Stewart Smith at the Rheged Centre near Penrith.

While looking on the internet for suitable exhibitions to highlight for my work, I found this exhibition in Penrith. Stewart Smith’s work may not look, at first, to be anything to do with my idea of Lego film scenes. But I am always inspired by different photographers usage of light, how many use it differently to achieve amazing results. I will be focusing a lot on light in my Lego work, using light to create atmosphere and narrative.

It says in on Stewart Smith’s website in his About section,

‘The main bulk of Stewart’s photography portfolio focuses on the wild, rugged, mountainous side of the English Lake District. It is principally concerned with catching the fleeting and dramatic light that can play across the crags and ridges of the mountains at the extreme ends of the day; light that is capable of transforming an already enthralling scene into something remarkable and almost surreally beautiful. The interpretation is of an almost primal landscape devoid of human intrusion, the Lake District mountains as they have been for thousands of years and will continue to be for thousands more. The photos represent a love of the solitude and quiet contentment that can still be found in the higher reaches of one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country, revealing the Lake District at it’s very best.’

You can find all of Stewart Smith’s work here on his website.

Stockghyll Force by Stewart Smith

The light he captured in this image really bring out the autumn colours of the leaves on the trees. This contrasts with the bright white water crashing down the rocks. In this image I can hear the water cascading down the rocks, crashing at the bottom in the pool, I can feel the slight chill in the air from the autumn wind, and I can smell slightly wet leaves from where it has rained. I like how he has used light to create this atmosphere.

Stockghyll Autumn by Stewart Smith

This image grabbed me straight away because of how Smith captured the autumn light catching the brown and yellow leaves. When I look at this image, my eyes are drawn first to the background, it has an almost mythical quality to it, how the trees don’t look fully real, they look almost like a group of yellow and brown butterfly’s to me. I like how the yellow leaves at the top contrast with the brown ground near the bottom of the photograph, and how once again Smith has captured the light dancing on the running water effortlessly.