Category Archives: Landscape
Frozen
Yesterday I went on a brief photowalk with James, John and Steve around the Victoria area which saw us working our way in towards Trafalgar Square. Passing by St James’s Park we thought that the frozen over water may make for a decent reflection of the Millennium Wheel from a bridge, however it did absolutely nothing but remove the reflection, which was a shame, so I headed down to the water’s edge instead and framed up so that the wheel was visible through this tree and reflected in one of the few watery parts not fully frozen over.
In some ways I think it would have been nicer without the background lights and noise, but finding a clear sky behind a tree in London can be pretty difficult so that wasn’t to be in this instance.
Winter Tree
I’ve never shot images in the snow before, I don’t think, so when I went out on Sunday for a quick walk with Dylan and John I found myself with a new challenge to contend with. Though most of the snow in London had melted away, there was still a little bit left in the park areas, and as we were in Greenwich park there was enough left on the ground to be a recognizable part of any image taken, even if it wasn’t the freshest snow in the world.
This image was taken shortly after the sun had gone down as we headed along to watch a firework show. As it was dark and there was little light in the park I was surprised by how much detail I was able to see in the tree, which is no doubt due to the light reflecting off of the snowy surface. I would love to be in an area that has snow over a period of weeks where I can actually attempt to learn about how it affects and image, and how to capture it well; in the meantime I’m happy to just have a go and see what comes from a shot which I know is there on a compositional level.
Coastguards Cottages
On a recent trip down to East Dean I popped over to Hope Gap to take a few shots of the beach and cliffs in that area. On my walk back from there to the Golden Galleon in Seaford where I was due to have a spot of lunch I stopped to take a photo of these cottages.
The other shots I had taken of these cliffs from this area pretty much had no focal interest to the right of them due to the fact it was nothing but sea, so it was nice here to be able to get a glimpse of them and use the cottages as the main area of interest, and to squeeze in the bench for that little something else.
Although there is still quite a bit that is not really doing anything, the sky and the grass, I still feel that there are three very separate areas of interest at different depths with the bench, cottages and then cliffs.
Again the overcast day was doing nothing for the colour in this image so turning it to black and white seemed to do the trick for me.
Hope Gap
This weekend I trundled off to the coasts to try the new camera in an nice rural environment. I must admit to being a little bit lazy, as usual, though as I didn’t get up for a sunrise, nor venture out to see a sunset. Instead I just moseyed around during the day, in weather which wasn’t the best when it comes to photography…but in many ways could have been worse.
Due to the lack of colour in the sky I opted to shoot a few images knowing that they would eventually be processed in black and white, which was the case with this one.
The title comes from the small area I was in, if indeed my memory serves me well and that is the name of the location. It was a nice little beach area with easy access down steps from the cliff side, and offered some nice formations when down there. I think a sunrise from here looking towards the Seven Sisters would be lovely.
Beauchef
‘Beachy Head’ on the South Coast of England is a corruption of ‘Beauchef’ which means Beautiful Head[land] in French and was the name given to this stretch of cliffs up until 1724.
It’s interesting what you find out on Wikipedia when struggling to find a title for an image!
So, this is the last new image you will see from me in 2011 as we’re quickly approaching the New Year. I’m going to put up a post tomorrow with a roundup of some of the images I’ve posted here since the photoblog began, and then it all starts again on Monday – hurrah!
Bonnie, Bonnie Banks
As many of you may guess, this image is from Loch Lomond in Scotland. If you didn’t guess this from the title then that perhaps means you’re not familiar with Runrig, or the song that the Scotsman voted as ‘Scotland’s Greatest Song‘ in 2008. Here it is on YouTube if you really feel like subjecting yourself to it.
I’ve mentioned before how wonderful, and uncharacteristic, the weather was during my trip to Scotland earlier this year – and as we drove up the Eastern side of Loch Lomond we just had to pull over at one point to make our way down to the rocks and sample the views that were on offer.
This one I share with you 
Blue Sands
Blue hour on a beach in Scotland can be a beautiful time, it certainly was in this instance. I have a few shots from this location and though not all of them process very well, the ones that do have turned out quite well.
I think this scene needs something to it, and my imagination sees the bones of a prehistoric creature that have washed up.
Alas, my photoshop skills disagree and think that this minimal shot is enough to go on with.
The Fog
I was stood waiting for a boat at around 9 in the morning on a cold and wet Scottish morning. The boat would take me across this little expanse of water and would be followed by an 11 mile ride in a minibus to Cape Wrath, the most North-Westerly point of mainland UK.
I liked how the fog was wrapped around this mountain, and though I couldn’t muster the energy to get my tripod set up, I did reel off a few handheld shots to try and capture this view which, to me, was what my trip around Scotland was going to be full of. As this was the only morning with the fog and and rain, the rest of the time being bright blue skies, it was going to be the only chance I would get on this trip.
Birdwatch
I sit at the very North-Easterly point of the UK, halfway up a rock face, a lone figure watching as the birds fly around the rock formation ahead.
I did have a shot of me standing on the edge also, but it didn’t come out too well as there wasn’t enough light between my back and the rockface, so I had to opt to use this one of me sitting instead.
This was a fun one to process. The rocks on the left came out quite nicely, but the formation on the right wasn’t really as eyecatching as I had initially thought and the image had a little too much grey cloud in it to be interesting.
The ‘Urban Sickness’ filter, part of the PhotoTools plugin by OnOneSoftware, came to the rescue and added the colour and drama to the shot. As there were only a few pathetic looking seagulls in the Original image I also brushed a few more of these in to really give me something to watch.
Sunset on Moss
We return to Cornwall today. I seem to have a lot of sunrise/sunset shots from this trip, even though I was only there for a few days – I’m certain there was only one sunrise and one sunset each day though.
I stood on this beach for a while, with the dogs sat on (and eating) the sand behind me. I drank a beer as the sun was going down, snapping off brackets here and there and enjoying the solitude.
For this shot I thought the moss would add a nice bit of added focus to the image, and the greens were likely to come out quite nicely in contrast to the surrounding rocks. I also took a couple of shots with the 10 stop filter on but opted not to use any of those skies in the final image as the clouds weren’t moving quickly enough to give me the motion I wanted.
Hide & Seek
Today we’re heading back to Cornwall and a spot near Lizard Point lighthouse where we took in a mediocre sunrise. I had climbed down a series of slippery rocks to try and get out to a flat formation that had some interesting rocks around it, and found myself here with the sun about to peek out from behind the rocks ahead of me.
In my mind I had the rough textures of the stone as my foreground, the clouds as a bit of added interest and the sun meeting the sky and rock in a beautiful starburst. That starburst didn’t work out too well for me in the final shot, which is unfortunate, but I still quite like it anyway.
Thanks also to everyone for the warm reception that yesterday’s image Caught in the Act received – I appreciate the tweets and love that you showed it – thanks.
English Channel
I’ve been holding off on posting this one, because I don’t like it that much.
I ensured the shot has no birds, sea life or other animals in it and wanted the sun to appear that it was about to burn out into nothing, where at the end of the day all we will be left with is a non-tidal sea and the harsh rocks that surround it. It’s my attempt to show the harshness of life and the way we currently rape the world we live in.
I’m hoping a billionaire comes across this page and likes it and wishes to buy it for a couple of million pounds.
This is ridonkulous!
Relax
Sometimes on a hot day you want nothing more than to sit beside the ocean, listening to the waves crashing, and watching as the clouds go by. I gather this young lady wanted nothing more, as she sat on the edge of this cliff with her handbag as a pillow.
The lighthouse you see below may be familiar to regular visitors to the blog as I have taken a few shots of it previously, both from up on the cliff and down at the base. It’s in Beachy Head down on the South Coast of England.
Those with especially good memories will also recall that it’s the #3 suicide hotspot in the world. However on this beautiful, and very hot, summer day I think those getting close to the edge were simply there for the view, be it of the lighthouse, the cliff, or a pretty girl trying to take a nap.
I’m a photographer, your honour, not a pervert.
No Trespassing
My trip to San Francisco earlier this year was the first time that I had been there, and this iconic location was the go to destination for me upon arrival. Though the weather gods were not in my favour all night (I was caught in a torrential downpour) I somehow aligned myself quite well with the golden hour gods and managed to get to the bridge just as the sun had descended and light started to fade.
I didn’t manage to capture any of the seals in this shot due to the long exposure….and when I say ‘capture’ I mean through the lens rather than oiling myself up, swimming with them until I could grasp one and then clubbing it to death.
As always I found the ‘No Trespassing’ sign to be of interest…and the potential of what was behind it to be of more interest. There were a group of tourists who had driven down to take a few photos so I wanted to wait for them to go before I investigated further, so happily took a few shots more from this location until they had enough and packed up.
As they were leaving a police patrol car drove in with red and blue flashing away…they mentioned that they were closing the car gate at the entrance and even though I don’t have a car I should leave now. I had already been told off by a policeman earlier in the day (we had different views on weather jaywalking applies to tourists who have crossed roads without incident for 30 years of their life) and I had been up for a heck of a long time by then, so I set off on a 5 mile walk back to the hotel…4 of which I made before having to grab a taxi.
Beach Boat
Back to Cornwall for this shot, and it’s just to the left of these boats that I stood on the hard and slippery rock formations to take the Sunrise Shore image.
After dawn down below we took a few shots from up on the main road where this one was taken before working our way back down the beach towards the campsite.
I added the blur using Focal Point by OnOneSoftware in post process.
Lighthouse
Today’s image was taken towards the end of my trip to Orford Ness on Friday. After visiting the various buildings that formed the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment we walked across the shingle and on to the lighthouse. I did a quick circle around it using my wide angle and fisheye lenses before sitting down to relax for a while with my 50mm glass.
We were extremely lucky with the weather all day, and though in the morning it was suggested ‘if you have extra layers in the car, get them now before we cross in the ferry’ I was relieved to find that my light layers were enough for the day and I wasn’t cold at all. By this stage we had bright blue sky and sunshine.
Branch Out
Driving around Cornwall in the early morning we came across a valley that was covered in fog, and which this image does not fully capture. I love scenes where you’re looking down on a landscape and can see the morning mist settled like a blanket over the low points. It didn’t last too long, and within a matter of minutes the ever growing sun had burnt it off, but it was a lovely scene when there.
I’ve had super busy days at work this week, and today will be no different before I head out of London tonight where I’ll stay in a hotel in order to get a real early start tomorrow morning for a photography session. There will be an automatic post in place as usual.
Sunrise Seat
A sunrise from Cornwall to start off the week, and this one was a speedy dash back to Lizard Point in the morning and a short walk to an area that’s called the Devil’s Frying Pan. I don’t know the area, but a quick look on Google just now and it seems that the Devil’s Frying pan is a rock arch at one particular point…certainly not something I found to photograph while I was there.
We really didn’t get very spectacular sunrises that week, but I managed to get some colour in the sky.
Sunset at Lizard Point
Lizard Point is the most Southerly point of mainland Great Britain. It stinks!
If you’ve ever owned a goldfish and left the water for a bit too long before changing it you will know what I mean as it’s that kind of smell. We walked down to the beach when trying to scout a suitable location for a sunset photo and part of it was walking over stagnant seaweed. At one point I wanted to try and see what was in a cave area and only got so far over the rotting weeds before the stench, and the fact I was sinking into it, was overwhelming and I had to turn back. It really was disgusting, and the smell did not contain itself to beach level – you can smell it to some degree from up on the cliffs also.
Luckily there wasn’t an amazing vantage point from the beach so we did return up to the cliffs where the stench subsided a little. It was only after the sun had gone down, rather disappointingly for a sunset, and we were on our way back to check out the lighthouse that I turned to find some decent colour in the sky, and so I quickly snapped this shot.
Sunrise Shore
I started the week with a sunset, and am ending it with a sunrise – there’s something wrong about the order of that, but that’s the way I roll.
This shot was another from Cornwall, and I hope I have the time to process a few more from this location over the weekend. It was taken at Portscatho harbour which was a 20 minute or so walk from the campsite. It wasn’t the best sunrise but it provided some nice light towards the end of it, and then we carried on walking up the coastline to get a few more shots to start the morning off.
I hope everyone has a great weekend…it’s the first one I’m going to have that doesn’t require a stupid’o'clock start so I intend to take it nice and easy. See you on Monday.
Molunan
I’m back from Cornwall and pretty tired, with a lot of catching up to do.
This is the first and only image I’ve processed from my trip so far after getting back home last night. It’s taken from Great Molunan beach at St Anthony Head on the southern coast near St Mawes.
The wonderful clouds we had disappeared as the sun was setting, which was a shame, but once it had almost died out I grabbed my 10 stop filter for this shot. I’m still trying to get used to the 10 stop, knowing when and how to use it. In low light I seem to always get a vignette and in bright light I never get the movement I want. I guess it may just take a little more time and practice before I can make full use of it.
Burn
For those into topography, and with knowledge of where I have traveled to this year, you will possibly guess that this particular spot is in lovely Scotland.
This particular burn looks deceptively shallow from this shot – but it isn’t. Sure, it’s not too deep, but I did wander in there to try and get a few shots looking upstream and the water pretty much came up to my knees in places, and was full of both very sharp, pointy stones and a slime which made it very slippery indeed. I had to use my tripod/camera to ensure I didn’t end up flat on my back – and every step I took left me praying that I didn’t fall over and take the camera in there with me.
As this goes live I may actually be stood in another stream…or up a hill…or in an abandoned factory of some sort. Who knows, as I’m in Cornwall.
Well…I’m probably actually in the pub waiting for the rain to pass to be honest.
Modern Times
This past weekend was ‘Open House London‘ which is a wonderful weekend held every year in this magnificent city whereby businesses, charities and other entities open their doors for the public to come in and take a quick look at what they have behind usually closed doors.
I find it fascinating how many people share the interest of seeing things in London that they normally don’t get the chance to, evidence by the overwhelming popularity of the event which sees those places where you need to book a ticket completely full minutes after the booking site opens, and the queues to enter some of the more popular spots where you don’t need a pre-booking. I can’t help but think how lucky I am to be one of the relatively small groups of people who go up to rooftops without permission, as the queues would be quite annoying otherwise.
I visited 12 locations over the 2 days, 8 on the Saturday and 4 on the Sunday, and had a lovely time throughout.
The above image was taken on the 18th floor of Broadgate Tower and features a few common buildings from my shots up high – I guess there are limited ‘stand out’ buildings in London for me to focus on. The Gherkin sits at the left of the frame, the Heron Tower in the middle and of course the Shard at the right hand side.
I note yorkshire stacked and mattomatto visited this location the day before I did also, so apologies to them for obviously copying their shots during my visit a day later 
)
St Paul’s View
This is one of the views on offer from the Golden Gallery, a viewing platform at the top of the dome on St Paul’s Cathedral. The two towers you see are part of the cathedral itself with Ludgate Hill running away from it and into Fleet Street in the distance.
The Thames runs down the left hand side, with the Millennium Wheel and BT Tower two of the visible iconic buildings in the frame.
I’ve made a couple of trips up here over the past month or two and look forward to returning again as winter sets in. It’s pretty busy up on the small Golden Gallery, so I’m hoping the coldness of winter will keep people away and allow me to take some shots as day turns to night, not possible just now with the early closing hours. I’m also thinking this may be a nice place to try and get a timelapse video done.
Cape Wrath
At the most north-westerly point of mainland Britain stands Cape Wrath, one of only two ‘Capes’ in Great Britain. There is no road access to this Cape, so you either need to travel by foot or do what we did in this instance and take a special tour which meant getting a boat across the Kyle of Durness, followed by a minibus for the 11 mile journey to the lighthouse.
Once there we spent an hour or so wandering around the cliff top taking various photos before making the long trek back. All in all the journey took around 3 hours to complete, but I feel it was time well spent as it was quickly followed by visiting the most north-eastern point.
This location had the worst weather during our trip, with a splash of very light rain in the morning followed by a quick clearing and blue sky – so not bad at all.
As a keen geocacher I felt foolish for not checking out what caches were in this location before visiting, as I could easily have got the answers I needed to tick this one off, as it’s highly doubtful I’ll be making a return trip in the near future.
