We recently decided to do battle with midges and expensive alcohol and booked a lake-side cabin in southern Sweden at Deralycke, near Linneryd. The place was fantastic – utterly unspoilt and once we found another route to bypass a rather large tree that was blocking the road we had a splendid week of BBQs, fishing, reading and generally feeling vey isolated. Oh and I even managed to take a couple of photos. However, not having been able to take my proper tripod was a bit annoying but I did take my Manfrotto PIXI Mini tripod along with the M6 and Canon’s EF-M 22mm f/2 STM as well as my bag of filters. I ended up using a couple of chairs stacked on top of one another which wasn’t ideal due to squidgy, uneven surface and a fairly strong wind but it was better than nothing.
The fishing wasn’t much to speak of but I did at least manage to read five books over the week.
After weeks of endless sunshine, the weather finally broke today and I popped down to the sea at West Kirby. At the Marine Lake there were loads of windsurfers whilst out on the estuary a number of kite surfers were taking advantage of the wind. I used a lens I’ve not used for a while, my EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM and took a few shots of the kite surfers but there was nothing to write home about so I got the old super stopper out and reverted to type with some long exposures facing Hilbre Island… This time I was able to use my new very hard 2-stop ND grad filter from LEE as well. I remembered to take an umbrella this time to shield the camera from the wind too and it seemed to do the trick. Plus it gave me some welcome shelter as well!
Last Sunday I did something I haven’t done in a while and attended a photography workshop. This was organised by Cambrian Photography Limited in Colwyn Bay and run by Paul Sanders. It was actually called a Fujifilm X-Series and GFX workshop but the initial blurb I saw on Facebook suggested that (a) you don’t need to own a Fuji camera and (b) you need to arrive with an open mind and a liking of cake. Two ticks for me!
The night before I was umming and ahhing over what to take and decided to persevere with my lightweight travel kit. I haven’t used the 5D Mk1 at all since getting the M6 back in August but I still have use of all my lenses thanks to the adaptor.
After a decent bacon and sausage buttie at Blod’s Cafe I wandered over to Cambrian and met some of the other attendees outside the shop. We were soon ushered inside to where others were waiting and after a brief introduction by Paul we set out.
The plan was for long exposures on the beach in the morning and macro at Aber Falls in the afternoon. We ended up at Penrhyn Bay for the long exposures which was fine until I realised I’d forgotten my tripod adaptor! Duh! Fortunately I was able to borrow a tripod so eventually took a few shots. Finally after trying for months I managed to make good use of my mist filter. Normally the effect ends up looking forced and unnatural but I think this time it helped things. Speaking of filters I decided that I really did need to equip myself with a hard ND grad filter rather than my soft grad for use in such scenarios where the horizon is pronounced.
After a couple of hours we headed to a local cafe, The Loaf for lunch. Another attendee, Jonathan (a fellow Lenswork subscriber), and I sat with Denis and Fre Hocking over an enjoyable long lunch.
Suitably fed and watered we headed out to Aber Falls. I don’t particularly enjoy macro but there were more opportunities for long exposures in a little stream or of course at the waterfall itself. I chose not to trek to the falls but to potter around by the stream near the car park.
The day was well organised, and very relaxed. We overrun by a hour or so, likely due to the extended lunch break but no-one was complaining. It was a great day with lots of assistance being offered by Paul and the whole Cambrian Photography team. Being Wales it obviously rained during part of the day but it was at the very tail end and didn’t spoil anything.
The Port of Liverpool Building or the former offices of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board is one of the ‘Three Graces’ on the Liverpool waterfront along with the Royal Liver Building and the Cunard Building. Although neither the most famous nor the biggest of the three, to my mind it’s the best looking of the three buildings, with the only problem being the number of people wandering in front. Fortunately a suitable exposure time can help remove those who walk in and out of the shot. Note how still those sitting on the benches on either side of the image must have been during the 4 minute exposure…
Along with the now regular warm toning, the inevitably converging verticals caused by the wide angle were corrected using Adobe Lightroom. I would have preferred the symmetry of the clouds to be aligned with that of the building but hey ho – there’s nothing less predictable than the good old British weather!
I took a stroll along the waterfront in Liverpool at lunchtime today. It was a fantastically bright day with a slight haze that produced a flat uninspiring light. I specifically wanted such conditions as I was intending to make use of my latest toy – a LEE Filters 15-stop Super Stopper.
I was hoping to get a shot of the Beatles statue with the Liver Building in the background, but I think even the Super Stopper would struggle to make the persistent tourists disappear such is their volume. Additionally the sky was rather grey with very little interest so the filter’s effect would be wasted.
So instead I wandered round and found Canning Dock looking particularly serene. A 0.6 ND grad filter gave a shutter speed of 1/60 sec that converted to an 8 minute exposure with the Super Stopper.
Of course the one downside of shooting long exposures at lunch time is that by the time you’ve found a suitable spot, the available time means one or two shots only before it’s time to head back to the office!
