Today was another day devoted mainly to the 24mm PC-e lens. I set off for one of my very favourite places, Deepdale. This is a lonely valley accessed from the road to Patterdale. Despite easy access, very few people make their way there in comparison with the standard Lakes honey pots. In 7 hours I only saw one walker heading up the valley. This provided an interruption and distraction free time in which to develop greater experience with this challenging lens. I understand the general principles of Tilting and have read all that I could find in terms of practical usage advice. I was also helped enormously by Andy Phillips who generously shared with me his precise step by step process.I felt that the only way to develop was simply to use it a lot until some of the thinking was replaced by feeling. That's what I've been doing since buying it. Not all situations lend themselves to a T&S lens or indeed to 24mm however and I havent tried to 'force the issue'. Today was the first day in which I have felt the balance shift towards a majority of success rather than failures. Today I made progress in a number of aspects. I think I am beginning to get a 'feel' for the tilt and refocus process; when things look right, they are increasingly right. I also chose use the viewfinder more than live view in the initial setup. I had also been focussing on the nearest point before tilting for the distance but today I've been focusing on a point a little further out and the number of iterations seems to have decreased.Probably the key gain today is that I felt the lens was working with me and not against me. I was enjoying using it and not fighting it. Perhaps the peace and tranquility of the location helped, perhaps it is just another inevitable step. The attached image was made with the 24mm f3.5 PC-E, 30s at f11 with a Lee Polariser and 3 stop ND.
Nikon 24mm f3.5 PC-e Tutorials
There are only a small number of articles that genuinely give solid advice on using this lens. There is a common view that there is 'nothing out there'. After much searching I've found a few links and these are added below. If you know of a link I've missed, do get in touch and it can be added for the benefit of all.http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/tilt-shift-lenses2.htmhttps://luminous-landscape.com/focusing-tilt-shift-lenses/http://www.davidsummerhayes.com/Focusing%20the%20tilt-shift%20lens.pdf http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/using-lens-tilt-on-your-digital-slr/http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/what-tilt-and-shift-lenses-do/https://www.schneideroptics.com/pdfs/photo/PC-TS%20Anleitung%201-12%20en.PDFShift onlyhttps://petapixel.com/2015/04/06/a-quick-introduction-to-shooting-with-a-tilt-shift-lens/http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/tilt-shift-lenses1.htmhttp://www.oopoomoo.com/2012/0 3/seven-advantages-of-using-ti lt-shift-lenses/
https://www.redbubble.com/peop le/peterh111/journal/7077801-h ow-to-take-a-tilt-shift-photog raphThis ebook is exceptionally good.http://www.oopoomoo.com/ebook/the-tilt-shift-lens/A fine article by Tim Parkin at InLandscape, worth the subscription alone.https://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2015/03/focussing-tilt-lenses/For a practical guide to using a Tilt and Shift lens there can be no better place to go than to Aspect2i. They regularly run workshops dedicated to these lenses.http://www.aspect2i.co.uk/findWorkshop.php?workshopType=3&abilityLevel=findWorkshopAn excellent article, also published in Luminous Landscape by David Summerhayes.Focusing a Tilt and Shift lens. It also includes some useful tables to provide ad starting point for the amount of tilt required for near to far sharpness in Landscapes.
Pilgrimage
Over the Christmas vacation we made our way down to 'That London' to visit the Royal Maritime Museum. This was not the result of a sudden bout of naval curiosity but because in answer to prayer they were hosting an exhibition of prints by Ansel Adams. To many he is the grandfather of landscape photography and his pioneering work in the last century forms the bedrock of much that is great today. Until this week I had never seen an original print in the flesh and my knowledge was gleaned from books, calendars, posters and the internet.
Arriving after a delightful boat journey from Embankment, I wasn't sure what to expect. The collection was advertised as a selected view of those aspects of his work that were associated with water. I like water but was prepared for not seeing many of my particular favourites. I was also braced for a pretty limited selection.
Both fears proved to be spectacularly unfounded. The exhibition was HUGE and only compromised by the decision not to issue timed tickets but to allow a free for all. There was considerable jostling and it made the process more difficult than it should have been.
The prints were a joy and spanned pretty much his whole career. The ranged from the tiny (almost contact print sized) to the enormous as shown in the image at the top. As prints they were exceptional, as images there were many I liked and a few that aroused me less. Perhaps there were almost too many to take in during a single visit. I wove my way around the wall after wall of pictures enjoying the experience, revelling in the immersion but still moving nonetheless. Then quite by surprise I came across the image below.
I've never been a huge fan of Moonrise over Hernandez but this view of Yosemite is one of my favourite photographs of all time. To see it suddenly and unexpectedly stopped me in my tracks. I stood and stared, moved on, came back, stared again and again. I could feel myself falling into it. To me this is the absolute expression of Ansel Adams. The scene before our eyes is unbelievably grand, perfect. The print is a joy in itself, the tones, the gradations, the blacks, the shadow detail. All as perfect as I know how to determine. I could have stood there all day but in the end settled for buying a print to frame. I left moved, inspired and determined to raise my own game in 2013.
Skye
Back now from an excellent trip to Skye and proving that with patience, sensitivity and consideration all round it is possible to combine a family holiday with a photographic visit. There do have to be many compromises of course and in truth perhaps neither fulfils its true potential but in the same was a really good day's climbing ends in the pub, then a really good session taking photographs ends with being able to share the them with family. The day itself is the better for the social aspect. I failed miserably to get up before the family and return for breakfast triumphantly, the week and my energy just weren't like that . I did manage an evening in Elgol while the family rested after the drive up. The rest was achieved by combining visiting interesting places and what seemed (to me at least...) very efficient picture taking.
The weather was kind with only one day fully saturated and during the rest we managed to visit Elgol (twice), Neist Point, The Old man of Storr, The Quirang, Kilt Rock and Sligachan. On the journeys to and from we also took in The Buachaille twice and Eliean Donan. A few photos were made from lay-bys and more than a few were made more hurriedly than they should have been but the week was a great success.
From Monday to Friday, less one washout, I managed at least 6 'keepers' which even allowing for the natural attributes of Skye is a good return. If the rest of the family can bear it, I'd repeat this style of holiday again.
Buttermere Dash
Yesterday I tried to maintain my new year's resolution of seizing opportunities. Having been at a meeting in Penrith all afternoon I rushed straight off at the end and headed for Buttermere. At the top of Honister Pass I changed from work suit to outdoor clothes and set about finding somewhere to park. The road from Gatesgarth to Buttermere village is desperately short of parking spots and I ended up with a very dubious piece of parking. The afternoon had been wild with sun and huge showers sweeping through but by the time I got there the dram had been replaced by tranquillity. Looking for foreground interest while trying to beat the fading light brought me to this washed up log. I was tempted to add to the composition by moving it but settled for higher moral ground. The long exposure was slightly compromised by the fact that the log was able to shift slightly as the waters lapped around it leading to a loss of critical sharpness. I made both colour and black and white versions but much prefer the colour one in this case. I was glad as ever to have worn my Hunter wellies as the entire evening's picture taking was made standing in water about a foot deep. It was a beautiful and tranquil evening at the end of a very busy day. the peace and quiet were medicinal and even the long drive home and late evening meal could not take the shine off a wonderful experience.
Tiree #4
A second image from Salum. This time with a much simpler composition. Fewer clouds and trying to eliminate as much as possible expect the three bits of land above the sea. The right hand is sadly attached, I think the whole image would have worked better if it had been three separate distinct islands, but you have what you have.
North Berwick tidal pool
This image was made yesterday during a brief visit to North Berwick. I've been trying to capture this picture for ages and finally got the combination of my availability, weather, light and tide all together at one point. I waited three hours on the beach and this was the very last exposure I made. It was taken on a Nikon D700 with a 50mm F1.8 lens. 4 minutes at f11 with Lee 0.6 ND Hard Grad and Lee Big Stopper. The structure is a children's paddling pool which in itself is not of any photographic significance. However the tight composition serves to remove most extraneous detail and the long exposure reduces the detail in the water to a flat shape. The result is simplified to the geometric shapes. The icing on the cake is of course the Bass Rock in the far distance. This is a fantastic part of Scotland for coastal photography. This location was first brought to me by Colin Homes, the Edinburgh based landscape photographer.
If you want to get ahead
My new tripod head has arrived this week. I had identified three major features:
- More stability than the Manfrotto 486RC2
- Arca Swiss compatible
- Low profile
The obvious candidate and the one that most fellow photographers arrive at is the Really Right Stuff BH-55. This is the de-facto king of ball and socket heads. I was pretty much resigned to having to pay their high prices and accept having to order direct from the States when I came across an alternative The Induro BHL3 This is a little known head and I struggled to source it in this country but it deserves to be much, much better known. See my full review here.
Workshop impact
They say the proof of the pudding is in the eating and I suppose the saying holds true. I enjoyed my time with Colin Homes enormously and would recomend it without hesitation. However in good management speak, what has been the impact and what did I learn?
Some aspects were reassuring in terms of my existing practice and my general camera craft stood up reasonably well. I've not long been using the Lee Big Stopper so some aspects of handling that were brushed up. The first part that Colin addressed with us was exposure. This came as a bit of a surprise as I'm reasonably adept at getting well exposed images with a good range of tones. However whether it is due to growing up with colour transparency film or not I have always feared over exposure. Colin pushed us to get our histogram as far to the right as possible I've seen this expressed as ETTR (Exposure to the right). I've never worked that way in the past but seeing files produced have converted. He also taught me to make use of RAW files. I've never been that bothered but working in RAW was a revelation. The final part of the technique slot was given to using Photoshop CS5. I've never gone beyond Elements before but now it has converted me completely.
Lessons learned.
I took the plunge a couple of weeks ago and signed up for a Coastal Landscape photography course. There is an enormous industry out there of people offering to take your photography to a new level and in many cases with not that much to demonstrate that their photography is at any special level. I've always viewed such offerings with a degree of skepticism. Out of the blue, when visiting the delightful seaside town of North Berwick, I was literally stopped dead in my tracks while passing the local a
rt shop. In the window was a huge framed print of the image to the left. I just stood and stared. It was a Sunday and the shop was shut so i did what anyone would do, photographed it on the iPhone and took a note of his name to investigate further. The photographer is Colin Homes and when I discovered that he was running courses, I was hooked. Here was someone taking images I'd kill to have taken and ready and willing to show me how. The booking was made and I duely spent a fantastic day with him a couple of weeks ago.
The day began with an overview of his workflow, a little on photoshop and an insight into creating the best possible file from which to work. After that we headed off, just two of us on the course that day, to the coast not half an hour's walk from the town. The next four hours or so were spent taking photographs with exactly the right balance of guidance from Colin. Never pushy, never intrusive, just there when required. The input for me was balance between a little technique and a greater part of compositional suggestion. We're all different, but for me it was spot on.
We returned in time to base to have a look at our output and for each of us one file recived the Colin treatment using Photoshop CS5. Colin took us through the inital RAW import and manipulation then a whistlestop tour of using layer masks, particularly the use of multiple gradient masks. This gave each one of us a final file demonstrating all the taught elements.
This process illustrated a number of important points in the teaching and learning process. The teacher must for me have credibility, they must be able to pass on their knowledge ina way that enables me to learn and finally I need to enjoy the process. I had a superb day, thoroughly enjoyed myself and learned loads into the bargain. Almost more importantly, I have continued to learn from the day and my own process has changed forever. Can't wish for more than that
Up and running
The new website is finally up and running and beginning to be populated with content. The site can be found at www.mikeprince.org and has been conceived as a repository for my monochrome landscape work. I feel I've lacked clarity for some time, shooting and then deciding what to do with it. I hope that this departure may serve to focus my mind somewhat.