Kylemore Rainbow
Kylemore Abbey in Connemara, Ireland, storm just approaching
Kylemore Abbey in Connemara, Ireland, storm just approaching
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Sep, 2015Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This picture was taken from the lakeside in front of Kylemore Abbey in Connemara, Western Ireland. That was my first time in Ireland and the first time I experienced driving on the right side of the road. I was on vacation with the hope to find some interesting subjects.This country is simply stunning, the west gives the best combination of sky, grass, sea, water and wind. A perfect blend of colors, the ideal playground for any landscape hungry photographer it's just all there, all that you saw in "those fantastic" pictures at your disposal. I think this place is great for learning, you have the perfection in front of you, self teach you a whole day until you shoot what you see.Time
I'll always remember that day, It was nearly at the end of that day trip from Trim to the Connemara, I remember dropping my jaw at every landscape I passed by, stopping my car and flushing out my equipment as quick as I could. My greatest desire was to be lighting fast to be able to capture all that incredible lighting. It was a race between me and the rain, we were going the same direction so every now and then I just had time to stop before it reached me, and minutes later I was soaking and had to rush again to the next dry waypoint (don't tell the cops!). I had to make the most of the approaching evening light, this picture was taken at 18:22 the 31st of August.Lighting
Evening light was coming from behind while the storm that was chasing me was reaching, this gave me the perfect combination of a perfectly lit scene against a dramatic background. I took several shots to make sure nobody was in the frame from the other side of the lake, I had to be fast in taking a slow photo while the scene was lit like a stage for the few people that were there. I knew the rain was approaching and with that light coming from behind I was really hoping and waiting for the rainbow to appear, then it did, again I took several shots to get it at its most saturated stage. The key to the management of lighting in these pictures is a ND filter which I used to lower my shutter speed to 30 seconds at a F16, smoothing the water and the clouds. But there's a dirty trick in this shot: it was taken in August, so how come trees have an autumn like hue? It's all thanks to my "wrong" Tiffen ND 3.0 filter. This filter is supposed to prevent all light from flowing, fact is that, with my D800, this "normal ND" doesn't filter IR good enough for "that" sensor. This means that the percentage of IR captured is much higher than the percentage of non IR light. While being very angry the first time I discovered it in the end I grew to love it. The result of this flaw can be incredible: the IR from the organic part of the scenario (the trees) gives an authentic autumn color to the vegetation while the cold stone of Kylemore and the sky and clouds remain unscathed.Equipment
The equipment I had with me was: -My Nikon D800 camera -a 28-300 VR Nikkor Zoom -a 16-35 VR Nikkor Zoom -a compact and sturdy Benro tripod -cable remote shutter control -a "wrong" Tiffen ND 3.0 filter -a Hoya HD circular polarizerInspiration
I was driving with this goal in my mind to be able to capture and smoothen water and wind. I knew every corner hid a chance of getting it so when the road opened this incredible view struck me, I told myself that I had to try to render justice to such a landscape, my only job was not to ruin the work of nature. I had it all, enough wind to make water and clouds move, an almost stage-ish light on the Abbey and the mountain just behind.Editing
Of course I did, landscape simply doesn't appear as it is with one shot, not to me. But since I'm not that good at merging pictures for goals other than panoramas I squeeze my raws to get out all that I need from my D800 sensor. In this case, also, red light had to be controlled a little due to my wrong ND sensor. While not changing the WB, what I did instead was: -raise the contrast and the clarity to gain "chiaroscuro" from trees and abbey -raised the whites to highlight those few white clouds in that hole of sun -raised the blacks to obtain just the opposite from the incoming rain and to have the rainbow stand out -lowered the vibrance, to have the colors be more independent (rainbow needed it) and lower the reds -raised the saturation a tiny bit -adjusted the hue to prevent certain colors from blending too muchIn my camera bag
I hate having stuff I don't use and ma back starts to ache after some hours of walking so I am doomed by weight and space. My "ready for everything" bag sports: -a Nikkor 28-300 zoom (a great do it all lens but not as sharp as I would like it to be) -a 16-35 VR Nikkor lens which is my favorite one for its framing capabilities and incredible sharpness -a "wrong" (non IR filtering) Tiffen ND 3.0 filter -a "right" Tiffen IR ND 3.0 filterFeedback
This is a trip picture, I'm no professional photographer, more a butcher I'd say, so I know I will just "stumble upon" my next subject, if I reach a specific subject I will just "stumble upon" the right lighting, I know my fate is to see incredible scenes while having the chance to steal but just a few, I learnt to live with it. I know many like me struggle for not being able to just "prepare" the perfect place, the perfect day and the perfect light so I have two advices for "stumblers" like me to get such a shot: speed. The place: every place I go has a new "taste" which I tend to discover the first day (which gets wasted), Ireland was water and wind to me from the first moment so I was prepared for it, my lenses had polarizers already on, my ND and cable were be at hand, my tripod plate was already mounted. When I reached Kylemore I didn't have to waste time mounting everything and could concentrate on reading the scene. Get the "taste" of the places you're going to as fast as you can, prepare your hardware and focus your efforts on rendering that taste, you will never be able to capture everything and since you're on a budget (money and time) you have to choose. Your camera: ok you've all the hard things attached one to another. The next best advice I can give is "get to be really fast with your camera". You're required to flash your camera out, mount it on a tripod, level it, frame properly, then you'll have to fiddle some time to prepare for the shot so, reduce the fiddling to the minimum, know where your selectors are, build memory in your hands as you do with the automatic gestures of your daily routines, the faster you are the best. Your fiancee: well you promised to be fast so she doesn't really have to soak too much does she?
