Corfe Castle by Antony Spencer
2010-10-31
Landscape Photographer of the Year 2010
Sadly I was not shortlisted for this competition....still made it to the final round. I will go to the exhibition towards the end of November. Here is the winning photograph, which I am pleased to see is a very subtle and engaging image.
Corfe Castle by Antony Spencer
Corfe Castle by Antony Spencer
Charlie Waite Lake District Workshop
For some time now Charlie Waite has been one of my favourite landscape photographers. His work has a graphic quality that I really like. So much so that I have two original prints of Charlie's on my walls at home.
Charlie works with medium format film, using a Hasselblad, which gives a square format - a format which complements very well his graphic style. What I admire most about his work is the care and precision he takes to compose the shots and the time he gives to waiting for just the right moment to capture an image. He will identify an element in the image which makes the shot - for example a small patch of green in a broader darker landscape. He will then wait for just the right moment when the light catches this spot to accentuate it in the composition. His compositions are very precise and generally simple and powerful - something I would like to develop in my photography.
Next week I am attending a Workshop run by Charlie in the Lake District. I am really looking forward to this and hope to learn a lot and to gain inspiration towards my goal of developing my own style.
I have collected several of Charlie's books and these are listed in my bibliography. Here are a few of his images.
Cows on a beach by Charlie Waite
Rovero Veneto by Chalie Waite
I will report back on the trip in due course.
Charlie works with medium format film, using a Hasselblad, which gives a square format - a format which complements very well his graphic style. What I admire most about his work is the care and precision he takes to compose the shots and the time he gives to waiting for just the right moment to capture an image. He will identify an element in the image which makes the shot - for example a small patch of green in a broader darker landscape. He will then wait for just the right moment when the light catches this spot to accentuate it in the composition. His compositions are very precise and generally simple and powerful - something I would like to develop in my photography.
Next week I am attending a Workshop run by Charlie in the Lake District. I am really looking forward to this and hope to learn a lot and to gain inspiration towards my goal of developing my own style.
I have collected several of Charlie's books and these are listed in my bibliography. Here are a few of his images.
Cows on a beach by Charlie Waite
Rovero Veneto by Chalie Waite
I will report back on the trip in due course.
2010-10-29
Projects 16-17: dusk
These projects are aimed at exploring the lighting effects at dusk. The workbook indicated that this effect is comparable to studio lighting where a light is placed on the floor pointing up at a wall - the wall close to the source is quite bright and as one moves further away up the wall the luminosity falls off to darker tones.
I took a series of shots at Waikiki Beach in Honolulu which enabled me to explore this. The first image was simply of the night sky with a little of the sea and beach at the bottom of the frame. This clearly illustrates the grading effect. I particularly like the way in which the lighter part of the sky near the horizon has given the sea a silvery look. The lighting is sufficient to show the detail of the wave movements.
Waikiki Beach, Hawaii USA
I took a second shot of the same scene but this time looking to create a silhouette of some runners on the beach.
Runners, Waikiki Beach Hawaii USA
Finally I used the street lighting on the promenade to light some more runners with the background lit by the graded sky. In this case I also gave the image more exposure which has had the impact of diluting the intensity of the sky somewhat.
Runners 2, Waikiki Beach Hawaii USA
This was a very instructive exercise which I need to repeat again with a telephoto lens. At the time of taking these shots I was armed only with my 35mm lens. I was surprised by the creative opportunities that a clear sky at dusk offers...I have now added a new tool at my command and I will look at clear skies later in the day in a different way.
I took a series of shots at Waikiki Beach in Honolulu which enabled me to explore this. The first image was simply of the night sky with a little of the sea and beach at the bottom of the frame. This clearly illustrates the grading effect. I particularly like the way in which the lighter part of the sky near the horizon has given the sea a silvery look. The lighting is sufficient to show the detail of the wave movements.
Waikiki Beach, Hawaii USA
I took a second shot of the same scene but this time looking to create a silhouette of some runners on the beach.
Runners, Waikiki Beach Hawaii USA
Finally I used the street lighting on the promenade to light some more runners with the background lit by the graded sky. In this case I also gave the image more exposure which has had the impact of diluting the intensity of the sky somewhat.
Runners 2, Waikiki Beach Hawaii USA
This was a very instructive exercise which I need to repeat again with a telephoto lens. At the time of taking these shots I was armed only with my 35mm lens. I was surprised by the creative opportunities that a clear sky at dusk offers...I have now added a new tool at my command and I will look at clear skies later in the day in a different way.
2010-10-24
Projects 20 to 22 - shooting into the sun
These projects are concerned with shooting into the sun. Specifically how to create sun stars, how to position the sun in the frame to reveal more detail in the image, and how to use reflective surfaces to create more interest into compositions when shooting into the sun.
I tried on several occasions to capture sun stars and discovered pretty quickly that the sun needs to be set in a blue sky. Any degree of diffusion by clouds makes creating sun stars impossible. Having practiced the technique I decided to carry out the three projects concerned with shooting into the sun in sequence in the same location so that I might see how using the techniques in the course notes lead to a better final image. The location for the shoot was Burnham Beeches - it is starting to show the yellow/orange colours of Autumn.
The first step was to shoot two images into the sun aiming to achieve a silhouette with a sun star. The first image was at f/2.8 and the second was at f/16. The images are below with a detail crop showing the sun star.
Clearly stopping down has resulted in a much better star.....lesson here is stop down!
The next step was to investigate how placement of the sun in the frame impacts on the exposure of the image. The idea is that if the sun is placed towards the edge of the frame then more detail will be revealed in the remainder of the image. Here are two images which test this...
Placing the sun to the side has indeed had the desired result. The contrast in the image with the sun placed near the edge is less which in the case of this subject and compositon has definitely improved the image.
The final step is to introduce a reflective surface into the bottom of the frame, again with a view to reducing the contrast and revealing more detail to add interest to the image.
Middle Pond, Burnham Beeches Buckinghamshire UK
I am pleased with this final image which was a recomposition of the earlier ones. I moved forward to make the pond a more visible feature of the photograph. I feel that I have some important lessons about shooting into the sun. The key learning points have been: stop down, move the sun towards the edge of the frame if I want to reduce contrast and reveal more detail and finally to consider ways to add reflective surfaces into the composition to further reduce contrast and add interest.
I tried on several occasions to capture sun stars and discovered pretty quickly that the sun needs to be set in a blue sky. Any degree of diffusion by clouds makes creating sun stars impossible. Having practiced the technique I decided to carry out the three projects concerned with shooting into the sun in sequence in the same location so that I might see how using the techniques in the course notes lead to a better final image. The location for the shoot was Burnham Beeches - it is starting to show the yellow/orange colours of Autumn.
The first step was to shoot two images into the sun aiming to achieve a silhouette with a sun star. The first image was at f/2.8 and the second was at f/16. The images are below with a detail crop showing the sun star.
Clearly stopping down has resulted in a much better star.....lesson here is stop down!
The next step was to investigate how placement of the sun in the frame impacts on the exposure of the image. The idea is that if the sun is placed towards the edge of the frame then more detail will be revealed in the remainder of the image. Here are two images which test this...
Placing the sun to the side has indeed had the desired result. The contrast in the image with the sun placed near the edge is less which in the case of this subject and compositon has definitely improved the image.
The final step is to introduce a reflective surface into the bottom of the frame, again with a view to reducing the contrast and revealing more detail to add interest to the image.
Middle Pond, Burnham Beeches Buckinghamshire UK
I am pleased with this final image which was a recomposition of the earlier ones. I moved forward to make the pond a more visible feature of the photograph. I feel that I have some important lessons about shooting into the sun. The key learning points have been: stop down, move the sun towards the edge of the frame if I want to reduce contrast and reveal more detail and finally to consider ways to add reflective surfaces into the composition to further reduce contrast and add interest.
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