Practical guide

A notebook that travels

A useful field journal needs only a few consistent details. Write the place, the date and the approximate time. Add a sentence about light, a sentence about wind and one small thing that caught your eye.

Leave room for a sketch

You do not need to draw well. A line for the headland and a few marks for the cloud layer can bring a page back to life later. Use arrows for movement and words for changes you cannot easily draw.

Return to familiar places

Choose a bench, a bridge or a path that you can revisit. Familiar views help us notice differences: the colour of the water, the distance at which a hill disappears, the texture of the first line of waves.

A simple page

Place · Time · Light · Wind · Water · One detail. Keep the format light enough that you will use it on an ordinary day.