Photographing the Aurora Borealis in Sussex

Just wow! What a night of photography that was.

I’ve done a little research (Wikipedia) and as I understand things, we are reaching peak activity in the sun’s 11-year solar cycle. The poles are soon to flip and during this time, there’s an increase in solar flares, sunspots and radiation. This means more solar particles spewing out into space, some of which interact with the earth’s magnetic field, increasing the likelihood of aurora borealis (northern lights) or aurora australis (southern lights).

I already knew we were reaching peak activity in the solar cycle but what I hadn’t anticipated was that we in the southern counties of England would also experience this spectacular celestial phenomenon.

As I finished work in London back on the 10th of October, I was heading out into the city to catch a sunset, but as I sat on the train, I spotted lots of people posting on their social stories about the possibility of northern lights across the UK later that night. Having missed the previous display back in May and clear skies predicted, there was no way I was going to let another chance to photograph the aurora pass me by. So, taking only a moment to decide, I made my way south and away from the bright lights of the city.

Having decided to give photographing the aurora a try, all I needed now was a location. I wanted an interesting subject, away from artificial lights and I needed to face north when taking the photo. It took me a minute as every place I could think of would leave me facing anything but north, but scanning my photo library for inspiration, I decided to head to Bodiam Castle in East Sussex, a familiar place I’ve photographed many times before. Leaving the train, I jumped in my car and made my way there.

I arrived on location around an hour later and it was already very dark. I said hi to a fellow photographer called Lee who was already set up and busy taking pictures before heading to my usual spot to compose this framed view of the castle. It’s not pointing directly to the north, it’s more of a north-westerly direction but I figured if the lights did kick off in the sky, it should still work.

Initially, I was feeling a little underwhelmed (and a bit anxious). As you can see in the first image below, there was a subtle magenta hue in the sky and a very pale green towards the horizon but nothing like the vivid colours I was hoping for. Was this all we would see tonight? The photo below is a blend of two images, one for the sky and foreground to capture those subtle aurora tones and another with the castle slightly illuminated with my head torch.

The conditions were ideal. Clear skies, hardly a breath of wind and with the water still, the reflections were perfect. After 30 minutes or so, another photographer hurried towards us pointing to activity happening behind us to the northeast. Looking the other way and with trees behind us, there was no way we would have spotted it from where we stood. Quickly, we grabbed the cameras and went to find a better vantage point.

Although this new position was facing directly north, the moat was a lot narrower and the castle too close. Even with my wide-angle lens, I still couldn’t include enough of the scene in a single frame, so I needed a different approach. The only way this was going to work was by mounting my camera vertically, levelling my tripod and panning the camera from left to right, taking a stitched panoramic image.

I took 6 vertical pictures, making sure I left plenty of space above the castle to showcase as much of the fantastic display nature was gifting us as I could. I stitched them together and edited the photo later in Lightroom to make the final image you can see above. It’s not my favourite composition of the castle and I would have loved for the aurora to be more evenly spread across the sky but I’m still really happy with the final image.

With the vibrant light most vivid directly above the right-hand turret, I also used one of the individual frames from the panoramic image above and edited it separately to help show off those amazing northern lights above the castle.

While standing face-on to the castle, I noticed that the small area of vivid light towards the right-hand side was very slowly making its way across the sky, meaning the framed composition of the castle I had originally set out to capture might be back on. Off I popped back over to the corner, composed the photo and waited. Towards the opposite side from where I stood, there were at least two other photographers taking pictures, so I decided once again not to throw some light onto the castle just in case it interrupted their shoot. Instead, I would try to bring a little of the castle’s detail back in post by recovering the shadows. In hindsight, I think this was a mistake on my part and I’ll expand on that at the end.

Thankfully, I got the light I was after. It did indeed move across the sky, and I clicked away, taking various photos as the light and colours changed. This is easily my favourite photo of the night. I assure you; those vivid colours have not been enhanced with saturation and vibrance sliders; apart from some basic editing most of the work was done using the white balance sliders by cooling off the temperature and bumping the tint a little.

Confident I had the photo I wanted; I made my way over to the far side of the castle to see how things were looking from there. As you can see, the aurora was still visible but as I was now looking towards the southeast it only partly covered the sky. I actually like the results as the brighter, colourful sky on the left balances nicely against the stronger, dominant castle on the right. Although I’m not sold on the bright blue light in the castle windows (they are growing on me though), I do really like the dim orange glow in the windows closer to the camera. Whatever you or I think of them, collectively they appear to bring life to the castle, giving the impression someone is still living there.

What an absolutely amazing night that was. I am blown away by the photos I was able to make, particularly as it was such a unique event to see the aurora borealis as far south as East Sussex. Who knows when that might happen again?

That being said, it was my first time photographing the northern lights and there were certainly lessons I can learn, most notably not taking more opportunity to cast a little light onto the castle like I did in the first photo above. With just a small amount of light pointed towards the castle, it brought out so much more detail and resulted in much less noise in the shadow areas. I mentioned that if I used my head torch more, I might ruin other photographer’s images but in reality, I’m sure I could have been a touch more selfish and used it a couple more times without causing too much upset.

All in all, it was a great experience, so much so, I’m now tempted to give astrophotography a go. Watch this space.

Until next time

Trevor

On Location | Photographing Beachy Head Lighthouse

Being an amateur photographer with a full-time job and a young family, finding quality time to be out for hours in the landscape taking photos isn’t always easy. I’m sure many will relate to finding clever ways to balance their time between life and what is essentially a hobby. So, when the opportunity to have a full day to myself presented itself, I wasted no time planning a trip down to Beachy Head to photograph that stretch of the Sussex coastline.

To make the most of my day, I decided it would be a dawn to dusk shoot, arriving on location at the water’s edge just before sunrise and spending the day in the local area, possibly scout a few locations in the area before heading back to the coast for sunset. During April, that would mean a 16 to17-hour day including the travel but thankfully the tide times coincided with my plans nicely with low tide happening around sunrise and sunset, so I would have plenty of time to refuel at lunchtime, while the tide was in and the beach inaccessible.

The thing about photography is that you can envisage a shoot as much as you like but rarely does it work out the way you plan and I have to admit, the sunrise shoot of the lighthouse, didn’t go as well as I had hoped. The fact is, I didn’t leave myself enough time to get on location and find the best composition. I wanted to take this composition of the lighthouse and cliffs rising out of the frame to the right-hand side, but preferably with a little more interest in the foreground. Maybe a rock pool or channel of water to lead the eye into the frame. I hunted around for 15-20 minutes but the sun was rising fast behind me and I didn’t want to miss this subtle light and pastel colours. So, forgoing an interesting foreground (for now), I settled for this classic composition of the lighthouse and cliffs using these layers of different textures along the beach to add some depth to the overall composition.

While on location, I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed with not finding a stronger foreground for this image but since getting home and living with the photo a little longer, I find the subtlety of the light and composition work really well together and it’s grown on me quite a lot.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 29mm | 1/15th Second | f/7.1 | ISO200

One of the reasons I decided to head down to the coast for this shoot was to explore the details, look for small scenes and the different textures on the shoreline. The popularity of photographing intimate landscapes seems to have exploded recently and it’s something that has caught my attention too. I’ve started to see past the wide vista and urban cityscape and explore these closeup, natural scenes most people simply pass by as they go about their everyday life.

Spotting and translating these small scenes into a well-composed photo is not as easy as it might appear with both creative and technical challenges to overcome and I for one still have a lot to learn. Like with traditional landscape photography, there are creative challenges such as working with the light, finding contrast and organising the shapes and textures into interesting, meaningful compositions. Technically, you have some depth of field challenges when getting in so close to the subject and knowing how to focus stack in programs such as Photoshop can be a real-life save when trying to keep an entire image sharp.

As I hunted around the various rock pools, it was the colour and texture of the coral weed and how it contrasted against the rocks which first captured my attention. The rocks, with a scattering of barnacles and limpets have a host of interesting textures themselves, but when set against the purple weed and organised into a somewhat pleasing composition, an intimate rockpool image starts to form. I also found this yellow, rusty coloured stone alongside the purple weed and liked the contrast in textures and colours it created.

To my eye, the purple coral weed stood out and had some vibrancy to it but I think because it was submerged underwater, my camera struggled to pick up on this colour and in post-production, I had to pull the colour back quite a lot so it reflects better what I saw when I was there, on location.

I mentioned previously the technical challenges involved when taking close-up photos of small scenes and although it’s not immediately obvious, the rocks above the water and submerged coral weed are at different heights. Being at different distances from the camera and with the focal length I was using meant there was no way to get the entire scene sharp in one photo, so I needed to focus stack the image and blend the sharp areas together later. With the added challenge of the weeds and limpets moving subtly between shots, blending and processing each photo took a lot longer than I first anticipated. I’m quite happy how these turned out and the two images below are my favourite of the set.

Once finished photographing the rock pools, I turned my camera toward the chalky cliffs. The light was getting stronger by this time and I wanted to photograph some of the textures and features of the chalky cliffs before it became too harsh.

Looking upwards, I liked the way this triangular section of the cliffs points upwards, mimicking the peak of a mountain and against the soft, thin layer of clouds, the shapes and textures of the chalk could really stand out. I guess it’s the closest I’ll ever get to a mountainous terrain here in the relatively flat southeast of England.

I wasn’t really sure what I was doing with the second image below other than just enjoying a scene and photographing it. It’s no award winner but on reflection, it turns out I actually quite like it, specifically the horizontal lines and textures in the cliff face set against the soft shapes of the smoother boulders in the foreground creating this somewhat layered composition.

With the sun high in the sky and the tide now coming back in, I decided to head back inland to get a coffee, relax for a while before heading to my next destination.

I’ve wanted to visit the nearby Friston Forest for a while now and being close by, this was the perfect time to go and scout the area for future woodland photoshoot opportunities. So, once rested and hydrated, I drove the short distance, parked up and ventured into the woodland.

By now it was the middle of the day and far from ideal conditions (for me) to take woodland photos but as I wandered through, I did get the camera out a couple of times when a particular scene caught my eye. On any other day, I avoid dappled woodland light like the plague but on this occasion, as I stood at the top of a bank, looking down on this tree, the textures created by the vibrant leaves and the light hitting the trunk was enough for me to set the camera up and take a photo of it.

It was a gloriously sunny day and the shaded walk through the trees was a perfect way to spend the afternoon.

After a lovely walk in the forest and a few hours relaxing along the beach with a coffee or two in nearby Eastbourne, I made my way back to Beachy Head, this time giving myself plenty of time to work on a better composition of the lighthouse.

With the sun getting lower in the sky, slowly working itself around the back of the cliffs and out of view, I searched the many watery channels left by the outgoing tide for my foreground. After hunting around a while, much of the water had filtered out from the gaps in the rocks and I found the foreground I was looking for. This channel of water winds its way between the rocky foreground towards the lighthouse working perfectly as a compositional lead-in line while at the same time adding the right amount of visual weight to the left hand of the frame balancing it somewhat against the heavier line of cliffs on the right.

With the light at its best, illuminating the sky behind the lighthouse and basking the scene in its beautiful golden tones, I took what turns out to be my favourite photo of the shoot. I couldn't decide between a landscape orientation which emphasises the epic cliff line on the right or a portrait orientation, which allowed me to include more of that golden hour sky and longer channel of water in the foreground. So, I took both and have shared them below.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/200th Second | f/8 | ISO200

Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 20mm | 1/250th Second | f/8 | ISO200

Still happy with the composition, I decided to wait around after sunset, keeping the camera in the same position to see how the light evolved. Was I going to get an epic explosion of post-sunset colour or will it subtly fizzle away as the sun lowered further below the horizon? It turned out to be the latter.

With the light fading, the sky directly behind the lighthouse was looking good as it transitioned from those gold tones we had before sunset to a more subtle pink and blue pallet in the sky and on the cliffs. I really wanted to emphasise these different colours in my next photo, so with the help of my telephoto 55-200mm lens I took this close-up panoramic photo of the lighthouse, set against those pink and blue tones all around it. A simple composition, but sometimes that’s all you need to let the other aspects such as colour and texture stand out.

Finishing off the day, I put the wide lens back on the camera and photographed the lighthouse with the foreground once again included as the last of the light faded and the early blue hour crept in. With the photos I wanted in the bag and a bit of a walk back to the car ahead of me, I decided I was done for the day and made my way home.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 70mm | 1/20th Second | f/8 | ISO200 | Stitched Pano

Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/6th Second | f/8 | ISO200

Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 0.8 Seconds | f/14 | ISO200

So, there you have it, a very full-on but enjoyable day of photography along the Sussex coast. I enjoyed a beautiful pastel sunrise, got to practise some intimate coastal photography, enjoyed some time-out, alone to relax, I scouted a new woodland location, had coffee on the beach, and was gifted a beautiful sunset to top it all off.

What a fantastic day!

Until next time.

Sunrise Over Beachy Head | Weekly Photo #131

I’ve already taken and shared a couple of pictures of Beachy Head Lighthouse in my Weekly Photo series here and here which were both taken down at sea level along the beach beneath the cliffs, but this is the first I’ve shared of the lighthouse taken from up hight, along the top of the cliffs.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 50mm | 1/1000th Second | f/9 | ISO200

Located on the far eastern edge of the South Downs in East Sussex, the cliffs at Beachy Head are pretty epic indeed. Well, epic for us here in the relatively flat southeast of England at least and standing as high as 162 metres (530 feet) tall, they are the highest chalk cliffs in England.

Back in March this year, I took a drive down to the coast in a bid to make my own version of this well-photographed composition of the Beachy Head cliffs and lighthouse. I had visited a few times before and knew my way around, so I headed straight to this spot, back up the hill towards Belle Tout which is the other, smaller lighthouse which sits on top of the cliffs rather than down at the water’s edge.

Arriving before sunrise and hopeful for a touch of colour, I found the sky over to the east covered in a thin layer of cloud but it was quite windy up there and the clouds were moving fast, so I remained hopeful for some nice light nonetheless. Bearing in mind how windy it was and how unstable the cliffs are known to be, I was careful to set the camera and tripod up a few metres away from the edge. It certainly looks like I’m closer in the photo but I did crop the photo a little and the foreground does open up a bit in front of me.

In terms of arranging the composition, it was pretty straightforward. With the tide out, I had both the coastline and the cliff’s edge providing some useful lines, leading the eye into the image towards Beachy Head Lighthouse which provides both a focal point and some much-needed scale into the image. With everything lined up and the clouds appearing to clear, all I needed was the sun to rise so it could cast some light across the landscape.

The pre-sunrise glow didn’t really amount to much. I mean it was pleasant enough with nice pastel colours, but as the clouds began to clear towards the east, I had a feeling the best light was yet to come. When the sun did rise, it still took a few minutes to reach the top and peek over the cliffs and as it did, the scene was fully engulfed by its beautiful warm light.

Dynamic range was the challenge here as the sun was now higher in the sky and a lot brighter. I wanted to retain some colour and detail in the clifftops and lighthouse and wasn’t looking for them to be silhouetted against the sun, so I needed the exposure to be bright enough to show the detail in those areas but not too bright that it left all of the sky over-exposed. Pushing my camera’s dynamic range capabilities as far as possible, I couldn’t avoid clipping the brightest area around the sun and with the settings you can see underneath the picture above dialled in, I took the shot.

Until next week.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

Autumn Mist | Weekly Photo #128

The colours have finally turned and autumn is in full flow so, like many other landscape photographers right now, I’ve been out and about in the various local woodlands trying to make photographers of this year’s colourful display. I also made a quick trip west to the Brecon Beacons in Wales for a touch of waterfall photography and although the falls were my primary focus, I managed to snag some autumnal woodland images while I was there. That trip was awesome by the way! I’ll be sharing some of those pictures here soon enough.

While I’m providing updates, I’ve also been taking more intimate photos of the natural landscape which I’m calling “small scenes”. These photos focus on nature’s abstract shapes, patterns and textures which, in a good way is forcing me to look at the landscape in a different way and project I am really enjoying so far. I’m not quite ready to share any of these just yet but as soon as I am, maybe early next year, you will of course be the first to see them.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 55mm | 1/13th Second | f/8 | ISO200

One of the few problems I have with this craft of mine is my editing backlog. I’m normally a few weeks (or sometimes months) behind as with only so much time available to spend on photography-related activities, I tend to prioritise my time spent out with my camera over post-processing. So, in keeping with the time of year and not having processed any of this year’s autumnal photos just yet, here’s one I took during a misty morning back in November last year.

This day was one of those rare occasions when the fog penetrates the forest and just hangs around for a few hours leaving plenty of time to explore and hunt down compositions without it being a race against time before the fog lifts. Although it’s been a year since I took this photo, I remember it well as it’s the same day I took one of my favourite woodland photos of 2020 which I called The Performer.

Along with those delightful autumnal colours, what caught my eye was how the composition includes two framed subjects, one in the foreground and one towards the back. In the foreground, we have that small cluster of vibrant yellow birch trees framed by the delicately slender branches encroaching the frame on the right-hand side, the golden ferns towards the bottom and the Scots Pine to its left. That tall Scots pine with its wavey branches help frame the smaller but no less interesting tree in the bottom-left corner of the image. The subtle orange leaves on that tree in the background complement the similar-looking tones in the ferns and very subtly add balance to the composition as, without that tree, most of the colour in the scene would be on the right, creating too much visual weight on that side.

As I said at the beginning, I’ve shared this photo from last year as I haven’t quite got around to editing any of this year’s autumnal woodland photos but to give myself a bit of a kick up the proverbial, I promise, next week I will absolutely share a woodland image taken in autumn this year.

Until next week.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

Radiant Ruins | Weekly Photo #126

Although I enjoy the craft of photography and the ability to be creative with the landscape, photography is also my excuse to be outdoors, exploring, thinking, relaxing, recharging…all of the above and more. So, a few weeks ago, eager to be out the following morning, I was struggling for inspiration as to where to go.

The weather forecast wasn’t great for my style of photography. I tend to avoid clear blue-sky days and the woodland wasn’t yet on the turn from the late summer greens to the golden colours of autumn. What to do? Contemplating an extra couple of hours in bed, I considered for a moment not going out at all but that thought was short-lived. As I mentioned above, I don’t just go out to capture a photo, I need that time out there and photography is just one of my excuses for doing so.

After pondering for a while, I decided to take the opportunity to revisit Bodiam Castle, one of my favourite historic places in East Sussex. I’d been meaning to visit it again and just love the peace and tranquillity of the place first thing in the morning. With my photographic expectations low but enthusiasm for a morning walk high, I set off before sunrise the following day.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1/550th Second | f/8 | ISO200

As I drove towards the castle, the light levels started to increase and the conditions were as expected with clear, cloudless skies but as I arrived on location, things could not have been more different. I found the castle surrounded by fog and boy, was it a sight for sore eyes. A real surprise indeed, as I’d not come across a single patch of fog during my entire drive down. Expectations were on the rise.

It’s not the first time I’ve photographed Bodiam castle in the fog. Last time though, it was much thicker with very little light filtering through and it took a good hour or two before the fog was thin enough to photograph the castle. Although I managed to take some photos I was really happy with, back then, I remember longing for some defused sunlight to filter through as I knew it would have been the icing on the cake. With the mist looking thinner this time round, the chances of catching some of that glorious light appeared much better. Leaving the car park with a bit more haste, I set off, walking the path that surrounds the caste in the hope of finding a new composition (well, new to me anyway).

Using some of the foliage to help frame my first composition, I spent some time photographing the castle with the sun behind me, capturing some of the subtle light bouncing off its solid medieval stone walls. I even managed to take a photo that eluded me last time around due to the heavy fog, so I was already pleased with how the morning was going so far.

Once finished taking photos with the sun behind me, I decided to continue around to see how the scene might look with the sun behind the castle. I don’t usually like the photos I take when the camera is pointing directly towards the sun but with plenty of mist still hanging around, the bright, harsh light from the sun was defused just enough for me to take a photo featuring a somewhat silhouetted castle in the foreground.

Compositionally, I placed the imposing castle to the right-hand of the frame so I could include the wooden walkway entering the scene from the left towards the castle’s entrance. I was worried this might leave too much visual weight on the right but I think I just got away with it as the tree entering the frame on the far left adds just enough weight to rebalance the composition to my eye at least. With plenty of ambient light, I was able to shoot handheld for this shot and by using my wide-angle lens I could capture the entire scene, including those fantastic reflections in the water. I dialled in my settings, exposing to the right so I could include as much detail in the shadows as possible but at the same time being careful not to blow out the highlights in the sky and went ahead and took the shot.

As expected, it was a beautifully quiet, early autumnal morning and photography aside, it felt great to be out there, but, with the unexpected bonus of having some perfect conditions for photography, I was so pleased to have set the alarm the previous night.

Until next week.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

Splash of Yellow | Weekly Photo #125

When I’m out in the woodland with my camera, I try to keep an open mind as to what I might photograph that day. I might have a particular subject or kind of image I’m looking to photograph but to avoid disappointment and to keep my expectations low, I tend to let the environment and conditions lead me rather than the other way round and if something else catches my eye, be it a strong composition, an unusual subject or interesting light, I will head over and to investigate and take it from there.

That’s what happened on this day when I photographed this yellowing birch tree in my local forest.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 55mm | 1/8th Second | f/8 | ISO250

In November last year, I took an early morning walk in the forest to discover what was left of the autumnal colours. Winter was fast approaching and although I didn’t have a particular subject in mind, I wanted one last woodland shoot before the beautiful autumnal tones disappeared again for another year. The sky was thick with clouds and as the light levels increased, it became apparent that I wouldn’t be getting any good light on this outing and instead, it would be flat and lacklustre. Undeterred and with an open mind, off I went with my camera in hand to see what I could find.

I made my way up the side of a hill to this spot where I found a carpet of dead ferns and an abundance of Scots pine trees and although I was enjoying the subtle, muted colours of this late autumn landscape, I was struggling to find a photo. The brown colours across the forest floor and dull greens in the trees resulted in a lack of vibrancy and I was not feeling particularly inspired. Not willing to give up just yet, I pushed on and continued to explore the area.

As I walked, a splash of yellow over in the distance caught my eye and with the rest of the landscape deprived of any colour, this inordinately vibrant young birch stood there conspicuously amongst the giant pines so I walked over to investigate.

Establishing that this was probably going to be my only photo opportunity of the morning, I took my time, walking around the tree, looking for a way to frame it. This photo is all about the colour contrast and how the birch stands out so, not looking to overcomplicate things or try to wrestle something different from the scene, I decided to keep things simple. I chose this central composition you see here with the vibrant, yellow birch framed by the earthy tones on the floor and in the Scots pines on either side.

Being on the side of a shallow valley, I decided to take advantage of the hillside and climbed up, further away from the tree so I could use the opposing hill as the backdrop. Doing so meant that I could remove any sky from the frame, ensuring there were no bright distracting areas that would compete with the tree for attention. Being further back, I mounted my 55-200mm telephoto lens for a bit of extra reach, dialled in my settings and took the photo.

With the benefit of being able to view this photo on a large screen, I get to see all of that wonderful detail in the leaves and across the forest floor and that’s part of the appeal for me as this will look great printed. That being said, I know this photo doesn’t have a huge wow factor and certainly won’t do well on the socials when I share it but that’s ok and it won’t stop me from putting it out there. For me, this photo has a traditional, almost painterly look to it which certainly appeals to my taste but above all else, I like it and that’s why I am sharing it.

Until next week.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

Tree Tunnel | Weekly Photo #122

This beautiful tunnel of trees is Mill Lane, located in Halnaker, a medieval hamlet in West Sussex. This footpath formed part of an ancient track along Stane Street, a Roman road between Chichester and London.

People have been walking along this route for centuries and it’s due to that footfall and heavy carts being pulled along the road over hundreds of years that the road has sunk, creating this timeless, mystical looking holloway you can see here.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 181mm | 1/50th Second | f/3.5 | ISO1000

Knowing about this enchanting path for some time, in October last year, I finally got in the car and drove down to Halnaker to walk this path and visit the Windmill at the top of the hill. I left it as late in the year as I dared to give me the best chance of catching the golden autumnal leaves as they surrounded the path, but as you can see, I was probably a week or two early as the leaves hadn’t fully turned. In hindsight though, I was right to go when I did and you will read why shortly.

Weatherwise it was predominantly raining but the clouds were moving fast and every now and then the sun broke through and sent some of it’s gorgeous warm light through the trees, illuminating individual sections of the tunnel and when the light hit landed in the right place further down the path, a focal point appeared and the composition came together beautifully.

As I stood there towards the end of the tunnel, in between taking photos or cover from the rain, I found myself deep in thought, thinking about the ancient road, the people that would have walked it over the years going all the way back to Roman times. It was strange feeling nostalgic for a time I was never a part of but I got a real sense of the history here which, assuming this path survives for generations to come, I guess in a small way, I’m now a part of.

It was getting a bit later in the morning and having already taken a few photos without anyone on the path, it was starting to see a bit more footfall and amongst the few people out for their morning walk, this man walking his dogs caught my attention. Together, they looked at home in this rural scene so I decided to photograph them walking through the tunnel of trees. I didn’t have much time so I pre-focused on a point further down the path where the sunlight was shining through and I waited for them to arrive there, keeping my fingers crossed the light hung around for the few extra seconds I needed to take the photo.

I was already working hard to keep my shutter speed on the faster side as I was trying to avoid too many blurry leaves as they moved in the wind but it was pretty dark down there so I had to open my aperture as wide as this lens would go to let in as much light as possible and with an ISO of 1000, I managed to get it down to 1/50th of a second which was just about ok to keep the man and his dogs acceptably sharp.

Thankfully the light remained in the right spot and with my settings dialled in, it all came together and I took the shot you can see here.

As I mentioned before, it was still a little early in the season to catch those vibrant autumnal colours but shortly after this day, we had long periods of wind and rain and the moment the leaves turned yellow, they were blown off the trees. So, in hindsight, I’m glad I went there when I did as it turns out that was probably as good as I was going to get last year.

With the colours of autumn around the corner, I will probably visit again in a few weeks and I’m keeping my fingers firmly crossed for milder weather so that the leaves can hang on just a little bit longer for me.

Until next Monday.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

Woodland Brook | Weekly Photo #121

Before I get stuck in with this week’s photo, a bit of housekeeping. I know urban cityscape photography doesn’t particularly fit the woodland theme of this week’s photo but nevertheless and as promised, I published the first of my two-part blog which covered a photo walk I took in London a week or two ago. In part one, I take a walk along the Thames with my single camera and 23mm lens combo during a beautiful sunrise where I was gifted some wonderful golden light. Just hit the link or click on the thumbnail below to read the post, after this one of course :-)

I’ll be posting part two over the next week where I will be sharing how I configure the presets on my Fujifilm camera so, with one quick turn of a dial, my expose settings are set and I can focus on taking pictures without having to adjust the settings for each photo. And no, it’s not set to auto…hehe. Keep an eye out for that post on my blog here.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 15mm | 1/5th Second | f/8 | ISO320

Back in late Spring, I went for a walk in my local forest in a bid to capture some of the vibrant spring greens at a location I had come across on a previous visit some months before. On that previous occasion, I followed the same path along this brook during a cold, foggy morning and took this photo here which I called Cascading Brook.

Coming across this spot along the river I liked that there was a bit of foreground interest with the small waterfall and exposed roots on the near bank. The bend in the stream also worked well as it leads the eye around the frame, finishing at the fallen tree in the background which acts as a bit of a focal point, framed by the more conventional but equally important upright trees to the left and right of it.

Having only visited once before where the wintry woodland was expectedly dormant, I didn’t know how much life there would be on this occasion and although the woodland floor was still quite bare, there was still enough vibrancy in the fresh leaves to help tell the story of the time of year this photo was taken.

I perched the tripod right on the edge of the brook and mounted my wide-angle 10-24mm lens on the camera. I needed the wider focal length so I could include both the small cascade in the foreground and the fallen tree in the background without them being too close to the edge of the frame. Once my composition was right, I mounted my circular polarizing filter which I knew would cut some of the reflections from the water and add more pop to those already vibrant green leaves.

Back in Lightroom, I followed my usual workflow but in addition, I softened the image a little by reducing the clarity as I felt the overall look of the photo was too sharp and crisp for my taste. I also wanted to reduce the reddish tones in the rusty looking water as it was too distracting. I did this using an adjustment brush, selecting just the water and simply reduced the saturation in that area.

Having visited the woodland a few times in the last couple of weeks, I’ve noticed the leaves are now starting to turn, which means just one thing. Autumn colours are just around the corner so, I’m sure I’ll be busy in the coming weeks exploring the autumnal woodlands with my camera and if I take anything I like, I’ll be sure to share it sometime in the future.

Until next week.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

Among Giants | Weekly Photo #112

During the winter, while most deciduous trees have shed their leaves, young saplings will often keep hold of theirs throughout the colder months to help protect them against the harsh weather. With most of the woodland’s colour long gone over winter, these often-vibrant young trees add a much-needed splash of colour and help to break up the monotonous wintry woodland tones.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-55mm | 74mm | 1/3rd Second | f/8 | ISO200

Back in February, I set off into the cold, wintry woodland with my camera to photograph a clump of tall Scots Pines which I’d scouted on a previous visit. I wanted to capture an arrangement of clean straight tree trunks and Scots Pines, being incredibly tall and straight are perfect for that kind of woodland composition.

Following a woodland path, surrounded by these evergreen giants, a bright orange snippet of colour caught my eye so I went to check it out. I found it to be this young sapling beech tree with the orange colour being the golden autumnal leaves it was still holding on to. The young beech which was only a few feet tall, dwarfed by the pines and it stood out in the grey, foggy woodland providing a clear focal point amongst the tall straight trunks which were giving me the uniform lines I originally came out to photograph. I had my first composition of the day so, I unpacked the camera to take the photo.

Up went the tripod and on to it went my Fujifilm XT2 and 55-200mm telephoto lens and critically for this photo, my circular polariser (CPL) filter. I spoke about using my CPL and the benefits it can bring to my photos in a recent post where I was out photographing the wild garlic and this was another situation where the filter’s ability to cut through the reflective light massively benefited the final image as it gave those oranges an extra bit of punch, helping that young sapling to stand out in the scene.

If you’re a landscape photographer, be it wide vistas, woodland or even urban cityscapes, and don’t have a CPL filter in your bag, I urge you to get one as it can add something special to your photo which cannot be replicated in post.

Cheers,

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

Golden Contours | Weekly Photo #111

The South Downs which stretches across three counties, from Eastbourne in East Sussex, through West Sussex, all the way to Winchester in Hampshire provides some of the best views in southern England. It’s a relatively flat part of the country so, apart from a stretch of high coastal cliffs in East Sussex, it doesn’t boast what I would call dramatic views, the kind of which you find in other parts of the country such as the Lake District to the north or the Jurassic Coast to the west in Dorset. What it does have is rolling, picturesque hills, charming villages, and ancient woodlands and being right on my doorstep, most of it within an hour’s drive, it’s certainly a place I like to visit with my camera from time to time.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 67mm | 1/80th Second | f/10 | ISO200

After a great tip and a bit of scouting, back in April this year, a fellow tog called Phil and I took an early morning trip to the South Downs to photograph this stunning landscape. I’d seen a photo of this scene with those fabulous contouring hills on social media and immediately fell in love with it, so I made it my mission to find out where it was taken and get myself down there for a sunrise shoot as soon as I could.

We arrived before sunrise and the scene, albeit still nice to look at, was quite flat so we found our spot and began to set up the camera so we would be ready when that highly anticipated golden light arrived. With it being an unseasonably cold morning, we were thankful we didn’t have to wait too long. As the sun rose above the horizon, it soon became clear that timing was going to be everything as we would need to wait long enough for the light to start to appear in the right places down in the valley but not too long so that there was too much light and those all-important shadows were gone.

Soon enough it came together and that look we were after started to unveil itself in front of us. There is a lot going on here, but I love the way those beautiful rolling hills intertwine as they meet, creating fantastic layers and a cool zigzag pattern through the scene. I also love the windmill over in the distance to the right of the scene. It’s so small but I feel it does an important job to add a point of interest into the composition. Oh, and I love the sheep too!

In terms of composition, I had to be careful that I didn’t include too many of the trees in the small woodland to the right-hand side. Including more would add too much weight on that side, but any less and I would have introduced too much of the empty fields and featureless sky on the left, again creating an imbalance to the composition. I also decided to use the shadow at the very bottom of the frame to my advantage. It may not be immediately obvious, but it’s adding balance by mirroring the similar shape of the large hill in the background. As I said before, there is a lot going on, but I think it all works well together.

After photographing this impressive vista, I zoomed right in with my telephoto lens to capture some abstract photos featuring the impressive lines and shapes on offer and when the best light was gone, the shoot was over and we packed up and headed back to the cars.

Until next week.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

Starry Day | Weekly Photo #109

Using a tripod is fundamental to the way I approach and take my photos. Tripods help me achieve the long exposures I take and they slow me down while out in the field, allowing me to frame and adjust the shot with ease but it doesn’t mean there aren’t any downsides. For instance, I have to be mindful that while out shooting landscapes, using a tripod can sometimes root me to one spot for too long, leading me to miss potential compositions I would have seen if I was to wander around a bit more. One way I try to mitigate this is to leave the tripod in the bag until I’ve properly scouted the area, making notes of the potential shots on offer to return to later. Another way is to take a second camera with me. I do this when the hike isn’t so long and the weight of my camera bag isn’t so critical. That way, I can leave my main camera on the tripod, maybe taking a long exposure, while I wander around with the second camera finding more unique compositions or dynamic angles which is exactly how I ended up taking this photo of Beachy Head lighthouse in East Sussex.

Fujifilm X-T30 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1/240th Second | f/4 | ISO400

It was a lovely evening along England’s south coast, the light was soft and had a nice look to it, so, with my main Fujifilm XT2 camera sitting on the tripod waiting for the best light to take this image (which I previously shared here: Beachy Head Lighthouse), I went for a short stroll with my Fujifilm X-T30 and 10-24mm lens to see what other compositions were on offer. What I like about being free from the tripod is that not only can I move around the scene more quickly, I can also drop down to ground level with ease, and by using the swivel screen on my camera, I can capture some unique angles I might never have seen if I was using a tripod and that’s how I found this composition here.

I was hunting for a pool of water to create a nice reflection of the lighthouse and with the wide-angle lens on, it didn’t have to be huge because I knew that if I was to get low to the ground, close to the edge of the water, the focal length would emphasise the foreground, making it appear bigger and after a few minutes of searching, I found this spot you can see here.

At first, it was all about finding a clean reflection, so I held the camera as close to the water as I could, placed the lighthouse on the right-hand third, leaving the rocks on the left to add a little balance to the composition. I took the shot and checked the back of the camera and all looked good. The light was subtle, highlighting the lighthouse nicely and the all-important reflections in the foreground looked really good.

It was only when I got the photo home and into Lightroom, I started to look at the foreground more closely and I just couldn’t shake how the details in the dark water reminded me of a starry night sky. It was almost as if the top half of the photo was taken during the day and the bottom half was taken at night. I love the contrast, and even tried flipping the photo upside down to see how it looked and it kind of worked that way up too!

I appreciate that not everyone will have a second camera to take out with them or would want the extra weight in their bag but nearly everyone has a camera on their phone which can be used in a similar way. Leaving the main camera on the tripod, take a wander around with your smartphone, lining up compositions and if you spot a winner, grab the main camera and take the photo. You never know, by taking this approach, you might just come away with the next addition to your portfolio.

Have a great week.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

Morning Mist | Weekly Photo #108

Dawn really is my favourite time of the day to be out with my camera. Whether I’m standing on the bank of the River Thames photographing the cityscape while the rest of London still sleeps or amongst the trees in my local woodland listening to the wildlife go about their morning business, just being there, in the moment makes those early morning alarms worthwhile.

That being said, getting up for sunrise at this time of year, when the days are at their longest and sunrise is at silly-o’clock takes every last bit of my will-power because when that alarm sounds at 3:30 am, I could just ignore it and stay in bed (and sometimes I do). But the mornings when I do get up and head out into the dark, camera in tow are the mornings where I’ve convinced myself that this might be the day, I get the conditions I long for. Which, just happened to be the case just the other week during a fantastic misty summer’s morning in the local forest.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/5th Second | f/8 | ISO250

All the signs pointed that I was in for some foggy conditions as I set my alarm for the following morning. After a few days of heavy rain, the humidity was up in the 90s, the dew point matched the temperature and only a light wind was expected. Sure, weather can be unpredictable and I’d been here before, anticipating some fantastic conditions for woodland photography, only to wake up to clear or uninspiring light. But every now and then, it all comes together and that was the case on this particular morning. So, off I went into the pre-dawn darkness to my local forest.

It was still dark as I arrived, but being familiar with the forest pays dividends on days like this as to save a bit of time, I made my way straight to a spot I’d previously scouted so when the light was good enough, I was already on location with the camera on the tripod, ready to take the picture.

After arriving and setting up my camera, I stopped and waited for the light levels to increase. After I’d finished messing with the gear, it all fell silent around me and only then did the forest come to life. I noticed the trees gently rustling in the wind, twigs falling to the floor next to me while the squirrels jumped from tree to tree and most of all, the sound of the birds waking up with their song.

I recorded the sound I could hear on my phone which you can play below. It’s by no means a professional job and I don’t have a microphone but it sounds ok to me. Whatever you’re doing, find a quiet place, press play and close your eyes for 60 seconds and just listen.

Beautiful, right? I find it so relaxing and it transports me back to the exact moment I was standing there taking it all in After the light levels increased, I took the photo and went on my way. I’ll share that one in the coming weeks.

With the conditions as good as they were, I had to be careful not to rush around like a headless chicken, trying to cram as many compositions in as possible. I had to remind myself to take it slow and seek out the very best compositions on offer. That being said, I had in my mind a scene I wanted to photograph, so I headed to the part of the forest mostly likely to deliver and after hunting for a good 45 minutes or more, I finally found what I was looking for.

I love the look of birch trees in the early summer months, surrounded by fresh green foliage complemented by these misty conditions. I’ve seen plenty of similar-looking photos from some of the woodland photographers I follow and have always wanted to photograph something similar, captured and processed in my own style. After stumbling on this arrangement of trees, I immediately knew there was a picture to be had here.

Out came my camera so I could move around, using the viewfinder to frame the best composition. I wanted the birch in the foreground to be the main focal point, allowing the trees in the background to play a supporting role and add some depth into the image. It was important to me that the colours of the rhododendrons were included on each side to break up the greens a little and add a subtle splash of colour, emphasising the late spring/early summer look I was after.

I find that using a circular polarizer filter in foggy conditions can sometimes lead to a flatter, lifeless photo so I chose not to use one here and instead allow what light there was to reflect from the plants and with my camera now on the tripod and the camera settings dialled in (18mm, f/8, 1/5th sec, ISO250) I took this shot.

Until next week.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

Low Tide | Weekly Photo #104

Once or twice a year, I take a visit down to England’s south coast and try to capture a new photo of the derelict remains of Brighton’s West Pier. There’s something about what’s left of this once grand Victorian structure that captivates me, drawing me back to photograph its skeletal frame, stripped of the ornate skin it once wore proudly.

How did the pier end up in this sorry state? After falling into disrepair, eventually closing to the public in the 1970s and suffering further damage during the storm of ‘87, it was eventually sold to the West Pier Trust who managed to secure funding for its restoration. In 2002, before the restoration could begin, the pier suffered further storm damage followed by two devastating fires in 2003, leading to the funding being withdrawn in 2004. Since this time, the structure is slowly being reclaimed by the sea.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 105 Seconds | f/9 | ISO200

When you're finished here, why not pop by and check out some of the other photos I took of the West Pier.

• Remnant Tranquillity

• Skeletal Remains

• The West Pier

Last September, I decided to head down to the coast once again to photograph the West Pier at sunset. I prefer to photograph the structure at low tide as I can get a little closer and I like the way the fallen metal fragments look, scattered around the base of the pier. So, when planning the shoot, I was sure to check the tide times as well as the weather and when both were aligned, off I went to photograph the pier.

Every now and then the tide is so low that you can right out to the pier which just happened to be the case on this particular evening. When I arrived to take the shot, the beach was full of people enjoying the low tide and close access to the pier. As I wandered around looking for the best spot to take the picture, it became clear to me that if I was going to get a clean photo, free of distractions, I needed to get as close as I could to the pier and that meant only one thing…. wet feet!

After venturing further out towards the pier, avoiding the deeper pools of water, I found my spot which provided a central composition of the structure now towering above me. Up went my tripod, mounted with my Fujifilm XT2 and given how close I needed to be to the pier, I was going to need the widest focal length I had, so on went the wide-angle 10-24mm lens. It was always my intention to take a long exposure photo so when set up and composed, I mounted my 10-stop ND filter which would help me smooth out the shallow water and any clouds in the sky, removing any distractions, making the subject appear more prominent in the scene.

Ready to take the shot, I just had one more thing left to do and that was to wait for the scene to be clear enough of people to get the clean shot. With a 105 second exposure, as long as people kept moving through the frame, they would be rendered invisible but the minute they stopped, the image was ruined, so after four or five failed attempts, I managed to grab an image just as the best light was beginning to fade away.

This is probably my favourite photo of the West Pier I’ve taken to date. I love the wispy details of the sand under the water, complemented by similar shapes created by the clouds in the sky. The sunset colours are subtle and not too overpowering, and the smooth, distraction-free water really helps the pier stand out in the composition.

The West Pier has actually been on quite a journey, from its golden age in the early 20th century, storms, fires to finally what little remains there today, yet it still stands. It’s hard not to be inspired by its refusal to crumble into the sea as I stand there, feet submerged, taking photos of it.

Until next week.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

Showtime | Weekly Photo #103

This is the time of year when the ancient forests of Blighty come alive, waking from their wintry sleep as they put on a fantastic show of vibrant colour, inspiring positivity and optimism that brighter days are ahead. Photography or not, I’ve always enjoyed the woodland at this time of year and I’ve had a blast scouting, exploring and finally being able to photograph it.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 67mm | 1/13th Second | f/9 | ISO200

From the moment I started thinking about photographing the woodland this spring, I had this popular bluebell scene in mind and although similar-looking photos have taken over my Instagram feed lately, I wanted to try to take my own version, captured and edited in my own style. Why you might ask, do I want to take a photo that’s been taken a million times before? Well, I don’t subscribe to the notion that we landscape photographers should avoid popular subjects or compositions as with so many variables such as light, weather, time of day, and even the effect a pandemic can have on certain locations, no two photographs are ever identical. I think that unless a photographer is working to brief, they are free to explore creativity in their own, unique way, and for many, including me, getting those hero shots are part of that process.

After a bit of research and a lot of legwork, I finally found this beautiful spot in West Sussex where I could take the photo I had planned. It’s a large forest, well known for putting on a show during spring with carpets of bluebells throughout the woodland but when presented with such a wide area to search and with a very specific look I wanted to achieve, it inevitably took some time to find the exact spot. I ended up making two separate 3-hour round trips and spending a good 6-7 hours exploring the woodland before I found the best spot.

I spent some time working the scene. By that, I mean I walked around the forest, studying it, finding the best area of bluebells, the best arrangement of trees, while trying to minimise the amount of bright, distracting light that was piercing through the canopy. After a few minutes, this is the composition I decided on.

It was this tree in the foreground with those green leaves on the trunk that initially caught my eye but as I started to compose, I started to notice other things I like, such as those vibrant greens up in the canopy and the way the floor isn’t just one solid carpet of purple, but rather these swathes of colour with purples, whites and greens spread right across the forest floor. It really was a beautiful scene to observe.

I ended up focus stacking the first few layers of trees to make sure they were nice and sharp and used a circular polarizer filter on the end of my lens to take some of the glare off the leaves and with my settings dialled in, I took the shot.

Some misty conditions would have been the icing on the cake for a woodland scene like this, but I guess you can’t have everything and there’s always next time, but overall, I’m really pleased with the photo I took.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

Forest Dawn | Weekly Photo #100

Wow! I’m ecstatic to have reached my 100th Weekly Photo story. When I started this project, I had no real idea how many stories I had in me and although it was clear in the beginning I would not be able to produce 52 portfolio-worthy photos each year, I still wanted to maintain a level of quality and not publish just any old photo just to keep to the schedule.

I started this project as I wanted a way to share my work without the quantity over quality pressure that seems to be inherent with social media. I found myself being more focused on feeding the machine, trying to crack the algorithm, and gaining more followers than the quality of photos I was posting, and I hated that! Since I started to post my photos weekly and even with a modest social media following, my engagement has increased exponentially. I talk to so many more people, receive so many more comments and it really has put the social back into social media for me. Again, quality over quantity!

Although I am incredibly grateful for the positive feedback and encouragement that drops into my inbox on a semi-regular basis, this project is very much a two-way street. Arguably, I get just as much from it as those of you that read my stories and enjoy my images. This project has helped me to improve my writing which admittedly, still has a long way to go but more importantly, it gives me the purpose and motivation to get into the great outdoors and attempt to capture 52 shareworthy images each year. With the last 12 months we’ve all had to endure, this project has helped me in so many ways, including my mental health and physical wellbeing.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 64mm | 1/5th Second | f/11 | ISO200

At the time of my first post, 100 weeks ago, I was predominantly taking photos of urban landscapes in London with a bit of travel and local subjects thrown in for good measure, but over the last year, I’ve had to diversify somewhat and found myself exploring the natural world and discovering the joys of photographing my local woodlands and forests and that’s where I found myself on a cold, winter’s morning in January this year.

Although not far from home, I’d been to this part of the forest only once before as it was mostly open heathland and I tend to spend most of my time in the wooded areas, seeking out compositions amongst the trees but on this particular morning, I wanted to get out in the open and try to take a photo that incorporated the light and colours of the sunrise. This part of the forest works its way along a shallow valley so having parked up at the top of the hill around 30 minutes before sunrise, I made my way down towards the low lying land to seek out a photo or two.

Although I wanted to capture the colours of the sunrise, I still needed a subject and found myself looking around for some interest amongst the Scots pine trees. These tall, slender giants dominate this forest landscape as they tower over the surrounding trees and wildlife and if I could find the right one, with some interest and scale, I knew there would be potential for a photo.

As I descended the hill, getting closer to the valley floor, I spotted this pair of trees from the path which as you look at the image here, runs left to right directly behind the trees and from that vantage point, I would be looking directly at the rising sun. By now the sun was just coming over the horizon but the light was muted by the clouds in front of it, casting these beautifully soft purple, pastel colours across the landscape and into the sky to the west so I needed to get to the other side of the trees and point my camera in that direction to take full advantage of that gorgeous light that was hitting the landscape.

I made my way to the other side of the trees and got into position to line up a picture and at that point, I needed to make a decision. Do I take a landscape photo, keeping that sorry-looking pine, delimbed of its branches in my shot or do I go for a portrait composition including just that gorgeous tree to the right as it was looking beautiful in this purple dawn light? It didn’t take me long to decide to keep it in. The two trees were so different, representing two distinct, natural outcomes and I just couldn’t ignore the tension that poor tree brought to the image. I wish I knew the story there. Did this happen naturally in strong wind or something else? Was It just the trees time to go and make way for new forest life? I don’t know, but these questions, the contrast and light were all adding to a much more compelling story in my opinion.

Up went my tripod and on went my camera. Positioning myself quite far back from the trees, I decided to use my 55-200mm telephoto as I wanted to pull that background forward into the frame and with both trees adding balance to the composition, I set my two-second timer (to avoid camera shake) and pressed the shutter.

Back in Lightroom, I needed to work on the colours a bit to get them more how I remembered them when back in the field. The raw file was flat and desaturated, so increased the contrast a little and added some saturation back to a few of the colours, being careful not to overdo it. It was a special morning and I’m really pleased with how the final photo turned out.

Thanks for sticking with me all this time and here’s to the next 100…

…maybe.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

Lighting the Way | Weekly Photo #99

Spring seems to have finally sprung here in the South of England. Having been out a few times over the last couple of weeks to scout some local woodland locations, the new vibrant green leaves and spring flowers are really taking shape and last week I was greeted with some misty conditions in my local woodland and had great fun hunting down compositions and although I haven’t processed the images in Lightroom yet, I’m pretty sure I have two or three keepers from the shoot. I started to take woodland photography more seriously just last year and having never photographed the spring colours with any real purpose I’m pretty excited to see what the next few weeks have in store and all being well, I’ll be able to share a few of the images I take with you in the coming weeks.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 55mm | 1/400th Second | f/10 | ISO200

I mentioned last week that I’ve been spending quite a lot of time taking photos on the South Downs and along the coast in Sussex so I thought it was about time I shared one of them here. I chose this photo I took while I was walking along the clifftops at Beachy Head.

This stretch of chalky cliffs provides some fantastic views across the English Channel and in my opinion, some of the best vistas in Sussex and on this particular day, I had a bit of time to kill before heading to my intended sunset location just a couple of miles along the coast, so I drove up to Beachy Head to take a walk along the clifftops with my camera.

When I arrived, the light was a little flat. To the eye, it still looked awesome but with the cloud cover as it was and some rather uninspiring light, there wasn’t quite enough contrast for me to make compelling images. It wasn’t a big problem though, as I was still out and about, enjoying this great landscape, which has let’s face it, been quite a privilege as of late. Even if I go out with the camera and conditions don’t lend themselves to landscape photography, I can still use it as a scouting trip and be better prepared for the next time I visit when, all being well, the conditions are better.

I decided to use my 55-200mm telephoto lens to help me to zoom in and isolate parts of this vast landscape and although it was a bit cloudy, there was still plenty of ambient light to photograph handheld so, with camera in hand and the tripod left in the car, I set off from the car park in the direction of the Belle Tout Lighthouse.

After 30 to 40 minutes of taking some so-so images, time was running out up at Beachy Head and I needed to start making my way back to the car. As I neared the car park, I happened to look over my shoulder one last time and I'm glad I did. Maybe I sensed the subtle change in light but something made me stop and turn around and see that a gap in the clouds was allowing the sun to bask the landscape in this fantastic golden light.

I quickly got the camera out of the bag and started to compose the shot. Before this point, I’d been using the lighthouse as the main subject, zooming right in on it to make it appear more prominent in the photos, but this shot was all about that sky, the light and the epic scale of the landscape so although the lighthouse was still needed to help portray that scale, I deliberately placed it on the lower third so I could get as much of that sky in as possible. Exposing for the bright sky and with the ferry heading out across the English Channel providing a nice finishing touch, I fired the shutter.

Back home in Lightroom, it took me a couple of attempts to edit the image. For my first attempt, I pushed the white balance too far to the right in a bid to warm the image and I also increased the shadows too much. The more I studied it, the more I disliked the edit. I needed to be more subtle with the sliders. I needed to exploit the potential but not force it to be something it wasn’t, so with a bit more restraint, I re-edited the image to the one you see here. It’s for that reason, I try not to rush the post-production stage. I might edit the photo, leave it for a while and return to it later. If I still like it, great! If not, I make the necessary changes. Rightly or wrongly, it’s a system that works for me.

Until next week.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

Eastbourne Pier at Sunrise | Weekly Photo #96

The good thing about living on a relatively small island is that you never have to travel too far to get to a beach. From where I live, it’s about an hour’s drive to my nearest beech down on England’s south coast and throughout the year I’ll visit the various coastal spots numerous times, either for a day out with my family or to take photos as I did when I photographed this epic sunrise during a trip to Eastbourne’s charming Victorian pier last summer.

Fujifilm X-T30 | XF23mm F2 | 23mm | 1/1,250th Second | f/2.8 | ISO160

My intention as I travelled down to the South Coast was to take a long exposure photograph of Eastbourne’s ornate pier from up on the pebbled beach. So, when packing my bag, I knew my main camera (Fujifilm XT2) would be stuck on top of the tripod taking long-exposure images which is why I also packed my smaller Fujifilm X-T30 camera with the 23mm prime lens attached so I could wander around, capturing different compositions without having to move the other camera. I’m so glad I did.

After an hour or so of taking long exposures from higher up on the beach, I noticed the tide had receded, uncovering some of the sandy beach and with it still being wet, there was an opportunity to capture some cool reflections too. So, with no one around, I felt confident I could leave my other camera in position on the tripod and wandered down, close to the pier to take some handheld shots, using the reflections in the sand as some foreground interest.

By now, the sun had risen above the horizon behind a thin layer of cloud. This worked out pretty well as the defused light was still bright enough to allow me to capture all of that gorgeous golden colour but wasn’t too bright, meaning the dynamic range between the lights and dark was still manageable. By exposing for the highlights, keeping an eye on the histogram for any clipping, I knew I would still have plenty of detail in the shadows and be able to pull it back in post-production.

Placing the pier towards the top of the frame helped portray the scale of the structure in front of me but with the ground being so close to the camera, there was no way I could get the entire scene sharp from front to back in a single shot so embracing the smaller depth of field, I opened up the aperture to f/2, throwing the foreground out of focus allowing me to capture the colour and shapes reflecting in the sand but softening it enough to remove the distraction of those messy pebbles, scattered across the sand.

The X-T30 and 23mm f/2 is a super lightweight combination and with a wide maximum aperture of F2, I can quickly find unique angles and shoot handheld without worrying about camera shake and ending up with blurry photos so as I crouched down trying not to fall over and with the camera hovering just above the wet sand, I quickly rattled off a few photos before my legs gave way.

It was such a great morning for photography and when I felt the best of the sunrise light was gone, I wasn’t quite finished taking photos so I took advantage of the great location I was in and drove a few minutes along the coast up to the top of Beechy Head to capture a few shots of the lighthouse from the clifftop. I wrapped the entire morning’s shoot into an on-location blog post which you can read all about by clicking the thumbnail below.

Until next week.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

Misty Layers | Weekly Photo #95

I’m sure I’m not wrong when I say all creatives experience phases of feeling uninspired at some point and I’m no different. In fact, I’m feeling a little like that right now. Being in between the cold, frosty scenes of winter and the colourful, vibrant scenes of spring means I’m not as motivated to photograph my local woodlands right now and that coupled with being unable to freely travel into London to capture cityscapes means the camera has remained in the bag far more than I would like over the last few weeks.

But that doesn’t mean I’m doing nothing at all. Being out in the woodland is still important to me, with or without the camera so along with my trusty canine sidekick, I’ve still made a point to get out and use the time effectively, keeping an eye out for those early signs of spring and scout the best locations to photograph when spring really starts to kick into gear.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 116mm | 1/40th Second | f/10 | ISO200

Some of you may recognise this photo as I’ve been using it as a banner on my homepage for a while now and I thought it was about time I added it to my Weekly Photo series.

After scouting this area a few times, waiting for the conditions to be right, I was up and out before sunrise on this morning back in September 2020 to take a photo of the wild heather that had recently come into bloom. Having arrived before sunrise, I went about searching for the best composition to photo the heather and as I searched, I noticed the mist down the hill in the distance and decided to include it in the photo. You can see and read more about that photo of the heather and mist in a post I called Late Summer.

When I was done taking photos of the heather, the light was still nicely defused and I realised I still had time to wander closer towards the hillside to photograph this view of the undulated landscape interwoven with drifting mist moving from right to left through the scene. Noticing the light bouncing off the top of the trees was becoming increasingly brighter, I figured I only had a couple of minutes before it became too strong, creating too much contrast in the scene so I quickly found my spot, set up the tripod and placed the camera on top.

I chose my 55-200mm telephoto lens as I wanted to zoom right in and focus on a smaller area of the landscape. With a wider lens, I wasn’t going to get the effect I wanted which was to emphasise the front to back layers of mist and trees in the landscape, becoming softer through the scene, adding a sense of depth into the photo. To help the composition further, I placed the higher, more prominent trees on the upper third to create a subtle focal point for the eye to rest on.

The sky had a warm pastel tone to it and I wanted to include some of that in the photo but being a clear morning, there was very little interest up there so by leaving just a slither of the sky at the top of the frame, I could still get the effect I wanted without introducing too much empty space into the picture. With time not on my side, I manually focused on the trees on the top left-hand third and with the settings dialled in, I took the shot.

Back on the computer at home, I was careful not to add too much colour and contrast into the image as I wanted to reflect the quiet, relaxed feeling I got while out there on the side of the hill. With some considered local adjustments and a tweak of the white balance to warm the photo up a touch, I’m extremely pleased with how this photo has turned out.

I can’t quite believe my 100th weekly post is just around the corner. I feel I should do something to celebrate the milestone. Maybe a print giveaway competition or something similar. I’ll have a think about that!

Next week, I’ll be posting a sunrise photo I took of Eastbourne Pier on the Sussex coast last year and if you don’t want to miss it, why not subscribe to my newsletter by clicking on the link below. That way a new story like this will automatically drop into your inbox every Monday so you never miss a thing.

Until next week.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

Forest Glow | Weekly Photo #93

Hi everyone. With the positive effects of the vaccine rollout starting to show, I’m feeling an increased sense of optimism that we are slowly but surely beating this nasty virus and although by far the most important goal is to save lives, I feel I can now start planning for some Spring and Summer adventures both with friends and family and of course, with my camera! Last year, we were told to stay indoors just as Spring came into bloom and with the UK stay at home order set to be removed on March 29th, I’m now eagerly planning some local landscape and woodland photography adventures in the hope to capture the most vibrant season of the year.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 82mm | 1/8th Second | f/10 | ISO200

For the majority of my photo outings, I head out alone. Don’t feel sorry for me because, honestly, I’m fine with it and in most cases prefer it this way. I love to meet up with other photographers and talk photography, sharing tips and tricks but to me, the quiet, personal pursuit of a photograph is in fact my therapy and a kind of filter to the noisy and frantic lives we all live. I actually wrote a bit about this in a blog post back in 2019 called Mental Health and Why Photography Matters where I list some of the positive effects, I think photography has on mental wellbeing.

That being said, even when alone I do like it when people approach me, curious as to what I’m photographing, showing a genuine interest in what I’m doing. It can be a great way to connect with local people and just have a nice chat about the local area. For someone like me, always on the lookout for new places to photograph, it can be a great source of local information that only a few people might know about, which is exactly what happened while I was out taking this photo in my local forest. As I was taking a panoramic image of the woodland, a man walking his dog stopped for a chat, genuinely interested in what I was photographing and I could see he had a real passion for the surrounding area. We must have been talking for 20 minutes and he was more than happy to run through a list of places and viewpoints I might be interested in photographing, some of which sounded really interesting. Eventually, he happily went on his way but I was really glad he stopped by for a chat.

I had the camera mounted on my tripod in portrait mode, ready to take a wide panoramic photo of this Scots Pine woodland. With the slightly defused, dappled light casting a warm glow across the forest, I levelled off my tripod and while panning from left to right, took around 12 overlapping photos ready to stitch together later in Adobe Lightroom.

Another great tip when creating these high-resolution panoramic photos is that you can crop them to create multiple different photos while still having plenty of resolution left in the final photo. The resulting stitched panoramic photo ended up being a hefty 80 megapixel and even the cropped version above is 33MP, which is still plenty big enough for me to make a large print for the wall.

Although it won’t come across too well on the screen, here is the original panoramic photo which is best viewed on a larger screen.

Next week, I’ll be posting a night cityscape I captured of Tower Bridge in London last year and if you don’t want to miss it, why not subscribe to my newsletter by clicking on the link below. That way a new story like this will automatically drop into your inbox every Monday so you never miss a thing.

Until next week.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

Cascading Brook | Weekly Photo #90

Here in the South of England, the brief wintry spell of weather seems to be behind us (for now), and we are back in double figures. With the slightly warmer weather we had this week, it reminds me that spring is just around the corner, which completely passed us all by here in England last year due to the time coinciding with the first national lockdown. With any luck, the gradual easing will begin soon enough and we can all be out in time to enjoy the colours of spring and warmer, longer days.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 28mm | 0.8 Seconds | f/14 | ISO200

A few weeks ago, just before the “big freeze” I took a wander along a brook, which runs at the base if a shallow valley in my local forest. I started the morning on higher ground and I was surrounded by dense fog with no chance of any photos, so I walked down the hill, into the woodland in the hope that the fog would thin out enough to take some photos.

I found myself down at the brook which had a good flow due to the rainfall we’d had recently. On previous visits, during the warmer months, this tiny stream had almost completely dried up, so it was nice to see so much water creating these small waterfalls as it cascaded down the hill, over fallen trees and branches that lie across the water. I searched for a composition to capture the scene featuring the brook surrounded by the misty, atmospheric woodland and settled on this spot, looking back up-stream.

Purposely setting the camera up high on the tripod, in portrait orientation, pointing slightly downward and along the brook, I positioned the small cascade on the lower third, with the atmospheric tree-lined horizon on the top third. With the circular polarizer attached to reduce the glare and tone down the strong reflections in the water, I experimented a bit with the shutter speed to get the look I wanted and settled on 0.8 seconds as it gave enough detail in the water as it fell over the log in the foreground but without making it too smooth and featureless.

Lastly, I decided to focus stack this photo as I wanted it sharp from front to back. If I had taken just the one photo, focusing on just the cascade in the foreground, with it being so close to the camera, the background would have been soft and out of focus, even at f/14. What I ended up doing was taking 4 different exposures, each one focused on a different point in the photo, working from front to back. I later stacked and merged them in Photoshop, which gave me a sharp photo all the way back to where I would expect clarity to drop away as the mist in the air becomes more prominent.

I finished off the edit by cooling down the white-balance a little and some selective dodging and burning to help bring out a bit more depth in the photo. I’m really pleased with the final image. It represents well, the scene I witnessed while out on that foggy morning in the forest.

Until next week.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.