Look Before You Leap

I’ve been described by some of the other members of the club as a “stunt photographer” as I’m often the one who’ll climb down a bank or clamber up and over rocks to get a shot. This technique often serves me well as I get into positions that most can’t or won’t get to, but sometimes this can lead to trouble.

I was at Gwithian over the weekend with the sunset starting to form over Godrevy Lighthouse so I set off looking for a composition; anyone who knows the location will know that around the cliffs near the lighthouse there are lots of large rock formations making it difficult to transverse.

I reached the edge of one cliff and it was a good 15 feet down… looking to my right I noticed the beach went behind the rocks so I though “I’ll get back that way” and climbed down.  After more clambering over slippy and unforgiving rocks I found a nice lead-in line and took my shots, and we were in for an amazing sunset.

Soon the light faded I made my way back, over all the slippery rocks and to the back of the beach I walked around the corner to find the path lead straight into a cave… I was stuck! With the light fading fast I had to find a way up, and after a few minutes I managed to locate a way up and climbed up the 15ft rock-face back to civilization… so the moral is, look before you leap!

What a difference a day makes

It always amazes me how different the same location can be when visited in different weather conditions.

We recently had a weekend away near Newquay and I took the opportunity to visit Holywell Bay as it's been somewhere I've been wanting to visit for a long time but have never managed.

On Saturday evening I was being a little hopeful that the small band of colour on the horizon would break into a proper sunset but that hope quickly faded once I'd arrived at the beach and the night drew in under a veil of cloud with not even a whimper.  Sunday on the other hand was a completely different evening, with fabulous colours lighting the sky all evening.

Here's my favourite shots from each evening, taken only 24 hours apart:

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One Photograph Series - Camera Format

In the ever ending search for new landscapes to photograph I find myself scouring the coastline for hidden coves and areas which are less trodden. This particular scene was taken at Bude during a low tide. The rocks are to the south of Summerleaze beach close to Compass cove.

When I head out to take photographs for the day I tend to take at least 2 cameras with. Generally it will be my Fuji X-Pro1 with an 18mm lens and a film camera. For the last year or so I have taken my Noon pinhole camera with me.

Using both digital and film formats has allowed me to get two very different interpretations of the same scene, each with their own particular look and feel.  

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Camera: Fuji X-Pro1
Lens: Fuji 18mm (35mm equivalent 28mm)
Aperture: f11
Shutter Speed: 1\250th sec
ISO: 400

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Camera: Noon Pinhole (6x6, 6x9 & 6x12 format)
Lens: None
Aperture: f207
Shutter Speed: 6 sec
Film: Fuji Acros 100 (Medium Format)

When it comes to which photograph I prefer I do tend to lean towards the pinhole photograph, I prefer the slow shutter effect and the ethereal atmosphere created by the softness. I dare say my tastes will change over time and when it does I will always have the digital version to fall back on.   

If there was one thing I wish I could have done would be to have used a 10 stop filter for the Fuji’s 18mm lens. This would have given me the slow shutter to smooth out the waves whilst maintaining sharp details of the rocks.

There are many choices for a photographer when it comes to attaining a particular look to a photograph. Many effects can be achieved in post production software, however for me this process starts with the camera I choose.  

One Photograph Series - Interpretation

It was a lovely bright sunny day down at Hannafore near Looe. In the distance clouds starting to appear on the horizon. The sun was quite high in the sky and was producing light which glistened off the water surface. I saw a solitary red sail boat out to sea, I loved the contrast of colours with the light blue sky and sea, almost pastel in nature and the bright red sail. I took a few photographs ensuring the boat was positioned on the lower right hand third, the light clouds gave balance to the top of the frame which helped lift this area with a subtle detail.

Once I got back home I processed all my photographs using Lightroom 5.7. I produced the colour photograph which is pretty much how I envisioned the scene. I wanted a light, almost high key image with soft contrast to emphasize the delicate colour and tones.

I am not a prolific colour photographer and monochrome images are generally more my thing. With this in mind I decided to try a monochrome version. I found that when I lowered the exposure and boosted the shadow and highlights I created a strong contrast in the image which brought out the bright highlights on the water and the white clouds. The shadow adjustment in turn toned down the bank of cloud moving in, which on closer inspection was a veil of rain from a storm cloud. The stronger, darker tones gave the photograph a much more menacing stormy look.

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Camera: Olympus OMD EM-10
Lens: Panasonic 45-175mm
Focal Length: 129mm (35mm equiv 258mm)
Aperture: f8
Shutter Speed: 1\500th sec
ISO: 200

By using different post processing techniques to interpret the scene I was able to produce two distinctly different photographs from a single file.

Rolling Katie

I'm often guilty of automatically defaulting to my favourite wide-angle lens (the Olympus 9-18mm) and using slower shutter speeds but when I'd made an early morning trip to Millendreath after Storm Katie the waves were too big for me to dare get the part of the beach I was aiming for (I love photography, but not enough to risk getting washed out to sea!)

On this morning I took a different approach and used my telephoto lens and a fast shutter speed (1/800 sec) to freeze the waves, just waiting for the waves to be just crashing and making a nice lead-in line into the image, on towards the rocks and cliffs in the distance.

Sometimes it's good to stray a little outside your own personal box!

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