N Photo 100% NIKON INDEPENDENT

I don’t mind admitting it, but I’ve been into photography for a very long time. But after some 30 years, I still don’t get bored with seeing great pictures. I have just come back from a weekend break in Madrid, where I was able to see Sebastião Salgado’s stunning Genesis exhibition – and to see an inspiring collection of Robert Capa’s best war pictures. But it’s not just famous photographers that get me excited. Last year, I had the pleasure of running into a young American photographer called Dan Ballard, who was giving a talk at PhotoLive (see below for details of this year’s event, which will tour around four different UK cities this summer).

Dan has an evangelical way of talking about landscape photography, and the amount of effort you have to put in to get great pictures rather than mediocre ones. I was so impressed with his pictures and his photographic mantra, that I asked him to write this month’s special feature (see page 26), which provides a ten-step guide to shooting scenics the Dan Ballard way. I hope it will inspire you to

head for the hills in all weathers, like he does, in search of that elusive perfect lighting.

My own personal photographic journey takes a new direction next month as I move across the corridor to take over the editorship of Digital

Camera World (or Digital Camera as it is called in the UK). I will still hopefully be contributing to N-Photo for years to come’ So I am sure our paths will cross again. But for now I’d like to thank the many, many readers I have conversed with for all the support and advice I have had since we launched this very special Nikon-centric magazine.