Sunshine and colour...

Easter Sunday (as well as the start of British Summertime), and the weather takes a turn for the better. It's still cold - in fact the coldest Easter on record in the UK - but there is glorious sunshine to off-set that. Making the decision to get out with my camera whilst it lasts I head for the beach with one thing in mind: Colour.

It's the painted fronts of the beach huts that give me my best subjects, and I spend an hour or so photographing whatever takes my eye. I'm doing this as an exercise in "gut reaction"; seeing and shooting without too much thought - framing and firing the shutter before moving swiftly on to look for the next image - and working purely on an emotional level.

24-70mm f/2.8G AF-S Nikkor

Top: 1/1000 second at f/8.  - 0.33 EV compensation. ISO 320

Left: 1/1000 second at f/5.6. - 0.33 EV compensation. ISO 320

Right: 1/2500 second at f/5.6. - 0.33 EV compensation. ISO 320

© 2013

Addendum: I have finally found a way to add a lightbox to view the images on this blog - no thanks to Google.

Long dog...

Well, we are trying it all at the moment: Spring has started twice - on the first of the month (if the Met Office is to be believed) - and again on the vernal equinox, and tomorrow is the start of british Summertime, but the weather continues to refuse to play ball.

So it is up to me to inspire myself if I want to shoot today. At one time I could load my camera with a specialist film emulsion and go out in search of suitable subjects, but since those days are long gone I rely more on the different characteristics of my lenses for pictorial effect.

It is (yet) another grey day on the coast, and in spite of the fact it is a holiday weekend there are few people willing to brave the low temperatures along the seafront. There are, of course, the customary dog-walkers along the surf line, and I spend some time photographing people and their pets getting some exercise (right). Because of the fast aperture of my chosen optic today I am able to achieve very fast shutter speeds to freeze the action, even in poor light. I selenium-toned the image in Adobe Lightroom 4.



85mm f/1.4D AF Nikkor. 1/8000 second at f/1.4. + 0.67 EV compensation. ISO 400.



© 2013

Lightroom and Lightbox...

Spring is well and truly underway, although the weather seems oblivious to it all. For example: the sun put in a brief appearance this morning. Nothing too remarkable about that apart from the fact that it was snowing at the same time. Only light flakes, mind - nothing serious - but snow all the same. In fact, it snowed several times throughout the day and is becoming a less-than-rare occurrence in my neck of the woods. The good news is that the temperature soared to 6º Celsius.

I needed to get out and shoot, today. For far too long I have been sitting indoors - not entirely a bad thing as I get to grips with Adobe Lightroom 4 - but I need fresh images to work on, and to quell the creative urge. On a mixed-up day such as this it will need a keen eye to find something to photograph. I try a number of seascape images, with a now-watery sun dodging between the cloud cover, but it is the bread wrapper on a local beach that eventually catches my eye. I like the way the warm colours and folds on the printed plastic blend and merge with the sediment patterns in the sand.

                                                                                                   ***********************


It may have come to some readers attention that the Lightbox function on Blogger no longer works as it should. In other words, if you now click on a photograph the large version is displayed against a white screen in one corner instead of the image being overlaid on top of the post. Many have raised this issue on Google help pages but as yet nothing seems to be coming close to being resolved. Hopefully, normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.


24-70mm f/2.8G AF-S Nikkor. 1/100 second at f/5.5.  - 0.33 EV compensation. ISO 400. Monopod



© 2013

A warning to us all...

Which ever way you want to look at it - spring starts at the beginning of March or on the Vernal Equinox - it is all academic as winter weather returns to large areas of the UK. There is no snow; high winds or flooding here in Dorset, but temperatures are struggling to get above zero Celsius over the next day or so.

This is a shame since I have decided to transfer the bulk of my workflow to Adobe Lightroom (having installed the software), but there is precious little to photograph. Of course, there is always going to be something to point a lens at if I look hard enough, and it is the graffiti - scrawled in pencil -  on the painted wooden door on a beach front shelter that gets my attention. Quite why someone felt the need to dash off such a warning is unclear, but I feel it may have something to do with the local council discouraging people from sleeping overnight at the many shelters and wind-breaks along the seven miles of promenade that lines Poole bay, by boarding them up or removing the roofs entirely. There is no official policy on this action, but it doesn't take a genius to work it out.



24-70mm f/2.8G AF-S Nikkor. 1/60 second at f/5.6.  +1.33 EV compensation. ISO 320



© 2013

Two for the price of one...

With the 'real' start to spring just around the corner - and the weather forecast promising to all but wipe-out the rest of the week - an unexpected break in the clouds during mid-sfternoon prompts me to make the most of what's on offer before it's too late.

I have two lenses in my bag today, but no pre-conceived intentions of what I want to shoot. This approach can be as productive as a planned session, and it is pure chance that blocks of colour and shape turn out to be the success of the afternoon. The refreshment kiosk on the beach at Sandbanks, Dorset, is my subject, and I particularly like the way the photograph appears to have two distinct images within the frame. The final image is un-cropped.









24-70mm f/2.8G AF-S Nikkor. 1/640 second at f/11. - 0.33 EV compensation. ISO 200. Monopod


© 2013

Testing, testing...

What with the weather being the way it has been during the past week (all over the place), today is the first opportunity I've had to check out the other lens that had been recently cleaned and serviced. So, I set out on my bike with that objective in mind, which took up a good chunk of the afternoon.

I had stopped on en route to photograph daffodils in a local park since it was bright but overcast - ideal low contrast light for such subjects - but as I arrived on the shore of Poole harbour, Dorset, later in the afternoon the sun put in a brief appearance, and I decide to shoot details in the landscape.

The side-lit sign on an hotel wall caught my eye, along with the two yucca plants, and I shoot a number of abstract images. All is well until I attempt to photograph a person in the distance - peering over the harbour wall into the waters below - that I observe that the image in the viewfinder doesn't snap into sharp focus. Thinking I may have inadvertently knocked the focus mode switch - or made some other unwanted adjustment - I check everything and re-compose. For a second time I find the lens won't focus at infinity, no matter what settings I try.

Since this was only a test shoot I decide that it is over and return home to try the lens on another camera body. It is possible that the autofocus module in the camera may be suddenly malfunctioning, but upon mounting the optic on my back-up body it confirms just what I had suspected all along: the lens is not performing to specification.

I phone the repair facility (no names mentioned for now), and advise them of the issue. After a brief period of being put on hold I am told, by the pleasant lady dealing with my issue, to return the lens so they can see "what has gone wrong".

I will re-package the lens and post it tomorrow. Although covered by their warranty I will leave it for now to see how this issue plays out, and the way this company deals with a customer who has a problem. Mistakes do get made, and hopefully all will be well, but I will report back with names once the dilemma is resolved.



70-200mm f/2.8D Apo Sigma lens. 1/1600 second at f/6.3.  + 0.67 EV compensation. ISO 400. Monopod



© 2013

Under spring skies...

Spring is struggling to establish itself, here in the South, as the unseasonal temperatures and weather struggle to strike a balance - sub-zero, snow and strong winds at the start of the week; today up to 7ºC and bright sunshine. You can't say it doesn't make it interesting.

I seize the opportunity to photograph the emerging daffodils, and having been disappointed with yesterday's location check (they were mostly blown over to about 45 degrees - a result of the winds), I get on my bike and ride along the seafront of Poole Bay, Dorset, to my secondary patch at Branksome Chine. Here they are faring much better due to the shelter of the cliffs, and I spend half an hour in the warmth of a spring day getting the shots I have been waiting for.

Although the season is taking its own sweet time to get into full swing this is a good thing, since the later it starts the longer it lasts. Just as I begin to think about swapping the winter tyres on my bike for something with less tread I hear that the rain returns tomorrow. I'll give it another week, I think.



300mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor. 1/2000 second at f/4. + 0.33 EV compensation. ISO 200



© 2013

High hopes...

Yesterday, I had two lenses returned in the post that had recently been sent for a service - one of them being a super-telephoto that matches the longest focal length at my disposal: a 300mm Nikkor. There are two significant differences between this and the other, faster 300mm optic I own: one is that it is smaller (and therefore lighter), and the other is that it is one f/stop slower. Both are very well built.

Since its return I did a bit of research into the lens on-line, and to my surprise read (from a trusted and reliable author), that the slower version performs better with a teleconverter attached. This, if true, could be good news, as I would be able to transport more than one lens on my back when such pulling power is needed - something impractical with the larger of the two lenses - so I set off for the local duck pond for a field test.

The article I read claims that with a x1.4 tele-converter attached it is perfectly feasible to shoot the f/4 lens at maximum aperture (f/5.6 with the converter) and still achieve top quality, so with the camera attached to a tripod I shoot away. I have high hopes of this combination since the lens is capable of focusing down to five feet, therefore opening up close-up shooting abilities, but upon opening the files on my computer, and under close scrutiny, I see that it doesn't quite match up to its bigger brother at the same f/stop settings. This is all down to the fact that I am able to slightly improve the optics of the larger, faster lens by stopping-down a touch - always good practice with extenders. Of course this is just pixel-peeping and it is an unrealistic appraisal of such a good lens. At normal viewing distances it still produces stunning photographs, but when the chips are down it will be the f/2.8 version I reach for before going out the door.

Just though I'd mention it.



300mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor with TC-14EII converter. 1/1250 at f/5.6. - 0.33 EV compensation. ISO 400. Tripod



© 2013

Getting better all the time...

No doubt about it, I could quite happily sit and do this kind of photography all day, every day. Spring has arrived and the temperature reached double figures on the Celsius scale for the first time since I don't know when.

I return to the same locations as yesterday, since I felt the images I shot didn't do the subjects justice, nor was I using the optics best suited for the job. Yesterday, with the super-telephoto lens it was a nearly-but-not-quite, but pressing the same lens into service for close-ups never really works so I decided I needed to re-shoot.

Luckily the weather was on my side, and having spent a glorious three hours - both on and off my lightweight, folding stool (thanks again, Nic), I take the long way home on my bike... and I'm glad I did.

I came across the fox as a result of my meanderings; not such an unusual sighting, these days, but I was surprised all the same. I watched it sniffing around the grass for perhaps two minutes whilst I wrestled with the idea of attempting to get some shots. All too often a shy creature will take flight the moment you make a sudden movement, and taking the pack off my back; laying it down; taking the camera out and attaching the lens hood wouldn't help matters. Finally I decide to give it a go.

The fox eyed me semi-warily, but was prepared to tolerate my presence as long as I remained outside its comfort zone. Fortunately everything on the camera was set as needed, so all I needed to do was rest the lens against my propped-up bike and shoot away (I considered it pushing my luck to set up the tripod).

As I mentioned earlier, I could do this sort of photography all day long, but tomorrow rain is predicted. This may well bring on the daffodils. More good news.





Top and middle: 300mm f/2.8 AF-S VR Nikkor with TC-14EII converter.

Tufted Duck - 1/3200 second at f/5.6. - 0.67 EC compensation. ISO 400. Tripod
Red Fox - 1/500 second at f/5.6.  - 0.33 EV compensation. ISO 400.

Hawthorn blossom: 105mm f/2.8D EX Sigma macro lens. 1/1250 second at f/6.3.  + 0.33 EV compensation. ISO 400. Tripod



© 2013

The odd couple...

The temperature rises and the sun comes out: the first real spring day in my book, and I have plans to visit a local pond to photograph the ducks. For the past few years I have made repeated visits to the site since in its small area there can be found several species of duck as well as the occasional grey heron, but today I was slightly disappointed by the low turnout of waterfowl. I count a mere five bobbing about, and not a hint of heron - or Black-headed gulls come to that - ubiquitous as they are. However, my favourite residents are still there.

It is an odd pairing, to say the least, but the Tufted Duck (right) and the Ferruginous Duck (below) seem to have struck up a stable but out of species relationship. Both are male birds and therefore not a breeding pair, but it appears to have lasted several years.

I'm trying out a new bit of kit today, given to me by my friend Nic, for Christmas: a folding stool. Compact and light weight, it is the first chance I have had to use it in the field and it served its purpose superbly, allowing me to sit comfortably for well over an hour (I could have gone longer but I had another location on the agenda). Now, instead of crouching or (worse still) kneeling for extended periods on the ground with the camera on a monopod I am able to use a tripod at a convenient height to support a super-telephoto lens. That, coupled with a ball head on the tripod that has friction control, and I have never had such a high a ratio of sharp images from a shoot of this kind.

300mm f/2.8 AF-S VR Nikkor. 

Top: 1/1600 second at f/4.  - 1 stop EV compensation

Left: 1/1600 at f/5.6. - 0.67 EV compensation. ISO 320. Tripod and ball head.

© 2013

On the card...

An unexpected change in the weather - and certainly not forecast - and I am out on my bike with a big lens; heading for the river. There is now enough evidence of nature re-awakening so I thought it time to check up on several favourable locations, just to see how things are coming along for forthcoming planned shoots.

Last year I had great success photographing egret and heron at a weir on the Dorset Stour, and although flood waters over the past two months have subsided considerably there is still not enough rock exposed for the birds to use as a perch/feeding point, resulting in their (current) absence.

Not to worry - I only half expected to get any shots - so I attempt some water imagery instead (an impromptu Plan B), photographing the white water at different shutter speeds, but none of the pictures - in my mind - were a success. It came down to the arrival of two Mute Swans to save the day and to get something useable on the card (that phrase doesn't have quite the same ring as 'in the can' from the days of film, but there we go). I choose this image purely because it has the best reflection.



300mm f/2.8 AF-S VR Nikkor. 1/6400 second at f/2.8.  -1 stop EV compensation. ISO 200. Monopod.



© 2013

It's spring...

Okay, I'll go with the flow: today is the first day of spring. It doesn't feel like spring; we still have more hours of darkness than daylight, and it doesn't much look like spring, weather wise. However, it is reasonably mild. I've not been out much this week, having picked up a virus at a birthday party on Sunday evening, but since I feel so much better today I think a genteel ride along the seafront of Poole Bay may be beneficial.

I make one stop along the way to photograph groyne posts isolated in a tide pool at Canford Cliffs, and had made the decision to remove the colour from the image before I dropped my bike on the beach.



24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor. 1/160th second at f/11. - 0.33 EV compensation. IS0 640. Monopod



© 2013