing your thoughts on your compositions once again, and had to smile at the your comment about the single boulder image being something you would have taken as a beginner ... been there, done that. In fact I still do it at times, when I'm being lazy 🙂

[@alexnail]

Yeah I mean such images can work very well still. But not if you are just trying to chuck a rock into a foreground for the sake of it!

[@brendanlynch7296]

@@alexnail I very much agree :-)

[@tonygaskins3190]

Really enjoyable video Alex. The last 2 images are brilliant. However, the a couple of the images you dismissed as being too obvious, I thought were really quite effective and enjoyable exercises in texture and shape. I've just re-read your book for the 2nd time in a couple of months and think it's one of the best mountain photography books ever published, you must be so proud of it.

[@alexnail]

Yeah I guess I tend to be fairly decisive about what I like and why, but I realise there can be other equally valid perspectives! Thanks so much for the compliments on the book, I have to say I published it with a lot of uncertainty and trepidation so it still feels difficult to absorb praise!

[@dimitristsagdis7340]

your preferred rock composition with the multiple rocks is rather busy for me, it conceals a large part of the background vista , the single rock although the 'obvious' composition obstructs/conceals much less of the background which would be my preference

[@alexnail]

I think there is a point where simplicity can become a little bit boring for me and I start to view images more holistically. There’s also a certain ease with which I can shoot a view whilst sticking a rock in the foreground that perhaps feels a little shallow after a while, so I tend to save those approaches for when they are particularly effective. So thank you for your perspective, but I have to say my view is very different!

[@dimitristsagdis7340]

@@alexnail Sure that's why we have this conversation , the rest of your perspectives converge with mine , just the one I mentioned seemed to be dismissed 'too early' (for my liking in the video. I'm not saying the 'obvious' single rock foreground is going to win any competitions but in such a setting I would work towards foreground compositions that minimise the obstruction to the background. Your art , your perspective , your choices , fine by me - just thought to signal to you that your preference on the particular composition may have been too dismissive of that alternative which has legitimate and objective advantages (not just a subjective different preference) and that some of your viewers may actually preferred it for the reasons I tried to bring to your attention. Carry on the good work.

[@alexnail]

@@dimitristsagdis7340 well I think I have fairly strong convictions for myself and that helps give my work clarity and helps to curate my work, but I understand your perspective

[@dimitristsagdis7340]

@@alexnail sure nice chatting with you

[@AmorLucisPhotography]

Wonderful video, Alex. I really appreciate hearing your compositional thought processes. Do you ever consider blending two images, such as the one with the wind gust and the one without the black spot? Or does that cross your personal line? Was the frozen waterfall focus-stacked? But "cold"? Pah! I've just gotten back from the Canadian Rockies where I endured, before windchill, -32C according to my thermometer, on which the scale only goes down to -30C, and which promptly then entered a semi-fozen state in the bottom of the bulb. Much like my fingers did when I tried to operate my camera without gloves on. (Looking forward to receiving The Great Wilderness, btw.)

[@alexnail]

Hi Amor, personally combining photos to create a best moment that never happened is something I would never consider, but I am aware it’s a commonplace technique, especially with seascapes. Personally I think once you do that it’s not longer a photograph. Thank god I have yet to have someone who has been up Everest make a comment. High? Pah!

[@lennartphotography]

Great work, beautiful mountains and photos.🤩

[@alexnail]

Thanks Lenn :)