Pennine Lines w/c 17 June 2024
For the Climbing Photography groups in particular we were blessed with two really engaged workshop groups, representing a wide range of experience levels; from people who’d started climbing in the 1980s to people who’ve started just this year. Outdoor climbing lifers to those just taking their first steps outdoors after learning the ropes indoors. The same goes for the photography side - some participants had been at it for years but just ticking over as snapshooters, some had success in other genres but now looking to bring it to climbing, and others were just learning their craft for the first time.
Pennine Lines w/c 10 June 2024
Whilst wandering around these deserted crags last week, trying desperately to not allow any fronds of bracken to touch my trousers lest I be covered in ticks, I was reminded what a friend had once said about certain grit problems; that the best ones wouldn’t look out of place dropped onto a plinth in the lobby of a big fancy hotel as pieces of art. Now I don’t know art, but I know what I like, and I like this theory. What nature lacks in artistic intent it makes up for with fortuitous random chaos, helped along by thousands of years of wind and rain. Good things take time to make, nature has played the long game here, making any human art project seem trivial in comparison. The Lanny Bassham block beats half a cow in formaldehyde any day.
Pennine Lines w/c 3 June 2024
Local Guy pulled on and summarily despatched both the long and short versions of Exorcist with apparently remarkable ease, climbed absolutely perfectly with a precision and fluidity that left a lasting impression. If you’ve ever been in Font and experienced an anonymous Bleausard turning up and casually climbing something desperate-looking while you thrash around like a punter, well this was basically that, except he had a Pod pat and a bar towel instead of a pof rag and one of those weird French triple-fold pads, and these were 8as not some gnarly red problems. I didn’t even have chance to grab a photo, just a quick “good effort mate” had to do, and with that Local Guy was off from whence he came, leaving me to puzzle why I didn’t have the hip flexibility to rock over properly in the fading dusk light. I drove home not thinking about the content of the training course, but about just how well Local Guy had climbed those problems.
Pennine Lines w/c 27 May 2024
Why am I plugging this, you may well ask? Well yours truly here will be running climbing photography workshops throughout the day. We’ll look at some technical skills, thought processes and problem solving, lighting and composition, with plenty of hands-on shooting too. If you’ve got an interest in photography but never really managed to make it ‘click’ (pun intended) with climbing, or you’re new to climbing and naturally want to take nice photos of climbing, or just want to raise your climbing photography game a little, this this is for you. Spaces for each session are limited - no passengers - so don’t forget to book. I’ll also have some signed copies of Grit Blocs on sale on the day too, so get involved.