Fighting my photographic rut

How do you get out of a funk?  How do you rekindle your mind, get things back into perspective and get back to enjoying what you are doing?

These are some questions I have been asking myself recently with regards to my photography.  I can’t really explain where it has come from or why it is here sitting on top of me.  As I think more about it I think it might have crept in a couple of weeks ago when I came back from Piha after an evening sunset shoot.  That particular day did not provide anything to really write home about picture wise, the sky had been semi co-operative and I just remember leaving the beach feeling a touch deflated. 

Now don’t get me wrong, I understand that when you are shooting landscapes you are not going to hit a home run every time you are out there.  Sometimes there will be occasions when nature will just not play ball and you will strike out.  That’s the nature of the game and I understand and appreciate that.

With all this in mind I still felt a bit bummed, I got home and edited the pictures and duly posted one to my Facebook page even though I knew deep down that it wasn’t the best picture in the world.  I felt compelled to put it up, anything up because if I didn’t than what was the point in the trip to the beach, this is what was going through my head.

It’s now been a good week since I posted that particular picture and I have had more time to think about what was going on inside me.  I have definitely been in a funk with my photography and I am really surprised because I feel like it came out of nowhere and just blind sided me.   Perhaps it is coming down off the high of being on holiday and being surrounded by amazing sights that holidays bring, or maybe it is simply feeling stale from the beaches I have been visiting.  I think I have a better idea though of where it has come from.

I think for a time now I have lost sight of why I am taking these pictures in the first place.  I have been caught up in the wrap of my social media platforms and what they entail.  I think I have felt that I need to be producing pictures that generate massive responses and likes.  I have been consumed by trying to please everyone around me and I think that has translated through to my pictures and process.  I have forgotten that the whole reason I started doing this was for my own personal enjoyment. 

In this day and age it is something that can be forgotten, why we do things.  There is so much going on out there photographically and subconsciously I have become afraid that I am not cutting through all the noise.  I have become worried that my pictures will be judged harshly and people won’t like them.  I know this may sound like a craven attempt for attention (which it isn’t) but sometimes I feel one needs to process through their thoughts, lay them out and for me doing it in this way has helped me to step back and take stock of why I am actually taking pictures in the first place.

On Sunday I took a walk with the most important person in the world along a random little beach near home.  I’d never been there before and my mind came alive, I saw all these potential pictures and compositions and for the first time in a little while I felt that sparkle coming back.

Sometimes I need to remember that this is something I am doing for my enjoyment and pleasure, if other people get some form of joy from it as well that is awesome but that fact should always be a by-product and not a driving force.  When you put your work out there into the world you are exposing yourself to all forms of reaction, but that fact should not be crippling or create a negative feeling in your own head.  We all question whether we are good enough at our chosen hobbies/jobs/past times and that is only natural but we should never let that self-doubt rule us or creep into our work, especially if it is something that we enjoy.

So here is to climbing up out of that rut and getting back to enjoying it for me and if others get joy along the way sweet as….. but it’s not going to be the priority.

Keep all your pictures and shoot RAW - you just never know!

I have often heard people say “keep all your pictures, you never know…” or something along those lines and probably a lot more eloquently put than that!  Until I started to take my photography more seriously I didn’t realize the value of that statement.

I mean I have folders of pictures from uni days and so on so I have always been in the habit of keeping pictures – that or I am too lazy to sort them haha.  But seriously I think I find it very hard to delete pictures because they are moments of time that have been snatched from life and immortalized and I think that is kinda cool.

But there is an even more significant reason I think for keeping your pictures – especially if you shoot them in RAW format.  Photography is a journey where you are constantly learning new things, picking up new tricks and, in this digital world, where new and wonderful software is constantly arriving to give us options and new ways to express our creativity.

Couple this with RAW files and you have a library of light that you can constantly return to - old pictures can be reworked and brought to life in new and exciting ways that you weren’t even thinking about when you took the picture!  I think shooting in RAW is crucial to this process as it lets you keep a file that you can work and rework to death, safe in the knowledge that you are not degrading the file or that light information in anyway.  I heard Trey Ratcliff say that jpegs are like little wafers of light where as RAWs are like huge wedges of light that can be molded, information extracted and sculpted in a diverse number of ways and he is spot on.

Take a look at the examples below, both shots look fine in their original form and I was really happy with them when I took them and processed them the first time round.  Since then I have learned a whole lot more though about post processing and it is really fun to go back and take these older shots and breathe new life into them through new techniques that I have learned along the way.

Narrow neck sunrise - taken and edited March 2014

Same shot as above, this time edited a week ago (November 2014)

Since then I have learned a whole lot more though about post processing and it is really fun to go back and take these older shots and breathe new life into them through new techniques that I have learned along the way.

Maori Bay Muriwai - taken and edited February 2014

Same shot re-edited August 2014 - love the sky effect I learnt for this one!

Keep your pictures, all of them, you never know when you will want to revisit them. And shoot in RAW - RAW is not scary!  Sure it’s weird to down load files onto the computer for the first time and see blank white files, soon though you’ll recognize those files as little white blank canvases with a treasure trove of information waiting to be unlocked and transformed by your own artistic visions.  That vision can change and it will but that is natural and it is really cool to know you have a stack of files to go back through and re-work till your heart is content!!

That one picture you were never sure about could become one of your most favorite, so make sure you keep them all.

Landscapes - Learn from your errors

Landscape photography can be a frustrating medium to pursue.  There can be days when you get out there and the light you thought was going to be there just doesn’t eventuate.  You can wake up at the crack of dawn full of anticipation for a glorious and fiery dawn only to get skunked when miserable grey clouds close in and squash the life outta the sky and your dream photo.  Nature can be a very fickle thing, especially when you are relying on it to provide you with the light and drama you need to really get a picture that pops and you can be really happy with.  For me though that is part of the joy or challenge. 

There are times, however, when you skunk yourself.  I did that a few days ago when I was out at Karekare hoping to catch a sunset.  Let me set the scene for you.  heading home I was keeping an eye on the clouds and in the time the journey took I was suitably convinced I needed to be out on one of the beaches for sunset because it was going to be immaculate!  So I packed up and headed to Karekare and set about exploring different compositions that you see below.

18mm; ISO 100; f/22; 1/10sec

Now don’t get me wrong I am pretty happy with how these have turned out, I think there are some solid shots here but this is where it gets tricky and when landscape shooting can be a frustration.

18mm; ISO 100; f/22; 1/10sec

As the evening was progressing I was keeping an eye on how the clouds were stacking out on the horizon line.  They were forming a pretty formidable looking wall and I figured that the chances of getting the really dramatic sky I had initially hoped for was getting slimmer by the minute.   As the sun dipped in behind them and out of sight the color drained out of the sky so I packed my gear and started to head back to the car pretty satisfied I had come away with some cool shots.

18mm; ISO 100; f/22; 1/3sec

Now the car park at Karekare is a good 10 minute walk from the beach, at least with the route I took, and it was about three quarters of the way back there that I turned and looked back at where I had been……. my heart dropped.  You guessed it, the sky was on fire, the clouds tinged with deep reds and purples and pinks!!!  I couldn’t believe it.  Here I was almost at the car and the show I had turned up to capture was going on all around me.

I learnt a really valuable lesson that evening.  Landscape photography is all about being out there and giving yourself the chance to capture that great light on a stunning scene.  I had got out there, put myself in the thick of it and given myself the chance but let it slip by when I called it wrong.  Sure I could say “the clouds looked like they were there to ruin the show” or something like that, but in actual fact I should have just stayed out there till the end.

Nature cannot be predicted, we all know this yet sometimes we think we can call a situation and know better – sure there are times we may be spot on – but what I do know now is that if I’m going to get out there and give myself a chance I’m going to make the most of my time out there and stay to the end.

We live in such a manic fast paced world and part of what attracts about landscape photography is it is a slow process where you are afforded the luxury of taking you time to get prepared for when the good light hits.

Stick it out till the end, even if it looks like a dud, because you never know what will happen – I sure was pleasantly surprised when this is how an evening in late April after looking like a dead fizzer.  I need to remember this day when I’m out there… 10 minutes longer can potentially result in pure beauty.

18mm; ISO 100; f/22; 1.6sec

Getting back out to the West Coast

Hey interwebs!  So it’s been a while since I posted on here and I have decided this needs remedying!  I am going forward now and making a real effort to get more of my thoughts, ideas and general view point on things out there and try and make it a weekly occurrence starting today.  Hope you’ll come along!

Two weekends back I did something I haven’t done in a while.  I chucked the camera bag and tripod into the car and headed off to the west coast beaches - last spring/summer I spent a lot of time out at Muriwai working on my landscape photography and really enjoyed it.  Then life got hectic, open homes followed by auctions, followed by pouring over mortgage and sale documents!  Fun times, which ended in the purchase of our house.

With all that behind us and some hunkering down over winter and a holiday back to Africa my work on the west coast slipped into the back ground.  Now that spring is here and with it some more favorable weather I figured it was time to head back out there, especially seeing as we now reside in West Auckland and are that much closer to some of its’ gorgeous beaches.

With all this mind I headed to Piha, a beach I have not been to as much as I probably should have been as an Aucklander I will admit, with the plan of getting re-acquainted with the tripod and my landscape side.

Lion Rock at Piha - 18mm; ISO 100; f/22; 1/15sec 

It is amazing how quickly things come back to you once you are out there again!  This first shot I took maybe 3 paces out of the car park!  Maybe you don’t need to go half way round the world to get pictures you are happy with, sometimes 20 minutes down the road can do the trick.

It felt really good to be back out on these black sand beaches, just wondering around with an empty mind listening to the waves and taking in the scenery.  I felt really relaxed and I think that calm feeling really comes through in these pictures.  What I also found was that by taking a break my eyes came back refreshed (if that is even possible??) and this really helped me picking out, what I felt, were interesting subjects.

Piha Pool - 18mm; ISO100; f/22; 1/8sec

I feel completely re-invigorated to explore more of the different beaches around here now and see how I can capture them photographically.  I look forward to sharing the experiences and pictures with you all over the coming months!

Thanks for stopping by!

The Joy an Animal Brings

Ever since we came back from Africa I have been looking at this group of photos and trying to understand the feelings that I have about them and that I had while making these pictures, those moments in the bush in the presence of this animal.

Click to view it larger (I recommend it!)

I love going to the bush and on game drives.  The wide open spaces and an absence of the daily hustle and bustle is very soothing and really helps me unwind and just completely switch off.  At the same time I feel this edge, an excitement for what the day potentially has in store.  I always want to come away from a trip to the bush having seen cats.  Big cats hold such an aura and being around them can be a truly intoxicating experience.  Recently, for reasons I cannot quite explain, I have had a growing fascination with Africa’s large predators.  Maybe it is because I now live in New Zealand and my opportunities to get out and see them in their natural habitats are limited to once every year or two….. I’m not entirely sure, all I knew was that when we were in Kruger over September I wanted to see cats, hopefully lions but top of the list was leopards.

For three days we had no success.  Saw lots of spoor and sign but no physical sightings.  I know that these kind of things are down to chance, being in the right place at the right time and a good dose of luck.  It is nature and it dances to its’ own beat and I get that so by the time our last full day arrived I had come to terms with the fact we probably wouldn’t get lucky this time and I was ok with that.  These animals are so so elusive and nothing is set in stone on a safari.

We spent our last morning on a game drive with a guide out of Nkambeni Tented camp called Clayton.  He had mentioned the day before he’d almost seen the full crazy eight, only missing out on Wild Dogs. That means he saw Buffalo, Elephant, Hyena, Cheetah, Lion and Leopard all in one day!!  Luck obviously traveled with this guy, that morning we saw Hyena and had a fleeting glimpse of lion.  The best was saved for last though.

On a lonely bush track, in the midday heat and only about two or so kilometers from the Numbi gate we came across this gorgeous leopardess completely at ease.

I remember feeling elated, we’d found probably one of the most difficult animals in the bush to find – certainly the most difficult of the big cats and here we were perched no more than 15 meters from her tree.  The next little while was a blur as I clicked away rapidly and fiddled with settings and dials to make sure I could record this moment.

I then remember feeling completely overwhelmed.  I was feeling that intoxication I alluded to earlier, it totally consumed me and to be perfectly frank I felt like I was almost on the verge of tears.  They were not sad tears just tears of utter joy.  Joy to be able to share the same space as this incredible, incredible animal.

 

Click to view it larger (I recommend it!)

Reflecting back on it now I think all that emotion stems from the realization of how lucky I was to be in that situation.  I know that there are many people in the world who dream of being in a scenario just like that but sadly can never be so and that is why I love photography because I can record that moment in time and preserve it and then share it with whomever wishes to look.  That is a truly wonderful thing and something I do not take lightly.  These animals are so precious and it would be such a sad state of affairs if we could no longer venture out there and be consumed by their intoxicating beauty and elegance.

As if to emphasis how lucky we had been, the following morning we took one last brief drive through the park and a leopard (possibly the same one as this was not all that far from the tree we saw the leopard in the previous day) slipped through the scrub near the road and melted away…. A tantalizing tease that said “come back again some time, you might get lucky again and see one of us”

Click to view it larger (I recommend it!)

Africa Calling - Learning from the first trip.

In 2012 I headed back to Africa to visit my parents.  This was also the first time my partner had been to Africa so we decided to really make a trip of it and visit East Africa, spend time in the Masai Mara and Serengeti and then self drive ourselves through some of Southern Africa's national parks.

Naturally I was salivating at all the potential photographic opportunities that were going to come my way!  My mind's eye was filled with visions of the big five posing and my shutter clicking away and masses of superb photos being written to my memory cards.

Well I was not disappointed with the the sights Africa served up, one of the most special being the cheetah hunt we witnessed in the Masai Mara.  I was pretty raw though and looking back now I can recognise some flaws in some pictures that I took on that trip.  In September we are going back again for about a month and with that in mind I would like to share some pictures I believe didn't work out and why I think they didn't work.  I'll follow this up with another post with pictures I believe do work and through the process I can relive the experiences and hopefully improve my skills/eye.  After all this is a learning process right??

Lesson 1:  Subject Placement

Masai Cheetah

Here's a pretty cool animal.  This is the first time I had seen cheetah in the wild and they had just been unsuccessful in a hunt, my heart was racing my mind scrambled with what I had just witnessed.  The result....... a bulls eye.  The cat is dead center of the frame and in terms of composition this is a no no.  If the cat were to be over to the left hand side of the frame it would give the animal space to 'look' into and result in a better image.

The placement of the cheetah is far better in this picture,  over to the left of the frame and with space to look into.  Interestingly this photograph was taken before the hunt and thinking back I was still excited to be seeing cheetah but i was much more calm.  I was thinking about composition and the result speaks for itself.  What do I take away from this?  Try remain calm and always thinking about these guidelines, no matter what is happening on the other side of the lens!


Lesson 2: Look for the action after the stock shot.

Lilac Breasted roller

These have to be the prettiest birds in Africa, the colors are simply intoxicating and scream "hey take a picture of me look at how gorgeous I am!!"  So I did, again managing to bulls eye the subject (doh)!!  I like the picture in that it is sharp and really shows the colors of the bird but aside from that it is pretty boring right?? I mean it is a bird sitting on a branch....... we've all seen that before.  I clearly remember, maybe two minutes after this picture, the bird took off and some of my companions in the safari truck managed to capture some gorgeous shots.  Brilliant wing color and undoubtedly a more interesting picture as the bird was in motion and this lent a real energy to their shots.

Lesson to be taken from this??  Once you have the shot of the bird posing on the branch anticipate action and be ready to capture it, because that's the real money shot!

Lesson 3:  Creatively using settings for more 'artsy' shots

Matopos Leopard

Now this really did come about as a result of the circumstances, however I love the result even though I did not consciously intend this outcome.  This cat was probably 150-200 yards from our vehicle, lying down in the campsite and was really comfortable being illuminated by our vehicles headlights.  I didn't want to move the car closer and potential scare the leopard and ruin a truly magical sighting (there was only one other car in the campsite it was truly a private show that the bush decided to bless us with).

I was at the full 500mm stretch of my Sigma 150-500mm and my ISO was cranked right up to 3200, I had the lens supported between the frame of the car and the door frame and this allowed me to get sharp, although noisy, shots at very slow shutter speeds.  After about 25 min of pure magic the cat moved and as it headed off I took the shot above trying to follow it as it left the lit area. The shutter speed in this particular shot is 1/5 second and this has resulted in the blurred movement of the leopard.   The end result is a picture I really like.

The movement adds real energy to the picture, and the blurry scene but still identifiable subject really helps convey the essence of these elusive creatures.  So by pure chance I think I have managed to make a picture that really conveys the feeling of a leopard as a wraith in the night.

What have this tells me is that I need to think more about using shutter speed as a creative tool to produce dynamic photos. Nail the sharp shots and then have fun and really let those creative juices flow.



I am really looking forward to the forth coming trip, we will be visiting Kruger National Park, I have never been there so it will be exciting to explore a new area while keeping these lessons from my last trip in mind.  Hopefully the lessons learned and observations made will allow me to return with some compelling photographs and treasured memories.

I'll keep you posted so watch this space!

Thanks for stopping by.

Landscape therapy.

If you have a look around at my 500px or flickr streams it’ll be come obvious pretty quickly that I have a pretty obvious enjoyment for shooting landscapes around me.  Granted it is one of the most easily accessible forms of photography.  I think most of us, if handed a camera and told to go outside and shoot, the first thing we would do is take pictures of the area we are in, the landscape that surrounds us be it urban or rural.

Moving out to New Zealand landed me slap bang in the middle of some of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever seen.  They are so different to any of the places I have been to:  Black sand beaches on the west coast with wild seas and rugged shorelines, damp and misty forests, towering snow capped peaks you name it and it seems New Zealand has it.

The Remarkables in Queenstown.

With my growing interest in photography I figured I would like to try and capture this place so I could show it to my family who doesn’t live here and anyone else who was interested in looking.  The more time I have spent doing this, the more I enjoy it and want to get better at it. And i guess this is for a couple of reasons.

First off I want to do these amazing landscapes justice.  Nature can be truly spectacular and I think it is really important to convey that properly through an image.  People can be transported to a place when looking at a picture and I think that is really cool, to be able to help someone feel like they are there with you in some little way.  If I can take a picture that does that then I consider that a success.

Early Morning in the Auckland Domian

 Secondly being out there, for me, is a really fulfilling experience.  Often I will be there by myself and it is a wonderful time to just let my mind go blank and just drink in the world around me.  By just letting everything go and emptying my mind I find it helps me be more there in that moment and this helps me make (hopefully) better pictures.

Narrowneck Beach, Devonport.

Being out there also means that I have an opportunity to capture something truly special and share it with many people.  I can give them a small snippet of the world as I am seeing it and offer them the opportunity to marvel with me at something that is wonderful and at that moment in time unique in the whole world.  Those clouds will never be like that again, that light might not fall in the exact same way again, those starfish may not be huddled together, sheltering from the surf in quite the same way.  I can catch that though, catch that light and document how it reveals these amazing sights to us and the show the world is putting on for anyone who is watching.

Muriwai Starfish

I love landscape photography.  Hopefully as I go and learn more about this art form I can do justice to the world as I am experiencing and seeing it.  Maybe you will be able to join me, even if only for a fleeting moment, on the beach I am on, in front of that mountain or bathed in the warm glow of that sunset.  If you do then I know I have succeeded in my goal of sharing something beautiful. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Searching for light - Mr Moo and Backlight

Hi everyone!

So leading on from my last post I have been getting out of the office every lunch time to take a walk, exercise my eyes and see more of the little nuances of the world around me.

Down the road from the office, in a quietish back road that a walk down lives a cat called Mr Moo.  He is, to my mind, an awesome kitty, got one of those real squashed up faces that suggests he may have run into a closed door or something unfortunate like that!!  So he is not the best looker but he does have a charm to him.

Ok in reality I am a sucker for cats, a definite cat person so no matter what I cannot hate on Mr Moo!!  The other day on my walk I cam across him on the curb and he bowled over to say hi, I figured why not get a snap of him, might as well seeing as I was there right?

I did not want to settle for a blah shot so i tried to move around him as he sat on the curb and look for a way to portray him in a good way.  It was then that i noticed the light and how it was lighting up his coat.  I realised the sun was at an angel that meant it was not directly overhead but rather coming in at an angel and the result was it created an almost halo like glow around Mr Moo.

Mr Moo in all his glory  -  50mm; f/4; ISO 100; 1/60sec

I can say with full confidence that this lighting is not something i would have noticed straightaway say two weeks ago.  Sure i might have got there eventually but in this instance I noticed it almost immediately, I realised my eyes have started to see the light as it were!!

I am so pleased with the resulting photograph as well.  The back-light has brought another dimension to Mr Moo, it has enhanced his look and appeal.  Well maybe not his appeal, in truth he does look like he is plotting something diabolical, but he still looks really cool and I believe the light has everything to do with it in this case.

These walks at lunch time are definitely helping and my search fro light is gathering pace and some really cool photographic encounters and experiences along the way!

Thanks for stopping by!

Seeing and looking, is there a difference?

The longer that I spend in this journey of photography the more I realize the difference there is between looking and seeing.  I'll try explain what I mean over the course of this post.

Very often I will walk around and my eyes just take in the world around me as one big blob. I struggle to see the smaller details of life, I think we all do to a degree.  When we were kids we saw the world with wonder and awe! Everything we saw amazed us and delighted our senses.

Now that I live further away from my workplace and cannot go home for lunch I am making an effort to take my camera and go for a walk every lunch break.  I don't have a specific scene I want to photograph rather, I want to give my eyes a work out.  I want to re-energize that child like awe I have lost.  I want to see things, shapes, patterns and colors that I normally miss or do not notice in the world around me.

Thus far it has been a really rewarding process!  It has helped take my time and really examine the world around me.  The areas I am walking around in I have walked through countless times but slowly I am seeing more and more, rather than just looking around me.  Prior to this exercise I would never have noticed these droplets of water on leaves, perfectly preserved despite it being midday.

Midday water droplets -  55mm;  ISO 100;  1/250sec;  f/5.6

I would not have examined these autumn leaves as intently either.  It also helps me think about how I could represent a relatively dull subject in a more exciting way, a few experiments lead to what I think is a pretty cool zoom blur effect.

Autumn Explosion  -  53mm;  ISO 100;  1/30sec;  f/22

This process has so far been very rewarding.  My eyes are starting to see more in the world around me and as a result I think some of my photography is getting better.  Try it, get out there and try and see things around you instead of just looking and seeing the same drab world you think you are seeing on a daily basis.


Thanks for stopping by!

My search for light

Hi everyone.  It's been a while since I have posted anything here and that is due to a myriad of things but chiefly due to the fact that we've just bought a house so that whole experience has taken a fair chunk of my time.


I have been thinking of writing a post for a while and putting more energy back into the photography now that we are moved and settled.  With that in mind I have been thinking about what to write about and where I want to head with my picture taking.  I have been watching a few of B&H Photography's Event Space talks on YouTube and recently there have been a number of talks that have dealt with landscape photography and bringing impact to your shots.  These talks got me thinking about my photography and how I can get my pictures up to the next level and be more meaningful and striking.  The biggest factor I have identified that I feel will help me produce better photographs is immersing myself in light, understanding how light works in a given scene and harnessing that light.

Now my first love is shooting landscapes and I understand that the time of day you shoot in has a dramatic impact on what kind of images you can produce.  You often hear of the fabled "Golden Hour" or "Magic Hour" - that half-hour to an hour before the sunsets or as the sun is rising.  The air is really clean then and the light can be really striking and when I look at some of the pictures I am most please they have been shot in these conditions

Muriwai  -  18mm;  ISO 100;  1/6sec;  f/22

The picture above is a great example of what I am getting at.  I took this at roughly 40 minutes before the sunset.  The light has a really warm glow to it which helps highlight the shape of the rock in the foreground and the facade of the cliffs.  Looking at it now I realize I should have exposed the darker parts of the cliff a bit better as the lost detail in the darker areas is a shame and detracts a wee bit from the overall picture.

Light can add amazing drama to a scene as well and turn the ordinary into extraordinary.  After I arrived in Auckland the first beach Donna took me to was one she spent her child hood growing up at in Devenport.  Narrowneck Beach has a prime view of Rangitoto Island and visiting the beach during the day will give you a pretty impressive view of the island...... But visit it at first light and you might be lucky enough to get a view like this:

Rangitoto from Narrowneck beach  -  18mm;  ISO 100;  0.8sec;  f/22

I will never forget how intensely red the sky and the sea was that morning, it was absolutely unbelievable.  The picture above has not had any added saturation this was all natural.  The thing is this effect lasted for two maybe three minutes tops and then the intensity of the color just drained away as if it had never been there.  Light is so fickle and doesn't play to a set tune, I learnt this morning that to catch light you need to be prepared and set up before hand otherwise you will miss out.    

The last thing i wanted to talk about today with regards to light is that it sometimes doesn't need to be as bombastic a light as the picture above to help make a picture with feeling and impact.  Muted light can also convey feelings as well, feelings of serenity and peacefulness.

Muted Muriwai  -  23mm;  ISO 100;  13sec;  f/22

This last picture was taken out at Muriwai (incase you hadn't noticed I like visiting this beach and now that i am officially a 'Westie' I'll be there a whole lot more!!).  I charged out one evening to try and catch the elusive sunset I am chasing and when I got there it became pretty apparent the sky and clouds were just not going to play ball so I decided i'd play around with my ND filter, this log and see what happened.

I am stoked with these results.  The cloud cover meant that the light was soft and subdued and adding that to the ND filter and small aperture combination allowed me to stretch out my shutter speeds.  That in turn has given the sea a soft dreamy effect (it was pretty rough in reality) and created this really muted picture.  Leaving the shutter open for so long as well has allowed light to flow to the sensor for longer and I think this has helped in terms of the tones of color that are shown in this picture.  Don't quote me on that though it's just my guess :)

So in thinking about light and trying to find how to make use of good light I have been able plan my landscape sorties a whole lot better and I believe that my photography has benefited immeasurably  -  however, in saying that by no means do I believe that have a complete and rounded understanding of light.  I need to learn how to see light, to see how light can be used to enhance a scene or create feeling in a scene.

So I am going to carry on on my journey to find light and understand it, I'll share what I learn and see along the way and hopefully you'll appreciate my ramblings in some form.

Thanks for stopping by!

Slow shutter photography - I love it!

When I started out on this photography journey I remember looking through the pages of sites like flickr and 500px and seeing these dreamy shots of oceans and light streaked streets and thinking to myself "I want to do that".

Rangitoto in the morning  -  ISO 200; 18mm; f/10; 13sec

Thankfully it is not that difficult and there is a wealth of information out there on how to go about slow shutter photography.  I'm pretty comfortable with shooting long exposures now and I really enjoy the different dynamics it can introduce to your picture taking process.  It can let you show motion and really help communicate movement through a still photograph.

Newmarket flyover  -  ISO 100; 96mm; f/22; 8sec

When you involve moving traffic at night with slow shutter photography the effect is really cool and can give you some pleasing shots.  The one above is from a few weeks ago, the Newmarket flyover is one of the busiest stretches of motorway in Auckland so waiting for sundown and shooting long exposures almost guaranteed an interesting shot.

Muriwai  -  ISO 100; 18mm; f/22; 1/6sec

Getting that cotton candy look with water is also a great way of employing slow shutter techniques.  It can really add a dreamy dynamic to your shots and I think that really makes landscape shots pop.  The last one I'm going to leave you with is one of my favourite all time shots.  I took this on a super windy evening on the shores of Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown in the South Island.  Looking at the picture you would never tell that it was that kind of weather.  That is why I love slow shutter, you can manipulate a situation to get the feel you want into the picture and that is pretty awesome

Lake Wakatipu  -  ISO 100; 28mm; f/25; 5sec

Re-visiting a location means an opportunity to improve

One of the most rewarding ways of improving my photography has been visiting a location multiple times and looking to come away with a picture that I feel has improved on my previous visit.  One of the best places for me to do this is out at Muriwai beach on the west coast and there are a number of reasons I like returning to this spot.

Firstly it is an excuse to get to the beach and who needs a second invitation to head out there right?  It is only a 45 minute drive from the centre of Auckland but you really get the feeling that you are right out of town and in the real outdoors.

Second being a west coast beach there is always the allure of capturing that killer sunset that will stop you in your tracks and just make you marvel at the world.  I have still not been able to get that sunset shot I am talking about but that is not a bad thing as I get to keep re-visiting the area.

I've always been drawn to seascape shots, I really enjoy the fact that you have the option to manipulate your shutter speed and introduce dreamy effects on the sea or freeze the action and get really dramatic, crashing surf.  Personally I am drawn to the silky sea effects and this is what I wanted to get the first time I headed out to Muriwai.

Sunset at Muriwai  -  ISO 100, 25mm, f/22, 1.3sec

When I got this shot I was rapt.  I really felt I had nailed it and this was a top notch seascape shot at sunset.  However I looked at photos of similar scenes from more accomplished photographers and on websites like 500px and soon realised that this photo was the first step along the path of landscape photography.

When I look at the photo now I can see clear problems with it.  The main issue for me is that there is no real sense of depth in this picture.  The rocks are there and the sky behind them is dramatic and all but there is no concrete feel of depth and i think that really lets the shot down.

Armed with such insight and having looked at many better shots when I was next out I knew there were other steps to be taken to try and get a better looking and feeling picture.

Birds at sunset  -  ISO 100, 18mm, f22, 1/100 sec

The next time at Muriwai I was mainly there to concentrate on photographing the Gannets and the colony they live in but I had one eye on capturing a sunset as well while I was there.  It was a gloriously sunny day but unfortunately the lack of clouds meant the sunset was always going to be a fairly plain affair.

Still one should not waste an opportunity and I managed to get the picture shown above.  I stopped down to f/22 to try and get the star burst effect on the sun but I think it may have still been too high in the sky to get the desired effect.

I think this picture is a bit better than the first in that there is more of an effort to include foreground interest with the rocks on the beach and it helps add depth out to the island at the back.  The birds flying through the scene add a point of interest but on the whole this picture does not live up to the vision I have in my head.  It was difficult with no interest in the sky but it didn't turn out too badly.

Golden Hour and a step closer  -  ISO 100, 18mm, f/22, 1/6sec

This final shot I took a couple of weeks back and this is the closest I have got to achieving the shot I have in my minds-eye.  I think I used the rock really well as a source of foreground interest.  The picture does have a great sense of depth to it and the effect of a slower shutter speed has smoothed out the sea quite pleasingly.

The sky is also quite interesting, I'll be honest I'd like it to be more so, and that also really helps the picture. On this particular evening the tide had gone out quite substantially by the time the sky got really red/pink in colour (see below) and I think the lack of water and movement detracts from the picture.

Reflections in the sand  -  ISO 100, 18mm, f/22, 0.8sec 

The reflections are a cool point of difference to the picture above, but in my opinion the picture with the moving water is better.

By revisiting this one beach I have slowly been able to improve my shots by working around a central idea and desired picture I have in my mind.  You can never underestimate the value of returning to an area and re-shooting it.  Each time you will have different feelings, see different things and this will be represented in the pictures you make.

The bonus about doing this with landscapes is that no two days are the same and every time you head out you give yourself the opportunity to capture that 'definitive' shot.  I love it, that feeling, that excitement that comes with visiting a beautiful area again and again and knowing each time you will leave with different memories and sights documented.

I will be back on the beaches of Maori Bay at Muriwai looking for my shot, and when I get it I will still keep returning.

Thanks for dropping by.

Night Photography Lesson

I headed out on the 23rd for a night photography lesson conducted by the good people at Three Little Wishes Photography.  I have already been on a couple of courses with them previously and their friendly and relaxed style of tutoring aspiring photogs like myself suited me down to a tee so it was a no brainer to get involved in a night class when the opportunity came about.

The initial idea was to set-up in Westhaven Marina's car park and get some shots of the city.  Auckland is often referred to as "The City of Sails" so incorporating the boats in the marina with the iconic Sky tower really gives a strong image of what Auckland is all about and why it has that nickname.

City of Sails  -  ISO 100, 44mm, f/16, 2.5sec

Now of course night photography is not complete without shooting some light trails.  I referred to this in my last post, this is how I first began to dabble in manipulating shutter speeds and Auckland has a few bridges over the main motor way routes around the city.  In this case it is the motorway that come off the harbour bridge that was the target.

Traffic goes by  -  ISO 400, 24mm, f/22, 30sec

Rolling you zoom while the shutter is open can introduce some cool effects to a picture.  Here we  have two Sky towers in one picture achieved by simply rolling the zoom during the exposure.  Heaps of fun to be had with this technique and not only when the light has faded, you can get equally cool results during the day time!

A Sky tower Double-up  -  ISO 200, 33mm, f/18, 30sec

The final part of the evening was spent learning some light painting.  This was the part of the evening I had been looking forward to as I had an idea in my mind as to how this works in theory but that is all it was, theory so I was looking forward to getting some proper insight and instruction.

Here is one of the class "lifting weights". This was the key bit I needed to learn, freezing your subject with flash and then drawing, in this case a set of weights, whatever catches your fancy.  It is a lot of fun and there was some stuff going on between the groups.  I definitely need to get my hands on a flash unit now - added to the list of needs!

Weight lifting  -  ISO 200, 28mm, f/8.0, 20sec

This was a really enjoyable class with lots of great information.  It helped me really solidify what I knew about night shooting and really opened up my eyes to an array of possibilities that flash can introduce to this style of photography.  Three Little Wishes really know how to conduct a workshop, it is always fun and delivered in a friendly environment that helps you get the best out of your gear.  If you are in Auckland I recommend checking out their classes, I will be back for more.

Thanks for stopping by.