An image from Stiperstones in Shropshire. The Alarm went off at 4:45am, ughh - I managed to get out of bed at 5am! Unfortunately I had been up late the night before planning the route and location, amongst other things, and what with losing the Sat Nav, did not get to bed until after 2am!!! I won't be doing that again in a hurry ....
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\r\nAnyway on this particular morning I even had time to make myself a very civil flask of hot coffee. Not a normal occurance at this time I can tell you! Following an hours drive in the dark I parked in the National Trust car park in the middle of the Shropshire hills - at the base of the Stiperstones 'summit'.
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\r\nI unpacked my kit and put on my fleece, fingerless gloves and waterproof. The morning showed a great deal of promise with the low lying mist and broken clouds.
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\r\nI walked up to the top still in the pre-dawn light. This time of the day the light takes on a strong blue cast. However our eyes correct for this, and so the blue colour temperature of the light can look different to the images you can reproduce in camera with either film or a digital sensor. It is very easy to correct the cast in camera by changing the white balance setting or better still, correct at the RAW file processing stage to get the exact look you require. Many people do this but others, such as Photographer David Noton, tends to keep his White Balance set to \"daylight\" at all times and therefore retains the wonderful natural colour temperature of the light.
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\r\nHere I set the white balance in my Nikon D3 to a custom white balance setting of 5260 Kelvin. This gives a cool rendition to the image. I tweaked this in my RAW conversion software to provide a slighty warmer tone but it was a very minor change.
\r\nThe result is an image that shows the natural blue colour temperature of light at this time of the day.
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\r\nA simple way to see different colour temperatures is to go outside at dawn or dusk and look at the colour temperature of a light in the house. The outside world will look very blue, in contrast the interior light and room looks very orange. However, once you are in the room your eyes once again adjust to the light and it looks 'normal'. Fantastic bit of kit our eyes!
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\r\nI think of the images I took at Stiperstones that day, I am most pleased with the composition of this one. Looking at it, sometimes it almost appears that the foreground rock is floating!
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\r\nCamera:\tNikon D3
\r\nLens:\t\tNikkor 16-35 f4 VR
\r\nExposure:\t2.5 Seconds @ f16
\r\nISO: 200
\r\nFilters:\tLee Neutral Density Grads (0.9 & 0.6)
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\r\nTime: 7:08am","02/10/10","Mark Hughes","Stiperstones, Shropshire, England","","","",15);photos[6747521]=new photo(6747521,"101211","NEW","gallery","_DSC0005_hartland_details_f.jpg",438,640,"Hartland Ripples",0,0,'
Further to one of my other newly uploaded images, "Harland Quay" this image was taken later and by this time the rain was starting to severely affect my chances of getting a good image. I have had to remove a rain spot from this image in photoshop to save it.
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\r\nCamera: Nikon D200
\r\nLens: Nikkor 12-24 f4 DX
\r\nExposure: 3 Seconds @ f16
\r\nISO: 100
\r\nFilters: Lee Neutral Density Graduated
One of the first serious landscape images from my Nikon D3 and Nikkor 16-35mm f4 VR lens. Captured locally from a field I had spotted driving to and from work.
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\r\nThese rolled hay bales are becoming less common these days and I could not resist this typical landscape shot.
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\r\nCamera:\tNikon D3
\r\nLens:\t\tNikkor 16-35 f4 VR
\r\nExposure:\tTwo blended exposures @ f16
\r\nISO: 200
\r\nFilters:\tNone
This image was taken whilst on holiday in Cornwall in June 2010. The weather forecast for the day was heavy rain and they were not joking! If you have seen heavy rain in the Lake District you get some idea of the rain that fell on this particular day....
\r\nWith the forecast so wet I thought it was an ideal opportunity to visit Golitha falls. The heavy rain had been continuous since early morning and so by the time I came to photograph them after lunch there was a good amount of water flowing. Perfect! The only trouble was the rain was still very heavy. Photographs can look so relaxing and sedate..you need to see the photographer on the other side of the camera. I was trying to balance an umbrella, myself and a heavy camera/tripod for this shot. A wide angle lens necessitates an up close and personal approach for this type of image. I was trying very hard not to get any spray or rain spots on the lens. I was wearing a very good quality water proof top but the rest of me was about as wet as you can get without jumping in!
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\r\nI wanted to capture an exposure time of around 1/3sec so I had to alter my normal aperture setting of f16 to keep the ISO at 100.
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\r\nI used a B&W Polarising filter to reduce reflections off the water and surrounding plants and to add some vibrancy to the colours.
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\r\nCamera:\tNikon D200
\r\nLens:\t\tNikkor 12-24 f4 DX
\r\nExposure:\t1/3 Second @ f4.5 +2/3 exposure compensation
\r\nISO: 100
\r\nFilters:\tB&W Polariser
Cornwall, June 2010. Believe it or not it was actually starting to rain when I exposed this image. The rain gradually got worse over the next half an hour or so which meant keeping the Lee Grads free from rain spots was almost impossible. I have visited Hartland before but this time I improved the quality of my images. The sea was coming in fairly quickly so I had little time to really compose what I was looking for before my feet started to get wet. This, I think was the pick of the evenings photographs.
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\r\nCamera:\tNikon D200
\r\nLens:\t\tNikkor 12-24 f4 DX
\r\nExposure:\t1/6 Second @ f16
\r\nISO: 100
\r\nFilters:\tLee Neutral Density Graduated
The Valley of Rocks is a popular tourist spot situated half a mile west of Lynton. It is accessible by road and a scenic footpath ‘The North Walk’ from Lynton.
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\r\nI have to admit prior to this visit I had not heard of the Valley of Rocks before. It is a place I will definitely be visiting again however. The place is breathtaking...huge cliffs with fantastic rock outcrops with a back drop of bracken covered hills populated by wild ponies. A truly wonderful place.
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\r\nBalancing exposure was fairly tricky here as the sky at the horizon was a few stops over the cliff exposure. Waiting for the sun to drop and lose its intensity helped but the placement of the Neutral Density Filters was crucial to give a natural result.
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\r\nI visited the spot with my family and had promised to take a few images before leaving. We were heading back home that evening with a good few hours drive ahead of us with 2 young children to think about. In the end I stayed until after sunset and we got home very late. I think my wife will agree though, to be at this special place to see the dramatic sunset that evening was definitely worth the late trip home.
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\r\nCamera:\tNikon D200
\r\nLens:\t\tNikkor 12-24 f4 DX
\r\nExposure:\t1/3 Second @ f13
\r\nISO: 100
\r\nFilters:\tLee Neutral Density Graduated
If you have only ever seen this beach at high tide you could be forgiven in thinking this is somewhere completely different. The amount of clear beach exposed at low tide is immense. Beatiful soft sand where at high tide the place is full of jagged rocks and wonderfull pebbles. At the cliffs behind there are some fantastic rock formations and colours - have a look at my image in the Cornwall Gallery.
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\r\nI used my Neutral density filters to balance the exposure between the setting sun and the shaded Muscle covered rocks in the foreground.
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\r\nCamera:\tNikon D200
\r\nLens:\t\tNikkor 12-24 f4 DX
\r\nExposure:\t3 Seconds @ f16
\r\nISO: 100
\r\nFilters:\tLee Neutral Density Grads, B&W Polariser
This image was taken whilst on holiday in Cornwall in August 2010. On this particular night I chose to take some images in camera that I could blend together later in photoshop. This meant leaving the Lee Neutral Density Filters off the camera for some of the shots.
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\r\nI exposed three images, one for the brightest part of the sky, one for the foreground details and one for the darker cliffs. I subsequently blended the images together to produce the image I saw with my own eyes.
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\r\nThis is one of the first times I have used this technique and I think it has worked well. I now need to polish up my Photoshop techniques with a little more practice to perfect the technique.
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\r\nCamera:\tNikon D3
\r\nLens:\t\tNikkor 16-35 f4 VR
\r\nExposure:\tThree blended exposures @ f16
\r\nISO: 200
\r\nFilters:\tNone
This is like a mecca for UK Landscape Photographers! A unique place to capture some great images, the Mount is nicely positioned to capture the low light from both sunrise and sunset in its position on the south coast.
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\r\nI was pleased how the low arcing light picked out details on the foreground rocks. The side lighting also picked out the Mount beautifully.
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\r\nYou may be able to pick out a lone guy fishing on the extreme left hand side of this small, low resolution web image. The tide was receding on this occassion so he was in no danger of getting stranded!
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\r\nIt has to be said there is an 'unusual' smell around this area and I can only assume it is the seaweed!
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\r\nCamera:\tNikon D3
\r\nLens:\t\tNikkor 16-35 f4 VR
\r\nExposure:\t1/6th Second @ f16
\r\nISO: 200
\r\nFilters:\tLee ND Grad
I made this image on the way back home after shooting "Shifnal Bales". I normally wait until the \'after glow\' has dissapeared - this can be a wonderful colour show after the sun has actually gone down. On this occassion, I decided to pack unusually early... However on the drive home I could see in my rear view mirror the cloud formations and light getting better and better.
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\r\nI decided I had to stop. I quickly pulled over and set up the camera on the tripod. I clipped on the Lee Filter holder and slipped in a couple of ND grads. Moving quickly I then fitted the remote shutter release and legged it across the road and down the edge of a crop field to get to the tree in shot. It\'s a tree I see every day on my way to and from work and I have always wanted to shoot it, I just needed some decent lighting and the time to do it...so there was my chance.....
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\r\nAs there was little in the way of foreground interest, I made use of the slow shutter speed to provide movement in the grasses at the edge of the field.
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\r\nAdding some movement to my images is something I want to look at more. I am a fan of David Noton and he adds movement to many of his Landscape shots to great affect.
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\r\nCamera:\tNikon D3
\r\nLens:\t\tNikkor 16-35 f4 VR
\r\nExposure:\t4.0 Seconds @ f16
\r\nISO: 200
\r\nFilters:\tLee ND Grad
This is an older image taken with my D200 which has never been seen on the website before.
This image was taken whilst on holiday in Cornwall in 2007. This was the last image taken on the night. During the shoot I was constantly battling against a large exposure difference between the sky and the foreground. I used Lee Neutral Density Filters but it was a night where, had I been aware of the technique for blending images in the "digital darkroom," I think it would have provided a better set of images. My Filters are \'hard\' grads and with sections of rock etc breaking the horizon it was difficult to hold for the sky and burning sun exposure elements without darkening other areas of the image. Another possibility would have been to use the softer transition grads from Lee Filters.
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\r\nThis image, taken when the sun had dropped below the horizon allowed a more gentle exposure difference between the foreground and the sky.
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\r\nCamera:\tNikon D200
\r\nLens:\t\tNikkor 12-24 f4 DX
\r\nExposure:\t3 seconds @ f16
\r\nISO: 100
\r\nFilters:\tLee Neutral Density Graduated
Another image taken some time ago but only now uploaded to the website. West Woods in Wiltshire is a wonderful wood, almost totally covered just Bluebells and Beach trees in spring time. I have visited this place twice, a 200 mile round trip but if you want to see Bluebells in England I think it would be hard to find a more amazing place.
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\r\nBluebells are notoriously difficult to photograph as their colour never appears true to life on film or digital sensors. Normally I find there tends to be a warmer, more purple tone to them. For me this image was about perfecting the colours. My first trip to West Woods left me amazed at the place but dissapointed with my image colours. It took a while until I was happy with the white balance and colour settings. This image reflects what I witnessed on the day.
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\r\nCamera:\tNikon D200
\r\nLens:\t\tNikkor 18-70 f3.5-4.5 DX
\r\nExposure:\t3 Seconds @ f22 (-2/3 Exposure Compensation)
\r\nISO: 200
\r\nFilters:\tNone
This image will be the first in a series of articles entitled "The making of a Photograph" coming soon. Suffice to say it involved an early morning rise but my efforts were rewarded!
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\r\nCamera:\tNikon D3
\r\nLens:\t\tNikkor 16-35 f4 VR
\r\nExposure:\t1.6 Seconds @ f16 (+1/3 exposure compensation)
\r\nISO: 200
\r\nFilters:\tLee 0.9 & 0.6 ND Grads
This photograph was made on the same morning as 'Stiperstone Dawn'. The light was much harsher by the time I tripped the shutter for this image. The lingering mist has given the image a softer, more muted look, similar I guess to a water colour.
\r\nI used my Nikkor 70-200 f2.8 VR lens mounted on the tripod, enabling me to compress the perspective, enhancing the layered affect on the distance Shropshire Hills. I cropped the image to lose some of the plain uninteresting sky.
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\r\nCamera:\tNikon D3
\r\nLens:\t\tNikkor 70-200 f2.8 VR (@200mm)
\r\nExposure:\t0.2 Seconds @ f16
\r\nISO: 200
\r\nFilters:\tLee ND Grad