“If I had one tip on taking better landscape images,” says Jack Harding, “it’d be to ignore the weather forecast! Being out there is what’s important and it’s what gives you opportunities. For me, a one-second break in the rain and clouds makes it worth getting out of bed.”

This energetic view is one that defines Jack’s approach. A lover of the outdoors and a photographer who takes both visual and spiritual inspiration from wild places, he’s equally at home photographing traditional landscapes as he is using the wonders of nature as a backdrop to commercial subjects. “I have huge respect for the natural world,” he smiles, “and it always inspires me, even if the weather is battering me as I wait for a fleeting minute of golden light.”

This dedication has seen Jack take a special approach to landscape locations. “What I like to do,” he explains, “is find a place and work around it to build a storyline. It could be a mountain, a waterfall or a sand dune, but what I want is to build something with complexity and texture.” It’s an approach that breathes new life into well-known places, but Jack also looks for locations where he can “shoot without preconceived ideas from social media.”

“Scotland has some amazing wilderness,” continues Jack, “which lets me focus without distractions.” And that’s something he wanted to share with other photographers when delivering a recent Sony workshop. “We covered 10 locations across Scotland, from east to west, starting in Edinburgh and journeying to iconic places like Glencoe and the Isle of Skye. We looked at composition, camera settings, image selection and post-processing, as well as running fun mini productions on a short timescale where we created stories blending the landscape with products, lifestyle subjects and with human interaction.”

That human element is something that’s clear in Jack’s work and where striking silhouettes and figures embraces the wilderness in a reflection of his own feelings. It helps his images connect and puts the viewer in his shoes, while “adding scale and depth to these big landscapes.” An example of that, and his method of looking at locations in new ways, can be seen in this shot from Kilchurn Castle at Loch Awe. “It’s one of my favourites from the workshop,” he recalls, “as I hadn’t seen anyone shoot this view before. The light had just crept over the hills and lit the scene perfectly as the walker stepped into the frame.”

His outlook also comes together in a shot from the Isle of Skye. “This was after an hour of hiking in the dark and the group were unexpectedly rewarded with an amazing sunrise,” he explains. “Two of our guests, Nino and Diana, were shooting another team member standing on the rocks in the distance with a beautiful cloud inversion beneath him. So again, the weather forecast was lying to us!”

As part of his natural storytelling approach, Jack often likes to shoot handheld, relying on fast Alpha lenses, in-body image stabilisation, and the high ISO, low-noise performance of his Alpha 7R IV.  “I try to show scenes as they are and convey the feelings they gave me,” Jack says, and “I often shoot around f/4, but if I’m working in low light, I’ll open the aperture fully, so that I can get extra light. I’ll also use the Alpha 7R IV’s exposure bracketing, especially if there’s a product or car as the main subject, so I can mix exposures and blend them into a perfect balance later.”

Another advantage of the Sony Alpha 7R IV Jack enjoys is its huge resolution, which lets him “print on a large scale or crop in on details while still supplying larger images for clients,” he explains. And for the way he shoots, often in unpredictable weather and light, “the camera’s superb dynamic range and weather sealing are also vital. It all adds up to make the Alpha 7R IV my go-to camera for any situation.”

A great camera needs lenses to back it up, and Jack is a huge fan of the FE 24mm f/1.4 GM and FE 135mm f/1.8 GM for most of his work; both are fast, weather sealed and high-quality. “The 24mm can cover most landscapes I encounter and the 135mm allows me to push in on details, almost like I’m making a portrait of the subject.”

Jack’s success is built on passion, exploration, and the ability to react to unique moments in the wilderness, something his Sony Alpha 7R IV is perfectly suited to as well. “When I’m out there, I always want to make something unique,” he finishes, “so I often walk in the opposite direction from other photographers. That way, you make something that’s your own. I also believe that if you want to be more successful, you need to get out there and take more photographs. Even if it’s not always the greatest light or the most amazing location, you’ll collect more memories. And that’s the real joy of photography.”