During the past month, I've enjoyed holding two workshops, Gower and the Yorkshire Dales. Poles apart in terms of their character, both are equally rewarding.
Gower
The Gower workshop was held at the beginning of the month. It's a stunning area and a place I look forward to returning over the coming years. Coastal photography is very much about timing your visit with the appropriate tides so that, ideally, you have access to the beach at low or on an outgoing tide at key times of the day (i.e. sunrise/sunset) to avoid being chased up the beach and feel as though you are working against the clock. We experienced strong winds and squally showers but rarely did they last so long that it inhibited our photography. Infact, the opposite was true as it yielded dramatic light and added to the overall experience - I thought! Rather inclement weather than clear blue skies any day!
Pre-dawn, on our first morning, we headed to a nearby bay. There was quite a lot of cloud cover but it broke just sufficiently to produce some colour and interest. I got talking to a chap who had travelled down from Merthyr Tydfil in the hope of photographing sunrise and then going for a swim...as you do! Donning a wet suit (for it was a little chilly) he made his way to the water's edge and began stretching. Realising the potential and noticing the group were photographing him, also, I yelled at him to hold the pose for a few seconds so he wasn't rendered a blurry-blob due to his movement and the slow shutter speeds we were working with. 
The following illustrates why photographers often prefer to work at either end of the day and in ever-changing conditions. Moments after this was captured, the heavens opened and with no cover nearby it was simply a matter of battening down the hatches and waiting for it to pass, which it did after just a few minutes.
Unlike views, abstracts such as this can be tricky to find but with diligent searching and, most important of all, an open mind, interesting compositions can be encountered.
Not all my landscape images are taken with a tripod and as much as I would prefer to use one it's not always possible. The image, below, is a case in point. Very strong winds and showers put pay to even the merest suggestion of using one, as well as any filters. Instead, I handheld the Nikon D850 with 24-120mm, set the ISO to 400 and the camera to 3-shot bracket with 2 stops either side of the camera's recommended exposure. This provided me with images exhibiting detail in the sky, the midtones and in the cliffs.
At the end of each sequence, I take a picture of my hand so that during processing I see them as batches rather than dozens of individual images. I also do this when shooting multi-image panoramas. I use the HDR technique quite a lot when working quickly and in tripod-less situations.
Yorkshire Dales
On Saturday I returned from the Yorkshire Dales. As is the case with all my UK workshops where some distance travel is involved I arrived a day earlier than the group which gave me the opportunity of reacquainting myself with a number of locations and doing some solo work. The weather was kind and at times there was some very nice light.
I checked out a stretch of moorland road to the north of where we were staying and was surprised to see and photograph so many confiding red grouse. It was a strange scenario. As I took its portrait, heather smouldered and smoked (a result of burning to encourage new shoots for the birds to feed upon) a short distance away infront of me while behind strange folk donning plus-fours were blasting these poor creatures out of the sky. I can only hope that in the next few years this barbaric 'sport' will be outlawed and the moors will start, once again, to recover and harbour more wildlife than it does at present.
Further down an individual was spotted on a stone wall. As you can see, a looser composition was given to put the bird in context. I've spoken about this before (and regularly bring it up on workshops), but I very often shoot with the camera set to specific aspect ratios. I'm not a huge fan of 3:2 and think that 5:4 and 1:1 give a much more pleasing frame in which to compose, especially for more abstract compositions.
Given the forecast was for substantial cloud-cover, on the first morning with the group (of which the maximum group size is only 3) I drove to a spot which provided a silhouette of a hill-top oak. In order to emphasise its shape, I used a Lee Little Stopper (6 stops) to provide some cloud movement.
On the first day, the weather was kind (although we never did get that nice, warm glancing light) but on the second we had quite a bit of rain. In such conditions, there's only one thing for it - waterfalls! And, with that soft light, we were able to find some pleasing compositions.
Producing such images while holding a workshop is useful for a number of reasons. Firstly, I can position myself so that I am not in their camera's line of sight. Secondly, since images don't rely on working quickly and are not going anywhere I can set up and return from time to time while assessing each individual's progress. And, lastly (and most importantly), I can show them the image I am making which may then spark ideas of their own which they may not otherwise have thought of.
The photograph, below, was created using a 3 image focus-stack. I could have stopped down to f/22 to achieve the same depth of field but focus-stacking enables you to use the lens' optimum aperture which, more often than not, is around f/11. The three were then processed in Lightroom and stacked in Photoshop.
On the second day at our final location (just prior to heading down to the waterfalls), we popped into this self-service tea room. It's a wonderful idea that relies, entirely, on good old fashioned honesty. Everything is provided. You make your own tea or coffee and, if you wish, take a piece of homemade cake (of which there was quite a selection!), wash up after yourself and pay what you consider to be a reasonable amount. It's also a great way to break the ice with others who were also using the facilities which resulted in us chatting to an interesting couple who were walking the area.
Camera bag review
There’s no such thing as the perfect camera bag. If there was, trust me, I’d have bought it! The Think Tank Backlight, however, comes pretty close. You can read all about it, here, but before you do, please continue with the newsletter!
Lightroom tutorials
For those of you that are not aware, I have produced two Lightroom tutorial videos which can be viewed on Youtube. The first is a straightforward run-through of the tools which I use to process an image. It's important for me to stress that this is a 'how I do it' video since we, as photographers, all have our own way of seeing and ultimately processing an image.
Click here for Tutorial 1
In the second I discuss one of Lightroom's most important tools, the Graduated Filter. It's not one you can afford to ignore and along with the Radial and Adjustment Brush (which I shall discuss in a future video), they are essential if you are to do your images justice.
Click here for Tutorial 2
Special Print Offer
I'm reluctant to use the 'C' word but since it's but a mere six weeks away I thought I'd promote the following offer which could make for a very nice gift for someone. Or, why not treat yourself? Go on, you deserve it!
Up until 2 weeks before Christmas, I shall be offering any print size of an image from my website (or social media feed) at a 30% (or thereabouts) price reduction.
12x8: Was £45 NOW £32
16x10: Was £65 NOW £45
20x13: Was £95 NOW £66
24x16: Was £125 NOW £87
30x20: Was £175 NOW £122
Printed on Fuji Crystal Archive paper with a satin matt finish, the print will be signed on the border.
The price includes P&P for all UK orders but for overseas orders please contact me for a quote. VAT is included.
Galleries here
Carbon offsetting
By its very nature (excuse the pun!) my business, of course, involves a fair amount of travel and given I visit some of Europe's most stunning areas of natural beauty I feel that it is my duty to offset my carbon dioxide emissions. Therefore, as from today, upon calculating mileage (plane, car or both) I shall be offsetting this by the required amount and donating to the Woodland Trust. Overall workshop and tour prices will not be affected.
This will be the only monthly newsletter that I shall publish, here, on my blog so if you'd like to receive them, automatically, in the future then you can do so by clicking on the link below.
