ONLINE STORE NOW LIVE

July 23, 2020

I’ve finally got round to setting up my online store where you can purchase prints directly. The store is set up to take orders by PayPal, Credit or Bank Card, and Apple Pay, there is also an option for worldwide shipping.

At the moment I am only offering a small selection of prints in the store, but this will continue to grow in time. I am also now selling Single Edition Prints, which you will see in the store. A few images in the Mystical series are single editions, so if you are looking for a unique one-off piece then these might be for you.

For a limited period, I am offering a 10% discount on any orders placed through the store with a value of £200 or more. Please use the code: PRINT10 at checkout to receive your discount.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE STORE

Also available through the store is the new butterfly print “Pearl”. Pearl was shot earlier this year and it’s certainly one of my favourite butterfly images to date. This print is limited to just 10 editions in various sizes and starts at just £175.

Neutral Density Filters

July 11, 2020

Kase Buyers Guide: Neutral Density Filters

Over the past 3 years, I have exclusively been using Kase Filters and have recently moved to their excellent new magnetic system. Kase filters are simply the best filter I have used, and I have tried quite a few over the years. If you are interested in purchasing filters for yourself I can now offer a 5% discount code, please follow the link HTTPS://KASEFILTERS.COM/REF/NBURNELL/ and use the code: NEIL when purchasing.

If you’re just starting out in your filter journey, you will have come across a multitude of filters, so where do you begin? What stops do you need? Do you need graduated filters and what about variable density or filters for astrophotography? This ND Buying guide will help guide you through what is right for you and what to avoid.

Let’s start with fixed f-stop neutral density (ND) filters. Each ND filter will reduce the light reaching the camera sensor by a number of f-stops. The higher the f-stop, the less light is allowed to reach your camera sensor.

3-stop ND Filter

For landscape photographers, a 3-stop is often overlooked but can become very helpful around sunrise and sunset where you may not want a long exposure, to capture cloud definition and creating more impact in your photograph. A 10-stop is not particularly suited for sunrise and sunset as it often goes beyond the ideal exposure range and can result in exposure times that exceed the sunrise or sunset itself. I generally use a 3-stop ND to create movement within waves or sometimes to create ICM (Intentional Camera Movement) Images. Using the 3-stop ND will give you approximately one second exposure time in overcast or soft light at the beginning or end of the day.

6-stop ND Filter

The 6-stop ND filter is a landscape photographer's second best friend. Right next to the tripod. A 6-stop ND filter is great for anyone who wants to shoot long exposure sunrise or sunsets, waterfalls and capture moving water. It is without a doubt one of the most used and versatile fixed ND filters.

Most landscape photographers, if you asked them what one filter would you only carry into the field, would be the 6-stop ND. A 6-stop ND is an ideal filter for shooting waterfalls, cascading rivers and sunsets in the mountains, or even on the coast and urban environments where you want to reduce human movement from a composition.

If you primarily shoot landscapes and work in the outdoors then acquiring a 6 stop would be highly recommended.
Anyone looking to shoot coastal, urban environments, and abstract Black and White photographs, a 10-stop ND is the better choice, however, also consider shooting with a 6-stop at low ISO range 50-100 or stacking a 3-stop and 6-stop for great versatility.

10-stop ND Filter

The 10-stop ND filter is a must for anyone considering coastal long exposures or abstract Black & White or urban long exposures, especially in brighter light conditions. With a 10-stop ND filter, you can push exposure times beyond many cameras maximum standard shutter speeds which is typically 30-60 seconds depending on the brand and model of camera.

This means using remote shutters or Intervalometers you control shutter speeds as you will typically be working in minutes, not seconds, because of this you can achieve some dramatic results if the technique and composition are strong. In summary, the 10-stop ND filter isn’t suitable for sunrise or sunsets and often not the primary choice for many landscape photographers working in wooded or mountainous regions. More often is the prime choice for many coastal photographers, wishing to prolong exposure times and to achieve clean and minimalist compositions.

16-stop ND Filter

The 16-stop ND filter can be considered a specialist filter, this is used almost exclusively with landscape photographers wishing to achieve long exposure times resulting in ethereal cinematic images.

A 16-stop ND filter is almost exclusively used in coastal or urban environments to extended the shutter speeds into minutes and will require gradient filters to help control the balance of light across the composition. This choice of filter often requires more skills out of the camera, with the increased use of post-processing with programmes such as Adobe Photoshop to blend and stack exposures.

Some difficulties in this area of photography come from colour casting. Cheaper resin ND filters can impact the colour balance and result in unpleasing casting across the photograph. Using a premium filter, such as Kase’s Wolverine glass which has virtually no colour casting, makes your work visually more pleasing and means less work in post-production, fixing casting issues from filters.

For this reason, the 16 stop ND filter would be advised when you are confident in long exposure photography.

VISIT: HTTPS://KASEFILTERS.COM/REF/NBURNELL/

5% DISCOUNT CODE: NEIL

If you have any further questions regarding filters or my Long Exposure Workshops, please drop me a message using the contact me button below.

MYSTICAL

April 24, 2020

Mystical has been an ongoing photographic project from Wistman's Wood over the last 5 years. This series takes a look at the fairytale-like atmosphere created by the thick fog, gnarled trees, and moss-covered stones of Wistman's Wood in Dartmoor, Devon, England.

Regular visits over the past few years have enabled me to explore ever corner of the woodland and access areas rarely seen. I’ve also slowly adapted my shooting and processing style to a stage where I’m now happy to exhibit the latest images in the series. Exhibiting this series was always the end goal for me and I’m now proud to be able to do so with Taylor Jones & Son.

You can now view the 12 selected images in the latest Mystical series on this site in the Gallery section.

Please contact: info@neilburnell.com for print enquiries.

SONY WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS

February 5, 2019

I am delighted to tell you that “Executioner ” has been shortlisted in the Landscape category of the Open Competition at the 2019 Sony World Photography Awards. It has been selected from 326,997 images entered from 200 countries and territories.

https://www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards

AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2018

January 3, 2019

I am delighted to announce that I’ve won the 2018 Amateur Photographer of the Year competition. Many thanks to everyone who has wished me well and congratulations to the other successful entrants. #apoy #amateurphotographer

MOONSHINE - Commended LPOTY 2018

October 16, 2018

Really pleased to announce that “Moonshine” an ICM image of Brixham Breakwater has been awarded a commendation in this years Landscape Photographer of the Year. The image will now appear in the 12th annual and also at the upcoming exhibition at Waterloo station.

Most Memorable Images of 2017

January 2, 2018

2017 was a great year for me, but thats mainly down to being inspired by the great images that are posted every week on Twitter, Flickr, FB and Instagram. Viewing these images drives me on and makes me want to improve everyday.

Here are 10 of my favourite 2017 images (in no particular order) from various photographers I follow on the social media platforms.

Images are linked to the artists social media.

St Pancras multiple exposure - Darren Rose

Desire - Gerald Arzt — Desire - Gerald Arzt

The Lonesome Highway no.2 - Christopher Soukup

The Birds - Stuart McGlennon — The Birds - Stuart McGlennon

The Moment of the First Snow - Mikko Lagerstedt

Wex Photographer of the Year 2017

December 15, 2017

Im pleased to announce that I have won Wex Photographer of the Year for the second year running. It was a very tight contest right up until the final week, when I managed to shortlist and secure the overall win. The exhibition and presentation will this year be held at the new Wex store in London, I'm very much looking forward to meeting everyone and having a few beers!

Below are a few of my favourite images I entered into the competition in 2017.

ABYSS DESTRUCTION - A winner in February

FIELDS OF GOLD - Unsuccessful entry in June

LPOTY 2017

November 2, 2017

Im pleased to announce that I have won the 'Your View' category in this years Landscape Photographer of the year. This was way beyond any expectations I had and it's most deftly my proudest achievement to date since starting my photography journey.

The winning shot is probably my favourite image to date 'Stilts', this shot is published in the LPOTY 2017 book for which I have received a signed copy from Charlie Waite. Winning the 'Your View' category also means I have won prize money of £1000 :-)

I was also lucky enough to have another commended image 'Destruction' in the same category, this shot also features in the book.

2016 - A MEMORABLE JOURNEY

January 4, 2017

I went into 2016 with my main goal of progressing and improving my photography. I have owned a DSLR for several years now, but in all honesty I have never really taken photography very seriously before 2015 when I started to become addicted to several genre's of photography including macro and landscape.

In 2016 I found myself concentrating more on landscape, and in particular long exposure mono or muted colour seascapes. Now while I'm happy with my progression in this particular style of photography I still have much to learn and there are many places I want to shoot.

TWITTER
in May I decided to re-open my Twitter account as I had heard various people talk about the great community of photographers, that I could hopefully draw inspiration and learn from. Theres no doubt about it there are some wonderful photographers on Twitter, and I will hopefully be doing another blog soon with my top 10 images from Twitter togs. If you are a keen photographer, the best advice I can offer you is get on Twitter and join in the fun!

WEX PHOTOGRAPHIC PHOTOGRAPHIER OF THE YEAR
WPOTY is a popular weekly photographic competition run by Wex Photographic on Twitter. Each Monday hundreds of photographers (sometimes up to 400) enter the competition by submitting a shot from the previous week with the hashtag #wexmondays. All these entries are then judged by wex and then they choose a shortlist of 10 from which a top 3 are announced! The top 3 placed entries each week then receive points which contribute to the overall standings in the comp (1st 50pts . 2nd 20pts . 3rd 10pts).

I started WPOTY in May, and to be honest I didn't really believe I could do well having seen the standard of entries on show, my main aim was to get a top three entry before the end of the comp!

Well its safe to say I surpassed my early expectations by some margin, racking up a total of 310pts including 4 winning images and eventually winning the competition. This really was something I didn't believe to be possible to achieve, I still feel like I'm just at the start of my photography journey with so much to learn and improve on.

You can read my Wex interview here: www.wexphotographic.com

2016 Achievements
Winning WPOTY really did top off a great year for me, here are some of my other achievements I am also very proud of:

WEX PHOTOGRAPHIC PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR - Winner
OUTDOOR PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR - 2 Commended images
MANOR MAGAZINE - 12 page featured photographer (Dreamscapes)
WEX PHOTOGRAPHIC - Article (Long exposure minimalism)
PHOTOGRAPHY WEEKLY - Various publicised images

A New Beginning!

September 25, 2016

So I've decided to start my blog section of the site all over again, especially now I am focussing solely on landscape photography. I have deleted a couple sections on the site (concept 7 wildlife) and will now only be uploading my landscape work. I also intend to try and keep the blog up to date with short entries from various landscape outings!

Friday 22nd September 2016... I thought I'd try my hand at some ICM photography after being inspired by the wonderful work of Andy Gray. Andy really has perfected the art of ICM Abstract Landscapes, if you haven't seen his work I strongly suggest you take a look: http://andrewsgray.photography

Here's my first attempt at ICM (intentional camera movement), taken from Bantham Beach looking towards Burgh Island on the South Hams coast. I wanted my ICM to reflect my current minimalist style so I have framed the island and headland with plenty of negative space to the foreground but also kept some detain in this area.