_DSC1385
Apr, 2015Views
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo at Lochan Na h-Achlaise on Rannoch Moor, Scotland facing north and east onto the Black Mount. The area is a landscape photographers paradise with still water, mountains, great views. I chose this little bay because of the large rocks in the foreground mirroring the shapes of the much larger more distant mountainsTime
This is a morning location for sure. The sun was still reasonably low and behind me. Due to the longer than my norm focal length my shadow isn't featuring in the frame. I would say I took this image around 8am on an April morning, perhaps two hours after sunrise when the light was reasonably kind, but the sun was high enough to light all the mountains and foreground.Lighting
I tend to light my images from either the side or from the sun behind me. Shooting into the sun isn't my idea of fun unless its a sun rise or sunset. Spring works well here due to the clarity of the cold morning air, and the sunrise not being so far to the northEquipment
Nikon D610, Nikkor 24-70F2.8 @38mm. I used a Lee 0.9 soft edge graduated natural density filter. With reflections it is important to ensure the water reflection is never lighter than the sky, but any foreground is well exposed. You can over graduate a scene leaving the sky darker than the reflection, which looks unnatural. Soft edge filters don't leave an obvious filter line, important in a scene like this where the mountains mean the horizon line would be un-even.Inspiration
Just look at the scene. How could you not want to capture this for the rest of time. Lets break it down. I love the outdoors, I love Scotland and I love this part of Scotland. I love the serenity and stillness of just being in a place like this. The reflections really add to that feeling of calmness, and stillness. I think thats important, I live in the city and feel being in a place makes life better. I also like a bright, colourful image and scene, as this is my feelings to how Rannoch Moor makes me feel, uplifted. Thus on a good, clear day in my view it looks its best, and with the still water looks twice as good. Hence the camera was out the bag this day.Editing
As little as possible but as much as neccessary is my approach to post production. Whilst I want to convey my vision of a place and create art work, I also want to be faithful to that moment in time I captured on the camera. Exposure is key, and I expose to the right a little as a) I prefer a brighter image anyway b) it reduces or eliminates the need for noisy shadow recovery. I would have increased contrast, saturation and vibrance on Aperture 3, then sharpened the image and removed any chromatic abberation and sensor dust spots.In my camera bag
Too much. I carry the following 1 x Nikon D800 1x Nikon D610 1x Nikkor 24-70F2.8 1x Zeiss 21mm F2.8 Lee grads in 0.6 and 0.9 soft edged, and 0.45 and 0.75 hard edged graduated natural density filters. I carry a Lee Little stopper 1x Nikkor 70-210 F4 1x Nikkor 24mm PCE F3.5 *brilliant btw For event work I carry a Nikkor 85mm F1.8, Sigma Art 35mm F1.4, and Nikon SB910 flash. TBH though, I could do 95% of my work with either body, and with the 24-70F2.8 and the soft edged natural density filters.Feedback
Photography is all about the light and the conditions. Forget gear, its irrelevent really once you have a proper camera you can control the exposure over. Conditions wise, you want a low wind speed to get the reflection, and early on in the morning is more likely to be still. Weather wise a little cloud cover om a good sunny day, preferably the day before the weathers due to change for the worse as that can bring in more spectacular cloud cover. You need cloud cover ideally over your subject, or some, but reasonably free of clouds behind you to let the sun come through relatively undiffused to give you this rich light.
