Contrast

A couple of previously un-posted shots from earlier in the summer. 

One with a lot of colour, the other a more contrasty mono affair. In any case, I think the two are a nice contrast for this time of year where the days are getting shorter and darker, but we still have a lot of autumnal colour around.

Pembrokeshire Coast

We just got back from another trip to Pembrokeshire, one of our favourite places in the UK.

It's been a while since I attempted some long exposures so I took along the tripod and my ND filter. We were pretty lucky with the weather, it was supposed to rain the whole time but we managed to get a lot of sun - and importantly from an LE point of view, a bit of cloud too :)

One of my favourites, taken at Poppit Sands near Cardigan Bay.



Another, taken at New Quay (not in Cornwall!) which is worth a visit - they have dolphins off the coast and while they do dolphin trips and other such things it's not overly touristy.

Natural Light

I got in to a habit of using my flash and 2x teleconverter for macro photography, so I thought I'd remove both and go for some natural light (which I prefer - but it has its drawbacks).

Common Blue Butterfly
f/4



Ladybird
f/4



Not sure what this is!
f/4

Flash!

I've made more of an effort to do some macro photography of late, utilising an old 2x teleconverter (circa 1998!) and my flashgun (mounted off camera and diffused). The teleconverter allows up to around 2x magnification in macro terms, the flash helps with better shutter speeds and smaller apertures.

Annoyingly while doing this I have noticed that my camera's sensor is really dusty, to the extent I'm removing 20-30 specs in post processing.... rather tedious. Unfortunately it means sending to someone to get it cleaned professional which  = ££££

In any case, some recent favourites

Ladybird

Damselfly


Clematis


Pansy Petal


Flower Bug

Macro

Over the past couple of weeks I've been making more of an effort to use my macro lens, the weather has helped as has the abundance of subject matter.

All of these photos are naturally lit, getting back in to macro photography has reminded me that use of a mounted off camera flash is useful, so I will get that hooked back up again hopefully in time for my next trip out.

In an effort to get 'closer' to the subject, I attached an old 2x teleconverter to my macro lens. Essentially this means that instead of the 1:1 zoom (i.e. life size) magnification my lens is capable of, I could get 2:1 magnification (2x life size).

Not easy given that it was my first attempt, the light was poor and it was a little windy. But here is one of the few 'keepers'.

Mayfly

A Mayfly in some grass along the River Avon between Chippenham and Lacock in Wiltshire.

I can't even recall seeing a Mayfly before, but there were hundreds out yesterday. Pretty pleased I'd decided to take the macro lens out for the day, it also reminded me just how much I enjoy macro photography.

Bluebells

I always seem to struggle with white balance on bluebells, managed to rein it in a bit on this without making the image dull - but still a bit saturated.

Niece and Nephew

Sophie and James both happy to pose a bit for the camera this past weekend.

Sigma ART 35mm f/1.4

I recently invested in a 35mm lens, something I'd been looking at for some time. I like the idea of being restricted to that focal length due to the natural need to think more about compositions. We're hoping to visit New York in the not too distant future, and I wanted to be armed with a decent 'urban' lens for that trip too.

After a lot of reading and consideration I settled on the Sigma ART 35mm f/1.4. The first one went back, care of Sigma's usual poor quality control (focus issues as with a number of its lenses) but the second one is a lot better. Not perfect, but I'm willing to accept some inadequacies (minor focus issues, purple fringing at f/1.4 to name a couple) for its strengths.

It's quite a big lens, on camera it feels almost like a telephoto - but with such a wide aperture I guess that's what you'd expect.

Still learning how to use this lens properly, but here are a few recent captures.

I've always liked pylons, not sure why - this particular one taken at Lydiard Park in Swindon. The mono-conversion helps bring out the details and make for a more contrasted photo in my opinion.




Always a fan of macro work, though I've not done much of late - really impressed by the short minimum focus length on this lens.



Some bluebells at West Woods near Marlborough, Wiltshire.




Some more bluebells at West Woods - pretty annoyed I shot this wide open instead of using a smaller aperture to get more of the scene in focus - you live and learn.




My girlfriend Alex isn't the most willing model, so it was nice to get a pretty candid shot of her doing her make-up. The Sigma makes for a pretty good portrait lens too.

Boscombe Pier

An alternate view of the pier at Boscome - I'd originally intended to make the composition from the centre directly underneath, but with three pillars it didn't look quite right. The final image has needed some shadow correction in Lightroom, but I'm pleased with the result.

More of the coast...

I'm really enjoying coastal long exposure work at the moment, thankfully the coast isn't that far away.

Here are some of my better attempts over the past couple of weeks.




The "Long Groyne" at Hengistbury Head in Doreset. The waves weren't exactly rough so there's little mist on the rocks, but at least the clouds played ball. Even at 30 seconds there is some reasonable movement. I really want to try some exposures longer than 30 seconds, but need to invest in a 'bulb' setting timer/remote.




Boscombe Pier near Bournemouth.




A fisherman on Boscombe beach. He managed to stay still for the majority of the exposure, but sadly moved at the last moment. It's left an interesting image though since he almost appears as a ghost.




A bit of colour in an otherwise monochrome post - the beach huts at Mudeford Sandbank.

Urban Lines

Some rather dated looking steps in Bristol, I quite liked the lines, lighting and layout - seems to have come out quite well via a mono-conversion in Lightroom.

West Country

My enjoyment of 'seascape' photography is pretty much offset by my dislike of long car journeys. A glance at Google Maps pointed in the direction of the West Country, specifically Clevedon which has a pier (and unlike Weston, a beach which doesn't have a shore line 2 miles out....).

View of the pier at Clevedon via my EF 135 f/2L - timed perfectly to include the background vessel.



Long exposure from the same location, this time at 24mm. I could only manage 20 seconds due to the brightness on the day, but good to see some cloud movement.



My unofficial project for the day was to try and get a photo of a robin, a bird that holds sentimental significance to my girlfriend. Luckily we bumped in to a few at Cabot Park in Bristol that were more than a little happy to pose. I learnt a thing or two about bird photography, a smaller aperture being the main one. Not massively enthused by my results here, so this is still unfinished business....

Milford revisited

Sunset over the Solent from Milford-on-Sea, December 28th 2014

Dorset Coast

Been a while since I posted anything, it's also been a while since I used my camera!

We took a trip to West Lulworth at the weekend to get some sea air, a bit of exercise (the terrain is rather steep!) and in my case to try and get some nice shots.

Our last visit was pretty much the deciding factor in me wanting an ND filter to try some long exposures. It had been really sunny, the sea was slow blue and against all the white cliffs and rocks we felt like we could have been in a Caribbean. Seeing as it is March, I wasn't expecting such colours and warmth - but we weren't disappointed.

All of these are at around 30s exposure - the sea was bluer than is represented here too. It really is a lovely spot, you just need to walk a bit away from where all the tourists go (Lulworth Cove).