James Popsys has set a six-month deadline to create a new body of work in North Wales without shooting a single golden hour image. That constraint forces a hard look at how and why you shoot, especially when the landscape is close to home.
Coming to you from James Popsys, this thoughtful video lays out a clear plan: about 120 images in six months, all made during standard daytime hours, none during golden hour. Popsys explains that after publishing his 2024 book Human Nature, he felt adrift, unsure what he was working toward. Instead of waiting for clarity, he built urgency. In six months he leaves for East Greenland, and when he returns, summer in North Wales will be over. That window becomes the project. He estimates roughly 130 potential shooting days, then quickly trims that down to closer to 50 once travel, weather, and family life are factored in. Two or three strong images per viable day becomes the rough target.
That math alone should make you uneasy. You know how rare it is to come home with one frame you actually care about. Popsys admits images arrive in clusters. Some days yield five. Many yield nothing. He is not promising a book. He is aiming for the possibility of one. If the work holds up, it could become a 120-image publication. If not, it may live as a project page on his website. That restraint is useful. You see the gap between ambition and reality, and how a fixed timeframe tightens your decisions.
The more interesting choice is the ban on golden hour. Popsys argues that golden light can become a crutch. It flatters average scenes. It lets you point almost anywhere and get something pleasant. He prefers the “office hours” of the day, when the world is moving and people are out living. Harsh light, high sun, flat midday tones. Conditions most avoid. He wants the work to reflect the place as it exists during normal life, not just during the brief window when everything turns orange. That shift changes subject matter. A beach with dog walkers means more when it is your beach. A buoy washed ashore becomes a marker of time and tide, not just foreground interest.
He also talks through location strategy. Early in the project, he returns to familiar coastal spots on Anglesey and nearby areas because he knows he will want multiple attempts there. In March and April, the inland countryside feels bare, so he sticks to the coast. He visits a boatyard in Bangor and realizes harsh light makes the clutter hard to organize, so he plans to return on an overcast day and possibly speak to the workers for better access. You watch him wrestle with small decisions: stay with an interesting buoy as the light changes, or return to an island that benefits from a low sun angle. These tradeoffs build the project frame by frame. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Popsys.
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