I arrived at 7:20 in the Portland Bill car park and attempted to get out of the car ...... the wind blew the door shut onto my leg and nearly brought an early close to proceedings!! I guess most landscape photographers often go through the same conversation I had with myself yesterday morning ..... something along the lines of ...
"What the *%$! and I doing here when I could have stayed in my comfy bed - I've driven for an hour for this!".
My Kit
I have a Domke f- 5xb bag and inside it the Fuji X100T and WCL-X100 weighed absolutely nothing. I made sure that my little Spudz lens cloth was in there too because I could see loads of spray coming in from the sea. You know, it really is so liberating to be carrying so little if you've been used to carrying a D-SLR with various lenses and a heavy tripod. All the magazines tell you to use a sturdy tripod, various filters and a shutter release but it can be a real faff sometimes; especially when you have gale force winds or when you're trying to climb up & down slippery rocks. Just having a camera in my hands or even my pocket can make things a lot easier. This weekend, I really was glad of the lighter load as it took all my effort to stay upright with the wind.
Fuji X100T + WCL-X100, ISO 1000, 1/100sec, f5.6.
Did I stick to my project and keep my back to the sea?
Errr..... no. Whilst I mainly shot facing in land, I just couldn't help myself when there were some great waves crashing against the rocks. If I'd stayed around for a little longer I would likely have got some better shots as the tide was coming in but on the whole I was still satisfied with what I got.
Fuji X100T + WCL-X100, ISO 500, 1/100sec, f5.6.
Coping with the conditions
So how did I cope? The X100T is not weather sealed and although I hope it's something Fuji will address in a future revision, it wasn't going to help me this weekend. I have to say that this did worry me a little as there was a lot of spray coming in off the sea. I completely backed out of walking to the west of Pulpit Rock as I got completely soaked before I got anywhere close. One thing that was kind of useful however was .... I had the X100T lens cap screwed on and I walked around with my hand completely covering the end of it, but without touching the lens filter. Not a single shot got ruined due to splashes on the lens! Now this was a little harder when I had the WCL-X100 attached so I just used the lens cap in between shots. Again, no issues.
When I first arrived, the wind was so strong I could hardly stand up, let alone used the camera. The gusts were so strong that I was concerned about getting a decent shot. So I decided to set my shutter speed to a minimum of 1/100sec, set the aperture as desired and let the ISO set itself. I feel confident in being able to do this with my Fuji - I just like the noise it produces even at high ISOs. It's so reminiscent of film.
Fuji X100T + WCL-X100, ISO 1600, 1/100sec, f8.
Fuji X100T, ISO 500, 1/100sec, f8.
Why Shoot in Black and White?
My project "Back to the Sea" was inspired by an article I read in Black & White Photography Magazine earlier in the year. All of the images are shot in RAW and then processed in Lightroom where I like the ability to apply the film simulation of choice in the Camera Calibration section. For these, most are left as Adobe Standard and I have applied a high contrast red filter preset. Then there are some finer tweaks via brushed adjustment. I do love the Fuji colours however and I think next year I might do a project using just the Velvia JPEG setting. These are processed on RAW files but it's what gives me the inspiration for my next project.
Fuji X100T, ISO 400, 1/110sec, f8. Provia film simulation.
Fuji X100T, ISO 400, 1/100sec, f8. Velvia film simulation.
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So ... "Back to the Sea". Why? Well a couple of reasons really. Firstly it's a play on words, because the idea is that I would go to the coast and instead of shooting out towards the sea I would turn my attention away from it ... so I would have my back, to the sea. Why would I do that when almost all the nice photos you see in the regular photography magazines are shooting sunrises or sunsets with waves over rocks, general water movement or that often used big stopper to smooth everything out?? Well, because I was getting bored of it. Don't get me wrong, there are many nice photos shooting out to sea, but I wanted to do something different from everyone else. Something different from the typical chocolate box cover or a slightly different slant on a Landscape Photography magazine cover.
A few years ago, I was doing a little bit of landscape photography and was shooting so many below average photos that I just needed to slow down. A tripod and various filters eventually helped me improve the standard of photograph but maybe it stifled my creativity a bit. I was churning out the same type of photos as everyone else, month after month and I was losing the enthusiasm to get out of bed and shoot. With just the Fuji X100T and my little Domke bag it's all so light weight and I can quickly try different perspectives in seconds, instead of wrestling with the tripod.
Also, because my project tended to have me shooting away from the sun, the contrast between foreground and sky was lessened and the filters were not necessary. My Canon 5D Mark II 17-40L, range of filters and Gitzo tripod are not on their way to eBay anytime soon, but I am loving my Fuji and the lighter load. I'm also loving the image quality - many Fuji users talk about this, without being able put their finger on what it is or why. I feel the same way.
I could of course have just picked up my 5D and walked around with it, minus the tripod, filters, large bag etc - it would have been a much lighter load. But I just love the X100T. It's cool & retro, it's light, it's small, it's image quality is excellent and I like the single focal length it restricts me to. OK, so I have the wide converter but that's tiny and fits in a pocket. It's my favourite ever camera.
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Anyway...... tethering. I've used Aperture for tethering in the past (the ability to take photos and immediately have the photos transfer to a USB attached computer. For me that's my Canon 5D Mark ii with a 5m USB cable connected to my Macbook Pro. I have used Aperture for this in the past and I have to say it's been with some success. I find it very useful where you're trying to fine tune a pose (like a dancing pose).
The features of both products seem quite advanced - I particularly liked the ability to immediately process with a preset in Lightroom .... HOWEVER, with Lightroom the whole thing locked up on me on a few occasions. Halfway through the shoot I was unable to take a photo as the camera was showing 'BUSY'. It was struggling to get the photos across into Lightroom and I was having to wait and wait. In the end I decided to disconnect the cable to keep the shoot going.
By comparison, with Aperture it was very quick - almost instant. So which one am I likely to turn to the next time I do tethered shooting - Aperture.
[This was Aperure 3.5.1 and Lightroom 5.4]
]]>I work with Vince in my day job and have known him for about 15 years. So it was especially nice to be shooting a wedding of a couple I know and whilst the day was charged with emotions, the afternoon/evening was charged with alcohol (as all weddings should be!), making for some entertaining scenes on the dance floor.
The requested style was for candid and non posed (journalistic I suppose). I got a few of the formals and essentials in but after that it was mainly about trying to capture the events of the day.
The gallery is available here but the password you will have to request from the happy couple themselves.
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So I've really just got to put the skirting board on, hang the speakers from the wall and fix a door. I also have a paper background roll system to hang up on the wall too. The finishing touch (and large expense!) will be the mirrors which will stretch along 3/4 of the longest wall.
Once it's all done, it'll be full steam ahead for the girls and their dancing and then into studio shoots for me. £50 a session for a CD of 50 images to the first 5 bookings.
Harriet is still very concerned about the ceiling though. She says it looks horrible - I think it's because she can see cobwebs.
Next steps - probably the sprung floor & dry-lining of the house wall. Hopefully I'll get the stuff delivered in time for next weekend.
This is a shot looking down towards where the garage door was. The kink in the room is so that I can still open the other garage door.
Looking back towards the house from where the garage door was. The wall with the breeze block will be the wall I hang my rolls of paper and vinyl for portrait backgrounds.
Finally a shot of the longest wall. This is the wall that will be mirrored nearly from one end to the other. You can see where the speaker cable comes out high up the wall. The mirrors will pretty much run the entire distance between those cables. I'm currently shopping around for a good deal on mirrors.
So I'm converting two-thirds of our double garage for the purpose. I've put up a stud wall, it has a doorway and I've plaster-boarded down the inner wall.
Here is a BEFORE picture .....
Here is what it looks like NOW ...
I've laid electrical cable. I now need to fix the knockout boxes, the insulation and the plasterboard. After that it's all about the flooring. Flooring is the bit that has pushed the budget up. For a straightforward photography studio, I would just lay some insulation and some laminate over the top. For dancing, it's a different ballgame!
It cannot be laminate because it will (a) get wrecked and (b) too slippery for 'tap'. So I'm told that 'lino' is the best surface for all types of dance and lino needs a smooth surface to be laid upon. So the current surface needs to be covered. I can't just lay concrete with lino on top because that flooring wouldn't be forgiving enough. There's no way I want to be responsible for my girls growing up with joint problems, shin-splints or stress fractures. So I've decided to go the whole hog and lay a sprung floor. This will consist of a DPM, EVA foam squares, wooden battens, Celotex insulation in between, OSB board and then finally ..... lino on the top!!!!!
Next post should hopefully show more progress on this front.
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I'd always thought about trying to win a competition with an iPhone - just to prove its not about the camera but the person behind it. As it turned out, it was a level playing field because everyone was doing the same. Either way the challenge was set and I needed to make an effort.
It actually got me thinking that I drive or cycle past some really nice scenery on the way into work and it would be a good photography project. So I have dedicated a gallery to all such photos. My only rule is ... no SLR photos!
This photo was one I shot just off Matchams Lane, Bournemouth where there is a viewing point over what I presume is the Stour Valley, looking in the direction of Christchurch. The sun was rising through the mist and I tried to frame it with some overhanging trees. The photo was taken with my Olympus PEN E-PL1.
You can see how I got on in the JPMC competition by looking in my gallery of all JPMC comp entries. It's the black & white photo of someone walking down some steps at Southampton Airport Parkway train station.
Please click the photo or here for the rest of my "On My Way to Work" project.
]]>Two days in a row I managed to get out! That has to be a record.
After the previous day's trip to Kimmeridge Bay, I was hoping for better weather this time. My first ever shoot with my 40D some 4 years ago was at Portland Bill and I know my photography has come on since then. There is so much of interest there, I could come back a number of times and always have something new to shoot.
Fortunately the weather was as good as I could have hoped for. It would have been impossible without my ND Grad filters and in one case a blended exposure was required.
I think this has to be one of my favourite shoots ever. I've been through a stage of blurring the life out of everything in sight and I've come out of the other side. The Lee Big Stopper is a fantastic filter but I think it has its place. My aim for this shoot was to go back to the 1-2sec exposure range. Helped by my camera's ISO of 50 and a 3-stop filter, I was able to achieve my goal.
Also, I'm finding my way now with the Nik Color Efex Pro 4 & SIlver Efex Pro 2 plugins for Aperture. I have them in my workflow and am starting to get the look I'm after.
Please click the photo or here for the rest of the gallery.
]]>Half term week and the need to use up some carryover holiday. I had the rare opportunity of being able to get out for a sunset shoot. I'd previously visited Kimmeridge Bay and it's a very popular place for photographers. I just had my fingers crossed that I would get the tide right and the weather would give me a nice sky.
Fortunately the weather was ok, although not the spectacular sky I had hoped for. I'm baffled by the tide though as it was supposed to be high, yet I've been there with it higher.
This has to be one of the fastest eroding coves in the UK. You can continually hear the slate falling from the cliffs. Also, the entire time I was there you could hear gunfire from the MoD Lulworth ranges. So when I heard and almighty crash (about 20ft behind me), I thought it was stray shell! As it turned out, quite a large bit of cliff had dropped away.
I'm not happy yet. The shot I was after wasn't possible, so I will be heading back soon.
Please click the photo or here for the rest of the gallery.
]]>Through JPMorgan's charitable links with Wateraid, they ran a photography competition with the theme 'Water on the Lens'. I decided to try and enter something but rather than shoot for the theme explicitly, I just went to a place I'd been meaning to shoot for a long time. It happened to have water and if the weather had been kind, I would have a great entry. Unfortunately the weather was poor and I just made the best of it with a long exposure shot.
Anyway, I've just found out that my entry made it to the shortlist of 10! Maybe only 10 people entered? I didn't like it too much. Here is the entry and watch this space to see how I get on.
UPDATE - It finished 2nd!!! Very surprised!
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Harriet (6) and Mia (4) both go to a fantastic Dancing/ Performing Arts School called Studio One. At the time of writing, they have one more performance remaining of three nights at The Lighthouse in Poole. They absolutely love it and have been so excited all week.
Click Photo or here for gallery of all photos.
So this is my first post. I might try and retrofit my blog for a few months until I get the hang of it. For now, I will just play with some of the features!!!
Here's a link to a photo..
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