Photography trip to the New Forest

I had a great trip to the New forest a couple of days ago. My main reason for going was to scout out a couple of new locations for the photography workshop that I run there on a regular basis.

I had a successful trip on a number of counts.  Firstly,I discovered new locations with great photographic potential.  I also recorded a number of good images.  I think my best shot of the day was of one of the famous New Forest ponies.  I was on my way to the days' last location to capture a sunset (hopefully) when I spotted this pony grazing on a small island in the middle of one of the New Forest's larger ponds.   I immediately parked up, all thoughts of the sunset forgotton.

I spent about half an hour photographing this pony as he munched though many succulent green shoots.  (Well, he thought they were).  The mixture of pony, reflection and late afternoon sun made a great combination.  I felt really lucky to be in the right place at the right time. Then again the more often you are out with your camera the luckier you get! 

After packing my camera kit away the drive home didn't seem too bad.  I knew I had many images to review when I got home.

Photography day at Essex nature reserve

I had a couple of great photography sessions at my local nature reserve last week.  I, like many other photographers I'm sure, love to visit locations that are a fair distance away when the opportunity presents itself.  I think that getting to know a local nature reserve or locations can lead to some very rewarding photo opportunities.  We often overlook what's right under our noses. The beauty of staying close to home is that you can react to good lighting conditions as they occur; especially once you know a location inside out.  By getting to know a nature reserve intimately you will be in a position to predict what time of the day, month or year that different species will be at their most active resulting in images that capture interesting behaviour and action.  

I have a list of local locations including nature reserves that I like to visit on a regular basis.  Blue House Farm is my closest nature reserve.  It's a working farm owned and managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust.  Blue House Farm consists of a number of flooded fields, scrapes and tidal estuary. the range of wildlife to be found there is very varied. Winter is the best time to visit with many migrants present including Brent geese. There are good numbers of the fairly rare Water Vole, and Brown Hares in the Spring are a fantastic sight.  

After a run of quite appalling weather I finally managed to get out for a much needed photography "fix" last week.  I had a couple of brilliant photography sessions spread over two days.  I had to wade through some knee-high water to reach my preferred hide.  Believe me, wellington boots come in very handy here!  I settled for a few hours waiting for the action to start. It's really important to concentrate and stay focused.  A photo opportunity may last just a few seconds after waiting and watching for many hours. 

Anyway, the photography was excellent.  I captured good images of Shelduck, Shovelers, Barnacle geese, Greylag geese, Lapwing, Pintail and a fairly distant Marsh Harrier. Also photographed a flock of about 1000 Starlings.  Although the numbers at Blue House Farm don't rival those at the other famous sites such as Brighton pier, it was still pretty cool. 

I don't think it matters where we live.  There are always photogenic locations to be explored.  We often ignore what's right under our noses. Images with mood and impact are just round the corner.  

                                                                                   Barnacle goose

                                                                                       Shelduck

Controlling depth of field

One of the projects I regularly set my students is to take an image with a shallow depth of field. For those of you that are not sure what depth of field is, it simply means how much of the image is in sharp focus.  An image that has  SHALLOW DEPTH OF FIELD is one where only a small part of the photograph is in sharp focus and the rest is out of focus.  An image that has a BIG DEPTH OF FIELD is one that is in sharp focus from the front to the back of the image.

So to get back to the shallow of field project.  Most students understand that adjusting the aperture affects the depth of field of the image.  The thing is, that's just part of the story. Many students have experimented with different apertures and wondered why they haven't had the intended effect.   One of the reasons why they couldn't achieve a shallow depth of field is that they were too far away from the subject. The fact is the closer your camera is to your subject, the shallower the depth of field available. That's why macro images have a very shallow depth of field.  Sometimes just a few millimetres. 

There are other variables that also affect the depth of field of an image.  If you are interested in learning more please take a look at my range of courses and workshops. 

       Photography workshop at Flatford Mill, Suffolk

Had a great time on Saturday running a photography workshop at Flatford Mill, Suffolk. I had three photographers on this trip. We were very lucky to be blessed with fantastic light almost all day. Not only that but when we arrived on location there was still a touch of frost covering the brige that crosses the river Stour. I think that low winter sun coupled with frost is a fantastic combination. After spending some time around the bridge it was time to get my students to experiment with various shutter speeds using the fast-flowing water down by the weir.  Due to all the rain the river was really flowing quickly. In fact, I think that this was the highest I have ever seen the river there.   After all the rain of the last few days I'm wondering if the stour has burst it's banks at Flatford Mill. 

Anyway the rest on the morning was spent up and down the river bank trying out different compositions.

After lunch it was on to Willy Lott's cottage which is a good place to assess how the angle of light affects a subject.  In this case 45 degree side lighting really gives the viewer a sense of depth and shape.  We finihsed the day at the rarely visited lake, further on from Willy Lott's.  It's quite a hard location to photograph.  But when shot in the right way some great grafic images can be captured.

Everyone enjoyed themselves and came home with more knowledge and some memorable images.  

I think that's about it for this blog.  Bye for now.