Canon 5D4, 28mm, ISO 100, 13 seconds @ f/16.
I was really pleased with this image. I enjoy the balance, the juxtaposition of the hard rock and the soft background as well as the colour contrast of gold to blue from left to right.
As the sun rises it burns off the mist and the forest starts to show itself.
Canon 5D4, 130mm, ISO 100, 1/25 sec @ f/11.
An insanely early trip to Loch Awe and Kilchurn Castle this week. Arriving at 5.30am before sunrise we picked our way through the marsh to the edge of the water and waited for the dawn. The air was still and clear with a magical display of stars above. To be honest, the images from this trip are a bit underwhelming but there’s always something to observe and learn. The photographs have a subtle shift in colour as the light rises from a blue pre-dawn light that is flat and mysterious with 30 seconds of exposure time to the warmer tones at first light and the harsher contrast and warmer light as the sun clears the hills.
Niall and I got to discussing the merits of each situation. Most of the pictures we have seen are taken after sunrise because most people are infinitely more sensible than the the two of us stumbling around in marshland in the dark to catch the very first light of the day. The fully lit scene is normal. It looks like the landscape we all experience. It’s ok but its familiarity makes it less interesting I think. That blue, flat light that comes from no direction in particular is a rare thing. We both agreed that even if we did not make any earth-shattering images that day just to be in that light, at that place for a few minutes to experience something that is out of the ordinary is worth the 3am rise.
Kilchurn Castle March 2019 05.20am
Kilchurn Castle 2 March 2019 06.02am
Kilchurn Castle 3 March 2019 06.42am
Never gets old. Some images from a previous year. Reminds me to get back there soon.
Loch Chon Rain and Reeds
Camera work: Canon 5D3 with a 17-40L at 17mm, 0.4″@f/16, ISO 100.
Conditions: Moderate breeze. Heavy rain.
Out at Loch Chon in the Trossachs area near Aberfoyle for sun up today. Thanks Manoj for the company and your patience in the face of being soaked to the skin to get a photograph.
It rained heavily and incessantly for hours and hours. I love these conditions. It’s challenging but pays off with the beautifully muted colours and the separation the rain creates between the Island in the middle of the loch and the forest behind.
At this point I dropped my camera into the loch and my morning’s work came to an abrupt end. Had to happen someday. This is the danger of working with a tripod in the rain while up to your knees in water. I must buy one of those fancy camera bags that allow access to camera without having to juggle on open sack on your knees. My apologies to everyone I previously told that such bags were a gimmick. Consider me bitten in the bum.
Loch Clair
Loch Clair on a mid summer sunrise. We must have been bonkers. Sleeping in the car to get eaten alive by midge to get a photo. Missing the place though and looking forward to a return.
wytchwood 