Why and How I Calibrate My Monitor

The What, Why and How of Monitor Calibration

Last year I did a relatively long video on monitor calibration and printer profiling (you can see it here).  I've recently changed my calibration device though, so I thought it was a good time to revisit the subject of monitor calibration. My new calibration device is a SpyderX and it works directly with my Eizo monitor to perform the calibration.

However, you don't need an expensive monitor like those from Eizo to benefit from using a monitor calibration device.  So in the video below I will take a quick look at monitor calibration, what it is, why you should do it and how I used the SpyderX to calibrate my 2nd monitor (not an Eizo).

I hope you enjoyed that short video but if you like to more detailed information on calibration then check out this free ebook.

Just a short video and blog post from me this week, but I’ll be back next week with a new blog post on a recent landscape photography adventure!

Beara by Norman McCloskey - On My Bookshelf S02E04

Discovering Beara

I'm not sure if I was aware of the work of Norman McCloskey before I got Beara, but I do know how I discovered Beara.  I was flicking through the March 2019 issue of Outdoor Photography magazine when I spotted a feature on the book.  As luck would have it my wife had been asking me what I wanted for my birthday so I asked her to get me a copy of Beara. 

Obviously, the sample pictures in the magazine were enough for me to want a copy but it wasn't until I actually got the book and read it that I realised what a fantastic collection of landscape photographs Norman had put together. 

Anyway, I don't want to reveal all my thoughts here on the blog.   Instead, why don't you check out the latest episode of On My Bookshelf and let me tell you a little more about Beara.

I do hope you enjoyed this episode of On My Bookshelf .  Will you be picking up a copy of Beara?  Have you been to the Beara Peninsula?  Let me know in the comments below.

PS - You can pick up a copy of Beara direct from the author by clicking on this link here.

Unexpected Creativity from a Dreary Dartmoor

A Quick Happy Birthday

Just before I tell you about my Dartmoor adventure, I just want to announce that this post comes on the day that this very blog celebrates its 2nd birthday!  Two years ago today I decided to start documenting my photographic adventures.

As with any creative process, the writing has sometimes been easy and sometimes it's been hard.   However, most of all it has been fun and its really helped me with my photography.  I wrote a lot about the benefits last year when I wrote a post about the blog's first birthday.

Over the last 24 months, I've written a new blog post every week, and I see no reason why this won't continue into the future.  Thanks to all the support and comments I get from everyone on this blog, and other social media channels, I feel inspired and motivated to keep this blog going.  So thanks to everyone who has and continues to show support of my work.  It is very much appreciated.

And now….

Landscape Photography is Hard

I love landscape photography.  I have a real passion for it and there are few things as good as heading out into the wilderness with the camera to capture some landscape photographs.  Sometimes the process of capturing those photographs is hard.  The weather can be challenging or you can simply lack the imagination or creative energy to produce a good photograph.

For me, there is an additional factor that makes landscape photography hard, and that is time.  I think most photographers, pro or amateur, suffer at the hands of the old enemy of time.   The amount of time I can commit to my art is limited and more often than not I have to go out when the conditions aren't ideal.

Devon's Dreary Dartmoor

My most recent to Dartmoor is a great example of when I decided to head out with the camera when really I should have stayed at home.  The weather forecast for most of the south-west was overcast and rain showers.  The trouble was that if I didn't out that evening, it was going to be several days before my next window of opportunity and I had a real need to scratch that creative itch.

I wanted to go and shoot somewhere on the Cornish coast but I saw little point in committing to 3 to 4 hours of driving with the predicted weather conditions.  I thought the best thing to do was to keep in local and head up to Dartmoor.  The weather forecast for Haytor was looking poor, but it did predict a small break in the clouds that might yield some nice results.  To be honest, I think I was being rather optimistic but I grabbed my camera and went out anyway.

Finding Something Out of Nothing

As I drove up the hill from Bovey Tracey to Haytor, things did not look great.  While the clouds were at least above the hills, it all looked rather uninspiring.  I decided to drive a little further on and park up for Emsworthy Tor. 

As I wasn't in a particular hurry I decided to make the walk to Emsworthy Tor at a slower pace.  As I walked I made sure I took the time to look for compositions.  Occasionally I would hold my eye up to the camera to see what an image would look like, but nothing seemed to capture my imagination.

 

When I reached Emsworthy Tor I just stood there and wondered why on earth I even bothered coming out.  Don't get me wrong.  I love Dartmoor.  It can look spectacular in many different ways, and it's rare that I can't find something to appreciate.  The view in front of me was indeed impressive but that doesn't mean it was going to translate into a good photograph.

It soon dawned on me that the viewpoint I wanted to photograph wasn't going to work in these conditions.  As I sat there looking at the great expanse that is Dartmoor, I thought about going home.  In the distance was a large dark cloud that was sure to bring a heavy shower.  Perhaps it was time for an early exit and a glass of wine.

Just as I was about to pack up and go I had a moment of inspiration.  As I looked east there was a small break in the cloud, and from the north was that stormy looking cloud.  I know from previous experience that approaching storm clouds can look dramatic when shot with a wide angle lens.  So I quickly got the camera out and shot this image:

View fullsize

Approaching Storm on Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4 at 16 mm, 0.5 seconds at ISO 64, f/11, Lee Filters ND Grad.

I had to work fast to get the image because the cloud was rolling in fast.  While the image would have greatly benefited from some scattered light on the distant tors, it does show Dartmoor as it was that evening, and perhaps reflects my mood a little.

I then wanted to fine tune my composition a little.  I like the rocky tors in the foreground of the first image, but I felt that they were a too close to the bottom of the frame.  I also felt that the clouds were a more important element of the photograph, so I decided to point the camera up more to give me this composition.

View fullsize

Storm Clouds over Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4 at 18 mm, 0.6 seconds at ISO 64, f/11, Lee Filters ND Grad.

I'm not sure which image I prefer.  The sky in the first image is more appealing as the dark cloud hasn't covered all of the skies yet, but I prefer the overall composition of the 2nd image.  To be honest, I'm just really happy to have captured anything.  I was sure I was going to go home empty-handed and a little unhappy (creatively speaking).  

It was a challenging evening but aside from the pleasing images, I can always take away two positives.  Firstly, it's always great to be outdoors.  Even if I took no photographs, spending the evening on beautiful Dartmoor is rarely a bad thing.  Secondly, it was good to be out with the camera.  That time out with the camera gave me more photographic experience and practice that I can put to good use when I really need it.  You can be in the most amazing location with the most amazing light, but if you don't how to use your camera properly or know how to read a scene, you might come away with nothing.

Have you ever been out with the camera on a seemingly pointless adventure?  Which of my two images did you prefer?  Let me know in the comments below.

How I Manage My Images in Lightroom - From Import and Export

My Lightroom Workflow

I've been using Adobe Lightroom since version 3 and over the years I've been fine-tuning my image workflow around its capabilities.  While its image processing speed had left me screaming up until a recent update, I've always liked its ability to organise and manage my photographs.

In the video below I share with you my Lightroom workflow.  I show you how I import my images, select images for processing, apply keywords, rate images and finally get them ready for export.  There are lots of different ways to do Digital Asset Management (DAM) in Lightroom, so my way is probably neither the right way, nor the wrong way, but hopefully, you'll be able to take something away from this video and use it in your workflow.

Do you have any Lightroom tips for image organisation?  How does your workflow differ?  Let me know in the comments below.

My Other Workflow Videos

My Photography is Not a Priority

Burnt Out?

I love creating videos for my YouTube channel.  I was already passionate about landscape photography and creating videos about my time out with the camera was a natural extension of my desire to share my photography.

However, there is no doubt it is a lot of hard work.  Sometimes my ideas are a bit grand and a little over adventurous.  These ideas sometimes pay off, but I normally have to put in a lot of extra effort.  It was after one of those "go the extra mile" videos that I decided I need a little rest.

Landscape Photography Not a Priority

I wasn't burnt out.  I just needed a rest.  I had spent the previous day driving all over the country taking photographs, but I still had the following day free.  I wanted to use that spare day to create another full-on landscape photography video, but I decided that I would benefit more from not making photography a priority.

So I headed out for a walk up Conic Hill near Loch Lomond on a beautiful summers day.  I still took my camera, but it wasn't my goal to even get it out of the bag.  Relaxing from the photography got me thinking and I decided to share my results in this video:

So just a short video.  A bit of a brain dump and a chance to try my hand at some cinematic style video.  I hope you liked it.  Did the message resonate with you?  Let me know in the comments below.

Loch Lomond Panorama

As I said in the video, I did take one image and here it is:

Loch Lomond from Conic Hill - Super Wide Panorama on a Super Sunny Day:  Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70 mm f/2.8 at 52mm, 1/160th sec @ ISO 64, f/11, 12 image panoramic stitch.

Photographing Britain's National Parks

Grand Ideas

One of the primary goals of my YouTube channel is to share my landscape photography adventures.  By sharing my adventures I can hopefully provide a little inspiration to my fellow landscape photographers or even encourage people to get out there and see the great outdoors.

Sometimes my adventures are unplanned, but every now and again I come up with a plan for a grand adventure!  The problem is that these grand plans aren't exactly simple to execute.  Time is the normally the limiting factor for me. 

However, when I read about National Parks Week, I thought it was the perfect excuse to execute one of those grand adventures.  My idea was simple.  I would visit 3 national parks, in 3 different countries and do it all in one day.   Would it even be possible?  Let's find out.

As you saw in the video, it is indeed possible.  I wouldn't exactly recommend it though.  It was a lot of driving and a very long day.  But I sure did enjoy it!  The locations I visited were stunning, and that was only 3 of the 15 national parks in Britain.

If you haven't visited a national park before, or it's been a while, I really recommend that you check out the National Parks website as there is sure to be one near you.  I'm really lucky as I have Dartmoor on my doorstep.  The national parks are a valuable resource, so if you have some time it's also worth considering spending some time on your local national park as a volunteer.  You can see how I got on one year volunteering on Dartmoor here.

I really hope you enjoyed this video.  If you are looking for a bit more detail on the locations I visited and the photographs you saw, you'll find them below.

So are heading out for National Parks Week?  What is your favourite national park?  Let me know in the comments below.

Wales - Snowdonia National Park

For more information about Snowdonia National Park, click here.

 

View fullsize

Snowdonia National Park - near Plas y Brenin, Wales:  Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4 at 25 mm, 1/20th sec at ISO 64, f/13, Lee Filters Circular Polariser.

England - Lake District National Park

For more information about The Lake District National Park click here. 

 

View fullsize

Haweswater Reservoir - Lake District, England:  Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4 at 17 mm, 1/20th sec at ISO 64, f/13, Lee Filters Circular Polariser.

Scotland - Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park

For more information about the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, click here. 

 

View fullsize

A Pastel Sunset at Ben A'an - Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park:  Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70 mm f/2.8 at 70 mm, 1/5th sec at ISO 64, f/13, Lee Filters 2 Stop ND Grad.

View fullsize

Looking North from Ben A'an on a Beautiful Summers Evening - Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park:  Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70 mm f/2.8 at 48 mm, 1/3rd sec at ISO 64, f/8, Lee Filters 2 Stop ND Grad.

View fullsize

A Summer Sunset At Ben A'an and Loch Katrine - Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park::  Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4 at 18 mm, 0.5 sec at ISO 64, f/18, Lee Filters 2 Stop ND Grad.

Friends, Fun and Landscape Photography

A Solitary Pastime

For me, some of the things I love about landscape photography are the early starts and the solitude.  This may sound like an odd thing to say but those unsociable hours mean that my photography generally doesn't interfere with my other commitments.  Though I'm a very sociable person, there aren't many better things than watching the start of a new day with nothing but the sound of the breeze and the birds singing. 

Don't get me wrong, if you see me one morning out taking photographs, come over and say hello.  Many a trip out with the camera has been enhanced with a good old chat.

Photography Friends

One of the unexpected benefits of publishing videos on my YouTube channel is that I've made a few friends along the way.  People that not only share my passion for landscape photography but people I can have a bit of a laugh with.

When two of my photography friends Gareth Danks and Chris Sale decided to visit me on my home turf I was delighted.  I knew that even if the photography turned out to be challenging, the spirit of friendship and general attitude towards fun would make the whole experience more enjoyable.

You can see how we got on in my latest video:

We did a lot more larking about than was showed in the video, but hopefully, I've shown some of the collective spirit we had that morning.  I'm not sure I would have driven all the way to Start Point at that time in the morning if it had been for Chris and Gareth!

If you have time, you should really check out their videos from our little adventure as well:

Is landscape photography something you prefer to do on your own?  Do you have any friends that also share your passion?  Let me know in the comment below.

Those Photographs

Here are the photographs that you saw in the video.

View fullsize

Sunset at The Daymark - Devon:  Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4 @ 20mm, 1/5th sec @ ISO 64, f/13, Lee Filters Circular Polariser.

View fullsize

Dawn Light on Start Point Lighthouse - Devon:  Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4 @ 19 mm, 10 secs @ ISO 64, f/13, Lee Filters 6 Stop IRND.

OnePlus 6 Landscape Photography: A Mobile Phone Photography Challenge with Chris Sale

Landscape Photography Challenges

I like to challenge my landscape photography skills.  This could be by doing something new, trying a different bit of kit, or even trying an old bit of kit (see my video Shoot, Print, Surprise).  So when my friend and fellow photographer Chris Sale contacted me and suggested a new challenge for us both I immediately asked him to tell me more!

Our previous photography challenge had been a great success.  Last time Chris challenged me to ditch my wide angle lens and head out with my 70-200 mm.  You can see how I got on here.  For this challenge though, Chris asked me to leave my DSLR at home and head out with a mobile phone!  This perhaps sounded like a step too far, but I was up for the challenge.  Obviously, I sent the challenge back and told Chris he had to do the same.

OnePlus 6

The challenge came at an interesting time as I was actually in the market for a new phone.  My heavily used and loved Google Nexus 6p was on its last legs and it couldn't seem to survive much longer than a couple of hours without needing a charge.

I'm not going to bore you with all the reasons why I bought the OnePlus 6, but it was the phone that suited my needs to best.  Funnily enough though, camera specs weren't top of my list of things I was looking for in a new phone.  I have my Sony RX100M4 as my portable camera so I only ever expected to use the OnePlus 6 to capture the odd photo here and there.

So without knowing too much about the camera capabilities of the OnePlus 6, I head out to Dartmoor National Park to start my challenge.  You can see how I got on in the video below:

As I mentioned earlier in the blog, Chris also undertook the same challenge.  To see how he got on, check out his video:

Mobile Phone Photography

So can you capture good landscape images with a mobile phone?  Sure you can!  You can capture landscape images with just about any camera.  I'm not saying the camera is irrelevant, but without good light and composition it doesn’t matter what camera you have with you, you might still end up with a dull photo.

So would will I be giving up my Nikon D850 anytime soon?  Of course not.  While it is perfectly possible to capture good landscape images with a mobile phone, the controls, versatility and image quality of a larger camera will (likely) always be better.  As you'll have seen in the video, the dynamic range of the OnePlus 6, is not match for my Nikon D850.  But given the price difference, that is hardly surprising is it!

So do you ever take landscape images with your mobile phone?  What mobile phone do you have?  Did you buy it for its capabilities as a camera?  Let me know in the comments below.

The Photograph

View fullsize

Mr Bowerman please meet OnePlus 6 - Bowerman's Nose, Dartmoor, Devon:  OnePlus 6, ISO 100, 1/125th sec, f/1.7, DNG processed in Lightroom CC Classic.

PS - The product links used in this article are Amazon affiliate links. By buying through the links I may receive a commission for the sale. This has no effect on the price for you.

Focus Shift / Stacking with the Nikon D850: Capture and Processing

Using a New Feature of the D850

I love using my Nikon D850.  It is without a doubt the best camera I've ever used.  I even made a video on the 8 Things I Love About the D850.  However, there was one feature that until recently I had never used.  That feature was Focus Shift Shooting.

Focus Shift Shooting was a feature introduced with the D850 that allowed the camera to automatically take a series of photographs at different focus points throughout the scene.  The idea is that you take those images, each with a different point of focus, and then "stacked" them in Photoshop, to create one super sharp image.

While the idea of focus stacking is hardly a new one, having a camera do the hard work for you is relatively new.  Even the amount of work in post processing is much reduced now with Photoshop generally doing an excellent job of merging the photographs automatically.

Using Focus Shift in the Field

With the process of creating a focus stacked photograph becoming easier and easier I thought it was about time, I gave it a look.  After all, even if I don't use focus stacking all the time, having another skill in your photographic toolbox can never be a bad thing.

So if you want to learn how I focus stack my images (and you don't necessarily need to own a D850 to do it), then check out my video below:

I hope you enjoyed that brief tutorial.  Like I said, you don't have to own a D850 to create a focus stacked image.  The D850 just automates the process of capturing the images.  I was also a bit hesitant at first on trying out focus stacking.  It all seemed a bit like hard work, but as it turns out it's not that difficult and the results are great.  It's not needed for every photo, but you'll be glad you learnt the skill should you need it.

So, do you focus stack your images?  Do you have a slightly different technique?  Let me know in the comments below.

Those Focus Stacked Photographs

View fullsize

Venford Falls - Dartmoor, Devon: Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4 at 24 mm, 2.5 secs at f/8, ISO 64, Lee Filters Circular Polariser.

View fullsize

Life on the Edge - Bedruthan Steps, Cornwall: Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4 at 26 mm, 1/15th sec at f/5.6, ISO 64, Lee Filters Circular Polariser.

A Landscape Photographers Basic Guide to Calibration and Profiling

The Science of Colour

A quick search of the internet on the topics of colour management, monitor calibration and printer profiling, and one would be excused in deciding it was all too much effort.  However, like many things in photography you can decide to get your head into the science of it, or you can take a more measured approach and make some small changes to your workflow.

Calibration and Profiling

Even though I don't print high volumes of my landscape photographs, I've always strived to make my workflow is as colour accurate as possible.  But why?  Most people probably won't even view my images on a calibrated monitor.  There are a couple of reasons,  Firstly, just for my own personal satisfaction.  I like to know what I'm looking at is an accurate representation of the colours in my photographs.

The other reason is that when I print one of my images on my Canon Pixma Pro-10s, I want to be confident that what I print matches what I see on screen.

Perhaps the best way to tell you about my workflow is to show you:

In the video, I mentioned a few links that you might want to look at.  In case you missed them in the YouTube video description, here they are again:

• ColorMunki Display

• Eizo CX271

• Canon Pixma Pro-10s

• Hard A4 Envelopes

• Fotospeed blog article on the differences between profiling and calibration

• Fotospeed article on colour spaces

• Fotospeed profiling booking service

• Fotospeed generic printer profiles

• Fotospeed Platinum Gloss Art Fibre 300 Paper

For me, those extra little steps I take to calibrate and profile my monitor and to also profile my printer are worth a little extra effort in my workflow.  I love the satisfaction of watching an image come to life on the screen as I post process it and then watching it turn into something physical when I print it.  knowing that the colours remain accurate along each step is an extra bonus.

So does your workflow include calibration and profiling?  If not, does this video encourage you to try and implement new workflow?  Let me know in the comments below.

That Image of Trevose Head

In case you wanted to see that image of Trevose Head that you saw in the video in a bit more detail, here it is below:

View fullsize

Trevose Head, Cornwall.

If you want a little more information on Trevose Head, then check out my blog post on this fantastic Cornish location.

PS - The product links used in this article are Amazon affiliate links. By buying through the links I may receive a commission for the sale. This has no effect on the price for you.

Grey Mare's Tail and Loch Skene: A 5 Minute Photo Adventure

If you've been reading my blog over the last few weeks you'll have seen that despite being on a family holiday I still managed to capture images from Dalveen Pass, Kilchurn Castle, and Glen Etive.  I even managed to make the experiences into some 5 Minute Photo Adventure videos.  This was far more photography that I could have hoped for or even planned for.

So when I finally finished my holiday in Scotland and started the journey back I expected that was the end of my photography activities for this holiday.  However, as with the idea behind shooting Dalveen Pass, I thought I might be able to do something similar for the journey back.

Amazing scenery but…

So yet again I picked up my copy of Photographing Scotland and looked for a suitable location.  Almost on the opposite side of the M74 from Dalveen Pass, I found the location called Grey Mare's Tail.  It looked perfect.  Only a few miles off my route it had a big waterfall and a beautiful loch.  I had a plan.  I would drop my family off at Glasgow Airport, drive down the M74 and then stop and grab some images.

 

I departed for Glasgow Airport early in the morning and I soon started driving along the banks of Loch Awe.  To my surprise there the water was calm and there was a lot of low lying mist hanging over the water.  I already knew before I got to Kilchurn Castle that the conditions for taking photographs there would almost be perfect.  Glassy water, low lying mist and a ruined castle…what more could you want?

It broke my heart to drive past Kilchurn Castle that morning.  I could have taken some amazing photographs but I had to get to the airport.  There simply wasn't time to stop.  The amazing conditions didn't stop there though.  All along the route to Glasgow, there was mist and the low-level cloud hanging about over water.  As I approached Loch Lomond I was sure there was a cloud inversion and if I'd had time to ascend Ben Lomond I would have been treated to an epic show!

Grey Mare's Tail

It was tough having to drive past all those amazing locations in those weather conditions but that's just the way it is sometimes.  However, I dropped off the family at the airport and started my journey to Grey Mare's Tail.  When I arrived and saw the waterfall and the surrounding hills I was not disappointed.  It looked amazing.  Here's what I got up to:

The conditions weren't ideal, and I was really short of time, but this is definitely a location I need to revisit.  There is a lot of different spots along the path past the waterfalls and up along the loch side.  I wish I could have spent all day there.  However, now I know where it is and what to expect, it's definitely getting added to my custom Google locations map.

Have you visited Grey Mare's Tail before?  Did you make the ascent all the way up to Loch Skene?  Let me know in the comments below.

The Photographs

Here are some of the images I captured during my brief time at Grey Mare's Tail and Loch Skeen (Skene).

View fullsize

Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 52mm, f/11, 25 seconds at ISO 64, Lee Filters Circular Polariser and 10 stop ProGlass IRND.

View fullsize

Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 32mm, f/11, 13 seconds at ISO 64, Lee Filters Circular Polariser and 10 stop ProGlass IRND.

View fullsize

Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 34mm, f/13, 1/8th seconds at ISO 64, Lee Filters Circular Polariser.

PS - The product links used in this article are Amazon affiliate links. By buying through the links I may receive a commission for the sale. This has no effect on the price for you.

Dawn with Danks - A Mini Adventure with Gareth Danks

Meeting Gareth Danks

I've been following Gareth Danks on YouTube for a while and we briefly met up at The Photography Show earlier this year.  At the show, we discussed the idea of meeting up to do some photography but finding a date we could both do proved a little tricky.

As spring came around and the days got longer, the number of opportunities to get out with the camera also increased.  So when Gareth announced he was going to be making a visit to Devon we thought it would be a great time to meet up.  We agreed to shoot sunset on Thursday evening and then shoot sunrise the following day.

Our Adventures

The plan was set and the day soon came around.  In the following videos, you can see exactly what we got up to.

The first and only video I made was of the Friday morning shoot at Dawlish Warren and Dawlish.  You can see it here:

For an alternative take on the morning, check out Gareth's video from Friday morning:

And finally, if you want to see what we got up to on Thursday evening on Dartmoor, you can see Gareth's video here:

I hope you enjoyed all those videos.  I think we both have a similar style when it comes to our vlogs so it was really easy to mix up the photography, shooting my video and appearing in his vlog.  Though it was only a short meetup, it was a mini adventure to remember!

My Photographs

You will have seen my photographs from the Friday morning in the video, but as always I like to share them here on the blog as well.

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4 at 16mm, f/13, 240 secs at ISO 64, Lee Filters circular polariser and 10 stop ProGlass IRND.

View fullsize

Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4 at 20mm, f/11, 80 secs at ISO 64, Lee Filters circular polariser, 2 stop hard edge grad and 10 stop ProGlass IRND.

I do hope you also watched Gareth's video.  It's really interesting to see how another photographer shoots the same scene at the same time.  It was beneficial for me as watching Gareth setup his compositions got me to think about my own compositions.

Do you meet up with other photographers?  Do you find yourself learning from them or trying something new out?  Let me know in the comments below.

From Dawn to Dusk - Mastering the Light in Landscape Photography - On My Bookshelf S01E05

On My Bookshelf

Over the last few months, I've been sharing with you the On My Bookshelf series of videos.  Even though my photography life is predominately digital, I still believe the printed book is an important part of my development and enjoyment of photography.  So in each episode of On My Bookshelf, I've told you about a book that I've enjoyed reading in the hope that it will also inspire you.

From Dawn to Dusk

When I first heard that two of my favourite landscape photographers were writing another book I knew straight away that I would need to get myself a copy.  After all, their last book, The Art of Landscape Photography, had a big impact on my development as a photography and I read it many times.

As the publication date got closer I reached out to Ross Hoddinott and Mark Bauer and asked if they would like to appear on an episode of On My Bookshelf.  I was delighted when they both agreed and they invited me along to see them sign and dispatch the first batch of orders of From Dawn to Dusk - Mastering the Light in Landscape Photography.

They also kindly agreed to an interview where I got the chance to ask them about their latest book, what's in it, who's it for, and how it differs from their previous 2 titles.  You can see the full interview in the video below.

Book Giveaway!

After the interview, Mark and Ross offered me a signed copy of their latest book to give away to one lucky viewer.  Not only that, they also gave me two signed copies of their previous two titles The Art of Landscape Photography and The Landscape Photography Workshop.  

There are two ways in which to gain an entry to win all 3 books:

1. Watch this episode of On My Bookshelf: From Dawn to Dusk on YouTube and then leave a comment in the YouTube comments section for the video. Comments are welcome here, but to enter you need to leave a comment on the video itself.

2. Share the Facebook post for this video. You can find it here: <insert URL>

You a free to enter using one, either, or both of the above ways.  If you do both though, you will be entered into the giveaway twice!

Entries for the giveaway close 12 pm (GMT) 28th May 2018.

If you can't wait to get a copy of From Dawn to Dusk - Mastering the Light in Landscape Photography you can still order a signed copy straight from the authors at http://www.dawn2duskphotography.co.uk/books/

Finally, I just want to say a big thanks to Mark and Ross for the interview!  It was a real pleasure talking to you both and judging by the number of pre-orders you were signing and sending out it looks like From Dawn to Dusk - Mastering the Light in Landscape Photography is going to be a big success!

Some of the links used in this article are Amazon affiliate links. By buying through the links I may receive a commission for the sale. This has no effect on the price for you.

Creating Panoramic Images of Glen Etive with a Drone: A 5 Minute Photo Adventure

Over the last couple of weeks, I have told you about my recent photography adventures to the Dalveen Pass, and to Kilchurn Castle.  To be honest, given both these adventures were undertaken while on a family holiday I thought I was doing really well.  After all, I was supposed to be spending time with my family.

Beinn Duirinnis

Landscape photograph aside one of the things I was most looking forward to doing while visiting Scotland was getting up into the hills.  Or to be more precise the mountains!  I love Devon.  It's a beautiful county but I do miss walking the hills and mountains of the Scottish highlands.

When I suggested to my brother-in-law that maybe we should climb a Munro while I was visiting he couldn't have said yes fast enough.  However, there was one slight problem.  Despite it being April, there was still a lot of snow on the upper slopes of the higher mountains.  Unfortunately, my skills as a hill walker don't include snow so we had to revisit our plan.

Almost directly opposite to where I was staying is a hill called Beinn Duirinnis.  At only 550 m this was much more likely to be snow free.  However, it would deliver magnificent views of north up Loch Etive towards Glen Etive.  This was highlighted in Jager Scot's video and I thought a trip up this mountain might mean another chance for some landscape photography.

 

Unfortunately for me, Mother Nature hadn't finished delivering snow to Scotland, and an unexpected overnight dumping of snow meant that even Beinn Duirinnis became out of reach.  Another plan was needed!

Landscape Photography from Your Back Garden

With almost every local mountain out with my skill set, I decided I would try something a little different.  I had been playing with the drone a few days taking some panoramic images of the surrounding landscape.  This got me thinking.  Perhaps I could do some landscape photography without even leaving home and maybe produce a video to go with it!

With all the extra snow on the hills, I decided to send the drone up and see what I could capture.  Here is how I got on:

As you saw, a drone can really open up some new creative options.  It would have been impossible to capture those images without a drone.  While I haven't used the drone that much for stills photography, this really did open my eyes again to the possibilities that this amazing bit of technology can offer.

Do you have an amazing view from your garden?  Do you use a drone for stills photography?  Let me know in the comments below.

Those Images

Here are those panoramic images you saw in the video.  Enjoy!

View fullsize

This is the image I shot the evening I made the video. DJI Mavic Pro, 1/125th sec at f/2.2, ISO 100, 26mm (35mm equiv'), stitched from 11 DNG files.

View fullsize

I took this image a few days before I shot the video. I much prefer the light in this one. DJI Mavic Pro, 1/125th sec at f/2.2, ISO 100, 26mm (35mm equiv'), stitched from 9 DNG files.

#EmbraceTheGrey - Your Photos!

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.

Kilchurn Castle: A 5 Minute Photo Adventure (Special Edition)

More Landscape Photography on Holiday

In my recent blog post on Dalveen Pass, I talked about my desire to fit in some landscape photography while on an Easter holiday with the family.  Dalveen Pass was easy to fit in as it was a short detour off the M74 while on the drive up to Scotland.

I was really looking forward to my family holiday but there was really no way I was going to spend a week in the highlands of Scotland and not do some sort of landscape photography!  Fortunately, my family agreed (kind of) and so I was able to take a morning off from holidaying and take my camera out to capture some images.  But where to go?

Kilchurn Castle

I was staying in a small village just outside of Oban in Argyll, so I could feasibly drive to any number of amazing locations.  The obvious choice was to go to Glencoe.  I had amazing photography adventure there last year, and normally I wouldn't hesitate to go back, but in the back of my mind, there was a location I wanted to visit even more.

Scotland has many amazing castles to photograph, but to me, Kilchurn Castle is one of my favourites.   I grew up only a few miles away from Kilchurn Castle and so I had seen it from the road many, many times.  I'd even visited the castle a couple of times.  However, now that I am a landscape photographer I was desperate to revisit the castle to photograph it.

 

Picking the Right Day

With the exception of one day, I could pick any of my holiday days to visit Kilchurn Castle.  A quick check of the weather forecast showed that the first full day of my holiday was for very light winds.  This was ideal for the type of shot I wanted as there was a good chance that Loch Awe would be very still and provide some great reflections. 

The only trouble was that I would need to get up very early and I would be tired from a long drive the day before.  However, if the conditions were to be as predicted it would be so worth it!

Let's see how I got on.

As you can see the conditions were a bit of a mixed bag.  I certainly got the glassy reflections on the loch, but these annoyingly disappeared for a while when the sun came up.  The sky was also a little too clear.  Some clouds would have added something a little extra to the images, but on the whole, it was a pretty special morning.  Well worth getting up early for! 

One thing you didn't see in the video was the other photographers that were there.  I always enjoy having a chat with other photographers and the conversations I had were very welcome and good distraction from the cold.  One of the photographers I chatted to, Dan Rooke, also has a YouTube channel, and I recommend you check it out here.

So have you photographed Kilchurn Castle before?  Where would you have gone if you had just one morning to take photographs?  Let me know in the comments below.

The Photographs

Here is a selection of the photographs I took that morning.

View fullsize

Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 VR at 50mm, 1/5th sec at ISO 64, f/11, Lee Filters Circular Polariser.

View fullsize

Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 VR at 38mm, 6 secs at ISO 64, f/11, Lee Filters Circular Polariser and 6 stop ProGlass IRND.

Bit of a bonus photograph for you. As I drove home from Kilchurn Castle I noticed the near perfect reflections on the Pass of Brander so I just had to share this image with you.

Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 VR at 24mm, 1/50th sec at ISO 64, f/11, Lee Filters Circular Polariser.

Dalveen Pass: A 5 Minute Photo Adventure

Landscape Photography on Holiday

Family holidays are typically not a great time for landscape photography.  After all, the point of being on holiday is that one should take a break and spend time with loved ones.  However, it can be difficult for me to switch off my passion for landscape photography so I'm always thinking of new ideas and how to make opportunities to get out with the camera.

So when I arranged a holiday to the highlands of Scotland my mind was full of grand ideas for photography and creating content for my YouTube channel.  Most of my grand ideas though would involve being away for hours and getting out the house at unsociable hours.  All these photography based plans would essentially defeat the purpose of going on a family holiday, and to be honest, I actually needed a break so I decided to reign in my ideas.

M74

There was one idea that I came up with though that wouldn't impact my holiday.  Though we would all be going to the same holiday destination, my wife and kids would be flying up, and I would be driving up to Scotland with all the bags, bikes, and most importantly the camera gear.  With such a long drive I would need to stop a few times for a break so surely there would be some close by locations worthy of a bit photography.

I would be passing near the Peak District and the Lake District, but I wanted to visit somewhere a bit different, and closer to my final destination.  So I picked up my copy of Photographing Scotland and spotted the location Dalveen Pass in Dumfries & Galloway.  It looked ideal as it was just off the M74 and a couple of recommended viewpoints were on the roadside.  It looked perfect.  I could stop and have some lunch, and grab a few photos.

 

Photographing Davleen Pass

The morning of the drive I set my alarm nice and early so I would have plenty of time for the drive, make my planned stop, and still reach my destination in time to meet my family off the plane.  Despite it being Easter weekend the traffic was light  and I made it to Dalveen Pass in plenty of time.  When I got there I decided that I would also make video of my experience so I'm very happy to share with you my latest 5 Minute Photo Adventure from Dalveen Pass.

As you can see I didn't exactly have the best conditions for photography.  The grey overcast skies don't matter so much for the waterfall shots, but those beautiful hills would have been lovely with a bit of light and drama in the sky.  However, I very much enjoyed my time on Dalveen Pass.  This location has a lot of potential and with it being just of the M74 I'm sure to stop off again on my way up or down from Scotland.

Have you photographed Dalveen Pass before?  Do you have any recommendations for great locations near motorways?  Let me know in the comments below.

PS.  There will be more landscape photography videos from my holiday in Scotland so stay tuned to my blog or even better make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel and remember to click on the bell icon so you receive a notification as soon as I post up a new video.

The Photographs

As promised in the video here are the photographs that I captured from Dalveen Pass.

View fullsize

Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 VR at 62mm, f/11, 1/4 sec at ISO 64, Lee Filters Circular Polariser.

View fullsize

Waterfall - left hand side

View fullsize

Waterfall - right hand side

View fullsize

Nikon D850, Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR at 70mm, f/11, 1/30th sec at ISO 64

The Photography Show 2018 Community Meetup

It's All About Community

I love going to The Photography Show.  I've been every year and it just bigger and better each year.  I love going to look at all the gear and picking up a show bargain.  However, this year was a little different.  Since starting my YouTube channel I started developing relationships with both my viewers and with other content creators.  So this year we all organised a little meetup at the show.

It was a fantastic opportunity to meet so many people that regularly leave comments on my videos or who create videos that I watch myself.  We only had a short time together but the conversation was lively and engaging.  It was almost as if we already knew each other!  For me, the meetup was one of the highlights of the show.

As a bit of fun, fellow content creator Chris Sale asked anyone who turned up to the meetup some quick-fire questions.  I was there to film the responses so I thought you might enjoy watching peoples responses, including my own!

I hope you enjoyed that short video and you found some of the responses interesting or amusing!

If you want to see more work from the people featured in the video, just click on one of the images below.

Andrew Maguire

Chris Sale

David Dixon

Gareth Danks

Gary Norman

Jamie Overland

One Million Minutes

Milestones

It was only 13 months ago when I posted up a channel update video on my YouTube channel.  In the video, I was celebrating the fact that I had just reached 100 subscribers.  I was well chuffed!  Fast forward to now and I've reached two milestones that I didn't think I'd achieve.  Not only do I have more than 5000 subscribers now, but people have now watched over 1 million minutes of my content!

This totally blows my mind!  It's also very encouraging and inspires me to keep creating new videos.  To help celebrate these milestones I have created a quick thank you video which you can see below.  In the video, I also share with you some of my outtakes from my previous videos.  While you only see the final, edited version, you don't get to see how often I get it wrong.  I rarely get things right on the first take!

So thank you again for your support and enjoy the outtakes.

PS.  Now the spring has hopefully sprung I'll be back to creating blogs and vlogs of my landscape photography adventures.  :-)

Something Old, Something New

An Old Friend is a Best Friend

I have photographed the beach at Dawlish Warren a lot.  It's probably my most visited location.  Since I started this blog I've written about it several times and I'm made several videos for my YouTube channel there.  You can read why I keep going back and watch my latest video from there in my blog article Shoot, Print, Surprise! 

However, the more I photograph Dawlish Warren the better I get to know it.  As my knowledge of the location increases, I need to think less about where I am, freeing up my brain to focus on the creative and composition aspects of my photography.  Rather than repeat visits becoming boring they do in fact become more productive.  An old friend is indeed a best friend.

Something Old, Something Special

The trip to Dawlish Warren for this blog article was actually postponed several times due to poor weather.  It's not that you can't put the bad weather to good use.  Just have a look at my articles on Bad Weather Photography and Let's All #EmbraceTheGrey.  However, for this particular trip, the conditions needed to be a little more forgiving.  

My father-in-law, who is a keen amateur photographer, had managed to score himself a day out with a professional photographer as part of a magazine feature.  Fortunately for me, I was asked if I wanted to tag along.  I could do my own thing at each location, but I would also have the added benefit of some good company.  

After what felt like weeks of poor weather we finally got a break and we all met up at Dawlish Warren car park.  The conditions looked good and we all felt very positive.  In fact, it turned out to be one of the best mornings I've had at Dawlish Warren.

It was one of those mornings that you look forward to as a landscape photographer on the coast.  We were treated to some beautiful morning light, calm winds and a gentle sea.  It was one of those mornings where you think that if this is the only image I get today I'll be happy.

I took a number of images that morning using varying shutter speeds.  Here a couple of my favourites.

View fullsize

Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 @ 18mm, f/11, 3 seconds at ISO 64.

View fullsize

Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 @ 32mm, f/11, 8 seconds at ISO 64.

You can see how my father-in-law got on with his photographs by checking out this months issue of Digital SLR Magazine (April 2018).  

Something New

I'm not much of a daytime shooter.  I much prefer dawn and dusk than midday.  As we headed to Teignmouth to photograph the pier I had already decided that I probably wouldn't shoot it.  I've only photographed Teignmouth pier once before and while I liked the location, it was at dawn when the light was better.  I wasn't sure that shooting it during the day would suit my personal style.

When we got there about 11 am, it all looked a bit different than I had envisaged.  The sky had a good coverage of clouds and the outgoing tide was leaving some nice white lines in the sand as the waves pulled back.  So I thought stuff personal style and got the camera out!

View fullsize

Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 @ 19mm, f/11, 2 seconds at ISO 64.

View fullsize

Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 @ 19mm, f/11, 2 seconds at ISO 64.

As it turned out I would have missed out on creating some pleasing images if I had just left my camera in its bag.  Yes, I much prefer the light at dawn and dusk, but taking those images did show me that these aren't the only times I should be looking to take landscape images.  It appears it wasn't just my father-in-law that was learning something new that day!

So what are your favourite times of day to shoot?  Do you have a favourite local location?  What location have you discovered recently?  Let me know in the comments below.

The Best of the Rest

It was hard to pick just a couple of photographs to feature in this blog article.  So rather than leave the other images out of the blog, here they are in a gallery.  Enjoy!