Kilchurn Castle: A 5 Minute Photo Adventure (Special Edition)
In this blog post, I share with you the story, photographs and video of a near perfect morning at Kilchurn Castle on the banks of Loch Awe in Scotland.
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.
Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 VR at 50mm, 1/5th sec at ISO 64, f/11, Lee Filters Circular Polariser.
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
In this blog post, I share with you the story, photographs and video of my discovery of a great roadside location just off the M74 called Dalveen Pass.
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.
Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 VR at 62mm, f/11, 1/4 sec at ISO 64, Lee Filters Circular Polariser.
Nikon D850, Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR at 70mm, f/11, 1/30th sec at ISO 64
Friends, Failures and Being Frozen
In the blog this week I tell you about a trip to Brentor church with friends where the freezing weather resulted in a failed attempt at shooting a video on the D850!
Let's Go Back To Brentor
It's rare that I have a Saturday afternoon available for photography so when one did present itself a few weeks ago, I wasn't going to let it slip by. Even if the weather conditions weren't necessarily going to be great. Though the setting sun was in a direction that would give me good light on the church, the skies were going to be very clear. However, one of the things I've learnt over the years is to take some weather forecasts with a pinch of salt. But would I get an epic sunrise like I did on my last visit to Brentor?
Most of my trips out with the camera are a bit last minute. This makes it difficult to make arrangements to meet up with fellow photographers. So when friend and fellow photographer Andy Hobbs said he could join me on my trip to Dartmoor I was delighted to have the company.
Things I love About the D850
It's me doing some filming. A rare behind the scenes shot taken by Andy.
One of my goals of going to Brentor Chruch was to shot my video called 8 Things I Love About the Nikon D850. If you click on that link you'll see I have indeed published that video but you'll also see it certainly isn't filmed at Brentor.
My plan for Brentor was fairly straightforward. I would arrive a couple of hours before sunset, do some filming, and then capture a great sunset. What could go wrong?
When we arrived we found we had the best spot to shoot Brentor to ourselves. This is rare, especially for a Saturday. However, the skies were very clear and while this makes it all look very lovely, it is a bit of a nightmare for photography and for video because of the high contrast of bright and shadow areas. Then there was the cold. Brentor is notorious for being windy and cold.
When my hands were warm I was happy to double check the audio. Thanks again to Andy for the BTS shot.
The filming started off OK, and it was really great having Andy there to help out, but sometimes you just can't find your mojo. Maybe it was the strong light from the sun or just the cold wind, but it just seemed to take me an age to get into my stride.
While I managed to get all the scenes shot for the video, I, unfortunately, skipped a few steps that I would normally take to ensure certain things have worked correctly. When I later got home and went to edit the video I noticed that some of the clips shot towards the end had no audio. What probably had happened is that as I got colder I probably didn't rigorously check things after and it appeared that I had disconnected the mic from the audio recorder.
This failure to check my recordings, something I normally always do, resulted in the entire video shoot being scrubbed. To be honest, I also don't think it was my best time behind the camera so in some respects I was happy to shoot it again in a few days time at a different location.
The Photographs
Shooting that video was only half the purpose of the trip. Of course, I wanted to get some good landscape photographs as well. Unfortunately, the sunset wasn't the best I'd seen at Brentor, but we still got some nice light.
Filming was done, it was time to move onto capturing some still images. Thanks again to Andy for the BTS shot.
I took a couple of frames and I even tried out the focus shift feature of the D850 for the first time. I did a very rough focus stack in Photoshop, and while the image could do with a bit more finesse, it is clear the image has better sharpness from back to front than from the single frame.
Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 at 23mm, ISO 64, 1/13th sec at f/13 - single image
Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 at 21mm, ISO 64, 1/6th sec at f/4.6 - focus stacked
Despite the failed video and the lack of interest in the sky for the pictures, it was still time well spent out with the camera. It was great chatting with Andy and we had a great laugh. There might even be some funny video outtakes that I might publish one day!
So have you ever had things go wrong on a shoot? What's your worst disaster? Let me know in the comments below.
The Photography Show 2018 Community Meetup
In the blog this week I share with you a video that I created when I met up with people from the landscape photography YouTube community at The Photography Show!
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.
One Million Minutes
In the blog this week I celebrate some personal YouTube milestones, give you a channel update and share with you some outtakes from the channel.
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
In the blog this week I get something new from one of my favourite locations, Dawlish Warren beach on the south Devon coast. I also visit Teignmouth Pier and discover that good photographs don't have to be taken during the golden hours.
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.
Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 @ 18mm, f/11, 3 seconds at ISO 64.
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!
Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 @ 19mm, f/11, 2 seconds at ISO 64.
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!
Lee Filters Little Stopper vs 6 Stop ProGlass IRND
In this blog post, I look at the differences between Lee Filters Little Stopper and their 6 stop ProGlass IRND. They are both 6 stop neutral density filters so what are the differences and which one should you buy?
Lee Filters
I'll be upfront with you. Ever since I bought my first filter set in 2007 (when I had a Nikon D80), I've only ever bought filters from Lee Filters. When I first started looking for a filter system, everything I read said that Lee Filters were the best. Pricey, but the best.
Over the years I've built up a reasonable size collection of filters from Lee. Up until now the only filter I have replaced was the original circular polariser for the new, slightly thinner landscape circular polariser. I've never had to replace a filter because of a fault and I still use the filters that I originally bought in 2007. So if you are looking for a comparison to filters from other manufacturers, I'm afraid this isn't it.
Goodbye Little Stopper and Big Stopper
With all that said I have just sold both my Little Stopper (6 stop ND) and Big Stopper (10 stop ND). These are filters I have used a LOT. So did I not need them anymore or did I buy ND filters from a different manufacturer? Of course not! All I have done is simply replace them with 6 stop and 10 stop ProGlass IRND filters from Lee Filters.
Apart from being more expensive than their Stopper equivalents how do these ProGlass IRND filters differ? Should you sell your Stopper filters and replace them? Do you need both Stopper and ProGlass IRND filters? In the video below I aim to answer all those questions!
Hello ProGlass IRND
As you'll have seen in the video my conclusions about whether these new ProGlass IRND filters are a must buy aren't clear-cut. It's difficult to give a general conclusion as everyone's needs and budgets are different. The fact that the ProGlass IRND filters don't actually replace the Stopper range also adds a little complexity to the decision.
So all I can really do is talk about my own decision to sell my Stopper filters and buy the ProGlass IRND filters. For me, it has very much been money well spent. I particularly like the lack of colour cast and vignetting. While both these can be corrected or enhanced in post-processing, I much prefer seeing a more neutral/accurate representation of the scene on the back of the camera at the time of capture. I also like the fact that calculated exposure times are far more accurate.
So have you bought any of the new ProGlass IRND filters? Would you consider replacing your Stopper filters? Do you use something other than Lee Filters? Let me know in the comments below.
Comparison Photographs
Here are the images from the video should you wish to take a closer look.
60 Second exposure with the Little Stopper. Unprocessed.
60 Second exposure with the 6 Stop IRND. Unprocessed.
60 Second exposure with the Little Stopper. Processed
60 Second exposure with the 6 Stop IRND Processed.
8 Things I Love About the Nikon D850
In my latest blog and video, I tell you what the 7 things are that I love most about the Nikon D850 and share with you some of my favourite photographs that I've taken with this amazing full frame DSLR over the last 6 months.
A 6 Month Review of the Nikon D850
It was 6 months ago to the day when I received my much anticipated Nikon D850. I was one of the lucky ones as demand for Nikon's latest DSLR was very high with most retailers selling out in advance of stock delivery.
Not one to keep the excitement buried though, I shared my initial impressions of the camera in the in the video: Nikon D850 Exposed - Unboxing, Capture, Process and Print. It wasn't long before the follow-up video On Location with the Nikon D850: Froward Point was also published.
Since then I've been putting the Nikon D850 to good use. With the exception of the photographs captured in the article Shoot, Print, Surprise!, the D850 has been with me on all my photographic adventures.
So now that I've had the camera 6 months I thought I'd create a quick video to tell you what my favourite features of this amazing DSLR are. Want to know what they are? Well, check out the video below.
As I said in the video, the Nikon D850 doesn't necessarily make me a better photographer (just read my article Shoot, Print, Surprise!), but it does make the process of capturing images a little easier. Now that I have it, I wouldn't be without it. Well, not until the next model is released anyway!
Which camera do you shoot with and what is your favourite feature? Let me know in the comments below.
My Favourite D850 Images... So Far...
Shoot, Print, Surprise!
In this blog I head to Dawlish Warren to shoot a video I'm calling Shoot, Print, Surprise! But what is the surprise? Well, you'll just have the watch the video to find out!
Back at Dawlish Warren
In my latest video, I headed to Dawlish Warren to shoot some dawn seascapes. For those of you who have been following my blog for a while now, you may well be wondering if that is the only location I've ever photographed! I admit it though, I do like going there to capture images.
There are two good reasons for this. Firstly, it's close to home for me. This means that during the winter months when my time is particularly short, it's nice and easy for me to get to. It also offers a variety of different compositions to suit different conditions. With 15 or so groynes of different styles, and long beach it works well with both high and low tides. So, you can virtually go there in any conditions and get an interesting image.
I've mapped out the 15 groynes in a custom google map. It's still a work in progress, but the custom map also has recent images of each groyne so you can see what they look like before you get there. You can view the map here, and you can see how to make your own map here.
Shoot, Print, Surprise!
So back to the topic of the video. Well, the title should give you a good idea of what the video is about. In the video, I head out to Dawlish Warren to capture some dawn seascape images and then I head home to print some of them off. But what is the surprise? Well, you'll just have to watch the video to find out!
Well, I do hope you enjoyed that video, and of course the surprise element. Did you enjoy the surprise? What are your thoughts on the surprise topic? Let me know in the comments below.
The Photographs
As always here are the photographs that were featured in the video.
Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4 @ 34 mm, f/11, 57 seconds at ISO 100, Lee Filters Circular Polariser, ND grad and 3 stop IRND.
Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4 @ 24 mm, f/11, 1.3 seconds at ISO 100, Lee Filters Circular Polariser, and ND grad.
Seascapes by Neil Burnell - Kozu Books - Landscape Editions Volume 11 - On My Bookshelf S01E04
In the latest episode of On My Bookshelf, I take a look a book called Seascapes, a collection of fine art long exposure images by Neil Burnell. Should this book have a place on your bookshelf?
Great Things Can Come In Small Packages
I've been following the work of Neil Burnell for some time now. Not only does he shoot my local area but the images he creates from these locations are simply stunning. I like to shoot long exposure images myself, but the fine art long exposure images that he creates are another level altogether.
So when I found out that Neil was doing a 2nd edition of his very popular Seascapes book, I ordered one immediately. When this small, but perfectly formed book arrived, I was instantly captivated by how good the images looked in print. I knew I had a book packed full of inspirational photographs.
But is this a book for you? Well, let's take a look.
I do hope you enjoyed this episode of On My Bookshelf and if you want to pick up a copy of this fantastic book then you can buy directly from Kozu Books by clicking here.
But be warned this is a limited edition book so you'll need to hurry! If you do miss out you can check out Neil's work and see all his social media links on his website.
Photographing The Cobb in Dorset: A 5 Minute Photo Adventure
In the blog this week I head to Lyme Regis in Dorset to photograph The Cobb. You can also watch one of my 5 Minute Photo Adventure videos so you can see how I captured the images featured in this blog.
Finally...A Break in the Weather
After what feels like an age, the weather forecasts finally started to show some better weather. January had been a challenging month for my photography. It was the normal combination of lack of time and poor weather, that resulted in not a lot of photography. For anyone who has read my blog for long enough, you'll know that January has historically always been a challenge for me.
It's not just the photography I've been missing, but also going out there and creating new videos for my YouTube channel.
Off to The Cobb
One of the locations that I've always wanted to make a video from is The Cobb in Lyme Regis. It's one of my favourite locations to shoot coastal images. I did actually try and make a video there last year, but I failed to prepare my gear properly. You can read all about that trip here.
So when the weather, and importantly the tide looked good for a dawn shoot at The Cobb I was super excited to finally make one of my 5 Minute Photo Adventure videos there. Here is the result:
I do hope you enjoyed that video and it has inspired you to photograph The Cobb. It's such a great location to photograph if you like shooting seascapes. Just remember to get there early in the morning (it can get busy with photographers), and watch out for those crashing waves!
Have you photographed The Cobb before? What is your favourite coastal location? Let me know in the comments below.
The Photographs
Here are the photographs you saw in the video, plus a couple of extras.
Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 @ 19mm, f/13, 2.5 seconds at ISO 64, Lee Filters Circular Polariser and ND Grad.
Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 @ 22mm, f/11, 1/8th second at ISO 64, Lee Filters Circular Polariser and ND Grad.
Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 VR @ 65mm, f/8, 60 seconds at ISO 64, Lee Filters Circular Polariser.
And finally...
Just a word of caution when visiting The Cobb...
Obama - An Intimate Portrait by Pete Souza - On My Bookshelf S01E03
In this episode of On My Bookshelf, I take a look at something a little different with Obama: An Intimate Portrait by Pete Souza.
Something a Little Different
In previous episodes of On My Bookshelf, I looked at 5 Great Landscape Photography Books and Masters of Landscape Photography. This time though I'm looking a photography book that has nothing to do with landscape photography. Obama: An Intimate Portrait by Pete Souza is a collection of photographs taken by the chief Whitehouse photographer of Barack Obama over his 8 years as US President.
So why as a landscape photographer would I be interested in such a book? Well as much as I love landscape photography I'm also a fan of photography and it's many different genres. While I'm not big on politics, US or otherwise, I got this book because of the amazing photographs inside it. They are powerful, thought-provoking, and sometimes humorous. More than that though it's a great example of the power of the photograph and of a photographer at the top of his game.
Let's take a look:
Though this book wasn't on landscape photography, I do hope you managed to look past the title (especially if you're not a fan of politics and/or Obama) and you saw that this book was really a collection of amazing portraits by a very talented photographer. I also think we can all learn to improve our own photography by looking at the work of others, even if their genre of photography is completely different.
Do you have any non-landscape photography books on your bookshelf? Who is your favourite non-landscape photographer? Let me know in the comments below.
How I Post Process My Landscape Images in Lightroom
In the blog this week I share a video on how I post process my landscape images using Adobe Lightroom.
As Requested!
Over the last few months, an increasing number of my YouTube followers have asked about my post-processing technique and would I do a video on the subject. Well, I finally found a suitable gap in my schedule to create a post-processing video and you can watch it right here:
As I said in the video, what I do is not necessarily the right way or the only way to do post-processing, it's just the way I do. Hopefully, even if you already know Lightroom you might have picked up on something new that you didn't know about.
Anyway, just a really short blog post from this week. I just wanted to share that video.
Are you interested in how I backup my data? Would you like to know how I manage my Lightroom catalogue? Let me know in the comments below.
30 Minutes at Great Mis Tor
In the blog this week I head to Great Mis Tor to capture some snow landscape images of Dartmoor. The trouble was I only had 30 minutes to do it!
Tight Timelines
When my friend, who also happens to be a photographer, called me to tell me snow was forecast for Dartmoor and would I like to join him on a morning shoot, I just had to say yes. What better way to start the day than a quick hike up to Great Mis Tor to capture some morning light, and hopefully a little snow.
As is sometimes the way, the timing of this too good miss offer wasn't great. I had commitments that morning that I could not miss. So I decided to work out all the timings to see I could fit it all in.
I would need to get up at 05:30 to meet my friend at 06:30. It would then be a short drive of about 20 minutes to get to the car park near the start of the walk. It's then about another 20 to 30-minute walk up to Great Mis Tor.
Sunrise was going to be about 08:04, and I would need to be back in the car no later than 09:00. It was going tight that was for sure!
Beautiful Dartmoor
On the morning of the shoot, things started off as expected. We started our walk up to Great Mis Tor with great enthusiasm and chat about the recent Star Wars film and the lack of Game of Thrones in 2018. As we walked up there was a distinct lack of snow, but as we approached Great Mis Tor we found the ground covered with a light dusting of snow. It looked beautiful.
I'd never been to Great Mis Tor before and I surprised by how large an area it was. With only about 15 to 20 minutes before sunrise, I was going to have to work fast to work out what compositions I was going to shoot. I could spot different weather conditions all around me so I also knew things could and probably would change rapidly.
Go Go Go!
After a little scout about, the action started fairly quickly. I was mostly relying on my instincts as I went from spot to spot capturing images. I was glad that I was well versed in the workings of the D850 so I was able to setup and shoot with the camera with ease, allowing me to concentrate on compositions.
As predicted the weather and conditions changed rapidly. We had everything from pink clouds to snow showers to beautiful light on the surrounding hills. It was fun and exciting, but hard work. Here are the photos that I captured:
In retrospect, I wasn't able to make the most of my time there and I perhaps could have captured stronger images. It was always going to be a challenge though given the amount of time I had there, and my lack of experience with the location (and it's many viewpoints). Did I regret my visit? Of course not!
There is almost always something to be gained from a trip out with the camera. Firstly I got to visit a new location. Great Mis Tor is definitely a location I will photograph again. It was also great being up on Dartmoor. A walk on Dartmoor is always a special thing, but when it snows it can be magical. (If you want to see what I mean check out my vlog from Belstone Common). And finally, it was great to have the opportunity to catch up with a friend. Overall, time well spent in my opinion!
So have you had the chance to shoot any snowy landscapes this year? Do you take every opportunity to squeeze in time with the camera? 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
First Shoot of 2018: Colmer's Hill
In the blog this week I head out to Colmer's Hill in Dorset for my first shoot of 2018. With fog forecast, would I get the shot from that location that I'd always wanted?
Getting Back into Gear
Landscape photography in January can always be a bit of a hit or a miss but after a two-week break from photography, I was itching to get out again. I had been editing my Winter Solstice Adventure video over the festive period and despite the obvious ups and downs of that day, it had inspired me to get back out with the camera as soon as possible.
During winter my ability to get out with the camera is limited and for the first weekend of January, I only had the possibility of getting out on Saturday morning. Typically though, the weather across the south-west was dubious. To get any decent conditions I would have to travel further than I had time for, and depending on where you looked, the local forecast was everything from blue skies to fog on Dartmoor.
Though I couldn't get a concrete forecast for the Bridport area, there was a chance that fog would be there first thing in the morning so I decided to take a risk and head out to Colmer's Hill. I'd always wanted to capture the peak of Colmer's Hill poking out from mist covered landscape. Maybe this would be the morning!
At Colmer's Hill
An early morning shot from my normal dawn spot. The light wasn't great.
I've photographed Colmer's Hill a number of times now. You can read about some of my previous visits, here, here, and here. With a vision of photographing the hill in fog or mist, I headed straight for the viewpoint at the bottom of Quarry Hill. This lower elevation viewpoint places the top of the hill just above the horizon making it ideal for the type of shot I wanted.
Once there, there wasn't much in the way of low lying fog, but there was still enough interest in the sky to potentially make a good image. It soon became apparent though that light from the rising sun would be slightly later than the documented sunrise time due to a large bank of cloud. So as I was waiting, getting colder, I looked to my left and noticed the hill Eype Down.
Same Location, Different View
A slightly different viewpoint, but still terrible light!
I had originally become aware of this viewpoint when reading Mark Bauer's excellent book Photographing Dorset. So rather than stay where I was and get a shot similar to some of my previous efforts, I decided to grab my bag and tripod, and head to the viewpoint in Mark's book.
It was interesting to see Colmer's Hill from a slightly different angle. Unfortunately, the conditions hadn't improved much, and direct sunlight hadn't made an appearance, but at least I had checked out another viewpoint of one of my favourite locations in Dorset.
Practising Perfect Panoramas
If you watched my recent video, Developing a Passion for Printing, you'll have seen me print a panoramic image of Glencoe. In the video, I also promised myself that I would attempt to take more panoramic images. Though I had learned more about the technique while on a workshop in Glencoe, I was still a long way from being proficient at creating them. So as the conditions weren't ideal for the photograph I was hoping to make, I decided to practice my panoramic technique.
Nikon D850, Nikkor 70-200 mm f/2.8 at 110mm, ISO 64, 1/80th second at f/8. The light was better when I took this image, but my composition options were limited by a line of trees just below the edge of the frame.
Don't Leave Too Early!
After getting a couple of shots from my new viewpoint and practicing my panoramic technique I decided to give up and head home. It was nearly 9 am and I didn't think I was going to get any decent light at this stage. Just as I packed my tripod up and started to head down the hill, I started to see some nice light on the side of Colmer's Hill.
It was spectacular light, not by a long shot, but better than I had seen all morning. I quickly ran back up the hill and set my camera up again. Fortunately, I hadn't need to use filters all that morning so it didn't take too long to get back to a shooting configuration.
Nikon D850, Nikkor 70-200 mm f/2.8 at 1145mm, ISO 64, 1/50th second at f/8. Better light for this shot, but still nothing to get excited about.
While those images were only marginally better, it did remind not to leave a location until you are really, really sure you're not going to miss anything!
So how has your photography been in 2018 so far? Have you ever left a location a little to early and regretted it? Let me know in the comments below.
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.
Winter Solstice Adventure
In the blog this week I share with you the highs and lows of landscape photography as I head out on winter solstice to capture some images.
The Longest Shortest Day
Back in June of 2017, I headed out with the camera to create some landscape images on the summer solstice. You can see the images I created that day along with the video I made by clicking here.
I really enjoyed that day so I knew that when winter solstice came along in December I was going to spend the day out with the camera. Being the shortest day of the year it shouldn't have been nearly as tiring as the summer solstice.
Unfortunately when winter solstice did come around the weather was grey and overcast. I had checked the weather forecast the night before and had planned my locations to suit the weather. I'm all for "embracing the grey", but a full day might well be a challenge too far even for me!
As with summer solstice, I spent the day capturing images and filming my experiences. It was definitely a tough day. Maybe I was tired, maybe I was feeling challenged, but one thing is for sure, it sure did feel like a long day. However, saying all that I did have some great experiences, and if you watch all the video you'll see something special happen right at the end.
Enjoy!
A Winter Solstice Gallery
As always I do hope you enjoyed watching my adventures. I tried to make the most of the weather conditions and the images I took that day both reflect my varying moods and the conditions I had to work with.
You'll have seen these images in the video, but here they are again in case you want a closer look.
Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4 VR at 19 mm, 180 seconds at ISO 64, f/11, Lee Filters circular polariser and Big Stopper.
Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4 VR at 19 mm, 180 seconds at ISO 64, f/11, Lee Filters circular polariser, ND grad and Big Stopper.
Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4 VR at 18 mm, 180 seconds at ISO 64, f/13, Lee Filters circular polariser, ND grad and Big Stopper.
Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4 VR at 18 mm, 8 seconds at ISO 64, f/13, Lee Filters circular polariser, ND grad and Little Stopper.
Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4 VR at 17 mm, 4.8 seconds at ISO 64, f/13, Lee Filters circular polariser, ND grad and Little Stopper.
Well, I do hope you enjoyed those images and my winter solstice video. Did you head out for winter solstice? Have you had days where landscape photography has been both a joy and a drag? Let me know in the comments below.
My 5 Favourite Images of 2017 and How to Find Yours
In the blog this week I take a look at my 5 favourite images from 2017. I also tell you why you should find your 5 favourites and show you how.
The How and Why
At the end of each year, I like to look back at the photographs I have taken. This reminds me not only that I had some challenges with my photography, but also that I had some successes. By putting these successful photographs into an annual collection it helps focus my mind for the following year and gives me plenty of inspiration and encouragement.
In the video below I share with you the process of how I select my 5 favourite images so that you can do the same.
My 5 Favourite Images of 2017
As with my image review from last year, this review has given me a lot of inspiration to take through into 2018. I went out over 50 times with the camera in 2017 and drove over 6000 miles, and it was great to see all that effort wasn't wasted!
So which one of my 5 images was your favourite? Have you gone through a similar process as well? Let me know in the comments below.
A Day Out in Dorset
In this blog post, I tell you about the day I spent photographing some of Dorset's finest coastal locations.
Dorset
Though Dorset is the county next door to where I live, I really don't spend enough time there photographing it. I do love to shoot The Cobb in Lyme Regis, and I have been known to photograph Colmer's Hill on the odd occasion, but I really should spend more time in Dorset exploring further afield.
So when my friends over at Dawn 2 Dusk Photography announced that they were running a special long exposure one day workshop in Dorset, I signed up immediately. It sounded so good that I even convinced my father-in-law to dust off his camera and join me.
I've written about the advantages of attending workshops before when I attended another Dawn 2 Dusk workshop in Glencoe earlier this year. This one would be no different. There would be some excellent tuition on hand, it would be well organised, there's always a great bunch of photographers to get to know, and we would, of course, visit some of Dorset's most iconic coastal locations.
West Lulworth
As the workshop wouldn't start until 9 am in Swanage, I thought I would try and make the most of the day by fitting in a nearby dawn shoot. As sunrise was relatively late on I couldn't be too far away from Swanage, so I decided to go West Lulworth and try my hand at shooting Lulworth Cove.
I will need to explore the cove in more detail if I'm to get the shot I'm looking for.
Upon arriving at West Lulworth it soon became apparent that shooting the cove in its entirety wasn't going to be as easy as I thought it might be. From my shooting location along the western edge of the cove, even with a 16mm lens, I wasn't able to find a spot from where I could get everything in that I wanted. Obviously, this would be a location that I would need to revisit when I had more time to explore.
I did find a nice composition down at the shoreline of the cove though. While I like the composition of the photo below, I think it lacks good light and a bit of colour from the rising sun. The sky was very clear that morning except the point where the sun was rising where there was a blanket of cloud. By the time the sun was rising above the cloud I really had to make a move to Swanage or I'd be late for the start of the workshop!
Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 at 22mm, f/11, 25 secs at ISO 64, Lee Filters circular polariser.
Swanage
After the workshop briefing at 9 am, some witty banter, and some much-needed coffee, the workshop group headed out to photograph both the new pier and old pier at Swanage. Unfortunately, I was unable to make the most out of these locations. Though I got some excellent advice on how to shoot the old pier, I found the clear blue skies not to my taste and I didn't really get any images that I was happy with.
However, getting great images from every location isn't my goal, nor is it ever realistic. I did, however, leave happy knowing that I'd learnt something about composition (there's always something to learn about composition) and that I'd enjoyed meeting some new people.
We then moved down onto the beach where we had the opportunity to shoot some groynes, and banjo jetty (which I have shot before). On the advice of one of the instructors, I headed further down the beach to photograph one of the groyne markers beside a small river that fed into the sea. This was a good shout as I managed to get my first good image of the day. It would have been unlikely that I would have found this spot myself so this was another bonus of being on the workshop.
Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 at 17mm, f/11, 390 secs at ISO 64, Lee Filters Super Stopper.
Kimmeridge
We then all moved onto Kimmeridge where we had a quick picnic lunch and a bit more chat. I had visited Kimmeridge before on a workshop but it was the middle of the day with clear skies so I was really hoping that this visit would be different. There was some cloud in the distant sky and with sunset only a couple of hours away, I was hoping my luck would be in.
As it turned out we didn't get much in the way of action in the sky, but we did get some really nice spots of light on the rocky shore. I've always thought the rocky shore at Kimmeridge was interesting, but the addition of some interesting lighting really got me thinking about the possibilities at this location.
These are two of my favourite shots of the afternoon. I really like the composition, the textures and patterns on the rock, and just a hint of light from the setting sun. These could have been amazing shots if there had been some more interest in the sky. But let's face it, us landscape photographers are rarely completely happy with the conditions!
Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 at 26mm, f/11, 90 secs at ISO 64, Lee Filters circular polariser and Big Stopper.
Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 at 21mm, f/13, 30 secs at ISO 64, Lee Filters circular polariser and Little Stopper.
Afterwards, we walked back along the beach to another really interesting spot. In this image you'll see how the rocky ledge creates a nice leading line through the image. It was late on when I took this image so there was very little in the way of light. However, I think with a good sky those pools of water could provide some really interesting reflections.
Overall both myself and my father-in-law had a great time. Though I struggled to create images that I was satisfied within the morning, the two images I created at Kimmeridge more than made up for it. I also picked up some useful compositional tips and, as always, I really enjoyed the social element of the workshop.
Anytime anyone asks me about workshops I always recommend Dawn 2 Dusk Photography, and attending their Dorset long exposure one day workshop is yet another reason why that recommendation remains.
So what are your favourite Dorset locations? Have you been on any workshops recently? Let me know in the comments below.