Project 24: clouds and sky.

I feel that a good sky can make or break an image.  The maxim 'good light is everything' often holds true in my experience and this usually includes a dramatic sky.  A white or grey sky of unremitting stratus clouds is very difficult to deal with.  Sometimes, however, so can a bright sky as it brings with it harsh, contrasty light especially in the middle of the day.  The object of this project was to compile a portfolio of images showing different cloud types and therefore gain experience of the required shooting settings under different skies.  We are required to make the sky the dominant part of the image but not shoot the sky alone.  As well as keeping my open for the opportunity of capturing different cloud types over the preceding months I specifically went out this last weekend looking for some.

Clouds can be classified as High, Middle and Low clouds and within each band are different cloud types.

High Clouds comprise cirrus and cirro cumulus clouds.  Mid-Level Clouds comprise alto-stratus and alto-cumulus clouds.  Low Level Clouds have among them stratus or layer clouds, nimbo-stratus which bring us our dreer wet days and cumulus clouds.  Cumulo-nimbus clouds or thunderheads are huge towering clouds which stretch through all three layers.  I have tried in my images to illustrate as many types as I can.

Low Level Clouds

Although this image doesn't quite fit the brief as the sky only occupies a small part of the image, I have included it as it illustrates low level stratus or nimbo-stratus cloud bringing persisitent rain in the Cairngorm Mountains this summer. 

I think here we have strato-cumulus, cumulus clouds gathering together to form a layer.

The sun shining on low level starto-cumulus (I think) during a heavy rain shower, producing a super double rainbow, the outside one of which spotlights Flamborough Lighthouse.

Low level fair weather cumulus clouds herald a fine day.

Middle Level Clouds

Large cumulus storm clouds over the North Yorkshire Moors taken from the Howardian Hills.

Higher level cumulus and cirrus clouds over Tetney Marshes.

Mid level cumulus clouds (I think!)

High Level Clouds

High level cirrus clouds over the Howardian Hills of North Yorkshire

Cirrus clouds over the Linconshire Wolds.

Cumulo Nimbus Clouds

The setting sun catches a large cumulo-nimbus cloud over the Yorkshire Moors.

Towering cumulo-nimbus over Tetney Marshes.

What have I learned.
One of the main things I have learned is that clouds and the sky are absolutely fascinating.  I have always loved clouds and, like many people, enjoy finding all sorts of shapes in them.  I am a big believer in the maxim 'great light is everything'.  There is nothing like a dramatic sky.  The light can sometimes be difficult to balance, especially with plain, grey skies, and here an ND grad can help.  I prefer to use the ND grad in Lightroom, then I know I am not going to have any colour casts associated with filters.  Occasionally bright skies can often produce very contratsy lighting, especially during the middle of the day.  At these times it may be better to have the soft, even light of an overcast sky.  At the beginning and end of the day it is usually easier to balance the light values between the sky and the ground.

Photographing the Red Deer Rut.

For some years I have wanted to photograph red deer during the autumn rutting season.  This year along with two friends I visited Studley Royal in Yorkshire and Bradgate Park near Leicester, both excellent locations.  In all of the following shots I used a 500mm lens on a tripod.

We were fortunate enough to witness this stag involved in a very physical fight with a rival for hinds.  Here he is resting, exhausted, in a mud wallow.  The steam is from his breath and body.

Red deer stag proclaiming his territory.

I liked the wonderful autumn colours behind this animal.

A magnificent stag proclaims ownership of his stags.  Wonderful autumn colours behind.  I am toying with using this image as part of my autumn portfolio but not sure if it is too much wildlife and not enough autumn.

Reflections 5

The year is flying past.  Winter, spring and summer have been and gone and autumn is now with us and there are some stunning colours this year.  Already though the ground is carpeted with fallen leaves and soon the branches will be bare once again.  This week's foggy and damp weather seems to have precipitated a greater rate of leaf fall.  Trees are changing colour at different speeds and this is having a knock on effect on my work for Project 15.  I am using four locations for this project and shall make a final choice of my four images when all have been captured.  Two of my locations feature an ash tree in the foreground and they seem to be taking on autumn colour more slowly than other trees. I took shots at these locations last weekend but hope to return to the two ash trees in a week or so when a change has taken place, although I am somewhat worried that they may drop their leaves without changing colour.  I have also been out and about taking general autumn shots in my locality for use in my final protfolio.

In my last reflections I mentioned that I was having problems with my aging Epson 1290 printer.  It gave me awful trouble when printing pictures for Assignment 3 and in the end I had to resort to using my Epson DX4450 cheap and cheerful do-it-all printer but this didn't like the thick Hahnemuelhe photorag paper I was using.  Finally I have bitten the bullet and invested in a new Epson Stylus Photo R2880.  It has been an expensive time as I have also had to buy a new PC as the old one died on me.  Now that I have both installed, the next job is to calibrate the monitor and download the ICC profiles for the papers I use.

Something that I have noticed during the last few weeks involves the sharpness of the photographs I take.  I use as low an ISO as possible to reduce noise in my images and try to stick to ISO 100 for landscape work.  I also use a small aperture to ensure as great a depth of field as possible (when appropriate).  This consequently entails longer exposures, especially in low light conditions.  This is all well and good when nothing moves but if leaves, for instance, are moving, and it often only needs the slightest breeze, then slight movement blur occurs and the images are not as sharp as I would like despite using a tripod.  I have a tendency, that I must be careful about, to use ISO 100 and f16 or f22 and only notice the shutter speed and possible lack of sharpness later.  This occured yesterday morning when I was taking an autumn relection and I did, in fact, return later to retake the shot at ISO 400 but sadly the light was not as good.  Life is a compromise, I suppose, but it is something I need to be aware of.

I am currently reading and enjoying Ansell Adams' Examples.  Apart from the beautiful images it contains I find the explanations of the taking of the photographs and their subsequent developing and printing and his thought processes fascinating.  The time and effort he went to in the development of his negatives and the printing of them is amazing.   Overdoing the post processing of digital images often comes in for a fair amount of criticism but I think we need to remember how much work was done in the darkroom in the past.  Personally I use as little post processing as possible but I do enjoy looking at 'over the top' images, although I think that a lot of the time the photographer tries to kid the viewer into thinking that is what the view looked like.  Perhaps all images should detail the amount of post processing that has been done.  In wild life photography there are similar issues when it is not admitted that an image is of a captive animal or bird or the shot was taken in controlled conditions.  A couple of years ago the winner of the predigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year award was stripped of his title when it came to light that his winning image was of a captive subject.

 I have also been looking at the work of Edward Weston, which I have found inspiring.  I have always admired his still life work of such subjects as his shells and peppers and it has been a revelation that he also took some fine landscape images.  Thinking ahead now to Assignment 4, having discussed this with my tutor briefly and done some more research I am moving away from Fay Godwin as much as I enjoy her work.  I am, in fact, minded to base my essay on Ansell Adams.  I have always admired his work and I love that of Galen Rowell but, as I said in my last review, I felt I needed to be closer to majestic mountains, if not Yosemite.  But discussion with my tutor made me realise that the idea in Assignment 5 was to photograph in the style of the chosen photographer not to copy their images.  I think that my style of photography is akin to Adams.  I like crisp sharp images, with dramatic skies.  Back in the day when I dabbled in black and white film photography I liked to use yellow and red filters to help darken the blue of the sky and emphasise the clouds.  In colour I enjoy using a polarizer for the same reason, although I know I have a tendency to overdo it a bit.  There again I love the work of Rowell so watch this space!!

Progress on the Projects:

Project 16 and 18
I enjoyed these two projects.  I love photographing at dawn and dusk.  I think that the point here is that a range of exposure combinations produce acceptable results and it comes down to a personal preference.  I found though that it was easy to let unwanted flare spoil the image and care should be taken.
Project 17
I found experimenting with fill in flash fascinating.  I was lucky to encounter a willing subject in a man fishing of the rocks of the Firth of Forth.
Project 19
I used the setting sun here to illustrate choosing the moment but choosing the right moment is important in other situations.
Project 20, 21 and 22
Shooting into the light is something that I have usually tried to avoid unless it was at sunrise or sunset but these projects showed me that it can be another technique to add to the armoury of the photographer.
Project 23
We often need to make the best use of soft light in this country.  We do, though, need to be able to balance the brightness in a gey sky so ND grads are useful here.
Project 24
Still working on this.  I need to look over some of my recent images and look for images with different cloud types but ones that also fit the brief.  I will then purposefully fill in the gaps.
Projects 26 and 27
Although I have posted some shots I already have of the moon I need to do some specific work.  I am hoping to take some shots in Whitby this weekend.  The Photographers Ephemeris tells me that the moon rises at a suitable time and direction over Whitby harbour.
Project 28
Again I enjoyed this work.  The dividing line between wildlife macro and intimate landscape is a fine one.

I look forward to continuing with the course and researching for my eassay.  I am also looking forward to visiting the forthcoming Ansell Adams exhibition in London.  I also continue to enjoy my wildlife photography.  I am including some shots taken of the red deer rut in my next post.

Project 28: intimate landscape

One of my favourite genres of photography is the close-up.  I take a lot of macro images of insects, especially dragonflies and butterflies but wouldn't consider these as landscapes.  I do, however, enjoy photographing flowers and vegetation in close-up/macro but I feel that the line where an 'intimate landscape' becomes a macro wildlife image is somewhat blurred.  For instance I recently took the image below with a view to using it as part of my autumn portfolio.  I wanted minimum depth of field to isolate the sunject so I used my 500mm lens with an extension tube attached.  Although I am pleased with the image (although I should have included the tip of the leaf and perhaps there is not quite enough in focus) and love the colour combination, I feel that the background is too much out of focus and shows no hint of a landscape.  It has become a still life.

 

Here is another close-up/ macro, this time of a poppy in bud and again a favourite picture taken a couple of months ago.  Here something of the background, although out of focus, can be discerned.  Still perhaps more of a wildlife macro.

 

Here is another poppy shot taken a couple of weeks earlier.  I have focussed on one flower with those behind blurred.  I feel that I have included more of the background and they are definitely poppies so we are getting into the realms of 'intimate landscape' rather than macro.

 

 

I now go on to include a selection of shots that I do consider to be 'intimate landscapes':

A photograph taken yesterday (24/10/12) despite overcast and misty weather.  This is a spot I know well 6 miles from home in the Lincolnshire Wolds.  I was driving past on the way to go walking and was struck by both the autumn colours and the reflection.  Definitely not a macro and no sky.

A shot taken in Bradgate Park Leicester whilst on a wildlife shoot, photographing the red deer rut.  Again the autumn colours were wonderful and I liked the way the stream leads the eye to the warm colours of the bracken.

Another shot in Bradgate Park.  I liked the colours of the bracken and the way they rose to a peak around the dead oak stump.

I took this picture earlier this year in the spring in a wood a few miles from home.  The focus is on the flowers in the foreground which I have arranged around a third but I have used a small enough aperture to make the background sharp enough to be easily recognisable.

A slightly more intimate shot here taken a couple of days ago.  I carefully placed my self so that the oak leaves in the foreground were set against the warm colours behind.  I am pleased with the drop of water on the oak twig.

 

What have I learned.  There is a fine line between a macro shot and an intimate landscape.  Both have their place but it is important that the photographer has in mind which type of image is needed and who the audience is to be.  Depth of field is also important and in some cases needs to be small enough to isolate the subject but, if it is to be a landscape, should be set so that the background contains enough information to make it identifiable.

Project 15: planning your portfolio; getting there.

As the year has progressed I have narrowed my choice of locations to 4, all close to home and therefore easy to get out to at the drop of a hat.  I now have images for all four seasons and need to narrow the choice down to one view.

My first location is one looking over the valley of Irby Dale; somewhere that we have often walked over the years and also part of one of my running routes for a long time.  I decided on a vertical format as I felt that it suited the line of trees snaking towards the wood on the horizon on the far side of the valley.  I tried to ensure that the horizon didn't cut the frame in half.

I definitely have a winter feel to this shot.  In fact I struck lucky this winter as we experienced a good spell of snow, which is a feature of all of my possible choices.

It is very definitely Spring in this shot with the blue sky and the hawthorn in full blossom and the buttercups in flower in the meadow.  I have rather a plain sky, however, and would have prefered more cloud, although I am pleased with the lighting.  I have zoomed in rather too much compared to the first image.

I find summer not a good time for landscapes, much preferring the other three seasons.  The grass is longer here and the field of ripening barley glowing in the sun indicates summer.  I am more pleased with the sky here and have a framing and viewpoint more consistent with the winter picture.

Autumn now, although the trees in the wood on the horizon still have someway to go and I may return.  The hawthorns, however, are showing good Autumn colour.  Again I think that the framing is consistent with the first shot and I have counted the fence posts revealed in the first to help me.  One thing I omitted to take note of at the beginning was the focal length of the zoom lens I was using.

 The second location is a view from the end of Irby Dale looking towards the same wood.  I decided on a landscape format this time as I wanted to include the small tree along the hedgeline to the left as it sits on the intersection of thirds.  Again the scene of many walks and training runs over the years.

I framed this initial shot so that the hedge in the foreground runs from the near left corner of the frame.  I positioned the small tree to the left on the inersection of thirds.  A definite winter feel and I like the sky.

I think I have nor done too badly with the framing here but am slightly too far to my right and have therefore shown less of the wood.  The tree in the hedgerow is now just off the intersection of thirds.  A good spring feel, though, with the hawthorn blossom and fresh green of the new crops.

Definitely summer here as the wheat and barley glow in the sun.  I am pleased with the sky.  The framing is consistent with the second shot but not the first.  Again I am slightly too far right, but only a matter of a couple of yards.

Again the framing is consistent with spring and summer but not winter.  A rather plain sky but saved by a couple of aircraft trails.  I have also just caught some clearing early morning fog on the horizon.

 This location is only a mile up the road from the last one.  I was initially taken by the farm track swooping down into the valley and up the other side. I made the ash tree in the foreground dominant to help provide perspective along with the track which leads the eye into the scene.  I placed the small tree on the right on the intersection of thirds to aid composition.  In each of my following photographs I tried to keep this tree in the same position and also tried to ensure that the lower twigs of the ash tree finished just above this small one.

Again I was lucky with the weather this winter and so was able to provide another snow scene.  The plain blue sky is relieved by being obscured by the branches of the ash tree.

This is very definitely a spring picture.The fresh new growth on the ash and the dominating oil seed rape are indicative of May. I think I have kept the framing consistent here and have also just included the tiny tree on the right of the horizon.

Again consistency of framing and although taken in July this has a bit more of a 'back end' feel to it.  Perhaps this is because of the warm lighting as I took it just after sunrise at 4.30 in the morning.  There are poppies in the shot, though, which reminds us it is summer.

Autumn now and the field to the right has been ploughed.  One reason why I didn't go for a horizontal format was because this field then shows as a fairly featureless area in the frame.  I haven't succeeded quite so well here with the framing.  I may return to this shot as, although it is late Ocober and there are fabulous autumn colours around, this ash tree still has to change.  Hopefully we don't get any gales in the next couple of weeks.

 This location is on a minor road in the Lincolnshire Wolds a few minutes drive from home.  Where the road runs through the shallow valley is called Moggs Hollow.  I love this name and wonder at it's origin.  I checked the punctuation on the OS map and there is no apostrophe before the S so presumably it is not a hollow belonging to Mogg.  I used the first shot in Assignment 1 and liked it immediately as the snaking hedgeline leads the eye to the wood in the distance. 

Again very definitely a winter shot with the snow and lowering clouds.

Very definitely spring here with the hawthorn blossom and the fresh new growth of the broad beans.  I think the framing is reasonably consistent but I am slightly to the right.

A summer shot now with the broad beens in full growth.  Reasonably consistent framing with the last and lovely warm early morning light.  The picture was again take at 4.30 in the morning just after sunrise.  The one benefit of winter is that it brings with it more sociable hours for the landscape and wildlife photographer.

Late October now and pleasing autumn colours on the hawthorn.  Again the ash tree resolutely remains green and I may well return in a couple of weeks.  I am really pleased with the sky in this shot.  The broad beens have now been replaced with winter wheat.  Again the framing is consistent with the last two shots.

What have I learned
One thing I totally forgot to take note of at the beginning  was what focal length I used on my zoom lens for the first image.  This gave me some problems during the course of the project.  Despite the fact that I had previous images on my phone as a reference for framing I still found it problematic placing myself in the exact same spot and just a yard or two makes all the difference.  At the beginning of this project I thought it would be easy to show all four seasons, but it has become plain to me that some locations are better at some seasons than others.  Yes, it is easy to show the four seasons if one is not tied to one spot, but not so simple then.

Project 26: shooting the moon

Although I have yet to complete this project, I have pinpointed a couple of dates in the near future, using The Photographer's Ephemeris, when I hope to take the photographs for it given suitably clear skies.  The shots shown below are all take within the last two years while I have been studying with the OCA.  I have included them here incase the weather does not play ball.  All shots were taken with a canon 500mm lens, either with or without a 1.4 converter attached.



A shot of the full moon taken on 19th March 2011with the 500 and 1.4 converter.  I am delighted with the amount of detail to be seen on the moon's surface.



A picture of the moon taken durin a clear afternoon on 24th June 2011.  500+1.4

 

This was taken on the night of an eclipse although visible in Grimsby.  The moon, however was suitably low in the sky to include trees in the foreground and a fabulous colour.  The effect here is caused by cloud. Just the 500 without a converter used.  10th December 2011.



The same evening as the last shot but slighly later.  As the moon rose it began to look more silvery.  I liked the clouds in this shot.

A shot taken during a lunar eclips on 21st December 2010.  I used the 500 with 1.4 attached.

The same evening 6 minutes earlier than the last.

Project 22: Positioning the Sun

Although straightforward, I found this project fiddly to complete.  It was easy to take a reading of the trees away from the sun so that the foliage was reasonably correctly exposed but more difficult to positon the sun/leaves in such a way as to produce a sunstar without flare.  It ook many shots which had either too much flare or no sunstar at all.  The dividing line is very fine.
Below are a selection of the shots I took to illustrate the project.  All images were taken on manual with an exposure reading taken away from the sun.

Here I have allowed too much sun to show and it has produced a great deal of unsightly flare.

Just right here; pleasing sunstar, no flare and foliage reasonably exposed.

Again.  Just right.

Just missed it here so too large a burst of light and undesirable flare.

Just right again.

Missed it the other way this time.  The sun is too hidden by the leaves and so there is no sunstar but there are some undesirable highlights showing.

Learning.  It is possible to take photographs into the light without having a silhouette effect.  Although it is a fine line, it is possible to have a correctly exposed subject and a sunstar at the same time although it can be fiddly.  This is worth bearing in mind in future photography.