Assignment 2: short list

I have now narrowed the previous images down to a short list of 22 pictures which I will print and from these choose my final submission of 12 images.

Assignment 2: one acre; long list

For this assignment I elected to photograph Flamborough Head and particularly North Landing and the lighthouse area.  It is an area that I have known well for many years having been scuba diving there, visits with my family and for bird watching/photography and taking groups of school children there.  I spent a whole weekend there early in May just as we changed from a poor spell of weather to an excellent one.  Whilst I went with an open mind, knowing the area as well as I did I also had a mental shoot list.  I include below a long short list of my best images from the weekend.  There are too many images here really for a short list but they are the ones I am playing with at the moment.

When we arrived on the Friday afternoon the weather was inclement to say the least: cold, wet and windy.  The field was like a quagmire and it was fortunate that we had just changed our car for a Landrover Freelander; it romped across the boggy ground with the caravan in tow. During this first afternoon several heavy showers passed through followed by spells of sun producing these wonderful rainbows.

I am delighted with both of these images but need to select only one.  I like the double rainbow in this first one with the outer one highlighting the lighthouses and the inner North
Landing where I was hoping to concentrate my photography. It's a pity I didn't use the fence to lead the eye into the picture and provide perspective.  The second shot frames a ship steaming up the coast with the fence leading the eye towards the gorse and the ship.

I took these next two images at 4.00 in the morning just before sunrise.  Fortunately it was only a short walk from the caravan to the cliff top. In both shots the cliffs provide linear perspective and lead the eye towards North landing although that is not clear in the pictures.  I am pleased with the colour contrast between the blue and orange in the sky.  In the first shot the light of the lighthouse can be seen (better on the blown up shot) and falls nearly on the intersection of thirds.

Despite having the moon in the shot, which I am pleased with , I am not so happy with this picture.  Although the line of the cliffs provide perspective I feel that they lead the eye out of the image.  I was trying to juggle the framing to include the moon but I don't think it has worked.  Pity I couldn't have moved to the left 20 or 30 yards!!!!

Again taken just before sunrise.  I have gone for a silhouette here.  The sun unfortunately wasn't rising quite where I had hoped.  In my mind's eye it had been at the tip of the headland and I could have used the cliffs in the foreground.  I decided to capitalise on the wonderful blue and orange in the sky and placed the fence post on a third to provide foreground interest.  I exposed for the sky to produce a silhouette effect.

The next two shots were taken just as the sun was rising about 4.45 am.  In the first one the fence provides perspective but unfortunately it is leading the eye away from the headland which was the focus of the shot.  I like the lighting on the patch of campions in the foreground and the touch of colour they provide.

I am pleased with this shot.  I love the soft lighting provided by the rising sun and like the way the red campions in the foreground add a touch of colour.  The cliffs provide perspective and the eye is being nicely led to North Landing and the headland.  I think it gives a feeling of floating above the land.  Again the lighthouses feature in the top right of the picture on a third line.

The following photographs are all taken at North Landing, Flamborough, a beautifully sheltered cove with cliffs, rock pools, caves and fishing cobbles.  The newer boats are kept at the bottom of the slip ready for launching whilst the older, disused ones moulder away attractively at the top of the slip.  Here Our Georgina remembers past glories.  I have made her the dominant feature in the image with the beach, cliffs and caves in the background.

There are ample opportunites for close-ups here. In this shot I have focused on this piece of rust chain anchoring one of the older boats.  I think that I have placed the linking pin too close to the centre.  It would perhaps have made a more balanced image if it had been more to the side.

A close up of the hull of one old cobble.  I was attracted by the peeling paint.

Another piece of rusty chain.  I have gone for a diagonal line here.

Lots of opportunity for close-ups of peeling paint.  Here I have gone for a diagonal picking out the primary colours of red and blue with the orange of the lichen complementing the blue.  I am pleased with the textures in the grainy wood.

Oranges here but I am not so happy with this.  The colours are less vibrant.  Not sure that it's sharp right through either.

I have moved down to the beach now.  I have chosen to include the two figures to give context to the image.  I have framed the shot so that the seaweed in the bottom right leads the eye to the figures and the cliffs.  The line of the cliffs lends perspective to the scene.  One thing I am not sure of is the fact that the stype of the kelp runs out of the frame.

A similar shot to the one above but I don't think it has worked so well.  I like the context provided by the figures.

I'm not sure about this one.  I placed the old plate from a wreck to provide a foreground for the cliffs and caves of North Landing.

Again I used the colourful seaweeds at low tide to provide a foreground for the cliffs and caves across the bay but I feel it just lacks something.

I wanted to show the colourful seaweeds at low tide in close-up.  I decided on a portrait format to mirror the strands of wrack leading into the picture.

Looking through an arch out to sea.  Just feel this lacks sparkle.

This the same arch but looking from the seaward side back to the land.  I feel that there is more interest in this image provided by the cliffs in the background.

The following three shots are taken with my 100-400 lens.  By now I was positioned right on the tip of the bay close to the large incoming waves which fascinated me.  I like the shots with the birds in but the second one, I feel, gives more of an impression of the awesome power of the sea.

I think this is my favourite image from the day.  I have carefully positioned the weathered spar from a wreck so that it points towards the cliffs and caves on the other side of the bay.  The green of the grass, blue sky and purple seaweeds create harmony through being similar colours.  I was in a very dicey situation here and succeeded in escaping with just wet feet.  The tripod needed a good rinse in fresh water.

Back on the beach now.  This is another image with which I am pleased.  I used the mooring line to lead the eye towards the jetty and on towards the cliff headland.

A rock pool close up showing some of the colourful seaweeds.  I have used a vertical format to mirror the shape of the rock pool.  I'm not sure that this image works, however.  I feel that I should have included all of the pool and wonder if the picture has enough to interest the viewer.

I am more happy with this image.  I have moved round to the other side of the bay now and used the large, lichen covered boulder to provide foreground interest and perspective for the view over to the far cliffs.

Two colourful images of the current working cobbles drawn up on the slip.  Primary contrasting colours of red and blue dominate the scene.  Although the vertical format mirrors the shape of the individual boats I prefer the first shot as it includes the whole of both.  The second picture shows all of one and part of the other.  I think this is distracting.

I finished the day with two more close-ups of rusting chains.  Although I like both I think I prefer the second as I feel it is more balanced.

This final set of images was taken at first light.  In this one I like the complementary colours of blue and orange in the sky as the sun rises.  The slow shutter speed has provide a sense of motion in the waves and the light on the headland is a pleasing diffraction star.  Having said all of the above I am not sure the picture 'does it' for me.  I feel that it lacks interest.

An early morning shot of North Landing where all of the previous day's images came from.  Early morning meant no people in the shot and provided pleasing soft lighting.  I used the boat and the capstan to frame the shot.

The same point of view as the earlier shot from the previous day.  I prefer the earlier version as I feel that it has more vibrancy and sparkle.

A couple of shots now by the lighthouse looking down on Selwick Bay.  They are two crops of the same image.  I prefer the first version as I have cropped to what I feel is the important part of the picture, the bay itself and the reflection of the cliffs in the perfectly calm waters of the bay.

No set of photographs of Flamborough Head would be complete without including the lighthouse.  I have used a vertical format on both to mirror the shape of the building.  In both I have included colourful flowers in the foreground to provide perspective.  As yet I am not sure which I prefer.  in some ways my inclination is for the first with the gorse but on reflection the closer point of view of the second provides more of an impression of the height of the lighthouse.

Exhibition Visit: Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award 2011, Usher gallery, Lincoln

Yesterday I visited the 2011 Wildlife Photographer of the year Award exhibition at the Usher Gallery in Lincoln.  I spend a great deal of my time involved in wildlife and landscape photography and like to think that I am not bad at it but I came away feeling not only inspired but totally humbled.  The standard of the winning images, runners up and those that were highly recommended was staggeringly high.  Although the Wildlife Photographer of the Year award one section is entitled Wildscapes and is essentially a landscape section and is for photographs that convey a beautiful sense of light, a true feeling of wilderness and a sense of awe.  They certainly achieved that and I examined them with interest.

The winning image by Stephane Vetter of France is entitled Celestial Arch.It was taken in Switzerland and involved a two hour walk in -15 deg. C temperatures to reach the chosen location.  He took 24 photographs which he then stitched together to form this panorama.  The arch of light is actually the Milky Way and he composed the image so that the curve in the land mirrors that of the milky way.  I like the way trees frame the picture on either side and I particularly like the ethereal mist below him.  I really like all the winners in this category but two that particularly move me are In the Valley of Giants by Denis Budkov  and Moonlight Over Aloba by Marsel Van Oosten.

In the Valley of Giants was photographed on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula where the photographer lives.  It depicts the eruption of  Kljuchevsky, the highest active volcano in Eurasia. It continued to belch fire for a year.  I love the overall blue colour of dusk with the contrasting red of the molten lava.  I especially like the way the mountains are wreathed in and capped with cloud and the lenticular cloud above the peaks is a stunning bonus.

Moonlight over Aloba on the Ennedi Plateau in northeastern Chad, is one of the most magnificent rock arches in the world.He wanted to photograph the arch in a way that would create 'a feeling of awe and wonder,' choosing a night shoot, with enough moonlight for a light sour ce but not so much that the stars wouldn't be visible. 'The clear night sky,' says Marsel, 'made this wild place look almost otherworldly.'  I love the contrasting orange and blue colours and the way he has caught the myriads of stars as pinpoints of light.  I am always incredibly moved when I look at a clear star studded night sky; I always wonder with awe what is out there, not believing that space can go on for ever but if not what is beyond it.  This photograph engenders those emotions.I like the way that the trees in the foreground set the context and give us an impression of the size of the arch.


Other categories in the competition also included images which I feel are also landscapes. The section In Praise of Plants and Fungi is one such and I feel that all winners and highly commended photographs could be regarded as landscapes.  I especially liked the image of a Tongue orchid by Sandra Bartocha from Germany.

The picture was taken on the slopes of Monte Sacro in the Gargano National Park in Italy.  The beautiful soft lighting is purely that of the setting sun.  The compostion of the photograph I find pleasing.  The tongue orchid an a third line dominates but takes nothing away from the smaller hares tail grasses.

This image by Daniel Jara from Spain taken in the Patagonia's Los Glaciares National Park, Tierra del Fuego. The streaks of the blizzarding snow give the picture an almost painterly feel to it.  I was taken by the grey of the dead tree dominating the photograph on a third line contrasting with the autumnal colours of the trees behind. 

Other sections also contained landscape images, one being Ocean Abstraction by Lauraence Norton of the USA from the Creative Visions section.

The picture was taken in Hawaii using a long lens to compress the waves.  A slow shutter speed of 0.6 seconds to provide motion blur.  Again I love the clours in the photography and was taken by it as I have short-listed some wave images at Flamborough Head for my second assignment.  I used a fast shutter speed for my shots in order to freeze the waves but having seen this image I shall certainly try the technique in the future.

Forest Fox taken by Klaus Echle in the Black Forest near his home is highly recommended in the Animals in their Environment section.  Here we have a beautifully misty woodland shot taken from a very low angle.  The fox is small in the frame and certainly not a portrait so providing a landscape feel.

I have picked out a few of my favourite landscape images from the competition but I foun all of the pure wildlife images inspirational but there are far too many to itemise here.  Perhaps my favourite is The Assassin from the birds behaviour section.

It was taken by Steve Mills of the UK on the Yorkshire Moors.  It features a merlin having just taken a snipe during the cold weather of 2010.  It would be easy to say 'the right place at the right time', but how many hours had he put in to have this lucky brake.  From my own experience I know it would be many!!  I love the way the raptor glares at the photographer briefly before dispatching and then devouring its prey.  I like the negative space Steve has put in front of the bird for it to 'move into'.