3. Landscape - Using available light
Project 16: Dusk
The two images below were taken an August evening at 21.12 and 21.15 - at dusk. Again we can see that the same view can look very different depending on how we want to portray it.
The image to the left uses a wideangle lens. In the wideangle lens image to the left we can see a larger scale of colours, with a grading effect of colours.
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The image to the right used a telephoto lens. The colours here are more concentrated.
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Project 18: Sunrise and sunset
15 August 2012
Golden Hour: 19:23
Sunset: 20:46
Blue Hour: 21:04
Blue Hour End: 22:09 Twilight
Dusk Civil: 21:31
Golden Hour: 19:23
Sunset: 20:46
Blue Hour: 21:04
Blue Hour End: 22:09 Twilight
Dusk Civil: 21:31
These images were taken between 19:59 and 21:25. I started while the sky was still blue, before the golden hour. Colours change of course with time, but the result also look different if slightly underexposed. I used different framing and viewpoint. We can see how the golden hour passes and goes into the blue hour in the end. The result is postcard beautiful, but a bit boring.
Project 19: Choosing the moment
I have combined this exercise with the one above. I have chosen the moment below to be the best in the series. This is the moment as the sunlight is just about to be cut off behind the clouds and silhouette background and the sun creates a long colourful reflection in the water. I felt this was the best moment while I was shooting, and it lastest only a few seconds, and also when I look at the images afterwards I think this is the best. I suppose it has also got something to do with that intanglible and disappearing beauty we try to capture in our lifes.
Project 20: Sun stars and diffraction
The lighting condition when shooting into the sun, high dynamic range, will obviously create blown highlights and shadows so black it contains with no visual data. When taking these images it was difficult not to look into the sun and become slightly blinded. The sun star only appears when there is a tiny gap between the leaves, so I had to move sideways to find the right position. The sun star is obviously bigger with a smaller aperture, a bigger f/stop. I think the actual object in these images are not so attractive looking, but the images shows the difference between wide angle/zoom and big/small aperture.
Wide angle - f/3.5
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Zoom - f/5.6
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Wide angle - f/22
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Zoom - f/22
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Project 22: Positioning the sun
The smaller the aperture (larger f/stop) the more pronounced the sunburst. This can also be experienced when squinting with the eyes towards the sun. The image to the right has the smallest aperture and it's also here the the sunburst looks the best, in my opinion. It's also nice to have the sun placed in the corner of the composition. The image to the left is a little bit too bright looking on the ground. I also think a sunburst looks attractive, when used in moderation.
Project 24: Clouds and sky
Project 25: Snow
We have not have any snow for the duration of doing this course. Last winter was very mild so I didn't get the opportunity to take any snow images.
Project 26: Shooting the moon
I have used the Sun Surveyer and the Moon phase calendar to aid the planning of this shot. It has helped me to figure out when and where to catch the moon. Ideally the full moon gives the best illumination, and it will also light up the surrounding landscape. I found out that 3 July was full moon, but on that evening the sky was thick with rain and there was no chance to see the moon through the clouds. So I'm trying with 4 July, so far it's a sunny evening, with a few clouds. According to Sun Surveyer, the moon is in waning gibbous, illumination 98.7% (full moon is 100%) and the moon rise is at 22:03. It's interesting to see that the moon rising varies so much from day to day. On 2 July the moon rise was at 20:40, on 3 July at 21:27 and on 4 July at 22:03. Today the sun sets at 21:55, so it will be interesting to see how the closeness of sunset and moonrise will look.
Technically, a long lens is needed for catching the moon. My longest lens is 200 mm so that's what I will use, and a tripod of course. I will try to catch the moon looking out over water and with someting in the foreground. I will follow the moon as it rises. I will use the spot meter and meter the moon in order to not blow the highlights. I will bracket the exposures and check the histogram. Avoid long exposures as the moon moves. Use a larger aperture. Might have to underexpose a bit. Maybe turn the camera vertically as the moon rises.
Some inspiration before the shooting the moon.
Some inspiration before the shooting the moon.
Back from the shooting. It was a semi-sucessful event. I was out by 22.00. I was waiting and looking, but I couldn't see the moon anywhere. It looked like there was a band of clouds closest to the sea, and clear sky above that. It got darker and darker and I thought there was not point in being there. But at 22.45 there was a patch in the grey sky that became brighter and finally I could see the moon breaking through. I had then missed the rising and the moon was not close to the horizon.
The moon moved quickly in and out the clouds, so I found it difficult to compose the image and get a correct exposure, because the light levels changed rapidly. It was also windy, so the camera wasn't 100% still even though it was on a tripod.
The moon moved quickly in and out the clouds, so I found it difficult to compose the image and get a correct exposure, because the light levels changed rapidly. It was also windy, so the camera wasn't 100% still even though it was on a tripod.
Project 28: Intimate landscape
These kind of images come very naturally for me. I am drawn towards details.
The first two images are tree bark. It looks like the hide of an animal and an eye.
The second pair are wheat stalks in a field.
In the third image I wanted to see what grass in a field would look like in the wind with motion movement.
The first two images are tree bark. It looks like the hide of an animal and an eye.
The second pair are wheat stalks in a field.
In the third image I wanted to see what grass in a field would look like in the wind with motion movement.
The images below are from another stint of intimate landscape. The rock formations by the sea are very interesting to me. [That rhymes.] When the top layer of the earth is washed away, the signs of how the earth was formed are revealed. It's something timeless about it. I find the different structures very intriguing.
Assignment 3: A linking theme
Tutor's comments
My tutor wonders if I have given myself enough scope in the images above, and suggests that I should produce some further work. I might have been playing it too safe, by staying in the same area, and one point in time. She would like to see a new visual challenge in the series of images and learn more about me - what these reflections could tell about me as a person. I should therefore analyse myself deeper into my self-awareness.
An idea my tutor specifically likes is the look of a fragmented mirror in the reflection. That is not particularly the way I want to go with this. It kind of takes away from the idea I had in the beginning of the assignment, that these images are part of a meditation and reflection.
But I have reworked and completed this assignment by taking images reflecting a different season than the summer, when the original images were taken. They now include winter, ice, darkness.
And of course my tutor was right in suggesting that there is more to my person than the colourful summer images. Sometimes my mind is cold and dark, and thankfully sometimes it's colourful and warm. I present the final series of images in the order of going from cold and dark, to ending up colourful, because we must continue to believe that the good will win in the end.
The final series of images therefore looks as below:
An idea my tutor specifically likes is the look of a fragmented mirror in the reflection. That is not particularly the way I want to go with this. It kind of takes away from the idea I had in the beginning of the assignment, that these images are part of a meditation and reflection.
But I have reworked and completed this assignment by taking images reflecting a different season than the summer, when the original images were taken. They now include winter, ice, darkness.
And of course my tutor was right in suggesting that there is more to my person than the colourful summer images. Sometimes my mind is cold and dark, and thankfully sometimes it's colourful and warm. I present the final series of images in the order of going from cold and dark, to ending up colourful, because we must continue to believe that the good will win in the end.
The final series of images therefore looks as below: