Intriguing Light

Jubilee Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cresswell) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 06:00:00 +0000

The Queens Head, Sandridge

Well the UK seems to have gone very patriotic for the Jubilee (and so it should). We've never been a great nation for flying the flag but this weekend the flags and bunting are out in force. So what's better than traditional pubs, churches and of course a nice rain shower to set the atmosphere...

Of course it should be a good weekend for photographers, either sun hats and ice creams or rain dripping from bunting, the scope is great. The challenge is going to be how to make the images stand out, selective colour, faded colour or fully saturated they'll all be produced and it should be lots of fun....

Boats in the Morning

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cresswell) — Tue, 29 May 2012 06:20:00 +0000

Moored Boats, West Mersea

I much prefer to have some water in landscape even though I take many that don't. Water acts like a foil for reflections and that allows you to interpret the scene. It also gives a feel for the weather and in particular the wind. I like it here because it says 'still' (ish) and the newly risen sun brings a focus to the boats.

Amsterdam

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cresswell) — Fri, 25 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Amsterdam Street

There is no doubt that while many cities look just the same as others, particularly the modern ones, Amsterdam is one of those that has such a distinct identity. It's not just the canals, or the bikes, but even the small side streets have a distinct feel. You can compare it to state buildings of Berlin or London but it's certainly distinctive and unique, which is precious in this day and age.

Winter light

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cresswell) — Tue, 22 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Skinny Bridge, Amsterdam

This is one of those places I was keen to re-visit just because last year when I was here I messed up the shot by having the camera's VR switched on when I was using a tripod. This time I got a much better image I think. The other thing that attracts me to this shot is the dusky blue hue. It's a mixture of dusk and that winter drabness that seems to pervade northern European cities in winter. I quite like it....

Bluebells in the Landscape

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cresswell) — Fri, 18 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Bluebell Woods, Ashridge

Bluebell woods have great attractions for photographers - on many levels. One I'm just developing is the wider landscape, and in particular the apparent contrasts of colour between the blue floor of the wood and the fresh greens of the new beech leaves. For me these two colours have a great contrast ijn both wide landscapes and more detailed viewpoints. I think I've missed taking this further for this year, but there is always next...

The Colour of Bluebells

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cresswell) — Tue, 15 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Bluebells, Hemel Hempstead

The colour of bluebells is one of the most challenging colours I come across in my photography. Partly because we all have a perception of what they look like but mostly because they seem so sensitive to the type of light that falls on them. In fact bluebells actually have lots of purple in them and this comes out when warm sunlight hits them. But on cloudy days it's the more traditional colours that come through. Either way both of the colours become more intense at dusk and its much harder to make them look realistic. I often have to de-saturate images to keep the realism. It also makes them very hard to print and I have had to repeat many shots just to fine tune the colours. It's all part of the challenge that makes them so attractive to photograph.

Bluebell Season - not going so well

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cresswell) — Fri, 11 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Bluebells, Ashridge

Only a short drive from where I live is one of the best locations in England for Bluebells (including Micheldever Wood). It's well known and draws many people including photographers. It's also a place I've photographed often over the last few years. I don't think the flowers are anyway as good this year as last - and certainly the light isn't. However it certainly did still draw the bank holiday walkers, including the ice cream van! Of course the best bit about Ashridge is that as it's so big there are always other parts to visit...

The Supermoon's no show

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cresswell) — Tue, 08 May 2012 18:29:00 +0000

The moon - but not from the UK....

I'm sorry of this starts out as another whinge about the UK weather but having seen all the press about the recent supermoon I was quite keen to get a shot this time around, and on Sunday evening the sky did seem to be clearing. Perhaps I was chancing my luck too much I was also keen to get a horizon shot, based on the theory that the moon would look more impressive against some man made features. But that meant that I needed to have a horizon clear from cloud at moonrise. To cut a long story short - that wasn't going to happen so I'll have to stick with this one- taken through the clear skies of Sydney.

Sydney Light 2

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cresswell) — Thu, 03 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Surfers, Manly Beach

I chose this shot because of the intensity of the blue - and I also like the minimalistic feel to it. This is actually a mid morning shot, not usually the best time for the light but this time the sea really did capture the sky and that was similar to many other days. In fact on returning to Europe we had to adjust to the lack of light....

Sydney Light 1

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cresswell) — Tue, 01 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Sydney Harbour Bridge

I wanted to make a couple of posts about the light in Sydney. I'm not sure if it's the climate, the relatively low lying nature of the harbour or the being closer to the equator but I found the light in Sydney to be just great. From the sunrises over the northern beaches, to the morning light in the harbour or the sunsets coming the other way. Of course it got dark allot quicker compared to Northern Europe but the colours at sunset seemed to be more intense. This is an example of the light on the bridge about 20mins after sunset, it reminds me of the colours in this Madrid shot - again a place closer to the equator. I like this one but then I've still got a soft spot for these urban twilight shots.

iPads and Photography - Conclusion

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cresswell) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Darling Harbour, Sydney

So in-conclusion with regards to the Ipad/iPhoto and it's use for a photographer I would say that it's a great adjunct to the normal PC based processes. It allows the photographer to import and review images and to even adjust and distribute limited numbers (eg to blogs), but it's not yet there for a crucial role in the workflow, principally because a batch of photos on the machine can't then be brought easily back to the PC for long term storage. However having said that iphoto has some great features for photo journals and family images which means it will be travelling with me for a long time yet....

iPad photo processing - the weaknesses

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cresswell) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:32:00 +0000

Sunrise over the Tasmanian sea

So the obvious weaknesses of the iPad - as good as it is - is that it doesn't have the power to store and organise library's of thousands of images. That the nature of the device - what you gain in portability you loose in power. But also it doesn't really prepare images for import to a pc either for instance there is no export facility so I kept all my images on the SD cards and then fully imported to Lightroom on getting home. The import process also has a few snags like only being able view image thumbnails before import - making it hard to select one image with subtle differences from another. In the next post I'll look at how I see the iPad can be used.

Location:Sydney, Australia

iPad photo processing - strengths

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cresswell) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 05:28:00 +0000

Another of the ionic views of Sydney Harbour.

For this shot I used a normal DSLR camera but processed and posted the image with and iPad. So what worked well? Well the iPad (2) is great for traveling with good battery life and great great screen. The iPhoto software isn't photoshop but is a powerful tool with many features (like localised adjustments) that I didn't expect. This shot was adjusted for cropping and for colour. The import process is easy although a little slow and in my case it coped with raw files from my Nikon DSLR and compact cameras. I also could leave all the images on the cards for later import to Lightroom. In short then the iPad is great tool to import images from cameras on the road. In the next post I'll summarise some of the drawbacks.

Location:Sydney, Australia

Light over the Opera House

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cresswell) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 01:40:00 +0000

Dusk over the Opera House

So this is my first post without a PC. The world of photography is certainly changing and almost as precious as a new lens is a photographer's workflow. For many years now the full sized PC or Mac most probably with adobe software has rolled the roost. I'm trying out an iPad and iPhoto to edit the images that come from either my nikons or my iPhone. This week I've been trying to workout how a new workflow will look like and what the pros and cons are. I hope you'll agree the first efforts are promising.

Location:Sydney, Australia

Travelling again

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cresswell) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Takeoff Heathrow

I'm off on my travels again, nothing new in that - except that this time I'm going try and see if it's possible to blog without a PC and Lightroom. I had a play with Apple iPhoto and it looks really good, so that's going to be what I'll be using. If it's radio silence then you'll know it's not going so well!!

Fishermans Bastion

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cresswell) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Hungarian Parliament view, Fisherman's Bastion, Budapest

I this is another 'different view that I'm quite pleased with - however I didn't have a 'proper' tripod so I'm pleased it came out as well as it did. It's a shot through the widows of the The Halászbástya or Fisherman's Bastion, which is a terrace on the hill side across from the Danube.

Chain Bridge - those rivets

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cresswell) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Chain Bridge, Budapest

The previous shot of the Chain Bridge is the classic, one of those 'you need to have it in your collection'. But there is a different view, one that's much closer and it brings out the iron work construction and in particular all those rivets. I think the feeling that brings is very different, much more edgy and less of a post card.

Moon over the Chain Bridge

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cresswell) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 07:00:00 +0000

Chain bridge, Budapest

This was also taken back in January, and again with the help of the winter moon. This shot was a revisit for me with the specific aim of seeing if a better compact camera would allow long enough exposures to smooth the water. It did but there is so much light in the highlights of the bridge it was hard not to let them burn out, but I'm pleased with this one.

Hungarian Parliament Building

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cresswell) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 07:00:00 +0000

Hungarian Parliament Building, Budapest

I really do enjoy photographing the urban environment, there's a great mixture of the expected - the buildings and such and the unexpected usually the light., This was taken one night in January. I'd arrived too late to catch dusk and with a thick layer of cloud had given up hope of getting too much, but just for a few minutes the moon came out and I was able to shoot this from across the river. - well worth the walk in my view.

Hogweed

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cresswell) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 07:00:00 +0000

Hogweed, Hemel Hempstead

Frosted hogweed, is one of those that plants that really takes on an extra life come the frost and it's now become a bit of a photographers classic...or perhaps cliché. Anyway you can't turn down the chance of shooting against a clear blue sky....

Edged with Frost

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cresswell) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 07:00:00 +0000

Hoar Frost, Hemel Hempstead

From only a few weeks ago this leaf had really caught a good edge of frost. The crystallized structures were very impressive, but wafer thin. In fact with first leaf I tried to make a photograph of I brushed all the frost off with one sleeve. One of those days that only comes along every few years. But how the seasons move on from cold to mild in only a short time, it makes the countryside itself an every changing canvas...

Heather Close up

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cresswell) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 07:00:00 +0000

Heather Close up - Hemel Hempstead

Recently I've been using my wide to standard zoom lens in its macro mode (works at a focal length of about 70mm) just to see what kind of quality I can get without going to the trouble of getting a specialist macro lens. This was taken at 1/1000 at f4 (so there should be no camera shake), my feeling it's ok except for the front of the flower which isn't in the focal plane - and should be. - Perhaps a bit more dof next time.

I would be keen to hear any other views....

The dilemma of recurring subjects

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cresswell) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 07:00:00 +0000

Snowdrops, Redbourn

I love snowdrops - the first hint of spring and a big motivation to grab the camera, and if I'm lucky I'll catch them through a thin layer of snow. However they also present an issue, and that's how do shoot them - I can think of half a dozen ways and I've at least attempted most of those over the last few years. And that's the dilemma - should I revisit and repeat or search for a really new approach that doesn't really appeal to the aesthetic - perhaps be really wacky and see what they look like steeped in blue dye - just for the effect. I'm sure many others have struggled with this and also come up with many answers but I'm not sure what mine will be just yet....

Feeling the fool

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cresswell) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 07:00:00 +0000

Crocuses, Hemel Hempstead

Some of the best spring flowers around where I live are actually planted in the roundabouts around the town, and they really cheer the place up. Some of these roundabouts quite big and are well grassed with trees etc. The down side is to get a shot like this - those flowers are just a few inches high, - you end up lying down in the middle of these roundabouts - I'm sure I get some looks!! - I just hope no one comes along I know!

Well that was a surprise

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cresswell) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 07:00:00 +0000

Crocuses, Hemel Hempstead

So we jumped from -15c at night to +15c in the day in barely the space of a week. In fact I left Germany still in winter and landed in a different season. I read today of a new study that links the additional snowfall in northern latitudes to the reductions in the Arctic icecap. It looks like we might have get used to these fluctuations in weather, yes even the British who can have four seasons in one day....