Broad Horizon Photos

Introductory Notes

Broad Horizon Photos is an online resource of photographs taken by me to broaden horizons — both physically and figuratively — and to uplift people, deepen their awareness and further their self-actualization and becoming altogether more complete people. This resource, although being developed with the intent of being uplifting, carries no New-Agey 'mystical' angle but simply masses of connection with what is beautiful in Nature and tends to inspire — though inevitably that does include the odd 'atmosphere' views that have presented themselves to me and which some people would feel to be 'mystical' or even, in a few instances, almost 'Gothic'.

I differ from very many photographers in that I do NOT see myself as a photographer, and indeed, in an important sense, I am not interested in photography! I'm simply one with a deep connection and empathy with nature in all its aspects, and I use photography, as necessary, as a tool for sharing with others the beauty, uplift and exhilaration and 'rebalancing' that I myself find in nature. My photos thus don't seek to show off the sort of flashy and obtrusive technical and compositional technique that characterizes so much photography that appears in camera clubs and most photographers' public displays (which generally are a real turn-off for me).

I regard the surroundings of a nature subject as being an important part of the picture, and so I usually don't aim to fill the photo with just the primary subject. I also aim, as much as possible, to get some sense of space in each photo — very often actually with some blue sky or/and sea as part of the background. A nice example of this is the photo of the banded snail, Cepaea hortensis, which fills only a small portion of the photo, but amongst the waterside vegetation and with glimpses of blue sky it makes a beautiful picture (well, to my eyes!).

Similarly, my scenery photos have a 'natural' quality about them. That is, they don't try to be self-consciously 'arty' as so many photos in camera club exhibitions and competitions do. I prefer my subjects to 'speak for themselves' without self-consciously fussy composition getting in the way. If any of my photos are significantly putting across the message "Look what a brilliant photographer I am!", then those would be where I've got out of balance and somewhat 'lost my thread', for I and any 'technique' of mine are meant to be fully transparent in every photo that I take. Mother Nature is the one to admire; I'm just one of 'Her' messengers!

I'm being very picky about what I present on this site, so I discard the majority of photos that I take, even though many of those that I cast out are pretty good by normal standards. I do retain a very small proportion of photos with less than the normal degree of sharpness that I generally accept, but only where this is justified because of an overall great appeal of the particular image, where in practice the greatest clarity of detail would normally not be an issue anyway.

The big change in July 2011 — my photos moved from here to Flickr…

This site is now really just an informational front end for my photos, which are now hosted externally. There you can browse through the photos and search for specific subjects or keywords much more effectively than had been possible on this site.

Requests to obtain licence to use the photos

Such requests are welcome, and fees would be negotiable. Also, I'd be happy to supply free copies of requested photos to certain organisations — see further below.

© Copyright!

Please note that ALL my photos are copyright, but actually I allow their use for no payment, for non-commercial purposes, but such use MUST include a reasonably prominently displayed credit, with my name and the URL or link to either this site (https://www.broad-horizon-nature.co.uk).or my Personal site. (https://www.philipgoddard.com).

Who are these photos for?

They are aimed at anyone who wants to tune into the beauties and inspiration of Nature in its broadest sense, and wild / inspiring natural landscapes. When this project first came into my mind I was actually seeking a few specific types of nature / landscape photo simply to put prints of them up in specific positions in my living space as Feng Shui enhancements, to help make my living space more harmonious and healthy for me.

So, in developing this project I have been keeping in mind to give a fair amount of emphasis to the sorts of pictures that would make similar living space enhancements for other people. You might for example benefit from a photo of particular clouds in a blue sky (whether they be awesome thunderclouds or serene tufted cirrus) in a particular position in your living space — or a photo of foliage in a woodland setting, or a beautiful magnified expanse of elaborately structured orange lichen, or a burnet moth on a purple flowerhead, or a paragliding or surfing scene… I could go on an on about the range of photo subjects on this site that could be enhancements for your living space.

Free photos for appropriate organisations

Larger copies of particular photos are generally subject to a fee, but this is a free resource for certain types of organisation provided they are non-commercial and non-Governmental — specifically:

• Nature conservation, including local or regional naturalists' trusts;

• Protecting our environment;

• Promotion of walking / hiking (such as the Ramblers' Association and the South West Coast Path Association);

• Advancement of true self-realization / self-actualization (not religion nor 'spirituality');

• Certain charities covering other fields, assessed on an individual basis (please note that I'm not making a blanket waiver for charities generally).

It is a general condition of any such 'free' use of a photo that it carries a credit in every instance of publication, which includes the title or/and the address of this site in addition to my own name. However, I'm open to possibly negotiating a slightly different arrangement if required in some specific case.

I would thus be getting a little advertising as a return for my giving free use of the particular photos.

Why this site changed its title and web address

This site actually started out with the title of Clear Mind Photos, and with a corresponding web address. I explain the troublesome situation that led me to change this site's original title and web address, in About Broad Horizon Nature. Now things have changed again, with a bit of plain commonsense rationalization bringing together Broad Horizon Photos with the much more recent Broad Horizon Natural Soundscapes under the 'umbrella' title Broad Horizon Nature.

Short-cuts to the different sections of the collection

(My Flickr 'About' page — Photostream page — Albums page)

A few more 'tasters' to whet your appetite…