11-04-2020 to 17-04-2020
Now, at the end of my third week of COVID-19 lockdown, I'll share with you the photos I've taken over the last seven days - as I did in Week 1 & Week 2.
Getting up for sunrise (my favourite time to shoot) has become increasingly challenging. Trying to motivate myself to photograph the same locations in the same weather conditions (until today) hasn't helped. I have to say though, that for my sanity's sake, it's been great to have have this project to get me up early and stay in a routine.
I've now got myself some Viltrox Macro Extention Tubes and a Sigma 150-600 lens to open up my options a little. The macro tubes were actually bought for an indoor project I've got - but I've been testing them out on bugs in the garden before I start on that.
These additions to my photographic kit have arrived in good time - as I've been informed by my manager today, that I could be off work for up to three more weeks!
Anyway, that's enough of my ramblings, here are the pictures from the last week...
Macro in the garden
F L E S H - F L Y Sarcophagidae - if I'm wrong with the ID, please put me right... I'm new to macro! When we see a fly buzzing around, our instinct is to be repulsed. But when you zoom in and really study them... they're still pretty revolting! Well this one is - I have seen other photos that really show off the pearlescent blues of some flies. I've been messing around with some new macro extension tubes in the garden. This is one of the sharpest photos I got so far. With a little more practice I hope to hone some more compelling compositions and maybe even capture behaviours... Canon 6D MkII | Viltorx Macro Extension Tubes | 24-105mm lens at 105mm | ƒ/5.6 | 1/200 sec | ISO 800 | Tripod | Taken 13-04-2020
AS YET, UNTITLED
I normally write a little description as I post to Facebook. That description then becomes the core of any copy I put to my images. I've not been able to post all new photos to social media without spamming your feeds! So, keep an eye on my accounts (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) for when I post this with a description...
AS YET, UNTITLED
Another image I've yet to post to my social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)... make sure you follow them for the details!
AS YET, UNTITLED
Another image I've yet to post to my social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)... make sure you follow them for the details!
Enys Woods
W O O D L A N D - C U R V E S
Despite the prospect of a cracking mist shrouded sunrise on Penryn River on this morning, I walked in the opposite direction to Enys Woods. I've simply shot the river so many times lately that I needed to go somewhere else! A veil of mist hung over this patch of woods near my home in Penryn (that I've only found since lockdown).
When I arrived before sunrise, the scene was pretty flat and uninspiring. As the sun rose though, it's light illuminated the mist - knocking back distant trees to simplify & add depth, and creating shafts of light between the trees.
I pointed the camera into the sunlight - the direction of the light show and to reduce "hot spots" in the scene. I composed the shot to clip the sun behind a tree to both control the light and create the sun star as a focal point.
Canon 6D MkII | 24-105mm lens at 47mm | ƒ/14 | 1/6 sec | ISO 100 | Tripod | Taken 12-04-2020 at Enys Woods
D A N K - W O O D S
After three weeks of almost cloudless skies under lockdown, I've welcomed a bit of rain as a change up for my photography.
Compositionally, I was first drawn to the dominant diagonal tree. This helps to lead the eye through the scene. I then did my best to frame the image with upright tree trunks on either side. The trunks on the right are much more dominant, but I think that's balanced by the contrast in light & shade from one side of the frame to the other.
I don't usually include paths in my images as I like to transport the viewer right into nature. And, I sometimes see it as the simple option. In this case though, I quite liked the lead in through to the distant trees.
In a similar way to mist, the rain knocks back some of the distant trees to give a sense of depth - except not as well, and I get wetter! As usual with photography in this weather, keeping the lens (well, filter) dry was a constant battle.
I used a polarising filter to take the edge off the glare from the wet leaves and saturate the colours in the scene.
Canon 6D MkII | 24-105mm lens at 94mm | ƒ/11 | 1/2 sec | ISO 200 | Tripod | Hoya polarising filter | Taken 17-04-2020 at Enys Woods
Penryn River
A week in lockdown wouldn't be right with a visit or two to Penryn River!...
D A W N - D E L I G H T Another day of lockdown, and another morning walk to Penryn Quay!... This was the first time during lockdown, well ever in fact, that I've photographed Penryn Quay at low tide. I've bagged several shots with a higher tide (see Week 1 & Week 2), so I'd been waiting for the water level to drop to give me these sweeping curves. For this image, I dug out my "Lee Super Stopper" (15 stop Neutral Density filter). The water was pretty choppy and not great for a photo. So I used the filter to lengthen the exposure to three minutes. This also had a nice effect on the sky - streaking the clouds into fine wisps as the moved. *I'm not over-the-moon about the blurred boats in the background where they're floating in deeper water - but at least the nearest two are sharp* Canon 6D MkII | 24-105mm lens at 63mm | ƒ/8 | 180 sec | ISO 100 | Tripod | 2 stop soft grad ND & 15 stop ND filters | Taken 15-04-2020 at Penryn Quay
B R O O D I N G - D A W N This was taken after sunrise, but before the sun appeared over the opposing hill. As a heavy cloud passed, the sky lit up in pastel tones - which I emphasised slightly with subtle split toning. Canon 6D MkII | 24-105mm lens at 78mm | ƒ/8 | 1.3 sec | ISO 100 | Tripod | 2 stop soft grad ND & 3 stop ND filters | Taken 16-04-2020 at Penryn Quay
AS YET, UNTITLED
Another image I've yet to post to my social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)... make sure you follow them for the details!
Deer
I've been lucky enough to spot deer every time I've been on a particular walking route over the last three weeks. On this occasion, I managed to change lenses and rattle off a few shots. These pictures were taken at full zoom on my old 75-300mm lens. This is what finally pushed me into reaching deep into my pockets to buy the Sigma 150-300!...
O N - A L E R T I spotted two deer in a field from a distance. They soon noticed me, but didn't bolt. I hid behind a tree, and changed my lens & camera settings. I was quite far away but didn't push my luck in getting closer. I was able to fire off a few frames before they made an exit. This was taken with my old 70-300mm lens at full zoom, wide aperture, -0.7 stops of negative exposure and with the ISO dialled up to 2000 - all to try and capture the scene handheld without too much blur in the low dawn light. The high ISO introduced a fair amount of noise, so I opted not to crop the image down. Instead, I kept the image as I composed it on location with plenty of negative space. Canon 6D MkII | 75-300mm lens at 300mm | ƒ/5.6 | 1/400 sec | ISO 2000 | Handheld | Taken 12-04-2020 near Penryn
D A W N - F O R A G E Canon 6D MkII | 75-300mm lens at 300mm | ƒ/5.6 | 1/320 sec | ISO 2000 | Handheld | Taken 12-04-2020 near Penryn
So it seems I'll have plenty of time to take more photos in the coming weeks... Keep an eye on my social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) for photos I take next week. I'll try to keep the ball rolling with follow-up blog for week 4.
For now, stay safe :)
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