Last light
perfect timing
perfect timing
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Dec, 2015Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This location was some what planned for a couple of days prior to heading up. I am a self taught photographer who last year decided to head back into education to further any skills that I may have not picked up. During the HNC course we were asked to produce a landscape shot on black and white film to develop in the dark room. The snow hill in the image was the intentional target is in an area of Edinburgh, Scotland named the Pentlands.Time
It was just before christmas 2015, maybe mid December. We headed up early afternoon because we wanted to capture the reflections on the reservoir on our way up the hill. It must have been around 2pm or so that we started heading up to the foot of the hill. We also wanted to be done before it got colder, it was something like -4c which got colder as the light faded.Lighting
Before I set anything up, I pulled out my Godox AD360 because I knew the exposure for the foreground would be off as I didn't bring filters with me, I didn't want to merge images in photoshop later. I had my friend stand with the light while I test fired it to see where the light would fall. My main concern was the light hitting the water inside the boat and causing glare. The sky was so boring when we arrived back at the boat that all we wanted to do was get a few shots of the boat with the snowy hill in the background before heading home. We took a few shots while moving the strobe around and taking turned of who would hold it so the other could get a few shots. We were done! I turned the camera off and just stood there admiring the view because it's a beautiful location while my friend started to pack away his gear. Wait!! I noticed the clouds change slightly. Just above the peak of the distant snowy hill the clouds were breaking and the lovely golden sunlight was peaking through. I turned to my friend and said "this is going to be awesome, that light is going to kiss the ridge as long as the clouds stay as they are". I'm not packing up yet, I want to wait and see if it happens just how I imagined it was going to. I have never been so excited, I had tested my strobe for the boat before I knew this was going to happen so that was set and back in position I wanted. I turned the camera back on quickly adjusted my settings to what I thought they needed to be, picked up the shutter release........ wait......wait.....wait! there it was, one of the most surreal sunsets I have ever seen in my life. By the time I check the back of the camera to make sure I got it, it was gone. It lasted only a few seconds. I almost had the shot I pictured in my mind.Equipment
This image was captured using my Canon 5Diii with 24-105 f/4 L IS lens. Placed on the tripod with the remote trigger attached. I also used a Godox AD360 hand held to add light to the boat.Inspiration
This shoot was intended planned for me to capture an image for the college course I was studying at the time. I can see the snow hill from where I love across the water from Fife and just new I had to shoot it once I got my hands on an old film camera. It was the only hill at the time that I knew had snow and thought it would be perfect because no other student would get a shot like it. The final coloured image with the small boat was very much an idea my friend and I came up with as we passed on the way up the hill. We decided we wanted to shoot it once the light started to fade so I was glad I had brought my strobe and it would actually get used for once.Editing
The image I envisioned was close to that, that I had captured. Because the main light source was behind the hill I had to mask out and brighten the foreground a little. I made use of some dodging and burning. The house to left of the frame was although you could see it was white, it was cast into shadow and was hard to make out it's shape so I spent some time dodging just enough to where it popped and could be noticed. The boat had a fair bit of work done, mainly with shadows. The strobe was aimed just higher than previous shots which threw the bottom into shadow also. I am so grateful for the shadow slider in raw, which allowed me to bring those details back just enough, this also brought back the details of the reflection on the water but was enough so I used an adjustment brush to select the water and under side of the boat and boosted the clarity a little. I spent a little time dodging around the rim of the boat just to give it a little lift. The sky didn't need much work at all, just dropped the shadows a little, boosted the white and added some clarity. The snowy hill was the fun part. I wanted it to appear larger in the frame but from the position we could setup, we would have had to lose the boat in the foreground. The only option was to pre plan the shot with the idea that I would have to do a little photoshop magic. Once I finished up in camera raw, I took it into photoshop to finish it the way I wanted. Zooming in 200% I used the pen tool to outline the hill and copied it to a new layer, from there I enlarged it by around 20% - just enough to make it pop! I then spent a some time blending it all together. Final touch was to create a curves layer, brighten it up, clip it to the hill and use blend if to make it effect the snow only.In my camera bag
No matter where I go, I always have my 24-105mm f/4, 50mm f/1.4 and 35mm f/2. I tend to use the 24-105 for landscapes so I carry a screw on ND filter and polariser to fit. I also always carry my shutter release cable and tripod. I will also either carry a speed light or one of my Godox AD360's lights with the triggers to suit the light.Feedback
Photographers know all to well that weather changes so fast that it's hard to predict anything so be prepared for anything. Always carry what you think you might need, yes it might mean a little extra weight but if it means you get that perfect shot. It was more than worth it! You have to be using manual mode on your camera! auto or semi auto modes would have never captured this in the way I wanted. Get to know your camera and learn how it works in different lighting so if the time comes that you can't take test shots you will at least get close enough to bring it together in post. For a shot like this, I was lucky but if I hadn't been watching the way the clouds were behaving when they let that little spill of light through I would never have got this shot, I would have packed up and walked away. So if your sitting at location or even walking to or from, make little plans of what you will do just in case something awesome happens. Since this shot, I now go out hoping for something to happen but plan for something amazing. If nothing happens then I haven't lost anything.
