I wrote a blog post a couple of months back about the pain of seeing some of my favourite images from the last year get rejected at the first hurdle of Charlie Waite’s Landscape Photographer Of The Year competition. I wrote it despite the fact I ended up with a number of photographs being shortlisted because I wanted people to know how much time and effort went into each and every image and regardless of any perceived success that the sting of rejection was still real, whether they believed it or not. Each photograph is a labour of love for me, apart from the road miles, 3am alarm calls and physical effort to generally stumbling around carrying large amounts of kit, the meticulous post-processing and final presentation all adds up to a big personal investment in each frame.

Of course what followed next was the gigantic irony of my rejected photographs catching the eye of Amateur Photographer Magazine who not only asked to publish a number from my series In An English Wood but to make a full feature from these by accompanying them with my own words. Needless to say I obliged at the drop of a hat. I’ve had quite a lot of magazine interest and coverage down the years and been interviewed several times, but never written a substantial article for a publication so this piece was a nice watershed moment I’m particularly proud of. Does that qualify me as a published author and photographer? I do hope so!

Anyway the final result is set out below in the Magazine’s 4th October issue and once again I think the editors have done a wonderful job in arranging the piece. Watch this space too – the editor has already been back in touch asking for more…