Calendar: Lakes 360 (Posing Productions)
8th Dec 2005
There’s no avoiding the fact that 360 degree panoramic photos are where it’s at in photography. Whilst there is no doubt that the digital revolution and the ability to seamlessly ‘stitch’ images together makes this form of photography more accessible, it still requires a good eye to spot a view that will make a great panorama, and Alastair Lee certainly has this. Interestingly, Alastair did not use a digital camera to create these panoramas, rather he used a fearfully expensive Roundshot medium format camera that can adjust the exposure for different parts of the image, producing a more sensitive overall exposure than a digital stitch can achieve. This shows in the quality of the final images which, the more you look at them, the more you realise just how clever they are – despite encompassing radically different light levels, the images are perfectly exposed throughout – magic!
This calendar consists of twelve images of the Lake District that follow the changes in the landscape through the seasons. These images do what photographs do best – they show you something beyond the capabilities of your eyes, and so they hold your attention far longer than conventional landscape, which, seeing that these images could be hanging on your wall for a month at a time, is a good thing!
The calendar itself has enough white-space to jot down things like dentist appointments and holidays (you’ll need to scribble public holidays in yourself), though it definitely falls into the category of wall decoration more than busy lifestyle organiser.
Reviewed by Adrian Berry on behalf of planetFear