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| Gondola II Nex 7 E55-21- 0.6 sec@f6.3 ISO 100 |
New gallery on website - ~Venice - the people, the water
I have added another new gallery on the website and marks a slight shift with a whole gallery of people. There are only 8 images.
New gallery on website - Venice
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| Burano Nex 7 E18-55 1sec@f18 |
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| Servizio Gondola? Nex 7 18-55 3.2secs@f32 Taken in the Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo at high tide with the steps covered and the sign collapsed. There were no gondolas there at the time we were. |
Back from Venice
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| Gondolas and posts Nex 7 E55-210 1/320@f5.6 Taken near Piazza San Marco in the most tourist dominated part of Venice I wanted to depict the vast number of thin posts that emerge from the edge of the water that the gondolas are tied to. In order to give scale and increase the impression that the posts go on forever into the mist I have used a large aperture (f5.6) and focussed on the front posts. |
What a fantastic place Venice is! We spent a week there and were lucky enough to have every type of weather. I am now in the arguably enviable position of having to sort and process images from Cumbria and Venice.
Whilst I display mainly monochromes I do obviously take in colour and I am constantly experimenting with the processing tools - Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. These images were over exposed and then I pulled the contrast back and tinted the whole yellow. So although it is a colour image I have removed the pure colours.
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| Piazza San Marco colour study Nex 7 E55-210 The fog allowed me to take this image of the square which was as usual full of tourists. I wanted to capture them but not have them as the dominant force in the image and the fog allowed this. |
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| Rio dei Ghetto Nuovo Nex 7 E18-55 1/30@f15 |
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| San Giorgio Maggiore colour study 2 Nex 7 1/125@f10 |
Rain! Rain! Rain!
I had planned a couple of days off this week where I was to travel to complete my current two projects, at least one of which only nee a couple more shots. Unfortunately it has rained continuously since I was free. Whilst I like going out and photographing in inclement weahter I need some dramatic skies to get the shots I feel are missing. The continuous amorphous grey is not helpful.
How do I prepare and take images in the rain? There are several things you can do:
1. Cover your camera and lens - there are lots of rain covers on the market now or one can use a plastic bag. I always have a rain coat in my camera bag, but I always carry a clear polythene bag as well. This is far cheaper and all you do is cut a hole in one corner of the bag, which should be much bigger than your camera + lens combination. The hole can either be just the right size to slide the lens end through and then put the lens hood on, or just slide the lens hood through. The alternative is to fasten the bag onto the lens hood with a rubber band.
2. Use an umbrella
3. Shoot from under cover.
4. Use a longer lens with a longer lens hood.
When you are at the coast there is always a wind and so you need to work out what direction it is from and try to get the rain to fall on your back. That way you protect the lens. Always have a lens cloth so you can dry any stray raindrops from the front element just before you take the image.
So what can a photographer dp when the rain pours and the weather does not play the game? Well I have been tidying up my database and clearing out dud shots that somehow have got through the net. I know some keep all shots but I have found that I benefit from going through the images months after taking them to clear out ones that I am not happy with or cannot create anything from. Also I often find a gem that I have missed.
And if all else fails go abroad. Next week I am in Venice, which I know was flooded recently but that is part of the attraction. I have never been and so I am looking forward to it. I have seen many other photographers shots over the years but have purposely not looked at any recently, however I have studied some of the old master painters images. Their use of light is amazing, and I know they have a greater use of artistic licence than a photographer, especially one who only removes dust and adds nothing.
Incidentally it is sad to hear that the Landscape Photographer of the Year (Take a View) has been disqualified this year for removing boats and moving clouds. I do not mind this personally as long as he declares it, however he had not read the rules. There is an important lesson there: Never enter a competition without having read and digested the rules. This man is now besmirched with the reputation that ensues from this sort of result, especially as he enters a lot of competitions.
How do I prepare and take images in the rain? There are several things you can do:
1. Cover your camera and lens - there are lots of rain covers on the market now or one can use a plastic bag. I always have a rain coat in my camera bag, but I always carry a clear polythene bag as well. This is far cheaper and all you do is cut a hole in one corner of the bag, which should be much bigger than your camera + lens combination. The hole can either be just the right size to slide the lens end through and then put the lens hood on, or just slide the lens hood through. The alternative is to fasten the bag onto the lens hood with a rubber band.
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| Loch Bay storm Taken with the wind howling and rain pouring down I had the camera wrapped in a plastic bag and covered it with my body as long as possible. The wind added to the entertainment in getting the gear out and keep ing it all together and dry. I cleaned the lens incessantly and several times before taking a shot as it the rain came down from all angles. I therefore took several shots in order to try and get just one clean front element. |
2. Use an umbrella
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| Downpour in Filey Bay It was raining both out at sea and in Filey when I took this under an umbrella. It can be quite interesting holding an umbrella whilst setting up[ a shot. This one was OK as I had set up on a tripod before it began to rain where I was, as I had spotted the rain in the bay earlier. A few seconds later and there really was no shot at all, just a downpour. |
3. Shoot from under cover.
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| This was shot from under a covered walkway. |
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| For this shot I hid in the shade of a building with the wind blowing the rain such that I kept dry. |
4. Use a longer lens with a longer lens hood.
When you are at the coast there is always a wind and so you need to work out what direction it is from and try to get the rain to fall on your back. That way you protect the lens. Always have a lens cloth so you can dry any stray raindrops from the front element just before you take the image.
So what can a photographer dp when the rain pours and the weather does not play the game? Well I have been tidying up my database and clearing out dud shots that somehow have got through the net. I know some keep all shots but I have found that I benefit from going through the images months after taking them to clear out ones that I am not happy with or cannot create anything from. Also I often find a gem that I have missed.
And if all else fails go abroad. Next week I am in Venice, which I know was flooded recently but that is part of the attraction. I have never been and so I am looking forward to it. I have seen many other photographers shots over the years but have purposely not looked at any recently, however I have studied some of the old master painters images. Their use of light is amazing, and I know they have a greater use of artistic licence than a photographer, especially one who only removes dust and adds nothing.
Incidentally it is sad to hear that the Landscape Photographer of the Year (Take a View) has been disqualified this year for removing boats and moving clouds. I do not mind this personally as long as he declares it, however he had not read the rules. There is an important lesson there: Never enter a competition without having read and digested the rules. This man is now besmirched with the reputation that ensues from this sort of result, especially as he enters a lot of competitions.
Skies in landscape images
I am becoming renowned for my dramatic skies and this week certainly allowed me to pursue these. For me the sky is what makes the landscape, after all it is where the light for most images comes from, yet landscape photographers often cut it out of their images, or at least have it occupy less than a third.
When I see a landscape I see a feature on the ground that is dominated by the vast expanse of the sky and I wish to convey this dominance in most of my images. If the sky is dramatic itself I will often freeze its movement.
On other occasions I need to capture some movement and in other circumstances I like to capture vast movement of clouds by using exposures of several minutes. The only trouble with this is that the best skies have a lot of drama and there is a variable amount of light and shade which can be very unpredictable. Therefore one often has to experiment to some degree. Long exposures therefore demand a knowledge of how the clouds are moving and in which direction ie across the shot or into or out of it.
So a landscape photographer wishing to use the movement of clouds needs to be aware of winds, cloud movement and, if one is at the coast, the tides, as well as the direction of the light. This all sounds complicated but like everything, if one practices correctly many of these things become second nature. The internet and smartphones have made this all so much easier than it used to be. I find my iPhone and iPad are now indispensable tools in my photographic armoury. For those who are interested I shall discuss the apps I commonly use in another post.
When I see a landscape I see a feature on the ground that is dominated by the vast expanse of the sky and I wish to convey this dominance in most of my images. If the sky is dramatic itself I will often freeze its movement.
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| Trees V Kingussie, Highland, Scotland |
On other occasions I need to capture some movement and in other circumstances I like to capture vast movement of clouds by using exposures of several minutes. The only trouble with this is that the best skies have a lot of drama and there is a variable amount of light and shade which can be very unpredictable. Therefore one often has to experiment to some degree. Long exposures therefore demand a knowledge of how the clouds are moving and in which direction ie across the shot or into or out of it.
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| Sea sweep Bridlington, East Yorkshire |
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| Headland light Bridlington, East Yorkshire, England |
So a landscape photographer wishing to use the movement of clouds needs to be aware of winds, cloud movement and, if one is at the coast, the tides, as well as the direction of the light. This all sounds complicated but like everything, if one practices correctly many of these things become second nature. The internet and smartphones have made this all so much easier than it used to be. I find my iPhone and iPad are now indispensable tools in my photographic armoury. For those who are interested I shall discuss the apps I commonly use in another post.
Lake District
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| Across to Elterwater from Loughrigg Fell Nex 7 E55-210 @125mm 1/200 @f11 |
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| Sheep lighting, Catbells Nex 7 E55-210 @63mm 1/500 @f11 |
Fireworks over Filey
The Filey Lions run a Bonfire night spectacular each year, however this year it was delayed until the weekend after 5th November. I am usually taken there by the family, however I dropped them off this year and went to Carr Naze, which gives views over the town. I did not want to take the usual close up images of the fireworks but get a different view. I think the shots worked:
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| Fireworks over Filey I Nikon D800E 70-200f2.8 @102mm 30 secs @ f10 |
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| Fireworks over Filey II Nikon D800E 70-200f2.8 @102mm 30 secs @ f10 |
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| Fireworks over Filey III Nikon D800E 70-200f2.8 @102mm 13 secs @ f10 |
Talks in North Yorkshire
I have been busy in the last month having given two talks and spent a week in Cumbria photographing The Lake District National Park again.
The first talk was on how we perceive photographs and how the eye can be tricked into seeing what we want it to see. This was to the Scarborough Photographic Society. I used my fine art monochrome images to illustrate the talk and demostrated Gestalt theories of perception.
This week I did a talk to York Medical Society on Apertures: The art of a colorectal surgeon. I again used my monochrome landscape images to take the audience on a journey down the Yorkshire coast from Saltburn to The Humber Bridge. This was not a photographic lecture as such but I did talk a little on techniques used.
Thank you to all who attended both these talks and the excellent feedback I have received.
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| Saltburn pier VII |
The first talk was on how we perceive photographs and how the eye can be tricked into seeing what we want it to see. This was to the Scarborough Photographic Society. I used my fine art monochrome images to illustrate the talk and demostrated Gestalt theories of perception.
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| Round house, Whitby |
This week I did a talk to York Medical Society on Apertures: The art of a colorectal surgeon. I again used my monochrome landscape images to take the audience on a journey down the Yorkshire coast from Saltburn to The Humber Bridge. This was not a photographic lecture as such but I did talk a little on techniques used.
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| Filey Bay night study II |
Thank you to all who attended both these talks and the excellent feedback I have received.
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| Humber Bridge I |
Night shots in Scarborough
Last week there was a great moon and some clear nights - a not so common event on the east coast of the UK. Moreover the moon was relatively low at the right time. I therefore managed some shots on a couple of nights that I like.
The shot with the moon was short as I wanted to get it with little movement and I wanted the stars as points rather than streaks.
There will be more images from these sessions on the website this week.
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| Castle and moon D800E 70-200 at 70mm and 5secs at f7.1 |
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| North Bay ripples and rocks D800E 16-35 at 17mm and 241secs at f14 |
There will be more images from these sessions on the website this week.
Skye gallery launched on website
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| White-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) Nex 7 55-210 @ 210mm 1/50 f13 |
I have finally finished creating and editing the images from my Skye trip. I have cut them down to 48 which summarises my trip for me and shows my vision of this stunning island.
A new image gallery has been added to the website for the Isle of Skye with fine art monochrome images of this one of the Inner Hebrides of the Scottish coast.
Go to the gallery.
The Cuillin
The mountains on Skye are called the Cuillin and they can be split into two groups. The true Cuillin are also known as the Black Cuillin to distinguish them from the Red Hills (Am Binnean Dearg) across Glen Sligachan. The Red Hills are lower and are less rocky. The highest point of the Cuillins, and of the Isle of Skye, is Sgùrr Alasdair in the Black Cuillins at 992 m (3,255 ft).
The Black Cuillins are mainly composed of basalt and gabbro. The former is usually grey to black in colour and formed from the rapid cooling of basaltic lava exposed at or very near the surface of the earth. It rapidly weathers to brown or rust-red due to oxidation of its iron-rich minerals into rust. It is from the dark colour of the gabbro that the Black Cuillin receives its name. The summits of the Cuillins are bare rock, jagged in outline and with steep cliffs and deep cut corries and gullies. There are twelve Munros on Skye, which are all Black Cuillin peaks, though Bla Bheinn is part of a group of outliers separated from the main ridge by Glen Sligachan.
The Red Hills (Am Binnean Dearg in Gaelic) are sometimes known as the Red Cuillin. They are mainly composed of granite which is paler than the gabbro and has weathered into more rounded hills with vegetation covering their summits and long scree slopes on their flanks. Granite is a common widely occurring type of igneous rock which is granular and crystalline in texture and consists mainly of quartz, mica, and feldspar. Granites can be pink to gray in color, depending on their chemistry and mineralogy and their colour often varies in different lights and from different angles.
The highest point of the hills is Glamaig, which is almost conical from most aspects and is the northernmost of the Red Hills.
The Battle of Coire Na Creiche was fought on the slopes below Bruach na Frìthe in 1601. It was the last Scottish clan battle fought on Skye, in which the Clan MacDonald of Sleat defeated the Clan MacLeod after a bitter feud.
In 2000 the Cuillins were put on sale for £10 million by the Laird in a scheme of land in exchange for repairs to Dunvegan castle. Following a dispute over ownership, a deal was cut for the property to be gifted in return for repairs to the clan castle
I wanted to capture the majesty of these mountains and their dominance of the landscape. I was also struck by the stark contrast between the perceived ruggedness of the Black Cuillin and the smoothness of the Red Hills. For most of the two weeks the tops of the mountains were not visible, although they were on a couple of days, most of the time they were shrouded in cloud. The interplay between the rocks, light and mist was fascinating to anyone who has time to watch and marvel at the light.
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| The Black Cuillin from Sligachan I Nikon D800E 16-35 @ 35mm 1/125 f16 |
The Black Cuillins are mainly composed of basalt and gabbro. The former is usually grey to black in colour and formed from the rapid cooling of basaltic lava exposed at or very near the surface of the earth. It rapidly weathers to brown or rust-red due to oxidation of its iron-rich minerals into rust. It is from the dark colour of the gabbro that the Black Cuillin receives its name. The summits of the Cuillins are bare rock, jagged in outline and with steep cliffs and deep cut corries and gullies. There are twelve Munros on Skye, which are all Black Cuillin peaks, though Bla Bheinn is part of a group of outliers separated from the main ridge by Glen Sligachan.
The Red Hills (Am Binnean Dearg in Gaelic) are sometimes known as the Red Cuillin. They are mainly composed of granite which is paler than the gabbro and has weathered into more rounded hills with vegetation covering their summits and long scree slopes on their flanks. Granite is a common widely occurring type of igneous rock which is granular and crystalline in texture and consists mainly of quartz, mica, and feldspar. Granites can be pink to gray in color, depending on their chemistry and mineralogy and their colour often varies in different lights and from different angles.
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| The Red Hills from Sligachan I Nikon D800E 16-35 @35mm 1/50 f16 |
The highest point of the hills is Glamaig, which is almost conical from most aspects and is the northernmost of the Red Hills.
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| Glamaig III Nex 7 18-55 @ 34mm 1/400 f4.5 |
The Battle of Coire Na Creiche was fought on the slopes below Bruach na Frìthe in 1601. It was the last Scottish clan battle fought on Skye, in which the Clan MacDonald of Sleat defeated the Clan MacLeod after a bitter feud.
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| Coire na Creiche III Nex 7 18-55 @ 18mm 1/60 f11 |
In 2000 the Cuillins were put on sale for £10 million by the Laird in a scheme of land in exchange for repairs to Dunvegan castle. Following a dispute over ownership, a deal was cut for the property to be gifted in return for repairs to the clan castle
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| Bla Bheinn II Nex 7 55-210 @ 195 1/250 f11 |
2 weeks on Skye - the return
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| The Cuillin from Caiplach I Nex 7 Lensbaby Edge 80 |
I have just returned from two weeks on Skye on the north west coast of Scotland. There I spent a lot of time reflecting and meeting some great people. I was with the family on our annual summer holiday, which has been spent in Scotland for the last 3 years.
I visited a lot of galleries - in the first week I went to some photographic galleries and in the second week I consciously avoided them. This was for two reasons. The first was that most of the images are very similar and the second is that I realised that I wanted a different type of inspiration by studying the eye of a painter or sculptor etc rather than another photographer.
To expound upon the first reason - in the past I have visited photographic galleries, looked at other sites on the internet, studied books and magazines and come to the conclusion that a lot of landscape photography is the same, or very similar. I assume this is because the artists are all trying to sell their art to survive and clearly the market demands Cornish Pastiches, with the added saturated colour and sunrises or sunsets. Whilst this is clearly for many it is not for me. I wish to tap into my inner soul and project this in the images I create.
The second reason was to gain new inspiration. The painter can include and exclude and thereby simplify their composition. Their 'eye' creates the image and they develop the mood by the way they portray the landscape in front of them. The use of light by some is truly remarkable.
As I have written before I usually travel having done my homework and with some preconceived ideas of what I want to achieve. This time I prepared in a different way. Having been to Skye before I knew somewhat what to expect. I had the Ordnance Survey maps and knew where our cottage was. This was all. I did not use Google Earth or The Photographer's Ephemeris. I had not even looked up the tides.
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| Beinn Dearg Mhor IINex 7 Lensbaby Edge 80 |
Now I have the pleasure/difficulty/disappointment of sorting and developing my visions. Now I am busy sorting and developing my visions to convey the mood/emotion felt at the time. What is fascinating to me is the transference of my mood in these images as the first and second week were very different.
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| Beinn Dearg Mhor IIINex 7 Lensbaby Edge 80 |
New images on the website
Many new images have been added to the Liverpool gallery. Check it out and let me know what you think.
Return from trip to Liverpool
How do we fit it all in? Everyone's life is so busy.
We have just returned from a weekend photographing in Liverpool. Having been there a couple of months ago for work and seeing plenty of potential shots we spent a weekend capturing some of those shots.
The weather was decidedly variable with sun, cloud, showers and heavy rain. I love inclement weather as it allows one to take more original and less postcard like shots. The other advantage is that few photographers are out.
Below are some of my favourite of the images taken of the churches in Liverpool. All were taken using a tripod.
Check out more images in the Liverpool gallery.
We have just returned from a weekend photographing in Liverpool. Having been there a couple of months ago for work and seeing plenty of potential shots we spent a weekend capturing some of those shots.
The weather was decidedly variable with sun, cloud, showers and heavy rain. I love inclement weather as it allows one to take more original and less postcard like shots. The other advantage is that few photographers are out.
Below are some of my favourite of the images taken of the churches in Liverpool. All were taken using a tripod.
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| Our Lady and St Nicholas V Nex 7 55-200 |
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| Our Lady and St Nicholas I Nex 7 55-200 13 stop ND |
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| Liverpool cathedral IV Nex 7 18-55 |
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| The Metropolian Cathedral I Nex 7 18-55 10 stop ND |
Check out more images in the Liverpool gallery.
A day out at The Yorkshire Air Museum with a Lensbaby
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| Handley-Page Victor I |
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| Hawker Siddeley Nimrod I |
A day out with the family at the Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington give me a chance to venture out with a Sony Nex 5 and a Lensbaby Composer with a plastic lens.
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| English Electric Canberra |
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| De Havilland Vampire |
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| Lockheed Canadair Silver Star |
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| Hawker Siddeley Nimrod II |
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| Corrugated shed |
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| Common darter (Sympetrum striolata) I |
New images on the website
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| Moored in the Bay D800E 70-200f2.8 70mm 2.5 secs f9.0 |
I have added some new images taken this month into the Filey gallery. I have also added a new gallery with 3 images taken in Hornsea, which is a small town on the East Yorkshire coast.
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| Hornsea groyne I D800E 70-200f2.8 70mm 90 secs f16 |
Less is more - carry less gear
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| Defiance |
I love minimalism and try to apply the
philosophy to most of my life, with varying success. It is difficult when most
others seem to want more.
The application of the philosophy to
photography is interesting. One can apply it to the gear one uses and there are
successful photographers that use one camera and one lens. Of course looking
back into the archives many of the greats did not have large numbers of cameras
and lenses.
So ask yourself what do you actually need?
A camera and a lens, possibly a filter such as a polarizer – an effect that
cannot really be created digitally – a tripod possibly and a bag. Everything
else is luxury.
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| Gull and lighthouse |
What is the benefit of this approach?
Travelling light allows you access to places you find difficult to get to with
a large bag on your back. If you do street photography you do not stand out as
a photographer. Perhaps the most important is that your back remains intact. It
seems that one of the burdens of the wildlife/bird photographer is the carrying
of large lenses and tripods with the impact this has on their lower backs.
I used to carry a large tripod, two camera
bodies, at least three or four lenses and teleconvertors, lots of filters, an
angle viewer, a flash or two and lots of gadgets. Now I carry a maximum of two
lenses, possibly a Lensbaby and a couple of filters that I have learned help
creating my vision. I also carry a notebook and pen to make notes on my why I
have taken that particular shot and what my vision at the time was. I will
cover this more in the next post.
So what is the attraction of minimalism as
applied to gear? Carry less and concentrate more on images. Walk more, look
more, see more. Become more au fait with your gear and learn to ‘see’ with each
lens. You do not have to carry the same lens all the time.
Remember the two most important items of
equipment for your photography are your eyes and your creative mind.
All images taken from mainprize.net.
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| 7 sticks |
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