Unavailable light photography

I thought that I would push myself a bit, today, and shoot after the sun had set. It's not something I do much of, to be honest, but I have had the idea in my head for the past week or so. It was now just a matter of when conditions were suitable to make my move.

Success with this style of photography relies on there still being some light in the sky - in this case 36 minutes after the sun had disappeared - whilst the tide pools created by the falling tide reflect the colour of the afterglow.



12-24mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor. 4 seconds at f/11. Matrix metering. - 0.33 EV compensation. ISO 160. Tripod and remote release.



© 2015

Excitable dog

No two ways about it; nature is making me work at the moment. There has been the tantalising hint of light at the end of most days this week, but mostly a persistant bank of grey cloud streams up from continental Europe like a huge, grey streaming thing.

In spite of all this the light is quite beautiful this afternoon, and a sea haze is adding to the atmosphere. All I really need now is a focal point to finish the composition, and this excitable dog oblidges.


24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor. 1/60 second at f/3.2.  Matrix metering.  - 0.33 EV compensation. ISO 200. Monopod



© 2015

Leaving it late

The Golden Hour: that time an hour after sunrise, and the last hour before sunset, produces soft, diffused light much sought after by the outdoor phorographer. However, while many less-informed shooters will pack up and leave a scene the moment the sun dips below the horizon, better results can often be had after the fact.

There was little in the way of cloud in the sky, today, so long before I arrived at my location I had the idea of photographing the afterglow, rather than the sunset itself. This image, taken 15 minutes after the sun had sunk below the horizon, proves my point.



24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor. 1/100 second at f/2.8. Matrix metering. ISO 160. Monopod



© 2015

Lucky break

Uniform grey skies keep me in the for most of the day, and when I do decide to go for a beach walk during mid afternoon it starts to rain almost as soon as I am out of the door. It turns out to be only a shower, and I while away half an hour while it passes, talking the the chap that drives one of the local the cliff lifts (there are three situated along the cliffs of Poole Bay, Dorset),

This turns out to be significant as the delay keeps me in the area long enough to see the clouds part, giving me some glorious light shortly before the sun sets. It is all too easy to just point the lens at that, but sometimes the view in the opposite direction can produce something equally spectacular, or better.

Looking East, The Isle of Wight polar bear can be seen on the horizon, illuminated by the last rays of the sun, while the remnants of a rainbow lingers in the sky.



24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor. 1/100 second at f/5.6. Matrix metering.  -1 stop EV compensation, ISO 400



© 2015

On the ground

Somewhat unusual, but the Met Office web site was down this afternoon, so accurate planning of a landscape shoot wasn't possible. I frequently make use of their satellite radar images to plot where and when cloud cover will occur - if at all - but since none of that information was available I opt to see what can be found on the ground.

Autumn is making slow progress, but whilst the horse chestnut trees have lost almost all of their leaves, everything else seems to be lagging behind. It's foliage that I am on the lookout for, today, and in this image I like the way this wet leaf seems to coalesce into the concrete paving slab.





24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor. 1/60 second at f/5.6. Matrix metering.  - 0.33 EV compensation. ISO 160. Monopod



© 2015

Nature's treat

This time of year is simply my favourite for photography on my local beaches. No low tides today to help with the composition, but nature oblidges with a beautiful sky over Poole Bay half an hour or so before sunset.



12-24mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor. 1/800 second at f/8. Matrix metering. + 1 stop EV compensation. 0.9 Lee grey grad. ISO 160



© 2015

You're welcome

At last the sun is beginning to set over the sea on my stretch of coastline, and although the weather has been promising during the past few days all the images I made turned out to be near-misses. However, that mix of low sun and low tide combined late this afternoon to produce the above photograph.

Normally, I would (silently) curse if someone walked into my shot, but in this case the addition of a figure - another photographer - worked in my favour; his long shadow adding to the atmosphere of the scene.


24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor. 1/320 second at f/8. Matrix metering.  - 1 stop EV compensation. ISO 160



© 2015

Lightweight

The weather forecast didn't offer much for this afternoon, and no matter how long I spent scrutinising the Met Office satellite map it wasn't going to change. I decided to take the chance anyway, and set out on my bike with little idea as to what I might shoot. In fact I almost missed my subject as he crouched down, preparing his paraglider for flight, but once the breeze caught his wing I started making photographs.

Light winds made it difficult for any enjoyable flying, but of the four fliers taking off from the same spot, two were successful.



24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor. 1/2500 second at f/4. Matrix metering. - 1 stop EV compensation. ISO 160



© 2015

Too much blue

We have definately been in the clutches of a Indian summer this past week or ten days, and while clear blue skies are nice to be under they don't help much with photographing the great outdoors. But as the saying goes: Make the most of what you've got. I had intended to just have the featureless sky and a thin sliver of sea for today's image, but the small boat came along to create a focal point and I went with that.


24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor. 1/3200 second at f/8. Matrix metering. + 0.33 EV compensation. ISO 160



© 2015