ART FOR ART’S SAKE….

Happy St. Valentine’s day to you all ! Valentine may be the patron saint of lovers but did you know he’s also the patron saint of epileptics and beekeepers?

On that note, I’ll get to the point of this month’s blog.

I’m currently working on a commission for one of South Wales’ Tourist Boards. The theme is night skies and the effect of light pollution and, given that it’s currently Dark Skies week here in Wales, you’d expect the weather to play ball. Not a bit of it! My brief is to capture images that show how wonderful the night sky is in dark sky areas and then capture a comparison of an urban nightscape where light pollution shields the stars from view (more on that later). I’ve got another month or so to complete the project so I’m keeping everything crossed for clear nights in the coming weeks.

The gig doesn’t pay much and I have to cover my own travel expenses, but I’m grateful for the opportunity and I’m hoping that some wider exposure via the Tourist Board’s media coverage will be good for my business’ profile, leading to more work. However, it got me thinking about how much a photographer’s work is actually worth. I’ve said before in my blogs that I consider landscape photography to be art, even though a fair proportion of it (in my case at least) generates some income. It may be a wholly subjective question but what price art? Yes, it’s a buyers market but I often wonder if I’m underpricing my images, especially when I look at price ranges of other photographers whose works are on a similar level to mine. Their outgoings such as fuel, printer consumables, and paper etc must be on a par with mine, yet their prices are four or five times mine in some cases and I often wonder how many they actually sell. I’m the first to admit, though, that I suffer slightly from imposter syndrome, often thinking that a customer may not like their purchase once it arrives with them. So I’m not thinking of increasing my prices anytime soon and feel lucky every time a new sale arrives. Many of you may think that getting paid for doing something you love is a privilege and I wouldn’t disagree but earlier this week I spent six hours capturing night sky images in freezing conditions and started to question my choice of occupation. I could of course take up wedding photography but it really doesn’t appeal, I prefer the solitude and beauty that landscape photography never fails to provide. Besides which, one of my greatest friends has it nailed in my opinion. Les McGrath is an extremely popular wedding photographer in the Wirral and Merseyside area so if you’re planning a celebration, function or family gathering check out Les’ website here :

http://www.platinum-photography.co.uk

Now if I was more savvy business man, I’d expect a commission from Les for all that publicity !! We’ve been friends since we were five years old so I know how that’s going to work out……….

So the commission got off to a good (if cold) start and I’ve researched the next two locations already. Although I complain about poor weather it’s on dull days that I scout locations out in order to ensure no problems when I actually arrive to take photographs. I’m planning to capture the urban light-polluted image around the time of the full moon, especially as it’s a viewpoint in the middle of a large expense of woodland so I’ll have some decent light to guide me. Not sure who needs to be more afraid - me or the local wildlife?

That brings me to the second point of this blog - the dreaded light pollution. Not many people realise just how bad the problem is, not just here in the UK but worldwide, and to many it really doesn’t matter. It’s not just us astrophotographers that suffer from the problem though and it may help to clarify exactly what light pollution is.

The International Dark Sky Association classifies light pollution in four categories:

• Glare – excessive brightness that causes visual discomfort, LED street lights are often a good example of this.

• Skyglow – a brightening of the sky over inhabited areas, most of us are familiar with this and it is the reason it is so hard to see the stars in a city

• Light trespass – light falling where it is not intended, this tends to be a consequence of poorly designed or installed lighting.

• Clutter – Bright, confusing and excessive groupings of light sources – a feature of built up areas and city centres

Sky quality is often quoted on the Bortle scale which ranges from 1 to 8. A sky quality of 1 is very rare and wonderfully dark, it can even show shadows cast from the Milky Way ! Class 2 is also very good indeed, such truly dark skies are rarely seen in the UK. Here’s a map of Bannau Brycheiniog (formerly Brecon Beacons) National Park showing the extent of light pollution, remembering that this a largely rural area of Wales.

No explanation needed. Humans are creating an environmental problem that may have far reaching impacts for everyone.

There is now clear evidence demonstrating beyond reasonable doubt that excess natural light can have devastating consequences on wildlife. Insects in particular are very sensitive to light and evolved to be active at night to avoid predators. Their whole life cycle can be governed by it – the way they forage for food, attract mates and their whole circadian rhythm. Stray light, particularly in the blue parts of the spectrum, can seriously disrupt their lives and is claimed by many to be a huge contributor to the catastrophic decline in insect numbers currently being witnessed in the British countryside. Insects of course are a major pollinator of wild and crop plants and trees and they are a very important source of food themselves for birds and mammals. Damaging the bottom of the food chain undermines the whole ecosystem above it…...

However, it doesn’t end there. Studies are increasingly showing the effects on humans including the stray street lighting that can come into bedrooms at night. Even relatively small amounts of light have been shown to disrupt the production of the sleep hormone melatonin, this in turn can have consequences for the rest of the endocrine and immune system and circadian rhythms.

This happens in humans because light stimulates serotonin, which gets the body ready for activity. If the cycle of these hormones is disturbed it can lead to disruptions in the timing of dopamine and cortisol production until the whole body is out of synchronisation. Humans have evolved to be awake during the day and sleep at night with as little light as possible, whilst many nocturnal creatures are the opposite and we disturb that balance at our peril. Possible long term effects can be disturbed sleep, obesity, heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Increasingly, light pollution is being recognised as an avoidable hazard for the environment and human health that has simply been overlooked. I accept that there may be safety and/or security reasons for night time lighting but it can be done in a responsible and sensible way that doesn’t contribute to the problem. There’s lots of guidance available online.

So come on people, switch your lights off ! Sermon over….

As I look out the window there’s so much low cloud in the valley that it’s hard to tell where the rain ends and the land starts. Prospects for the coming week don’t look much better either ! The clock’s ticking, but there’s plenty of time left to complete the project, so no need for panic just yet (honestly). I’d like to be finished just after the next new moon so that I can spend a few days at the Photography and Video Show at the NEC from March 16-19 where I’ll meet lots of like-minded photographers all moaning about commission fees and the imminent threat of starvation for us poor old landscapers……

At any rate it would be great to have it all parcelled up and delivered to the client for Easter, which is incredibly early this year, giving me less time to photograph lambs and daffodils (preferably in the same frame). Now they sell really well!

Not all doom and (light polluted) gloom then !

MOON AND JUPITER ABOVE TINTERN ABBEY.
SUFFERING FOR MY ART ON A FREEZING WINTER NIGHT.