Landscapes
Early morning on the rocks at Hilton
Fri Aug 24th - 6:29am
Probably the last update for a couple of days as I've got a lot on this weekend so let's have some photos at the top of the page instead of that bumf about microstocks.
I'm getting over my (perfectly sensible and rational) fear of water a few steps at a time, venturing out on to the rocks this morning a couple of yards past the tide. There's something really spooky about being surrounded by those big rocks, shame the atmosphere doesn't come across well in photos. So these are the usual views out to sea. Click to view them larger…
Views from Hilton Harbour
Wed Aug 22nd - 8:27pm
Nice atmospheric light this evening so I set off on an epic trek, all of a hundred yards along to Hilton Harbour. I used a small aperture of f/3.5 for all of these photos to enhance the effect of the haar.
Why f/3.5 instead of f/2.8? Simple: Even the best quality lenses can be improved by stopping down a little. All of these photos were taken with the Canon 24-70 f/2.8L and you'll notice that even at f/3.5 it still vignettes slightly on a full frame camera.
Click any picture to view a larger version.
Dying roses and the dawn sky
Mon Aug 20th - 6:33am
Another little experiment this morning with my neighbour's rose bush.
All photos using a single flash on a light stand with a piece of white paper taped loosely over the head of the flash to create a large surface area for softer shadows.
Click the pictures to view them larger.
Dark key plant studies in daylight
Sun Aug 19th - 9:45am
All of these photos were taken in daylight at 1/125s · f/22 · ISO 100 with the flash at full power and held very close to the subject. The flash was held at arm's length and off to the side or up above. By avoiding angles with bright backgrounds and using such a small aperture the flash was able to totally overpower daylight and produce the dark key frames with just the subjects lit.
I think the dark key lighting is particularly appropriate for the flowers which are either dead or dying, but the first one of the holly leaves is my favourite.
Click the pictures to view them larger.
Cadboll Point at night
Fri Aug 17th - 12:08am
I don't know why I've suddenly got it into my head to do night-time photos but when it got dark this evening, off I went again, this time out to Cadboll Point which is about half a mile from the village so there's virtually no artificial light.
This was a 4-minute exposure at f/2.8 ISO 100. It's dark because I wanted it to look like it was taken at night, not one of those ultra-long exposures where you end up with a really bright image with surreal colours. Click to view a larger version.
Light pollution at Hilton Harbour
Thu Aug 16th - 1:56am
I wonder what the people at the end of my street thought if they looked out of their window at midnight and saw me popping a flash at some lobster creels, then standing still for the best part of two minutes, apparently doing nothing. Well here's the answer, a 100-second exposure looking out over the harbour, with the flash fired from behind the creels and over to the left to create some separation between foreground and background. The ambient colour was actually a lot more red than this, I toned it down in Photoshop to make it easier on the eyes.
Click to view it larger, it looks better that way.
Here are a couple of other shots I did before that one. Even in daylight at low tide I don't like going down to the water at this harbour. I think it's the height of the harbour wall which makes the place feel very dangerous to someone who isn't a strong swimmer. But for some reason I decided to walk down there tonight, right down to the water, in almost total darkness as the tide was coming in. First picture is all ambient, second is ambient with a flash fired from over to the right.
Canoe and rainbow
Mon Aug 13th - 1:13am
It might be a canoe or it might be a kayak, I'm never sure, but that's definitely a rainbow. Photo taken on Sunday evening from the end of my garden. I'd just missed the other end of the rainbow and then this end appeared even bigger and bolder. And right on cue, someone in a canoe!
Sunset yesterday
Fri Jul 27th - 8:07am
Sunset yesterday as viewed from Seaboard Park. Just shooting the Balintore vs Brora game and I noticed this golden sky silhouetting the trees.
Red sky in the morning, shepherd’s warning
Wed Jul 25th - 5:43am
Sunrise this morning. One minute later the rain came down. Five minutes later the sky was thick grey with just a thin line of pale orange. Looks like we'll be having another lovely day in Scotland.
Click the pic to see it larger. Notice the seagull in front of the sun? I got another frame with one more central but I prefer this one.
Lighting the Mermaid — getting there!
Thu May 31st - 1:09am
I'm still not quite hitting the spot with my attempts at lighting the Mermaid of the North but I'm getting closer so I thought I'd show you what I came up with this evening. These aren't processed at all, just straight out of the camera. You can see that the potential is there, especially if I can get the moon in view again, but the pics are still lacking a certain something. I'll figure it out…
