craigniblock
FollowViews
1296
Likes
Awards
Action Award
Legendary Award
Featured
Contest Finalist in Covers Photo Contest Vol 33
Staff Winter Selection 2015
Peer Award
Top Choice
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
All Star
Genius
Top Ranks
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
The photo was taken on the road towards Glencoe, which is in Scotland. The road - the A64 - is one of the most scenic ones I have come across, with an incredible amount of places where you will want to stop the car and take a photograph. I set up everything on the side of the road where I was parked, and ran on to the road when there was a clear stretch without traffic. Two different angles were tried, with this being the preferred one.Time
This was at the end of a long and tricky day of shooting (I had rather clumsily slipped and fallen into a stream earlier in the day - thankfully my camera survived!). The sun was setting at a location nearby, and once I had secured the shot I wanted there, I drove ten minutes to catch the setting sun at this particular location.Lighting
I knew the road surface would reflect the sunlight nicely, which is what I wanted from the image. The light was also soft enough that it provided a pleasant bit of lighting on some of the ground further back, but plenty of the image would still be kept in atmospheric shadow.Equipment
This was taken with a Leica M240 that I was borrowing for the trip from a friend (I own a Sony), a Leica Summilux 35mm lens that I own (I normally use the converter for it to work on the Sony), and a rather battered tripod that couldn't stand up to the Scottish weather (it has since been replaced).Inspiration
There are many wonderful photographs of roads stretching off into the distance, with wild or barren landscapes surrounding them. A lot of these are taken in the US, and I wanted to do something similar to these, but in Scotland. It is an ongoing project of mine, where I am looking to take lots of road shots throughout the country - there is something wonderful about these kind of shots, as it gives both the sense of having come from somewhere, of going somewhere (journey before destination?), and it also can showcase wonderful landscapes. I like many different styles of post-processing, but I wanted to process this particular photo differently to a lot of other road shots I like, in order to impart a different mood and atmosphere.Editing
I think my post-processing is constantly evolving, both in terms of methods and the end look I want to achieve. However, I try to keep things reasonably simple. Basic tweaks were done in Lightroom, before I went to Photoshop to remove a few unwanted distractions (bollards) from the image. I then went back to Lightroom and looked at all the presets I have for some inspiration and ideas. I don't ever use the presets in my final image, but I find they can be useful in helping me figure out how I want the end image to look. Some split toning a and various other tweaks resulted in the final image - I now use Color Efex Pro 4 on all my images, but wasn't using it at the time I processed thus particular one.In my camera bag
I'm fairly new to photography, and the desire to have the latest models and gadgets is something I (and probably most photographers) constantly have to fight (setting up a new business recently has certainly helped to curtail this!). The bag itself has to be comfortable and practical (I mainly use a Think Tank Shapeshifter), and in it I have a Sony A7rII, a Sony 16-35mm lens, a used Leica 35mm Summilux 1.4 lens, a used Leica Elmarit 90mm 2.8 lens, and the Sony/Leica converter for the lens. Along with that I have a tripod (currently borrowing fro friends until I settle on a new one), lens cleaners, a Triggertrap cable for long exposure shots, and of course gloves and other warm items to combat the weather here in the UK!Feedback
First, be aware of traffic, and don't get run over! The weather is incredibly variable in Scotland, particularly the further north you get. As a result, the odds of getting this image to turn out the way I wanted were low, and I had plans for what I would do with this shot if the sun wasn't out and there were lots of grey clouds instead (a Scottish speciality!). That being said, I had done research on locations before visiting, and spent my first day scouting locations, and making note of the best places to be for sunrise/sunset, an figuring out if I could capture the setting sun in various locations along a few mile stretch. This scouting, along with using The Photographer's Emphemeris, and of course the patience required when shooting landscapes, resulted in me getting the shot I wanted. One other useful thing is to set your tripod (or camera if you have no tripod) at various heights for a shot like this. Sometime getting really low will be the best option, but on this occasion I found that a higher angle can the shot the best balance and perspective.