A New Vision of The Cobb
In the blog this week I tell you about my most recent visit to Lyme Regis in Dorset to capture landscape images of The Cobb, and how an overcast morning changed the way I view this iconic location.
Weather Obsession
I have to admit it, I'm obsessed with the weather. More specifically, the weather forecast. But what landscape photographer isn't slightly obsessed by the weather. I'm constantly checking the forecast and looking for the best place to visit with the limited about of time that I have for my landscape photography.
After a few days of frankly terrible weather, it was going to take some pretty awful conditions to stop me heading out with the camera. After much head scratching over the weather forecast I thought the best place to go would be The Cobb at Lyme Regis in Dorset.
It was a bit of a risk to go there given the predicted cloud cover. Either side of sunrise it was forecasting 100% cloud cover, but around sunrise itself, the cloud cover could drop to around 50%. Combined with the direction of the rising sun, I was hoping to capture an image similar to this one I'd taken a while back.
The Cobb vs The Sea, Lyme Regis, Dorset - Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4 at 22 mm, f/13, 0.6 secs at ISO 100, Lee Filters ND Grad.
Choose Life, Choose The Cobb
Before I carry on, I've just remembered that I created one of my 5 Minute Photo Adventure videos from The Cobb, so if you want to see what it looks like, then check out the video below. You can also read the blog article for that video here.
Anyway, back to the story of my most recent visit. When I arrived in Lyme Regis, the weather was as forecast and cloud coverage looked to be 100%. As I walked from the car and approached The Cobb I could see that I wasn't the only photographer that high hopes for capturing a good image that morning.
As I setup my camera and took my first few shots, I suddenly changed my mind on the type of shot that I wanted. Rather than trying to repeat the type of shot I showed you earlier, I decided the image below was the style of image I wanted to capture that morning.
A New Vision of The Cobb, Lyme Regis, Dorset - Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4 at 24 mm, f/13, 30 secs at ISO 64.
The calm waters, overcast sky, the colour of the water and long exposure all add up to a very different, but still pleasing image. Normally I like to capture the drama of the sea at The Cobb, but that morning called for something different.
As soon as I saw the image on the back on the screen on my D850 I realised that I had been missing out on some creative compositions at this location. I would definitely have to visit when the conditions were like this again.
After a short while, a break in the cloud started appearing in the distance, and the mood of the scene changed. Normally I'm happy when the cloud starts breaking up, but in this instance, I wanted the cloud cover to stay at 100%! With the gap in the cloud, the serenity and calmness of the scene was broken.
It was an interesting morning for me. My previous visits to The Cobb had gradually embedded into my mind the type of image I should capture there. This visit broke all that and I left with a renewed sense of excitement about returning to The Cobb on the next grey and overcast day!
Have you had a similar experience? Have you had your perception of a favourite location changed by weather? Let me know in the comments below.
Back to Boscastle
In this blog post I tell you about my trip to Cornwall to shoot Boscastle one cloudy Saturday afternoon in January.
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
It's been a reasonably busy start to my photography in 2017. January had already seen me visit Dawlish Warren, Dartmoor and Colmer's Hill in Dorset, so when faced with a photography free weekend I was content to stay at home and clock in some family time.
However, it appeared that the photography gods were looking down on me and unexpectedly my wife decided to take the kids to the cinema. So while the offer to go and see Sing was tempting, I was also offered the chance to go and do something myself. What could I possibly do with a few spare hours on a January afternoon….?
Well, it wasn't going to be DIY that was for sure so I got busy looking at my photography locations map and got to planning a shoot. I had already shot Devon and Dorset this year so I thought why not finish January by going to Cornwall. But where would I go? This is the good thing about keeping a locations map, it allows me to visualise possible shooting locations so I could see which of my Cornish locations would suit my time constraints, weather and time of day.
I eventually decided on Boscastle, a location I've shot a couple of times before. The high viewpoint above the curvy harbour entrance, dramatic coastline and forecast cloud cover would, I decided, make for an excellent sunset coastal location.
An image of Boscastle that I took in May 2016.
Taking a Friend
Landscape photography can often, for me at least, be a solitary past time. After all, getting up at 5 am to visit Dartmoor in freezing conditions in the off chance there is a good sunrise is not exactly on top of everyone's list of things to do. However, this was a Saturday afternoon and while it wasn't exactly a warm and pleasant day I did think my father-in-law would be up for a session with the camera. So I gave him a call and he jumped at the chance. So we packed our stuff and hit the road to Cornwall.
Dramatic Boscastle
It's just over an hour's drive to Boscastle from home so there was plenty of time to analyse the weather as we got closer to our destination. Things were looking very positive. The heavy, but intermittent rain showers meant the sky was full of cumulonimbus clouds as well as the odd thunderstorm cloud with high altitude anvils. As we drove we had visions of a setting sun illuminating these big clouds in a golden orange colour as they travelled along the dramatic Cornish coast. It might just be one of those great trips out with the camera.
It's a short walk from the harbour car park to the viewpoint, but it does require a small ascent to get an elevated viewpoint. It's worth the effort though and the excitement of the shoot gave us more than enough energy to get up the hill.
Once at the top we set up our cameras and got ready to start taking some epic images. However, as has been the way for me recently, I could spot a few problems. The big dramatic rain clouds had now for the most part all passed by leaving only small patches of cloud. There was also a big bank of low cloud on the horizon which I knew would block the last of light when the sun dipped down behind them. Still not to be put off I got shooting and took this image just as the sun dipped below the distant cloud line.
Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 at 16mm, 0.8 seconds, f/16, ISO 100, Lee Filters Circular Polarizer, Lee Filters 0.9 ND Grad. Processed in Lightroom CC.
We kept shooting until sunset but the conditions obviously did not improve. Landscape photographers bang on about the quality of light all the time but for very good reason. I know Boscastle is a fantastic location for capturing images but in flat winter light, even the most dramatic of locations can look a bit drab. I tried taking a few long exposures which provided the movement in clouds I was looking for but without good light, the image remains flat and grey.
As it started to get dark we decided to call it a day and head back to the car. Though the conditions hadn't been as we had hoped, we had at least had a good old chat and most importantly been out with the cameras.
Being Positive
Though January hasn't resulted in the capture of any portfolio class images, I am, as always, very happy to have got out with the camera. Despite work and family commitments, I have managed to get out with the camera every weekend in January. I even managed to create a video on how I use ND filters.
I rarely consider a trip out with the camera to be wasted effort. I often talk about the value in practising the craft of photography on this blog and so if anything this trip to Boscastle was still time well spent. Photographers can often set unrealistic expectations on ourselves to capture amazing images each time we go out. However, unlike full-time photographers, my time out with the camera is set around work and family commitments rather than when the conditions are likely to be optimal. I can't always capture amazing images, but I can make sure I'm well prepared for when they are.
So how do you balance your photography with other commitments? Will you wait for the best conditions or head out for the fun of it? Do you like to go out shooting with a friend or prefer solitude when out in the landscape? Let me know in the comments below.
Landscape Photography in the Lake District
In this blog post I write about my 2 day photographic adventure in the Lake District. Read about how despite the challenging weather I still came away with some great images and a sense of satisfaction.
Escape to the Lakes
When a photographer friend of mine invited me to spend a couple of days shooting the Lake District in the height of autumn I literally jumped at the chance. Over the last decade or so I had visited the Lake District a number of times with my family and enjoyed it immensely. After all if you like the outdoors there really isn't much not to like about the Lake District. This was going to be a different type of visit though. This visit was going to be all about photography and I couldn't wait!
The plan was to spend two full days shooting various locations around the Keswick area taking in tarns, lakes, hills and of course the odd jetty. Our only restriction was dates. Free time for photography has to fit in around family and work time, so when we picked our dates we were committed, no matter the weather.
November seemed to take an age to come round but when it did my levels of excitement had almost become palpable. I had packed my stuff two days prior to departure and when I did hit the road the 300+ mile journey flew by. I couldn't wait to get shooting but as I would soon find out, the Lake District weather was going to be typically British.
High Brandelhow Landing
It was a 5:30 am alarm call on the first day and despite the lack coffee I was in high spirits and ready to get shooting. Our first stop was High Brandlehow Landing, a pier on Derwentwater. It's a classic Lake District composition with a pier but it was an ideal location to get the photography brain into gear.
My first instinct was to shoot the pier vertically but I actually ended up preferring the horizontal version. Using the Little Stopper at ISO 100, f/11 gave a 2 minute exposure but I was loosing the detail in the sky. Setting the camera to ISO 200 gave me a one minute exposure maintaining some texture in the sky.
Stock Ghyll
Despite the sky being almost completely overcast it had been a reasonably successful start to the day. After breakfast though the weather turned rainy so we decided to head into the woodland at Ambleside and walk along Stock Ghyll.
Photographing Stock Ghyll was a real challenge as I spent most of the time clearing rain water from the camera. I found it difficult to concentrate on my composition. I later tried to shoot the waterfalls but couldn't really find a composition I liked.
Grasmere
After drying out over a pub lunch we took the short drive down to the southern end of the lake at Grasmere. Though it had stopped raining the weather remained resolutely overcast which was a shame as there was barely a breath of wind and the reflections were stunning.
Lovely reflections, just a shame about the light. This image is a 2:1 crop from the original frame.
Latrigg Fell
With a renewed sense of optimism on the morning of day 2 I headed down to the hotel lobby to meet my friend. Unfortunately he was taking shelter from the down pour of rain. Not to be put off we checked our respective weather forecast apps and agreed that an ascent of Latrigg Fell could be rewarded with some nice light come sunrise.
The weather at dawn was not great but we dug in and waited.
As time progressed some splashes of light started to appear on Cat Bells. This image is a 3:1 crop of a 9 vertical image panoramic stitch.
The dawn light struggled to get through the clouds but when it did it provided little moments of magic. This is 16:9 crop from the original frame.
Castlerigg Stone Circle
While ancient stone circles don't necessarily offer a lot of interest for me, the location of Castlerigg Stone Circle is still an interesting location to shoot. You don't necessarily need to include the stones in your compositions.
Bad weather can work in your favour as well. I just needed to wait for a break in the light which came and went in the space of seconds. You just have to stand there with the finger on the shutter....waiting....till you get that fleeting moment of light.
As I've written about before, its important to look around to see what else is happening. I was focused so much on getting the previous image that I almost missed this one.
Tarn Hows
After our trip to Castlerigg we headed up to Ashness Bridge. It was a short stop as no sooner had we got our cameras out it started to rain heavily. So as we approached the end of day 2 we decided that we might try and catch last light at Tarn Hows. The weather hadn't exactly been kind to us up to that point and unsurprisingly it didn't improve that much.
This scene just need a splash of light on the trees but it wasn't to be.
Cat Bells
I was due to make the long trip home the morning of the 3rd day, but I couldn't resist one more dawn shoot. My friend had hit the road at 4am to go home, so as I was on my own I decided I would make the 450m ascent of Cat Bells. Despite the the previous two days of poor weather, I remained optimistic as the weather forecast looked like it might produce some nice early morning light.
My vision for this image was to get some morning light break over the fell peaks (Robinson and Red Knot). I waited and waited but this was as good as it got.
As is often the case in the Lake District, the moments of good light are brief but wonderful. This image of Rigg Beck and Causey Pike is a 3:1 crop from a single frame.
I was on my way down from Cat Bells and looking forward to breakfast but sometimes you just have to stop and unpack all your gear again. The light on Lonscale Fell was too good to miss.
Fun but Challenging
There was no doubt that I was extremely excited about my trip to the Lake District. Having seen so many autumnal images of the area I was keen to produce my own spectacular images. However, as you can see from my images old mother nature had a different plan which mostly involved rain and overcast skies. Even when it was dry there was very little of that magical light that you want to really lift a scene. When it did rain I would just spend most of time trying to keep my gear and filters clear of water. This can be infuriating and doesn't leave much time for the creative side of photography.
So was the trip a failure? Of course not! Yes, it was challenging, difficult and sometimes frustrating but I was in the Lake District, in autumn, with my camera. Sure it would have been nice to have better weather but sometimes as a landscape photographer you have to work with what you get. As I write this blog and look back at the photographs there is a lot to be happy about. Those little breaks of light like I saw on Cat Bells, or the stormy sky over the trees at Castlerigg just goes to show that there is an image to capture in almost any weather condition.
For me landscape photography is also about the adventure, about being outdoors. This trip was an adventure and I managed to capture some dramatic images of the Lake District, so I'm calling my trip a success!
Do you have a bucket list of locations or areas you want to shoot? Have you turned up to a location and faced a few challenges? Is there any type of weather you wouldn't go out in? Let me know in the comments.
Remember to check out my Instagram and Flickr feeds so you can see even more of my images. See you next time!