Shona Perkins: Finding Calm Through Coastal ICM Photography
In this captivating episode of the SheClicks Women in Photography Podcast, Angela Nicholson sits down with Shona Perkins, the woman behind 'My Beautiful Scotland'. Shona is a renowned seascape photographer with a deep passion for intentional camera movement (ICM), a technique she uses to convey the emotional connection she feels with the landscapes she photographs.
Listen to another episode of the SheClicks Women in Photography Podcast
Shona Perkins, a name synonymous with serene seascapes and painterly photography, found her way to professional photography following a significant career shift. Once a regional manager for the Oasis fashion brand, Shona took the plunge into the world of photography after choosing redundancy in 2017. This transition allowed her to embrace her love of documenting the world around her, particularly the majestic coastal landscapes of Scotland.
Shona's journey into photography began as a child, capturing memories with a point-and-shoot camera long before digital photography took over. However, it wasn't until 2015 that she began to take her craft seriously, purchasing her first DSLR and immersing herself in the art of photography. Her work has since evolved into a highly recognisable style, characterised by the use of ICM to soften the edges of reality and bring a unique, almost dreamlike quality to her images.
In this episode, Shona shares her story of transformation from the fast-paced world of retail management to the meditative practice of capturing Scotland's seascapes. She discusses the emotional connection she has with the sea, describing it as the only place where her mind truly quietens, allowing her to create art that reflects the inner calm she finds on the beach.
Shona also delves into the technical aspects of her work, offering insights into how she developed her signature style of ICM. She talks about the challenges and joys of capturing the ever-changing mood of the sea, and how she learned to move her camera in a way that mirrors how she would paint a scene if she could.
Shona's story is inspiring and relatable, especially those who have experienced the pressures of a corporate career and the desire to pursue a more creative or fulfilling path. Her candid discussion about the emotional highs and lows of making such a significant life change will resonate with many.
Whether you're an aspiring photographer or simply someone who appreciates the art of capturing the beauty of nature, this episode offers a wealth of inspiration. Shona's approach to photography is not just about technical skill, but about connecting deeply with your subject and letting your emotions guide your creative process. Her journey is a testament to the power of following your passion, even when it means stepping into the unknown.
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Episode Transcript
Shona Perkins
When I'm on the beach, it's not so much what I'm seeing, it's more a state of mind and how I'm feeling, and then that is, then hopefully, what I'm conveying through my photography.
Angela Nicholson
Welcome to the SheClicks Women in Photography Podcast. I'm Angela Nicholson, and I'm the founder of SheClicks, which is a community for female photographers. In these podcasts, I talk with women in the photographic industry to hear about their experiences, what drives them and how they got to where they are now. This episode is with Shona Perkins, the woman behind My Beautiful Scotland. Shona specialises in seascape photography and intentional camera movement. She also runs workshops and retreats, as well as offering one to one tuition. Hi Shona, thank you so much for joining me today on the sheclicks women in photography podcast.
Shona Perkins
Hi Angela, thank you so much for inviting me. I'm really, really pleased to be here, been a big follower of sheclicks and what you've created for some time now.
Angela Nicholson
Oh, thank you, and you're very welcome. Thank you. So let's start right at the beginning. How did you first get drawn into photography?
Shona Perkins
Whoa, that's a that's a very big question, and one, obviously I always get asked, and it's quite hard to answer in an hour long podcast, but I'll start at the very beginning here. I'll start at the very beginning. And I guess I grew up. I grew up in a time when there were no mobile phones, no social media, and good old 90s, and I think a lot of people all had a point and shoot, you know, wind and click film camera at that point, and and everybody printed their photographs. And everybody had photo albums and shoe boxes full of photos and and that was very much part of what I did. I documented everything, every family holiday, every family trip, uh, school days. I literally documented everything throughout my childhood, and, dare I say, early adulthood, and yeah, I've now got shoeboxes full of photographs and albums, which I think is a really special thing, and I think it's actually a shame nowadays, where we've got the mobile phones and everybody just uploads albums to Facebook and doesn't get to really, really see photographs in print. But it wasn't until probably 2015 2016 that I started actually taking photography quite seriously, as opposed to just having a point and shoot in my bag. I haven't been a photographer, professional photographer, all my life, and actually was doing something very far removed from what I'm doing now. I was in fashion retail, and I was a regional manager for an iconic British brand. I know a lot of women will know it. It was Oasis I worked for. And Oasis were a brand under Aurora, which had caramilion Coast warehouse. Sadly, they didn't survive covid and are no longer on the high street. I worked with them for 20 years. I was worked with a big team, and yes, sadly, my role as a regional manager got shrunk from nine regional managers to four regional managers, which was inevitable given the economic sort of state of retail at the time. I chose to take redundancy at that point, and that was sort of early 2017 at first, oh, I was a mixture of emotions, absolute, you know, roller coaster of emotions. There was an element of excitement, you know, a bit of time off can kind of ground myself and decide what I'm going to do. Then what really hit me the hardest was I actually grieved. I actually mourned my team and my job and the business and my career for a long time, I actually think so, probably the last 18 months that I've stopped doing that, and when I first came out at the job, it was the first time that I had stopped working since I was 16 years old. And I just I didn't know how to stop I didn't know how to do nothing. I probably, at that point realized I don't know why, you know, as I've never had it diagnosed, but maybe I had hit a wall, and I had hit burnout at that point, entered some quite dark places, and I turned my attentions to photography, and I sort of made some decisions quite quickly, and the first one being, no, I'm going to take some time out. I need time out. I need to rest, and I need to figure out what I want to do. And I knew I didn't want to go back to that world as much as I missed it. I didn't want to go back to it. So at that point, I bought my first DSLR and enrolled with the British Academy of Photography. And I thought, right, okay, I'm going to learn and understand what I can do with a digital camera. And so started my adventures around Scotland, and I was. Lucky enough, I was in a position that I was able to then sort of travel around Scotland, do some studying, really understand photography, and really start to get a feel for what can I do. And at that point in time, I was, you know, I was drawn to all the, you know, the iconic locations, the honeypots and, you know, and they're all very, very beautiful places to go and visit. But quite quickly I started kind of wanting a little bit more in my photography. And so came my sort of desire and my passion for long exposure photography. And was following a lot of long exposure and sort of more minimalism on social media. And I was really drawn to this, and I was really kind of keen to experiment with that, and that inevitably, sort of then led into me starting to experiment with moving the camera. And that all happened quite quickly. So by sort of 2018 I was kind of actively doing sort of ICN, intentional camera movement, long exposure photography and really sort of seeking out more, sort of minimal scenes, and wanting to spend more and more time by the scene. So that's not the short answer, is it?
Angela Nicholson
No, that's fine. We want to hear the long answers. That's what we want to hear about. So the course that you did, did that teach you anything about long exposure or intentional camera movement, or was it more the kind of traditional photography you know what aperture does and what shutter speed's for?
Shona Perkins
In hindsight, I suppose I came from a corporate background and a corporate career, and I came out and I went straight into the more academic kind of courses and was searching for. And in hindsight, if I was to do the same thing now, I would be going and looking for those hands on workshops with photographers out in the field and and that is the way I learned out in the field, experimenting, doing it, as opposed to the more theoretical side of things. And so there was quite a lot of sort of theory, theory based studying and research involved in the course that I took, but that said I did. I did really learn my way around a camera, and I think that's important in what I'm doing now,
Angela Nicholson
Yeah. I mean, there's lots of ways of doing that sort of academic side of photography now, which is great. You can do it in person, you can do it online, you can do it you know, you can type a few questions into YouTube and you get some great answers, yeah. But also, there's a really broad spectrum of hands on workshops now with all sorts of photographers, which is brilliant, you know. So it's a much less dry, more enjoyable way of learning photography, I think. Yeah, I agree. So what is it about intentional camera movement and seascapes that really pull you in. And why do you combine those two?
Shona Perkins
Yeah, great question, and with the first answer is just going back to sort of when I stopped working. I'm a hard worker. I'm a very driven person. I'm very ambitious, but and all my life, really, even as a child, I have the inability to stop. I'm always doing, and I think that's a very female trait, isn't it? We're multitaskers and we're always we've always got a job list and we've always got things to do. But yes, and I've lived with that, but it can be a problem. I literally can't switch my brain off, and it becomes, at times, quite exhausting. My idea of resting or relaxing and switching off at home will be pushing the Hoover around because it takes my mind off things I'm doing something else. The only place that quietens My mind is the beach, and I found I mean, I've always loved the sea, and I've always lived close to the sea. Holidayed in Cornwall as a child as I lived in the South of England back then. But it really is the only place that I am calm and my mind is quiet. And that is why. Because a lot of people ask me, Why do you only do ICM with seascapes? And you know, are you interested in doing other subjects, such as urban and I'm like, Well, no, to be honest, when I go out with my camera, I want to go to the beach. I want to be by the sea, and that is my place that I have those moments of calm. And I guess, well, I hope that that then comes across in my photography as it's really what I'm trying to convey. And when I'm on the beach, it's not so much what I'm seeing, it's more a state of mind and how I'm feeling, and then that is, then hopefully what I'm conveying through my photography and ICM. ICM is just and again, it's a very slow process. My approach to ICM has changed quite considerably over the last sort of two, two and a bit years from when I started out, from starting out in that sort of frantic, excited, kind of experimental, waving the camera around everywhere stage, I'm now much more considered in my approach, and a lot slower with a lot less and take a lot less photographs. And it's more about that. Process of being behind the lens for that sort of, you know, two seconds, which when you're behind the lens is quite a long time. So I enjoy it, and I enjoy it immensely. I enjoy the results and why ICM? If I could sum that up in one sentence, it would be if I could paint, then it's how I would paint the scene I see that is what I'm trying to create with ICM. People laugh at me when I say, I don't always consider my images blurry, and people laugh at me, but really, sometimes I just think I'm just softening those edges a little bit, just how I would if I painted it. And sometimes I like to keep a bit of a literal feel to my images and then just soften those edges.
Angela Nicholson
So one of the issues, or pleasures as well, that I have with long exposure photography, and therefore ICM, is that there's always something beyond your control, particularly thinking about like with waves moving, that they're always different, yes, and therefore your pictures are always different, and therefore it's always that compulsion. I'll just do one more. I'll just do one more, and then suddenly, you know, it's dark and it's time to go home. How do you get around that? How do you know when to stop? Or maybe you don't maybe like me?
Shona Perkins
Well, no, I really relate to that. I really, waves, photographing waves is obsessive. I remember that there's a couple of days that really stick out in my memory, and I use one of them as an examples. Actually, on holiday in the Isle of Harris and amazing conditions, fantastic, probably 10 foot. Waves, epic, beautiful, dark skies. Back knit. It was perfect, absolutely perfect. Trouble being I was on holiday with my husband and my dog. So it's that fine balance, isn't it, in terms of, right? Okay, I'm just going to take a few photographs to my husband that I'm just going to go and sit in the car, and I'll wait in the car, and that's when you kind of think, Oh, how long have I been it's hard. It is hard with waves. For me, I do get quite obsessed in terms of what I want to capture. And it's not just about waiting for that perfect moment to capture the perfect wave. It's really thinking about the whole scene, composing the whole frame and capturing that way when the water's coming towards you perfectly, and you just keep going and going. So I could spend hours, literally hours,
Angela Nicholson
Okay, so you don't it just sort of keep going until the point you've had enough. Your husband's had enough with a dog saying it's dinner time or it's too dark.
Shona Perkins
Yes
Angela Nicholson
Okay.
Shona Perkins
Yes. that's it.
Angela Nicholson
Same as me. We have quite extreme tides in this country. Or that's my perception anyway, certainly, most of the places I seem to go. And of course, that introduces another element, because the beach is changing. But also as the as the tide comes in or out, the waves change form and position as well. So you're constantly adapting, I guess.
Shona Perkins
Yeah, and that's the beauty about it as well, I think. And I think with that, I think the more you know a beach, and the more time you spend at that beach, at different points in the tide, the more you get to know that beach, and the more you can connect with that beach. But you also, it's just really important to me to have that connection, but also that understanding of, you know, what I'm wanting to achieve and and when I need to visit.
Angela Nicholson
What. Actually, speaking of tides, though, do you prefer to photograph in a receding tide or a pushing tide?
Shona Perkins
It depends when I'm photographing. So generally speaking, for big, big, vast, reflective seascapes. I like the tide to be going out, not filling out, probably midway, got that nice sort of then clean. All the footprints have been washed away, and you will have some wet sand and some tidal pools starting to sort of reveal themselves, creating some really interesting patterns. So that's ideal. If I'm photographing waves. I'd prefer the tide to be coming in. I prefer it to be quite high. So it really depends on, you know, you know, I can if I'm going out shooting on my own, obviously, I am really very aware of what's happening with the waves and the weather and the tides, and will make a decision on where I'm going. And know, kind of, you know, what sort of images I'm probably going to achieve before I actually get to the beaches I'm going to.
Angela Nicholson
Now, this has become something of burning issue, and she clicks, do you prefer to photograph at sunrise or sunset?
Shona Perkins
It depends on the time of year. So I need eight hours sleep a night, right? I do need eight hours sleep a night. So in the summer in Scotland, I just can't do it. I just can't get up at 3am in fact, right now we're just getting back to a nice time. I think the sunrise is about 20 past five now. And actually I've got a local beach, so I'm actually probably going to enjoy getting out for sunrise again in the next couple of weeks. I would say sunrise is very, very beautiful. So arriving at the beach in the dark, watching the sun rise is a very, very special experience, but equally so, I've had some really amazing experiences at sunset as well. I personally love a blue hour, whether it's before sunrise or after sunset, when that light and that mood just sort of softens into those sort of blues and purples, and that light becomes really magical at that time.
Angela Nicholson
Okay, so I think, yeah, there's, I think there's a few more people coming out on the side of sun. Sunrise is too early at sunset for the year, which is certainly the camp I'm in.
Shona Perkins
It's hard.
Angela Nicholson
Oh, yeah, absolutely. Do you have a kind of set pattern to your photography? You know? Do you go out every day or certain days of the week?
Shona Perkins
I wish I could go out every day. So No is the answer to that. Since I started teaching and doing workshops, one to ones, I find myself and I guess this is what some people don't realize, quite how much admin is involved in running workshops and retreats, and I'm just at the stage sort of getting next year's program ready, and organizing, selling a retreat, even the pre work that's involved in, you know, sourcing, locations, accommodation, collaborations, that sort of thing is quite intensive, maintaining sort of and managing relationships with clients. I do quite a lot of zooms for overseas clients. All of that takes quite a lot of time sitting at the desk. Next week, I've got two full day workshops, which I'm looking forward to, and I'll be getting out with clients. But when I'm with clients, I'm not really having that opportunity for myself to do my own photography. So honestly, this this past summer, I've barely gotten out at all, but I have got plans in the next few weeks that I'm going to start setting that alarm early and getting back out for sunrise locally, and I'm off to Harris on holiday on my own.
Angela Nicholson
Oh, lovely. But do you find yourself yearning for that time when you are going to get onto the beach, when you can take your own photographs?
Shona Perkins
Yes, I do. And it's just that, that ability to be on your own, isn't it? So you can actually, because you get into, well, I certainly do, and I'm doing ICM on the beach that you you get into a fully meditative state, a fully immersive state, don't you? And you can only get into that flow and that, that flow state when you're on your own, and yeah, it's a little too rare. At the beginning of every year, at New New Year's Day, I'm always like, this is the year. I'm going to be really disciplined. I'm going to give more time for myself, and I'm going to get out with my camera more. And all of a sudden, it's August, and I don't really know where this year has gone, because it's August already. It's been quite difficult this summer.
You mentioned workshops. I was going to ask you about those. When did you start leading those? And what was the trigger, or, you know, that made you feel comfortable to start offering them.
Speaker 1
Yeah, it's a nerve wracking thing. And when I was at school, I always wanted to be a teacher, and I was very passionate about becoming a teacher, and sadly, it didn't transpire. But in my career, there was an awful lot of mentoring, there was an awful lot of coaching and development that was part of the role. So it did feel inevitable that that would be, probably later on in my life, where I would go to just in what form I didn't know at the time. I guess how it all happened. I did a talk with viewfinders podcast, but it was a live talk on Zoom, and I believe that was 2021 I don't think viewfinder's podcast is actually on anymore, but I did this talk, and an American lady had signed up to the talk and contacted me after the talk and said, I'm coming to Scotland in April. Would you do a one to one with me? And I was like, Can I do that? Can I do that? Oh, wow. And I did, and I'm still very much in contact with Linda from Los Angeles right now, and I thank her immensely for giving me that confidence to make that leap. So I started very slowly, and I think really, everything that's happened from 2021 to now has gone really slowly. I wanted to do it purposely in an organic way, not to push things to to move at a pace that I was comfortable with in terms of my confidence. And it started off with one to ones, which then progressed to sort of small group workshops and one day workshops. And I had met Stephanie Johnson, who is the founder of the ICM photography magazine, and I met her in 2020 and we'd been talking on and off, and I'd been in the magazine, and we then decided to co lead a couple of retreats. So these were five day retreats in the Outer Hebrides and. And they went very well. So that was my first sort of venture into organizing from scratch and going out there and leading experiential retreat. And it all just sort of grew arms and legs quite quickly after that. And all of a sudden I was realizing, though this really is the direction I want to go in when you're on a residential retreat and you're part of, you know, a small group of people in a quite an intensive environment, it's just amazing how deep the connection becomes so quickly. And I can be quite an overly emotional person, and yeah, I've cried at the end of every single one I've done so far, Jess and I made great friendships from some of the people that you know I've met through photography. And it's the most rewarding thing to see people come together in a supportive environment and actually go on a journey. And I think it's really, really special. So yes, I'm planning as many as I can, but trying to balance, obviously, the workload, the family, the dog, and, you know, everything, it can be quite hard.
Angela Nicholson
Oh, yes, yeah, when you're starting a new venture and it involves other people, quite naturally, they have some questions. And if it's your first workshop, and someone's asking you about what will the workshop be? How will it be run and stuff? And you might be thinking, I'll get back to you on that, because they're sort of, they're asking questions. Maybe they've been on other workshops, and so they kind of experience of what that is like, and they want to know whether yours is similar or different. And
Shona Perkins
Yeah, I think, to be honest, I I'm absolutely meticulous for detail, and I'm very, very organized. I'm a planner, as was Stephanie, because it was her first retreat as well. We went into absolute, immense depths of planning beforehand, a lot of research. For me, when you're running a workshop or a retreat and you're creating this, this experience for people, then the skills you need. You need to be able to facilitate, you need to be able to organize, you need to be able to engage, motivate. You know, it's, it's more than just photography, it's way more than just photography. And actually, the skills that I have from my previous career really, really supported this, and I felt really quite comfortable in terms of actually managing a group of people, bringing them together, making sure everybody felt inclusive and motivated, even when times were a little bit more challenging, or conditions were challenging.
Angela Nicholson
Have your workshops evolved much since you started? You know, you've done the first one, you've done a few now. Have they they changed much? Have you added new things or, you know, adapted them to accommodate what people want?
Shona Perkins
Yes, yes. And I think I've grown just more comfortable in general as well. I mean, in terms of my one day workshops that I run throughout the summer, people are traveling, you know, up from the south of England to come and spend a day with me, and I'm frantically weather watching, hoping and praying that, you know, they're gonna have good conditions for them, for them to really get the best out of it. And I used to get quite stressed about that, whereas I've had a few now where the rain has been on, and it's just learning how to manage that and actually realizing, well, you know, we're photographers. We're outdoor photographers. You know, rain actually can bring some really great opportunities and some really great moments of light, and it's building in contingencies. And I've gone off to, you know, restaurants and done image reviews, and then found, do you know what they really benefited from, that they really enjoyed that? I'm going to build that in. I went from having sandwiches on deck chairs to actually we're gonna go and have dinner at a pub. So you know it, yeah, it's evolving, and they will continuously evolve, definitely, and it's just all part of the experience, I think, as well, it's gaining as much knowledge of the participants beforehand as well, so you can really start tailoring what it is that you're going to be able to offer them.
Angela Nicholson
Do you find that most people that come on your courses are keen to get out whatever the weather? Or do you have to cajole them a little bit?
Shona Perkins
I have had a couple of workshops where the weather has been really, really challenging, as in torrential rain, but there were moments of absolute, beautiful light and mood and atmosphere. And you could just see how excited they were by that. Everybody's up for it. Everybody's, you know, I have spare everything in my car. You know, I was, I'm the girl guide. I have the spare waterproof trousers. I have the spare socks. I have the spare gloves, the spare hats. You know, nobody goes without anything. So it is all about just being prepared for absolute every single eventuality and and bring in a bit of fun you have to make sure everybody's comfortable. So for me, it's start you start out in a coffee shop and get to know one another. There and relax everybody. And they're usually great days.
Angela Nicholson
That sounds like a really nice way to spend time.
Shona Perkins
Yeah.
Angela Nicholson
I see you've got an exhibition coming up in November. What can you tell us about that?
Shona Perkins
Yes, now this makes me nervous.
Angela Nicholson
Oh.
Shona Perkins
Not gonna lie. So I'm really excited, really, really excited, and this, this will be my first time exhibiting. So I'm completely new to this, and I've dabbled with selling prints in the past, but as soon as I got quite heavily involved in the teaching aspect, I something had to give. So I stopped selling any prints whatsoever. And I knew at some point I would go down the exhibition route. I just didn't know it would come so quickly. So I formed a relationship with the very wonderful Fee Dickson Reid. She's a Scottish contemporary artist, paints oils on canvas, largely, but also uses other mediums. I first contacted her 18 months, two years ago, and having followed her work, she's a local photographer to me, so we photograph the same beaches, and I just really connect to her work, and I really resonate with her work. And I had this vision and this idea that I wanted to because I think about what I do in terms of, okay, I can't paint, so I'm gonna, you know, use ICM to create a painterly scene. And I thought, right, okay, I'm going to see whether fi will come on board with me, work with me, and we'll run a retreat called Capture to Canvas. This was my vision, and I will teach people ICM. We will then use that ICM as the inspiration to put onto canvas, as opposed to just painting a literal photograph, it will help create that beautiful painterly effect that thee has. She loved the idea, but she exhibits. She doesn't teach. So she at first was a little, oh, can I do that? We spent quite a bit of time putting together the retreat details. We've now done two very successful, amazing retreats. We've got one more coming next October, and we'll probably do one a year and well, capture to Canvas has just grown arms and legs and moved on quite quickly. And we came up with the idea that we'd like to do a joint exhibition, and now we spoke about it after the March March this year, we spoke about it. And I probably thought this will happen sort of later next year, but then fee sort of went to work and found us a gallery. And yeah, and the dates of the 29th of November to the sixth for December, we're exhibiting a lovely photographer gallery actually called gallery close in Edinburgh, and it's right in the heart of the gallery district in New Town in Edinburgh, and we'll be taking sole occupancy at the gallery for the week. And I'm immensely excited. I also just feel really, really honored to be for feet and mentor me in a way to get me ready to be able to because there's a lot of work involved in putting on an exhibition. And I, yeah, I feel genuinely honored that I'm going to be, you know, handheld, shall we say, by, you know, a true expert.
Angela Nicholson
I think it's really interesting that you started this conversation. You were talking about how everybody used to produce prints, you know, when you had your compact camera and you were a kid, and you photograph, documented everything, and you always had all these prints, and now you're a professional photographer, you lead workshops, and now you're also producing prints for your first exhibition. That seems like a really nice circle.
Shona Perkins
Yeah, and I knew that I've had conversations with other photographers that you reach a place where it's kind of in photography, you want to make a living doing photography which is hard, and being self employed is very, very hard, and have a conversation, but you kind of get to a stage, don't you, and it's like you kind of can, you can go the exhibiting route, or You can kind of go the teaching route, because both take up so much time and investment, and obviously the teaching route is something is my heart. I love to teach, and I'm so rewarded by the people I meet, and that's my inspiration. But I also knew that I definitely wanted to every photographer loves to see their work in print. And I've just started working on the collection that I'm going to exhibit. I'm going to be exhibiting 25 pieces. I'm just starting to sort of work through what that looks like, and I've got a fair sort of draft of energies. And I actually said to my husband last night, I was like, I'm like, seeing beard in print on the wall. If it all works out and it all goes well, it all goes to plan, will potentially be one of the proudest moments of my life. And it's so it's a really immense thing, really immense thing.
Angela Nicholson
And when you say you're just going through sorting out your images, there's going to be 25 are they all already shot? You know, we have. We've been seeing them on your in. Gram account, for example, and you're making a selection from those, or are you shooting new stuff?
Shona Perkins
They're already all shot. I am going to the Isle of Harris before the show, but I just for me, the timelines won't be long enough, and I don't want to put that pressure. And I find myself unable to objectively look at my images much, much better and much more clearer when a bit of time has passed. So yes, I started off with 40 images, and I'm I'm now sort of breaking it down to 25 and I'm quite happy with the collection. They are all going to be ICM images, because that is the connection. I've even taught Fee and how to do ICM photography. And she's even said it's involved and elevated her painting. And she's even doing more wave paintings now as well, with a more sort of, you know, free flowing, less natural scent, should we say? So that's kind of the connection.
Angela Nicholson
Oh, fantastic. Well, I think now's a really good time to go to six from sheclickers. I've got 10 questions from sheclickers, and I'd like you to answer six of them please by picking numbers from one to 10. So could you give me your first number, please?
Shona Perkins
I'm going to go for number six, please.
Angela Nicholson
Number six. Oh, it's a good one. Do you have any tips for keeping physically comfortable on wide open beaches when the weather isn't its best that's from Paula.
Shona Perkins
Hi, Paula. That's a great question, especially as I'm spending a lot of time on Scottish Outer Hebrides beaches in the winter. That's a really good question. So I suffer really, really badly from Reynolds syndrome, and for those of you don't know what that is, I have difficulties with blood flow through very thin veins, really, and my my fingers go numb, toes go numb, my lips go numb. And it's not necessarily just temperature that makes that happen, but usually it is. So I am very, very prepared. So for me, a good pair of waterproof deck style gloves is absolutely critical in keeping the rest of my body warm. And I can't take them off, so I have to make sure that they're textile enough to be able to use the camel with them. I have hand warmers that I use religiously, and I just keep them in my pockets. I wear tights under my leggings, waterproof trousers, whether it's raining or not, because they keep the wind off. And I'm a big fan of just layering, and I would say the same to everybody. So you don't need big, thick, chunky jumpers, which actually mean you can't move when you've got your coat on, just a, you know, you know, base layer, a thin fleece, then a nice padded jacket. Over the top of that, everything nice and lightweight and always wear a hat. The gloves that I use are Montane Prism gloves. They are the best gloves, and I've gone for a lot of gloves, I kid you not. And they are absolutely amazing because they're super, super lightweight. They're Pertex. They fold up and squish into this, into your fist and you can operate your camera fine with them, because the minute I take my glove off, I'm then sort of bound, pretty useless if my hands go numb.
What about your feet? Do you wear Wellington boots? Or do you go for walking boots that are waterproof?
I always wear wellies. I even, even on the east coast here, or when the sea is quite flat, I wear wellies. I and it's taken me ages to find a really good pair, but I swear by the muck boots, which are the neoprene, and they're they're fantastic, and I can walk for miles in them. So, yeah, I feel better in wellies.
Angela Nicholson
Okay, so could I have your second number please?
Shona Perkins
I'll go for number two.
Angela Nicholson
Your photos have a definite style and color palette, and I always recognize them instantly. Do you ever shoot outside that esthetic? And do you feel constrained by your reputation for shooting ICM? That's two questions combined from Paula and Mari- Ange.
Shona Perkins
Thank you very much for two really great questions there. And thank you that that's a really big compliment. When, I think a lot of photographers would say the same, when, when somebody says, Oh, I recognized instantly that it was yours. I think with ICM, it's, and I say this to a lot of my clients, in terms of sort of defining your own style as a photographer is one of the hardest things to do with ICM, because it's more about the feeling as opposed to the literal scene in front of you. Because generally, we're not photographing what it looks like, it's much easier to sort of define your style quite quickly with what you like in terms of color palette. Yes, I do have a preferred color palette to work with. I prefer to shoot with the sun setting behind me or rising behind me, I find it offers a much softer light and then gives me those beautiful blues, purples and pinks that you see so much. I love blues in general, and grays, all those soft the soft gray winter light that you get in Scotland most of the time. I love to work with. And so that that was part of the question. What was the other part? Sorry.
Angela Nicholson
Do you ever feel constrained by your reputation for shooting ICM, and do you ever shoot outside of that aesthetic?
Shona Perkins
I do. I do. Yes. I do. Still take my tripod out every now and then as well. I was actually just having a conversation the other day how I really wanted to start doing some more long exposures and exploring the minimalism that I'm really still enjoying. I love. One of my favorite genres of photography is wildlife photography, and I follow an awful lot of wildlife photographers. My issue with wildlife photography is I have zero patience, which is why I'm an ICM photographer, but it's something I really feel like I would like to do a little bit of and explore a little bit more. So I don't feel constrained. I do see scopes, because I said earlier, you know, I just absolutely love and need for my own well being, to be at the beach, to be by the sea, it really is a special place for me, and I will carry on doing that as as long as I still enjoy doing that.
Angela Nicholson
Fair enough. As then a side question from me is, when you're shooting some ICM photography, do you tend to move your camera in the same directions, or do you move it in different ways depending on what you're photographing?
Shona Perkins
Yeah, I move it in different ways. I don't stick to sort of just left to right, right to left or anything like that. That there are some photos of mine, and you may be able to tell that I barely move the camera at all. Movement that I do is generally very slow and very, very slight and really quite considered movement, and I'll always compose a scene before I start moving my camera. So I really do think quite conventionally in a way.
Angela Nicholson
Okay, could I have your third number please.
Shona Perkins
I'm gonna go number four.
Angela Nicholson
Number four. Ah, this is an interesting one. How do you make someone who has never done ICM before comfortable enough to give it a go? Are there any exercises that you can ask them to do which go from simple to more complex? That's from Janina.
Speaker 1
Great question. Thank you very much. I've got a quite good example, actually. So I had a one to one client just a couple of weeks ago, and it was her first time doing ICM, and she wanted to be able to go out a bit more locally to the beaches around where she lives in Scotland. And she was petrified of moving the camera. I guess a lot of people who have been doing landscape photography, having pin sharp images is ingrained into your being, and one moving away and being handheld, if you're, you know, a tripod photographer that also is kind of, you know, a bit alien to some people, a little bit nerve wracking. And the exercises I did, because this lady just really struggled physically moving the camera. So we tried doing it, you know, away from her body, you know, through the viewfinder, not worrying about even pressing the shutter button. Let's just move with the camera. One of the things I always suggest was that it's the way i i do it. I take all my photographs through the viewfinder to have full control over the camera. I'm holding my cameras, and I'm almost wearing my camera as if it's a pair of VR goggles. So I'm not the camera's not moving. My head's moving, and I am one with that camera, and that's a really good exercise to do. And just, you know, if you're not used to handheld as well, if you go out and do three hours of ICM, you're going to have achy muscles at the end of that three hours there's, there's no denying that at all.
Angela Nicholson
Yeah. So could I have your fourth number please?
Shona Perkins
Number nine.
Angela Nicholson
How much editing do you do? A few people asked that.
Shona Perkins
All of my shots are single exposure shots. I haven't done much multiple exposure work, as I haven't had a camera until recently. That offers me that opportunity. As ICM photographers, we take a lot of photos, probably in the realm of wildlife photographers, so hundreds I take, a lot less than I used to, but it's still a lot, especially if it's waves. Now, I'm a big advocate for getting it right in camera, and the reasons for this is, and I've learned everything the long way and the hard way, but the biggest reasons for this is it's going to be incredibly overwhelming if you get back with 1000 images that you want to review, that actually you can't necessarily see the best results until you start processing then. So I really, really work when, especially when I'm out in the field with people, I really, really work on on getting those results in camera as best as we can. And I use filters and graduated filters to really, really support that. And then ultimately, the other thing that's very important to me is color and having consistent color. But I want to represent the color that I'm actually witnessing and seeing and getting the best results in camera is going to really, really help that, because we know, you know, the shifting color balance can be a bit of a nightmare when it comes to editing and Photoshop and Lightroom. So minimal is what I would say most of the times. But. There are times I enjoy editing and I enjoy processing, and there are times I have a bit of a creative moment, and I may do a little bit more and push those boundaries, but generally speaking, I will I use Adobe Camera rule, and I use Photoshop, and it's minor tweaks, a little dodging and burning and dust spot removal.
Angela Nicholson
Okay. Thank you. So, could I have your penultipate number then pleas?
Shona Perkins
Number seven.
Angela Nicholson
Number seven. Okay, well, what are your favorite lenses for seascape ICM and again, several people ask that question.
Shona Perkins
That's easy. So thank you for asking my absolute go to lens is my 24-70mm. One bit of advice I would give anybody who is starting out in ICM and seascape ICM is do switch your lenses about because you will get very different results. But also, when you're shooting ICM with a long, long lens, you do require less movement because you've got a much narrow angle of view. And that was also a mistake that I made. It feels different. You know that the bigger the lens, but mine, 24-70mm, 80% of my images are using that, and probably more at the 24 to sort of 50 ended that that that range, I like to be able to convey big, vast seascapes. So that that would be why.
Angela Nicholson
Okay, so your final question, then, please. The final number.
Shona Perkins
Numberumber 10.
Angela Nicholson
Where are your favorite UK coastal locations outside of Scotland, and then maybe outside of the UK as well. And again, several people asked that,
Shona Perkins
Oh, I love that question. Oh, that's a great question to end on again, quite easy. So I'm going to start with Northumberland. So I'm very lucky. I'm only an hour away from Northumberland. I can get, yeah, get there very, very easily. I hold workshops in Northumberland, and the beaches are spectacular, but one in particular called Goswick Beach, which is literally probably only 10 miles from the Scottish border, massive, long expanse of sand, big sand dunes, so beautiful. I grew up in the south of England in Hampshire and holidayed in Cornwall because my granny and granddad lived in Cornwall. So the beaches in Cornwall are obviously incredibly special, but also, I was only a stone's throw from West Wittering beach and West Wittering Beach, having just been back there for a series of workshops for the first time in 20, I think five years, I worked out it was like a nostalgic trip down memory lane. It was absolutely fantastic. But that is an incredible, incredible and vast beach at low tide, and so many amazing opportunities for abstract and seascape photography there.
Angela Nicholson
And do you have a favorite outside of the UK, or have you stuck within the UK.
Shona Perkins
Yeah, one of the places that's on my absolute bucket list to go and shoot ICM is Cape Cod in America. So I, I visited down 2015 with just a point and shoot. I wasn't doing ICM at that point, but the beaches of you know, the Cape Cod coastline are absolutely incredible, and it it's definitely on my bucket list of where I would like to go and shoot and spend some time alone, immersed in the vast beaches there fabulous.
Angela Nicholson
Do you have a date in mind, a year in mind for that?
Shona Perkins
Yeah, I keep booking too many things, and then I have no time for anything else. So, that is my problem, and so I need to actually start putting myself, my husband, and our holidays, as a priority instead of everything else.
Angela Nicholson
So maybe on the first of January, like you said, when you're sitting down promising things, maybe you need to sit there with your calendar and highlight a few dates for yourself.
Shona Perkins
Yes.
Angela Nicholson
Well, Shona, thank you so much for answering all those questions and for joining me today on the SheClicks Women in Photography podcast.
Shona Perkins
Thank you. It's been a pleasure.
Angela Nicholson
Thank you. Thanks for listening to this episode of the SheClicks Women in Photography Podcast. I hope you enjoyed it. Special thanks to everybody who sent in questions. You'll find links to Shona's website and social media channels in the show notes. I'll be back with another episode soon, so please subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast platform and tell all your friends and followers about it. You'll also find SheClicks on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, if you search for sheclicks net. So until next time, enjoy your photography.
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