Winter light at its best...

Since the beginning of the week conditions have been poor in the south, with rain and leaden skies, making photography difficult - but not impossible. Weather forecasts have been no help either: they indicate sunny periods, but nature refuses to deliver. Today, I choose to ignore precipitation maps and go outside to get my boots muddy on Stanpit Marsh, Dorset.
It is the third time I've been at the location in as many days, and this time I think I'm going to get some light worth using. I do.

This, and the image in my previous post, illustrate the way light can dramatically transform a landscape. Shot from the same spot and with the same lens, this is the kind of photograph that only winter light at its best can produce. Apart from that, it is just a case of being there and recording what develops in front of me with a camera. I take a number of shots as the light moves across the scene, but It's over all too quick and the light has gone. The cloud breaks again later in the afternoon, but the setting sun is now too heavily diffused to be effective.

24-70 f/2.8 EX DG Sigma lens. 1/160 second at f/11. -0.33EV. ISO 640. 0.9 grey grad filter.

© 2009

Let it rain...

Today it rained. Good; it allowed me to get in front of my iMac and start editing all the images I have shot during the past week - but at the same time keeping one eye on the weather satellite images. By the end of the morning I've completed the first brutal edit and backed up the RAW files to external devices... but that weather forecast looks more and more promising.

It's early afternoon when I set out in the rain to visit Stanpit Marsh, east of Wick Fields, Christchurch. The cloud is supposed to clear by 3 pm - but it doesn't. Either I've misinterpreted the forecast, or it's just simply wrong. The rain does let up for a short while, enabling me to shoot something, despite the poor light, but I've already decided to convert anything I photograph to mono in Photoshop, before I make any exposures. The picture is of the salt marsh reed beds, with a distant Christchurch Priory on the horizon.

24-70 f/2.8 EX DG Sigma lens. 1/100 second at f/8. -0.33EV. ISO 400. Mono conversion in Photoshop CS4.

© 2009

Winter sea defences...

Ignoring the ever increasing backlog of photo files that need some sort of attention I'm out of the house before dawn, and riding into an eye-watering easterly wind; this time towards Christchurch Harbour.
The sun rises at 8.09 am as a hazy ball - no strong directional light - so I search out a scene to include the sun in the composition. I shoot a number of images of a cormorant perched on a groyne marker, drying its wings, but it's a rock groyne itself at Hengistbury Head that produces the best image of the morning.

12-24 mm f/4G Nikkor. 1/250 second at f/11. +0.33EV. ISO 400. 0.9 grey grad filter.

© 2009

Winter and the English countryside...

Today's venture is to return to Studland to photograph Little Sea, but arriving during early morning it soon becomes obvious that the light is from the wrong direction for my chosen location. I make the decision to return during mid afternoon and push on to Corfe Castle.
During the ride I have the idea of replicating the image I made on the Summer Solstice this year, and although I have no reference print with me to match the view, I do remember the location.
Once in position and set up I immediately take the photograph published here, my attention drawn to the light as it moves across the fields. Although I spend half an hour or so taking pictures, once again it turns out that the first shot is the best of the sequence.

24-70 mm f/2.8 EX DG Sigma lens. 1/125 second at f/11. -0.33EV. ISO 200

© 2009

Double rainbow...

Initially, I planned to do nothing today - well, not go out and shoot. Sad as it is, a photographer these days can spend more time in front of a computer than actually taking photographs. Apart from editing and processing selected images, there is the need to back-up files (I use three external hard drives for the purpose, plus DVDs for hard copy), and catalogue them so they can be found at a later date.
But I'm not in the mood: yesterday's images inspire me to go out for more. I make an impromptu visit to the Studland Peninsula, Dorset, but I'm sheltering from regular showers as soon as I arrive. I'm trying to photograph Little Sea, an inland water, once salt, now fresh, but things are not coming together. I consider packing up and going home, but keeping an eye on the lightening horizon to the west during one heavy bout of rain gives me hope. I may get a rainbow.
The shower passes and the light does its stuff, and against the dark sky I get not one, but two rainbows - a dimmer secondary bow outside of the primary - with the colours reversed.

12-24 f/4G Nikkor. 1/250 second at f/11. -0.33EV. ISO 640. Polariser.

© 2009

Yule-tide festivities...

It's been a busy day from a photographic point of view, so with a Miles Davis CD playing through hot valves I pour myself a (ginger) beer - I gave up alcohol over 5 years ago - and begin:

The Yule-tide festival gets off to a good start this morning with another visit to Christchurch Quay, on the Dorset Stour. I've visited the location a number of times over recent weeks in an effort to photograph the priory, but the light was never as I wanted it. Persistence finally pays off and the dawn light is perfect. Although I make a number of photographs it's the first exposure, included here, that works the best.

Forgoing the traditional broadcast of the Queen's Christmas Message to the Commonwealth I return to the area during late afternoon, in search of the elusive Little Egrets that inhabit nearby Wick Fields. Over the past few weeks I've identified their preferred feeding grounds, so now it is just a case of turning up, suitably equipped, and wait.
Knowing an animals behaviour plays a large part in successful wildlife photography, and again diligence has its rewards. Whilst still too far away to get good feeding images, I do get several opportunities to capture this shy bird in flight as the sun sets.

Top: 70-200mm f/2.8 EX Sigma lens. 1/200 second at f/8. -0.33 EV. ISO 400
Bottom: 300mm f/2.8 AF-S VR Nikkor and TC-14EII converter. 1/2500 second at f/4.5. -0.67EV. ISO 400

© 2009

Starburst...

Anticipation, and knowing how your gear performs, plays a significant part in successful landscape photography. The early morning Met Office satellite sequence confirms the overnight cloud bank covering the country will clear the coast by dawn, and I'm in position on the Dorset Stour before sunrise, taking stock of the situation.
It's clear that the sun will break over the aforementioned cloud while still low in the sky, and the standard zoom lens I choose to photograph the scene is a deliberate choice, as I know it will produce a starburst around the sun when it appears. Most lenses will produce the effect when stopped down sufficiently, but this particular optic creates it more readily, with minimal ghosting.

24-70 f/2.8 EX DG Sigma lens. 1/160 second at f/11. ISO 400

© 2009

The long and the short...

The early morning frost that I anticipated never materialised, despite below zero overnight temperatures. Having made a series of images of Christchurch Priory as the dawn broke I then move on to my secondary location: Christchurch Quay.
It's here that I photographed the swan. It had not been my initial intention to get such an image, as I was shooting other subjects with a fisheye lens, but the swan, only inches from the lens, presented the opportunity, and I took it.
Rather than try getting myself down to ground level I opted to set the lens to minimum distance focus and rested the camera on the grass, taking pot luck with the framing. The onboard flash helped balance the exposure.

The second image, shot at Wick Fields during late afternoon, is of the elusive Little Egret that I tried to photograph yesterday. This time I was equipped with a super-telephoto lens and matched converter. The bird was obviously puzzled as it slipped around on the frozen water, in search of food.

Both images represent the extremes of the focal lengths I have available. While it is the norm to shoot wildlife with long lenses, it's far less common to get results with fisheyes.

Top: 10.5mm f/2.8 Nikkor fisheye. 1/250 second at f/11. -0.67EV. -1.7 stop flash compensation. ISO 320
Bottom: 300mm f/2.8 AF-S VR Nikkor (VR off) and x1.4 TC-14EII converter. 1/1250 second at f/5. -0.67EV. ISO 250. Monopod

© 2009

Stone and ice...

Winter begins to set in with a vengeance as snow disrupts eastern and southern parts of the UK, while temperatures drop below zero Celsius. This is compounded by a brisk northerly wind which makes it feel colder still.
I spend part of the afternoon attempting to photograph a Little Egret feeding amid the frozen waters on Wick Fields, Christchurch, but it's the detail images I shoot that prove to be the most successful.
The stone, picked out by the late afternoon sunlight, contrasts with the reflected blue of the sky on the surface of the frozen water, with submerged vegetation providing added texture to the image.

70-200 f/2.8 Apo Sigma lens. 1/400 second at f/5.6. -0.33EV. ISO 400

© 2009

Wick fields...

Today, I spend most of the daylight hours in Wick Fields on the southern shore of the Dorset Stour, just as it enters Christchurch Harbour. The area is an important part of the Hengistbury Head Nature Reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest, and as it has not been improved by agriculture it is regarded as 'ancient grassland'.
As yesterday, the light is useable all day, but it's during late afternoon that it becomes the most spectacular. The photograph of Christchurch Priory was shot through the reed beds, which are home to an ever growing number of nesting birds, including the rare Dartford and Cetti's Warblers. A herd of Galloway cattle are free to graze, helping to manage the land.

24-70 f/2.8 EX DG Sigma lens. 1/2000 second at f/4. -0.33EV. ISO 400.

© 2009

Days like this...

At last, some light worth shooting! High pressure over the UK is producing crisp winter weather: low temperatures, and enough cloud breaks to make the light interesting.
I start the day before sunrise, cycling along the coast towards the Sandbanks peninsula, Dorset, which is where the first photograph was shot. There were a number of large vessels leaving Poole Harbour, and I opt to shoot into the light for a more dramatic effect.

The blue plaque, mounted on a gate post at Haven Point, commemorates the work of Guglielmo Marconi in the Sandbanks area. I include it here as today is the anniversary of his first transatlantic transmission from Cornwall (UK) to Newfoundland (now part of Canada) in 1901.

The afternoon is spent riding along local country lanes near the Dorset Stour. The recent flooding has subsided and the air is full of evocative sounds and smells. My last stop before the light goes is Throop Mill. There has been a mill on this site since the 11th century (it's mentioned in the Doomsday Book), but the current Grade II listed building dates from the 19th century. It ceased production in 1972 but still retains much of its machinery.
Restoration work, announced in September, is to transform the building into a heritage centre.

Top: 70-200 f/2.8 Sigma lens. 1/800 second at f/8. -0.33EV. ISO 250
Middle: 70-200 f/2.8 Sigma lens. 1/160 second at f/5.6. -0.33 EV. ISO 250
Bottom: 24-70 f/2.8 EX Sigma lens. 1/640 second at f/8. -1 stop EV. ISO 400

© 2009

Flooding...

November has been the wettest month on record in the UK, and more heavy rain overnight goes some way to making December a contender for that record. Although somewhat swollen by all the rain, the millpond at Throop and the Dorset Stour itself have yet to burst their banks: but the ground is heavily waterlogged on surrounding fields and lanes, resulting in localised flooding.

The submerged track in the photograph leads away to the east from the Pig Shoot and Throop Ford (now long gone), towards a second Ford - still intact - that crosses the Leaden Stour and continues on to Hurn.

12-24 f/4G Nikkor. 1/160 second at f/11. -0.33EV. ISO 200.

© 2009

December coastline...

Although an exaggeration, it seems that it's been raining continuously since the middle of last month, here in the UK: not too conducive for outdoor photography. After all, there's only so much bad weather shooting I can tolerate without getting something spectacular.
However, the Met Office weather satellite image looked promising on the display of my iMac at 6:00 am today, but once outside and on my bike I'm forced to shelter from rain.
This turns out to be just a shower, and as the rain cloud moves further along the English Channel it leaves behind broken cloud to the west. I ride on in the gloom of pre-dawn to Hengistbury Head, at the eastern end of the Dorset coast, primarily to photograph any progress being made with the sea defences (last post), but it being a Saturday there's little activity.
Eventually the sky clears, and although a brisk, cold wind continues blowing - it never seems to stop, these days - the clouds part for long enough to allow dramatic light to fall on the windswept coast (image), but it doesn't last long before the next weather front comes in off the Atlantic, taking the light with it.
At this time of year good light is often fleeting, and it's down to good fortune (and being prepared) to shoot any worthwhile landscape images. But then it always is.

24-70 f/2.8 EX-DG Sigma lens. 1/320 second at f/11. -0.67 EV. ISO 400.

© 2009