Profile Craig Hiller
My introduction to photography was through an art course at my local college. I definitely had an interest but no immediate passion developed for photography. I enjoyed working in the darkroom and watching the magic unfold but I struggled to find an interesting subject that would inspire me and get the creative juices flowing. The photography course lasted a year and then I continued with art full-time. Near the end of college whilst finishing a diploma in foundation studies in art, a friend took me to the Mourne Mountains in Co Down. During a winter afternoon we arrived on the summit of Slieve Bearnagh for sunset and witnessed a spectacular frozen snow covered landscape. I frantically took several rolls of slide film on a tripod (college paid off) before the light faded and was amazed at the results of the low level ambient light I was able to capture (see below left).
It was then that I realised I had discovered a subject matter that was not just stunning but would be very challenging to capture. With every outing from then on I set myself the goal of exploring new ground and capturing the beauty of the mountains in those magic hours of Sunrise and Sunset. I spent many days and nights over several years building a collection of pristine mountain images.
An award winning DVD by Alastair Lee conveying a gripping adventure into the world of cutting edge rock and ice climbing. When Alastair Lee & Ian Burton visited Ireland on 12/7/08 to film Ricky Bell's wild dyno move on a new route at Fairhead, Hillerscapes contributed with stills and filmed on a rope for the scene.
Craig Hiller was the Coordinator and Photographer for the guidebook working along-side Simon Moore and Ricky Bell for Mountaineering Ireland. This was a huge task to complete in terms of taking all the crag photos in colour as well as the majority of climbing and scenic shots.
Hillerscapes regularly photographs charity abseils and other related events organised by Outdoor Concepts. Experience from rock climbing photography has enabled Hillerscapes to bring more to each participants experience by offering exciting photos of that inevitable step into the void.
An Irish traditional rock climbing DVD. Hillerscapes involvement in the production of this film was as a stills photographer and cameraman. 'This was an opportunity to capture the exploits of an adventurous young group on a climbing journey around the Emerald Isle'.
I discovered rock climbing through friends and started to explore my local mountains in more vertical detail. It took quite a while to gain experience and develop knowledge on crucial equipment but it was a new and addictive pursuit in an environment I began to crave more. With more confidence I began to concentrate on the prospect of combining my photography with rock climbing. The idea was exciting and photographing climbers from ropes was a new and perplexing challenge. I wanted to capture the true wild side of mountains and with a bunch of enthusiastic and somewhat mad friends, I had the perfect recipe to get stuck in.
Hillerscapes was established in 2003 and has since sold images as prints and as stock photography for commercial and private use. Many images have been used for promotion and advertising. In 2007 I received sponsorship from Marmot and Zero G Climbing with the aim of documenting their only Irish sponsored rock climber, Ricky Bell.
