My name is Lawrence Cornell and I live near London in South East England. I started photography at college where I was doing a foundation arts course. I thought I was going to be a painter when I went there but I came out of it early as I had no money so I had to get a job. I guess I thought I'd go back and finish the course one day but I never did. I did have a basic knowledge of photography though and I used to go into London and shoot black & white moody cityscapes and do street photography. As time has gone on it has become harder to walk round London with a camera in this way and I lost the pleasure I was getting from it. A trip to Dartmoor in the West of England introduced me to wilderness which I loved. I then started exploring the UK and soon found I kept heading North into Yorkshire, Northumberland, Scotland and Skye. Once I found the mountains there was no going back. The rest, as they say, is history. The photography has become my way of trying to capture the awe I feel when faced by the beauty of nature. This beauty comes in many forms but I love it all.

My most enjoyable UK trip so far has been my November trip to Skye in 2016. The weather was pretty much just what I wanted. It was fresh and cold and there was snow on the mountains. There were frozen lochs, hail storms, perfect reflections on still days........I mean, if I had a tick list (which I don't) I would have been ticking a lot of things. I had been there earlier in the year in May and the whole week was almost entirely rained off. I loved being there but I got hardly any pictures. November was amazing.
I also really enjoyed a trip to Dartmoor in June 2014. I only went for two days but it was to spend those two days on the moor with the wild ponies taking pictures for a book. That was a wonderful experience.

That's easy. It was in the Quiraing on the Isle Of Skye in May 2014. The Quiraing is a magical rocky landscape and you walk through the length of it at ground level then climb out at the furthest point and walk back across the top on a plateau which is like an inland cliff edge. The views from up there are spectacular and the light this day was incredible......as was the wind. I later found out it was officially gale force on the weather forecast (I don't remember what number they gave it) so I was battling to stay on my feet up there. I was completely knocked over twice as I tried to work my way along the edge. The photographs from that day are among my favourites but in hind sight I maybe should've been a bit more cautious than I was.

That's a hard one. I find photography challenging in general. I'm hardly ever happy with my pictures. You are always in the hands of the weather. If the light is boring then there is no landscape. Bad weather is fine. I'm not talking about sunny days here. I'm just talking about interesting light. And interesting sky. I find it hard to work if there is a flat white sky or a flat blue sky. I like clouds. I suppose I'd just have to honest and say I find it all challenging though.

This is a place called Elgol. It is a port and it has a very rocky shoreline. It also has one of the best views of the Cuillin mountain range you can get anywhere. It is my favourite place on Skye and I keep visiting it. This particular afternoon I was hoping for a sunset. I really do not have much luck with sunsets. When I go to Skye I am usually there for a week so I have maybe six chances of getting a sunset. Most times there isn't one. This time I met up with a new friend who lives on Skye who suggested we went to Elgol. I was easily persuaded. It was November so the sunset is around 4pm which is very sociable. The sun actually sets at 90 degrees to this view off to the left behind the Isle of Rhum at this time of year. I was hoping to get some colour in the clouds or on the mountains. There are usually a few photographers gathered here even in November so you have to pick your spot. Set up the camera on a tripod. The water moves a lot here so you have the choice of using a shutter speed that freezes the water or a long exposure that blurs the water or even makes that milky effect. I usually shoot both as I am wary of only taking long exposures of water. When it works it's great but it can also look gimicky. This particular shot was not a long exposure. It means you can see the action in the water and the clouds are more defined. I honestly can stand there for hours at Elgol just watching the water moving and the clouds playing over the mountains.

The Lake District is almost a whole county in North West England. It has many Lakes and Hills, mountains and fells. To be honest most of the bodies of water are called just that....water such as Derwent Water rather than being called lakes. I am not very familiar with the Lake District. Certainly not as familiar as I should be (I will return). I was just exploring this day. I had seen this place called Buttermere so I was walking around the water. I had already walked all up the right hand side and across the back and I was walking back along the left hand side when this view opened up before me. The light was quite soft which cameras like as it isn't too contrasty and the wind was light so the water wasn't moving too much. I liked that the water was so shallow at my feet so there was a little foreground interest to add to the scene which gives the picture more depth. It was just a lovely scene and it made me smile so I took it's picture.

That is down to my training as a painter - it may be anyway. I studied art history when I was painting and composition was a large part of that training. Basically, the rule of thirds works. It works today and it always has worked throughout the history of art. I am a firm believer that rules do not have to be stuck to (I don't always stick to the rule of thirds if I think it works another way) but I am also a firm believer that you should learn the rules before you break them. It's the same with photography as a whole. I'm all for experimenting and pushing the boundaries but I strongly believe that you should learn the basics before going off piste. The basics give you such a good grounding and an understanding of the medium. Once you have that understanding it will never leave you but it will allow you to then try new things by knowing what you are doing. Of course you could be a genius and create things that would never cross my mind because you don't have the baggage of the knowledge of which I speak. So don't listen to me Enjoy what you do. That's always the key.

Iceland, Norway, Alaska, Canada, Faroe Islands, Greenland. There is a link there and that is not sunshine and beaches I have briefly been to Iceland and I am going back there in September.

When travelling in the UK I drive everywhere so I can take all my kit with me and then I just choose what I want for my bag on a daily basis depending on what I'm doing. If I go abroad I take a much more limited kit due to weight.
My main body is Nikon D5 and I also take a Nikon D750 with me as a back-up body. I take spare batteries and chargers for both.
My main lens is my AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm 1:2.8 ED VR it's a cracker of a lens with a huge hood which makes it great for bad weather.
There is the AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm 1:4G ED this gives me something wider.
AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm 1:2.8 GII ED which gives me something longer.
PC-E NIKKOR 24mm 1:3.5D ED this is a tilt shift lens which can come in useful to correct perspective.
AF-S MICRO NIKKOR 105mm 1:2.8 G ED - my macro lens.
AF-S NIKKOR 50mm 1;1.4 G.
I have many, many cleaning cloths and blowers for keeping things clean. I also take spare memory cards. I take a laptop to back up the pictures each evening and a huge memory stick to make a second back up.
This is my kit.
I also have a AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm 1:3.5-5.6 G. This lens is better than I thought it would be and I am very happy to use it when I want to travel light if climbing or something. I will then take one body and one lens and this will probably be the lens.
I have a set of Lee grad filters and polarizer. I have a Lee Little Stopper and a Lee Big Stopper.

On a pretty normal day I would be expecting to use the D5 body with the 24-70 and the 16-35. I would then add the 70-200 or the 28-300 depending on what I thought I might need. The filters always come with me as do spare batteries, spare memory cards and lots of cleaning cloths.
At the end of every day I clean the equipment and I lock up the mirror and use the blower on the sensor just to keep dust at bay as much as possible.

I have also taken to taking a film camera with me these days. Either my old Nikon F or my old Nikon Rangefinder. I still like to shoot film.

Get up early.
Seriously, the best times to shoot landscapes are dawn and dusk as everyone says. This is because the light is better. Having said that though, many times I am out walking or climbing all day and will take photographs at all times because I have to as I'm passing through and I won't be back there at dusk or dawn.
My best advice to anyone is to love what you are doing and do it for yourself primarily. Always remember that if you show a picture to ten people it is unlikely that all ten will like it. Take pictures that make you happy and then try to find those other people that like what you have done. You have to keep your own passion for what you do or you will find yourself disappointed by trying to chase numbers of faves etc. You will find people who like your work. They are out there. When it stops being fun there is not much left.
Be patient. The weather will often work against you and you have to be able to just smile and walk away. There will be another day.