Project 16: dusk and Project 18: sunrise and sunset

For this project I chose a clear July evening (I had to wait several weeks for the weather to change for the better in this awful summer!) and headed out into the Lincolnshire Wolds.  In retrospect the location was not the most inspiring and I shall look to repeat the exercise at a more interesting spot in the near future.  It did allow me, however, to answer the technical aspects of the project.  I began to shoot with the sun still above the horizon and continued after it had gone down into the twilight.  At each time I shot three images: one at 17mm, one at 50 and one at 85mm.  The results are shown below.

Here there is noticeable flare caused by shooting directly into the sun.  In the wide angle shot an orange layer shows immediately above the horizon and this grades gradually into blue becomeing more intense towards the top.  In the telephoto shots the gradation is less maked.

 As the sun sinks the gradation of colours becomes more marked with an intense blue towards the top of the wide angle image.  Again the effect is less marked with the telephoto shots.

Now the sun has gone the band of orange becomes narrower and the blue wider and more intense.  The clouds now begin to take on a pink hue.

 The clouds become increasingly orange/pink.

 I changed the point of view for these later shots which was fine for the wide angle shots but the slow shutter speeds at the tele end of the zoom has caused blurring in the grasses.  I feel this was not successful.

Here the sky is reflected in the shiny bonnet of the car.

I took this photo a few days ago close to home.  The sun has sunk below the horizon and the clouds and sky are mirrored in the waters of the saltmarsh lagoon.  I used an ND filter to give a shutter speed of 30 seconds which smoothed out the few ripples on the water surface in order to produce the best reflection.

I took these next two images above the nearby Wolds village of Worlaby last January.  The wide angle shot nicely shows the gradation from orange to pink to blue.

 In this telephoto shot the zoom has caught just the pink/orange but I like the contrast with the cool bluer colour of the ground.

 These next two shots are ones from 2010 of Cleethorpes pier at sunrise.  Every sunset/sunrise seems top produce its own clours.

Again two shots from 2010 of Bamburgh castle taken from Seahouses Harbour at sunset.  The first is a wide angle view and for the second I have zoomed in to feature the castle and the wonderful orange colours.

The Landscape Photographer of the Year: Collection 5

Much of our reading and research when studying for a degree, quite rightly, centres around past masters but the work of current photographers never fails to inspire, whether in magazines, books, exhibitions, the internet or television.  The current collection of images from the Landscape Photographer of the Year competition is no exception, the range and quality of stunning and inspirational photographs being amazing.  The current competition is divided is divided into four categories: Classic View, Living the View (featuring images of people interacting with the outdoors), Urban View and Your View (What does the UK landscape mean to you).  The competition is founded by Charlie Waite, one of our foremost practising landscape photographers, and the judges include, the editor of Amateur Photographer, Charlie Waite, Picture Editor of the Sunday Times Magazine, Publisher AA media, Actress and writer, Director of the National Theatre, Director of Bayeux pro-photo lab and Epson UK.

The overall winner this year is Robert Fulton with his fabulous winter image of a copse of trees on a tumulus. It features a sky full of interest and is beautifully lit.  It reminds me very much of several such sites in the Lincolnshire Wolds near my home which I have recently been photographing.  I still wait for that magical light and also the combines at work in the crops.

The winner of The Classic View is Tim Harvey and his picture features a winter storm on the coast of Guernsey and, interestingly, was captured using a 500mm lens and 1.5 converter, not equipment one immediately associates with landscape photography.  It is painterly in it's effect, almost like a water colour.  I have seen images in the same vein taken of the piers in Whitby and a shot I hope to capture myself one day.  The runner up in the class, a picture of a disused salmon bothy on the River Tay in Scotland by Angus Clyne has stunning evening light, the light of Galen Rowell's Magic Hour.  Also in the Classic View section is an image by Damian Shields of the Bridge over the River Braan at the Hermitage, near Dunkeld in Scotland.  It would make a wonderful image for the water theme in Assignment 3.  It features a beautiful packhorse bridge, the wonderful soft green of summer beeches and lusciously liquid water given just the right amount of motion blur by the use of a slow shutter speed of 1.5 seconds.  I have the opportunity to visit this location in three weeks time and hope to capture my own slant on the image.  Tarn Hows in Cumbria, photographed by Malcolm Blenkey is another location I have been lucky enough to visit and photograph on more than one occasion.  This shot though has captured the sumptuously warm colours of an early November morning with the Langdale Pikes forming the backdrop.  David Horner's image of a steam train crossing the Ribblehead Viaduct in Yorkshire shows rich saturated colours as preferred by Galen Rowell and a magnificent sky with the clouds seeming to be slightly backlit.  As much as I like the image though I feel that he waited slightly too long before pressing the shutter and the train is moving out of the shot.  Perhaps that was his intention in order to introduce some tension into the picture.  Stawek Stasczcuk has two images in this section taken in East Sussex.  They are both very interesting, slightly abstract images of farmland, pictures I could look to capture in Linconshire.  Sometimes I think I go for the wide view too often and zooming in with a telephoto would be beneficial on occasions.  Adam Burton is one of our most accomplished landscape photographers and he has more than one image in the collection.  His shot of Porth Nanven in Cornwall shows wonderful colours and texture in the foreground granite boulders and the curving lines of the creek running across the beach to the sea, provides perspective and leads the eye to some distant islands on the horizon.  I could go on mentioning images in this section as there are so many inspirational ones but another that stands out is Andrew Charleswoth's fabulous rich black and white 'Alone on Twistleton Scar'.  This is a much photographed location but his treatment of it is excellent and the cloud formations superb.  This image is very reminiscent of the work of Ansell Adams.  Mention must be made of Pavel Klarecki's 'The Dark Hedges' for the wonderful perspective and colours.  Another one that catches my eye is 'Losehill from Mam Tor' by David Speight - wonderful colours and mist in the valley, something I would love to capture in The Hope Valley.  Simon Byrne's poppies remeind me of ones I have taken this year and am considering for inclusion in my portfolio.  Cauldron Force By Robert Garrigus is a slow shutter speed image of West Burton Falls with wonderful motion blur and would be ideal for Assignment 3's theme of water.  I have a similar image of my own but would need to revisit the location before I could include it in my work.  The final image in this section by Simon Atkinson is similar to one I took earlier this year from under the Humber Bridge - sadly mine lacks the delicious sunset colours.  Interestingly he was unable to use an ND grad to balance the light levels so used HDR - a technique I have experimented with this morning.
In the Living the View section there are, again, many wonderful images but the one that stands out to me is Luke Regan's 'A Pool of Light in a Secret Sea Cave North of Arbroath'.  Composition and colours are good, there is an excellent reflection (again good for the water theme) and the rocks show pleasing texture.
Again there are many remarkable images in  Urban View but I am particularly taken with Ashvin Suri's image of St Pauls reflected in wet pavements.  He has turned the image upside down to present it and it adds a totally different dimension to it.  Again it would make a good subject for the water theme in Assignment 3.  One of my favourite images in the collection is Simon Atkinson's image of 'Staithes at Twilight'.  Again another much photographed location and I also have my own shots from here.  I love the rich colours in this shot with the deep blue of the sky and the lights adding warmth.
One image that stands out in the Your View section is that by Iain McLean of Machrie Moor Standing Stones on the Isle of Arran taken in the fading light of twilight but with one of the stones lit with off camera flash - the subject of project 17.
I could have mentioned many more images in this collection but I would finish up rewriting the book.  All in all some inspirational stuff.

Sunset

After a day in watching the Tour de France the light came good in the evening so I visited a nearby location.

Saltmarsh sunset:

Few Landscape Opportunities in The Cairngorms.

I have just had a few days hillwalking in the Cairngorms National Park and had hoped for plenty of opportunities for some landscape photography.  Unfortunately the weather was, as so often this summer, grim in the extreme.  I did, however, manage a few shots. I have used Galen Rowell for my influence here.

 A shot here of the Luibeg Burn using a slow shutter speed to try to provide some motion blur in the water.

 Looking up Glen Derry here,  This reminds me of some of Rowell's soft light images in Mountain Light.

 Another soft light image and here I used the dead pine as foreground (placed on a third) as it reminded me of Rowell's bristlecone pines.

 Two shots of the Corie Etchachan Burn using slow shutter speed. I may use these as possible images on the theme of water for Assignment 3.

 Another soft light image in the style of Galen Rowell, this is the Hutchinson Memorial Hut in Corie Etchachan.

Another shot of the Hutchinson Hut.  A possible for the theme of water in Assignment 3.

Here my brother crosses the bridge over the Corie Etchachan Burn.  Again the soft light reminds me of some of Galen Rowell's and I used a figure in the landscape.  As he says an figure should add to the landscape and not become a portrait.  Here the figure provides a splash of colour and provides scale and context.

IGPOTY

I am not usually one for entering competitions.  This not through any lack of desire or thoughts that they are not important, just that the priority never seems to get to the top of my pile.  Today, however, I made a time slot to enter some images into the Micro Animals section of the International Garden Photographer of the Year competition.  I include them below:

 Here a male broad bodied chaser rests on an ox-eye daisy stem.  This male was holding territory on a small pond on a local nature reserve.  From time to time he would be joined by up to three females with which he indulged in aerial copulation.  The female then busied itself with ovipositing with male hovering in close attendance to ensure that his genes were passed on to the next generation.

 A brown argos butterfly rests briefly on a grass flower.  As suggested by Chris Gomersall in his book on creative wildlife photography, I have positioned the butterfly with some space to look into.  I was also able to work from a point of view which enabled me to isolate it against a plain background.

 Here a crab spider hunts in an ox-eye daisy flower. Again the spider is given space to move into as suggested by Chris.

 A rare marsh fritillary in a sunny meadow.  I have been able to select a plain background here.

 An orange tip butterfly rests on a grass stem in a patch of sunlight.  Again, as Chris suggests there is space for the insect to move into and I have chosen a point of view which gave me a plain non-distracting background.

 A male scarce chaser rests on some dead reed.  When I realised that these insects were looking for somewhere to perch, I positioned some dead reed stems where I would be able to achieve a plain background.

 A sloe shield bug.  I liked the drop of water on one of its legs.

A garden spider taken just outside our conservatory.  I noticed the drops of water in the web and was delighted when I realised that each one held a reflection of the conservatory.

Chris Gomersall: Wildlife Photographer - a course in creative photography.

Chris Gomersall has worked as a full-time professional wildlife photographer since 1984, initially as staff photographer for the RSPB.  He was the first British photographer to win the European Wildlife Photographer of the Year (2007).  When I requested this book for my birthday I didn't expect to be writing a review of it for my Landscape Photography module.  However, much of the book covers subjects that are pertinent to this course.  I feel that there is often an overlap where wildlife finishes and landscape begins, particularly when a plant or creature is depicted in its environment. Many books on wildlife photography, especially with the beginner in mind, cover such topics as choice of camera and lenses, clothing, other equipment and basics of camera technique. Chris does not touch any of these topics in this superb book and chapters range from choosing a subject, using light and space, telling a story and thinking creatively.
 In Order From Chaos he quotes John Ruskin when he said 'it is the essence of composition that everything should be in a determined place, perform an intended part, and act, in that part, advantageously for everything that is connected with it'. In this chapter he covers such subjects as the Golden Ratio and the selection process where he discusses the pros and cons of horizontal v. vertical format, whether to crop in close or show more of the habitat and exploring all possible viewpoints.  He also considers the choice of background and the placement of the subject in the frame, including the rule of thirds.  He goes on to discuss Fractal Geometry and poses the suggestion that much established thinking on photographic composition stems from principles of Euclidean geometry - the idea that simple shapes such as triangles and circles can be exploited to make agreeable pictures.
In his chapter on Seeing the Light, Chris talks about tonal and range and exposure and looks at the theory and practicality of 'exposing to the right' in order to retain as much information as possible in the shadows, whilst being careful to avoid clipping the highlights .He looks at light source and direction, discussing the advantages and disadvantages of using frontal and side lighting and working into the light to achieve pleasing rim lighting effects. He looks at the quality of light and the benefits of shooting during the magic hours around sunrise and sunset and then moves on to discuss the colour temperature of light.  Complementary and harmonious colours are discussed as well as working in monochrome and black and white.
In the chapter on Seizing the Moment Chris quotes Henri Cartier-Bresson when he says ' The creative act lasts but a brief moment, a lightning instant of give-and-take, just long enough for you to level the camera and to trap the fleeting prey in your little box'.  He considers capturing that 'Decisive Moment' and suggests that it is vital to success in wildlife photography.  He goes on to write that 'To preserve the very essence, spirit or 'jizz' of your subject in a fraction of a second is no mean feat - so much more demanding than recording a moving sequence, but so much more eloquent when done well; successfully selecting and plucking out that infinitesimal slice of time, a miniscule extract from the history of the universe that seeks to convey some eternal truth.  It gets to the very essence and magic of what we do'.  He goes on to investigate how shutter speed can help in catching this moment and looks at the history of stopping movement by such exponents as Eadweard Muybridge and later, Jaque-Henri Lartigue.  Slower shutter speeds are also considered and how, through their judicious use, a sense of motion can be conferred to the image.
In the chapter on Finding Your Voice he touches on developing your own style, a topic also covered in this course.  He suggests many options to experiment with and warns of the lack of creativity involved in copying someone else's images or planting your tripod in the marks of someone else.
A chapter follows on using your images to tell a story and different ways of presenting them such as single mounted prints in exhibitions or the walls of your home, themed portfolios, multi media presentation and using them for public talks, both of which I do with my own work.  He also discusses the use of wildlife photography in aiding conservation work.  I try to get this message over when I use my photographs in schools when I talk to children, often using slogans such as Extinction is for Ever and This is Your World, Do Not Spend It All At Once.
I have recently entered some macro shots into the International Garden Photography of the Year competition and added them to my blog in the Other Photography section (see menu).  In the blog I have detailed how this book has inspired my own work.
Chris's book is lavishly illustrated with his own stunning work and he finishes with some case studies where he explains how he took some of his most published work.
This far from being 'just an instruction manual' and is full of links to other genres and past masters of the craft of photography.  It is truly inspirational.