Autumnal Landscape Photography with the Lumix S1R
After a last minute change of plan I decide to shoot the autumnal colours at Fingle Bridge and I take the Panasonic Lumix S1R with me.
The Panasonic Lumix S1R
A couple of weeks ago in my blog post Return to Holne Bridge, I mentioned that I had a Panasonic Lumix S1R on loan. In that blog post I was out with the S1R to try and familiarise myself with the camera before putting it to use on the project I had planned for it. Having now completed filming for that project I was ready to return the camera to Panasonic but they very kindly asked if I wanted to keep it for another couple of weeks.
Plan A Becomes Plan B
With the camera on loan for a bit longer I had a few ideas on how I could put it to good use. My initial project for the S1R was to make a landscape photography video in Scotland, but I did also have a secondary project planned as well. Unfortunately though, the weather conditions were pretty awful in Scotland in the later part of my trip and so I never got the chance to shoot the 2nd video. This loan extension would be a great time to revisit that project and shoot it on Dartmoor rather than Glencoe.
My plan A was to head up to one of my favourite Dartmoor locations, Belstone Common. Checking the weather forecast the evening before I knew it was going to be a bit of a risk to go there because of the forecasted cloud cover. However I thought it was worth a punt and made my plan for a dawn shoot.
Arriving at Belstone Common the following morning it quickly became apparent that I had been a little too optimistic about the weather forecast, specifically the cloud cover. The cloud cover had even descended into the village of Belstone and by the time I had reached the parking area for Belstone Common it was looking very cloudy indeed.
Normally I wouldn’t necessarily let this put me off and I would risk ascending up to Belstone and hopefully wait for the cloud to clear. This clearing of the cloud can often lead to spectacular scenes but at the back of my mind I thought I’d probably be better going with plan B.
Fingle Bridge
Plan B was to go and shoot at one of my favourite autumnal Dartmoor locations, Holne Bridge or Fingle Bridge. I reckon either would have been good but given Holne Bridge is on the opposite side of Dartmoor from Belstone Common and Fingle Bridge just 15 minutes away the decision was easy.
When I arrived at Fingle Bridge I could see that I had made the right decision. The autumnal colours were looking great and even though it was a bit lighter the sky was still heavily overcast so staying at Belstone probably would have been a waste of time.
Fingle Bridge #1, Dartmoor, Devon - Panasonic Lumix S1R, Lumix S 24-105mm f/4 at 24mm, f/11, 10 seconds at ISO 100, Kase Filters CPL. Three horizontal image panorama at 16:7.
Though it was tempting to just create a short vlog of my time at Fingle Bridge, I decided just to concentrate on stills photography so I grabbed the Lumix S1R but left behind my Lumix G80 (my vlogging camera). As I walked along the riverside and admired the beautiful colours on the trees I was surprised not to see any other photographers or even dog walkers. I wasn’t complaining though. It was very relaxing, just me, a camera, the gentle noise of the flowing river and the wind blowing in the trees. What a way to start the day!
Fingle Bridge #2, Dartmoor, Devon - Panasonic Lumix S1R, Lumix S 24-105mm f/4 at 54mm, f/13, 10 seconds at ISO 100, Kase Filters CPL.
What I like About the S1R
As I said in my blog post Return to Holne Bridge, it is not my intention to review the S1R. There are lots of dedicated written and video reviews out there and they are done by people much more proficient at reviewing than I am. However, having used the camera for a few weeks I thought I would at least share some of my thoughts on this camera.
Things I liked:
47.3 megapixel sensor - no complaints with the image quality.
Dual card slots - dual xQD would have been nice though.
Good controls, knobs and dials - plenty of physical controls.
Focal length of the lens is displayed in the EVF.
Triaxle tilt LCD - you can even flip it out when the camera is in a vertical orientation…..very handy!!
Countdown down timer for long exposures (up to 60 seconds). Also very handy!
The 24-105mm f/4 lens I used. Great image quality and useful focal length.
Minor gripes:
Long exposures are limited to 60 seconds before you need to switch to bulb mode. This is better than most DSLRs and some mirrorless cameras, but not as good as cameras from FujiFilm (which can have exposures timed in minutes).
Size and weight - while some people prefer the feel of a bigger camera, the S1R is big for a full-frame mirrorless camera. It’s about the same size and weight as a Nikon D850 but bigger and heavier than a Nikon Z7. However, in some ways it has more features and controls than a Z7 so some additional bulk is probably necessary (e.g. dual card slots and great video features).
Though the S1R has one of the highest resolutions EVF on the market, I thought images looked a little low on resolution when reviewed. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad, but not as good as other mirrorless cameras I have used. I wonder if the embedded JPG preview of the RAW file is low resolution. The images when reviewed in Lightroom look amazing. The EVF looks great when viewing live.
No wide angle zoom lens at the time of loan. (A 16-35 f/4 is due in January 2020 though).
This is by no means a comprehensive list but these are some of the things I wanted to highlight when compared to other mirrorless cameras I have used. Minor gripes aside, there is little to dislike about this camera and anyone buying one is sure to be happy.
Fingle Bridge #3, Dartmoor, Devon - Panasonic Lumix S1R, Lumix S 24-105mm f/4 at 28mm, f/13, 10 seconds at ISO 100, Kase Filters CPL.
A note on the video features:
I know many of you don’t shoot video but for me some of the most stand out features of this camera are the video features. It can shoot up to 4k, 50 fps at 150 Mbps. The video quality is beautiful. I shoot and publish almost all of my videos in 4K but I don’t think anyone would notice much change in video quality if my bitrate jumped to 150 Mbps. On the other hand 50 fps does give me a few more creative options in post production.
As a bonus the S1R writes video to both cards which is definitely welcome. However, my one gripe is that if you have your camera set up for stills (shutter speed, ISO, and aperture) and then you switch to video mode, all the settings from your stills configuration carries over. The same applies when moving from video mode to stills mode. Given that you set the camera up very differently when shooting video and stills this seems a little annoying if you need to quickly switch between both modes.
Panasonic have also now released the Lumix S1H. This camera is a little more video centric and offers video modes such as 6K recording, 400 mbps bit rate (depending on mode), and HLG video. I can just imagine the creative options open to me with this camera if I did another series of Vignettes of Landscape Photography.
In case you are wondering, the video that I did have planned for the S1R has been filmed and is currently being edited. It should be ready in the next couple of weeks. I have also managed to shoot one of my 5 Minute Photo Adventure videos with the S1R so I hope to publish that in the next few weeks as well.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post and the images I capture from Fingle Bridge. Have you been out to capture some autumnal images? Have you considered or even bought an S1R or any of the cameras in the Lumix S1 range? Let me know in the comments below.
3 GREAT Landscape Photography Locations on Dartmoor
What are the best locations on Dartmoor for landscape photography? In this blog article, I'm going to show you 3 GREAT landscape photography locations on Dartmoor that I think will inspire you to photograph Dartmoor!
Landscape Photography on Dartmoor
Dartmoor National Park covers over 950 km2 so you can be forgiven for being a bit overwhelmed with the sheer number of landscape photography locations to choose from. Fear not though! I’m here to help.
After the positive feedback I received for my video 3 GREAT Landscape Photography Locations in Cornwall, I decided to produce for Dartmoor locations. Guess what I called it? Yes, that’s right 3 GREAT Landscape Photography Locations on Dartmoor! The locations I visit in the video aren’t necessarily a top 3 or best 3, just 3 great locations that I think will inspire your landscape photography.
After many hours of being frozen and blown about, I’m very happy to share with you the video, 3 GREAT Landscape Photography Location on Dartmoor.
A Bonus 4th Location
I’m also very happy to share with you a bonus 4th location. Wistman’s Wood is a popular Dartmoor location for landscape photographers and for good reason. Unfortunately the day I visited there was very little wind and so the midges were out and that made capturing images and video very difficult. Despite the challenges of the day though, I still managed to create a video that I hope you will enjoy.
More Information on Those Locations
If you want a bit more information on these amazing locations or the images from the video, then I've already published blog posts on the featured locations:
You can also see my 5 Minute Photo Adventure video of Belstone Common (where I shot the intro to the video), right here.
All Those Landscape Photographs
Here all the images you saw in both videos:
What Next?
As with the Cornwall video, the Dartmoor video required a significant amount of effort to produce. However, despite the work required I would like to create more videos like this. If there are other locations in the south-west that you would like to me to make a video on then let me know in the comments below.
Location Scouting in the Teign Valley
In this video blog post I head out to Fingle Bridge and the Teign valley to scout out some locations for an autumn themed shoot.
The Importance of Scouting
The time I spend with the camera is precious. I have a full time job and a family that keeps me really busy so when I do get out I like to make the most of it. Sometimes I just go out to practice with my camera (see my blog post on practicing) or I'll go out to scout out a location. For me scouting out a location can be a really good use of time. For locations such as the upper Teign valley near Fingle Bridge in Devon, having a number of spots already picked out means that when the golden hour comes I'm only worrying about composition and not finding a good location.
In this short video I take you on a recent trip to the upper Teign Valley where I spend some time walking the path looking for locations that I can use for some autumnal shots that I want to take there. I'm travelling light with my Sony RX100M4 and a Manfrotto BeFree Carbon tripod but it allows me to quickly take shots from locations as I move along the valley.
Here's the video:
Mission Successful?
Here are the images that I took from the locations I scouted:
Now I'll be the first to admit that these aren't award winning images. The composition was setup up quickly and the light not exactly at its best but it does give me some really good ideas on where I want to shoot when I do go up there when the autumnal colours are in there full glory.
I also originally had this location down as a sunrise only location but because of this scouting exercise I'm fairly sure I could get images at either end of the day. So was it worth while? Well yes. Anytime with the camera is good but I feel more prepared to shoot this particular location now.
Do You Scout?
Do you spend time scouting out the locations you want to shoot? Or do you just turn up and see what takes your eye? Let me know in the comments.