#EmbraceTheGrey - Your Photos!
A couple of months ago I published a video asking the photography community to #EmbraceTheGrey I wanted everyone to get out there in all sorts of weathers and conditions and take some photographs. Well, that's exactly what you did! And you did it lots!
Let's All Embrace The Grey
By the end of January this year I'd had enough of the rubbish weather and the impact it was having on my photography. I then had a slight change of attitude and decided that I needed to embrace the grey a bit more.
So I went out and created a video asking the photography community as a whole to #EmbraceTheGrey. You can read that blog post and see the video here. The goal of the video was not only to encourage me to get out with the camera more but to inspire others to also get out there in less than favourable conditions.
In the video, I said I would create a showcase video of the images people tagged with #EmbraceTheGrey as a way of celebrating everyone's efforts.
#EmbraceTheGrey Showcase
So when winter officially finished I decided to see if anyone had tagged any images or videos with #EmbraceTheGrey. Well, I was blown away by the number of photos and videos that had been tagged! You really had taken the challenge on and done so in such a wide variety of scenarios. It wasn't just photographs though. Some of you even create #EmbraceTheGrey photography vlogs!
To celebrate this amazing effort by you all I have pulled together this showcase video of the photographs that I found with #EmbraceTheGrey. At the end of the video, there is also a playlist of all the videos that were tagged as well.
So, please enjoy this amazing video of everyone's creativity!
So did you enjoy this video? Did you spot your image? Let me know in the comments below.
Let's All Embrace the Grey!
In the blog this week I'm challenging the photography community to #EmbraceTheGrey !
Poor Weather Photography
Winter can be a miserable time for landscape photographers. It can, of course, also be a wonderful time, especially if it snows. However, if you are located in the UK, it can be a season of grey and overcast weather. Depressing as this weather can be, it can also be an opportunity to shoot landscape images with a difference.
If you've watched my Winter Solstice and Bad Weather Photography videos, you'll have heard me say that sometimes you've just go to embrace the grey. Judging by the comments in my videos, this phrase seemed to have resonated with people. So this got me thinking. Perhaps we should all be embracing the grey.
A Community Challenge
So between now and springtime, I'm challenging the photography community to go out in that grey and overcast weather and create some great images and vlogs. I want to see how creative the photography community can be! I'll then select some of those images and vlogs and feature them in a showcase video to highlight the great work everyone will hopefully create.
So here is how you can participate:
Shoot a vlog or create an image based on the grey / overcast theme.
Post it on social media using the tag #EmbraceTheGrey
Tag me in on your social media post - links to all my social accounts are in the icons at the bottom of this page.
Or you can send me an email using the contact form on this website to let me know where you've posted.
Around spring time I will select a range of photos and vlogs to feature in a showcase video that I will publish on my channel for the whole community to see.
To help kick things off, I created this introductory video which features me taking some long exposure photographs down at Brixham in Devon on a grey and overcast day.
So I really hope you'll participate in my #EmbraceTheGrey challenge! It should be fun and it will hopefully inspire you to get out there and take some great landscape images...even if the weather is rubbish!
My Images from Brixham
Long Lens Landscape Photography
In the blog this week I share with you my long lens landscape photography video. It was all inspired by my fellow landscape photographer Chris Sale who set me the challenge of capturing three long lens landscapes.
The Wide View
If I take a look at my Lightroom catalogue the most commonly used lens I have is without a doubt the Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4 VR. This is hardly surprising given that it was the first full frame lens I bought and that I love shooting my landscapes wide.
About 18 months ago I bought a used Nikkor 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR. I purchased it after renting one a few times to help with my live music photography when I was shooting at bigger events. I soon discovered though that I could use it for my landscape work as well.
Since then, I have shot landscape images with the 70-200 mm but I probably don't use it as much as I should have. So when fellow landscape photographer and YouTuber Chris Sale set me the challenge of shooting 3 images with my 70-200 mm I really had to get my creative brain into gear.
As we are both YouTubers I also set Chris the challenge of creating some wide angle landscape images. You can see how we both got on in the video below:
Well, I hoped you enjoyed watching that video. For me, it was a really good experience. It actually got me to think a little differently! It's opened my eyes a little more to creating landscape images with a longer lens, and I'm sure the 70-200 mm will be making a more regular appearance in my camera back.
Do you have a favourite lens? Do you prefer to shoot wide or tight? Or do you mix it up depending on the scene? Let me know in the comments below.
The Long Lens Images
In case you want to have a closer look at the images featured in the video here they are:
Nikon D850, Nikkor 70-200 mm f/2.8 at 112 mm, 0.6 seconds at ISO 64, f/11.
Nikon D850, Nikkor 70-200 mm f/2.8 at 100 mm, 0.6 seconds at ISO 64, f/11. This didn't actually make it to the video, but I do really like it!
Nikon D850, Nikkor 70-200 mm f/2.8 at 70 mm, 1/6th second at ISO 64, f/11.
Nikon D850, Nikkor 70-200 mm f/2.8 at 135 mm, 75 seconds at ISO 64, f/2.8, Lee Filters Big Stopper and 3 stop ND.