Lake Bled in the Mist
Jun, 2016Views
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Awards
Action Award
Zenith Award
Top Shot Award 21
Contest Finalist in Islands Photo Contest
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
All Star
Superior Skill
Virtuoso
Genius
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Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
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Behind The Lens
Location
Lake Bled in the mountains of Slovenia. During late October 2011.Time
I was on site an hour before sunrise. In fact I was up well before breakfast was served in the hotel I was staying in as I needed travelling and parking time. It was dark and cold that particular morning and everything was a little misty. This image was taken about 20 mins after sunrise at around 9:20am. After shooting...I returned to the hotel for breakfast and to edit my images on my laptop.Lighting
Lake Bled has a particular reverence for me as it has always greeted me with something unexpected and usually very spectacular. It's often shown me something different than last time and this particular morning was no exception. I set up a hour before sunrise and the island was completely engulfed in this mist. I took a few detail shots poking through the mist...but it wasn't thrilling me. So I moved location to the other side of the lake. I put the church mid frame with the light to one side. I was almost going to give up and find another scene to shoot when the mist parted and a ray of warm morning sunshine lit up the island. I rattled off three shots, an upright, a landscape and this one that was my first image of the three. Within a minute the sun had gone and the church was engulfed in mist again and the show was over. But I had my photograph, certainly the strongest shot of the whole week.Equipment
Before the trip I was hoping to use a canon 5DIII, but it's release had been delayed to the following year. I was hoping to use the time in Slovenia to shake down and learn the new camera, but I ended up using my pre-existing canon 5DII cameras for the week in Slovenia. I used a 70-200 f2.8 LIS II at 70mm. It's a very versatile lens and great for landscape work. The lens was fitted to a Gitzo systematic tripod, I don't like a tripod to have a central column and in these varying conditions a sturdy tripod is essential for critically sharp images. I like my images to be pixel sharp when viewed at 100%.Inspiration
I visited Slovenia about a year before the Civil war broke out when I was a teenager. I stayed a few days at Lake Bled and I vowed to return with the proper gear and skills to do it justice photographically. So some 20 years later I returned for a 5 day photographic workshop and I had an amazing photographic week. Since then I've returned to Slovenia 4 times. Each time I book 5 days with a view to shoot the wonderful scenery and ancient churches in either Autumnal or winter colours depending on the season. Lake Bled has a particular reverence for me as it has always greeted me with something unexpected and usually very spectacular. It's often shown me something different than last time and this particular morning was no exception. I set up a hour before sunrise and the island was completely engulfed in this mist. I took a few detail shots poking through the mist...but it wasn't thrilling me. So I moved location and shot from the other side of the lake. The light was flat and uninspiring. What I wanted was for the mist to part and some sunlight to burst through. I was almost going to give up when the mist parted and a ray of warm of sunshine lit up the side of the island and my opportunity was there. It wasn't the shot I was looking for, initially when I booked my trip, but it became the shot of the trip in retrospect.Editing
In this case, just a little contrast and white balance. A crop to a square format. I use an old copy of lightroom for my editing. It gives me everything I need as a photographer and I try to get as much right in camera as I can. That includes composition and metering. I find if I get my craft right in camera, post production is quick and simple. 2 minutes in camera saves hours on a laptop later. One of the joys of live view is that the histogram is really good for metering and the big screen in the back of the camera is great for neatening up a composition.In my camera bag
Versatility is the key to landscape equipment. I find that a wide focal coverage is more important than brightness because I usually need to stop down for maximum sharpness and depth of field. It's vary rare to need fast primes as I rarely need to shoot wide open. but most of my bag is f2.8 glass due to my other shooting commitments like weddings and portraiture. So a typical landscape bag for me is a fisheye, TSe 17L, 16-35IIl, 24-70L, 100LIS macro, and a 70-200IILIS. A 1.4xtc and a 2x TC give me a longer reach. A Gitzo GT3542LS is my go to tripod and my Canon bodies have RSS L plated fitted. A remote release is useful too.Feedback
Don't have any specific look or shot in mind. Sure...be inspired but also be open to what nature is showing you. Shoot maximise the strengths of what is on display and don't try to bend it into something it isn't. I planned this trip a year ahead and I went with the hope of shooting blue skies, strong autumn colours, deep contrast and warm imagery. What I actually got was a cold autumn with a lot of premature snow. Lots of mist and atmosphere...not what I had intended but thrilling once I had let my image desires go. Lake Bled in the mist...it was like a magical tale. Photographic candy land!
