St Bathans
Jul, 2015Views
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chiefer33
July 16, 2015
I love landscapes. This drew me in and made me want to be there. To me, stunning shot Bill...Cheers.
billmcphail
July 17, 2015
Thank you Jason I really appreciate you taking the time to look at my images and comment so positively on this one.
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BillW
August 19, 2015
Wonderful image Bill. After seeing this I had to look up St. Bathans. The whole place looks amazing. And being a golfer, well, lest just say I see several possibilities here.
Very nicely captured!!
Very nicely captured!!
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Behind The Lens
Location
This image was taken on a walk around the Blue Lake at St Bathan's in the Maniototo district, Otago, New Zealand. The Blue lake was formed as result of gold mining and Kildare Hill was slowly sluiced away to a deep pit as miners sought out and mined the gold seam. The pit filled with water after the pit was abandoned and the pumps ceased to drain the area, with the water appearing a vibrant blue on sunny days, due to the rich chemical composition of the schist and greywacke.Time
This image was taken in the late afternoon, looking to the west / south west with the Dunstan Ranges to the viewers right of the image.Lighting
The rather heavy sky has not been the best for showing the lake colour but it did enhance the autumn colour which was just starting to show. This area tends to be very warm in summer and very cold in winter and both spring and autumn can be quite brief.Equipment
My equipment is simple but reliable - a Canon 500D body with a 18 - 55mm kit zoom lens. The lens was fitted with a skylight filter and a polarising filter. The shot was hand held with the lens set at 18mm, aperture 4.5 and shutter speed set at 1/60th. I tend to try and shoot at ISO 100 and this shot is no exception.Inspiration
I love this area for the sense of peace and the sense of space. I hope this image goes some way to sharing the sense of openness and calm that exists here.Editing
I tend to do quite basic post-processing with Lightroom 6. As an old film photographer I was used to dodging and burning in, but I haven't really begun to understand the scope of modern post processing.In my camera bag
I carry a Canon 500D body, 18 - 55mm and 55mm - 250mm kit lenses. I also have a Canon 1.8 50mm lens and Tamron 105mm, 500mm and a 2x converter. I have a lens reversing ring for close up work and a range of filters. I have a very stable (and heavy) Linhoff tripod with ball head, which was originally paired with their 7x5" view camera - this is brilliant to use but heavy to carry, so I also have a lighter Velbon tripod fitted with a Manfrotto ball head. I also have a Canon Speedlight 580 EXII.Feedback
In keeping with my age I think it is fair to say that I would regarded as 'old school' with regard to composition and lighting. I believe in the 'golden hour' for photography (just after dawn and prior to sunset) and trying to lead the eye into the image (I was always led to believe that the eye naturally tracks from bottom left into the image and looks to follow a circular style path through to the top right). That isn't to say that all images follow that rule - in fact I applaud the daring of many photographers here who succeed in overturning convention and challenge the viewer with whole new ways of presenting brilliant images.
