Digital Photography by Andy Stafford
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A couple of old shots again today, as I continue working though last year’s images with a view to making some of the better ones available as prints (and just generally sharing some of the others that had been languishing on my hard drive).
These were both taken on an overcast afternoon on a footpath just outside Brocks Hill Country Park in Oadby, a few days after I’d got my Sigma 10-20 wide angle lens. I find it hard to ignore the combination of crops, tractor tracks and trees and many of my images from this time were similar to this, as I tried to find a composition I liked (and I imagine there will be a few this year also).
Posted in landscape, trees.
Tagged with cokin, crops, leicestershire, nd grad, sigma 10-20, tree.
A small amount of snow just before Christmas gave me the ideal excuse to get up nice and early on a Sunday morning to go to Bradgate Park. When I arrived, long before sunrise, there were only two sets of prints leading into the park from the Old John car park - someone taking their dog for a walk.
The sunrise itself was rather uneventful - a cloudless sky, a bit of a glow and then the sun appearing - not really my favourite. Perhaps I could have made more out of it if I’d prepared (or had more imagination) but it was pleasant enough just to be there in the fresh snow.
While the light was still good I headed to one of the places I’ve been meaning to visit at daybreak for sometime and got the shot above. This is just as it was taken - no filters, no post processing, just good old fashioned sunlight.
Posted in hdr, landscape, sunrises, sunsets, trees.
Tagged with bradgate park, old john, snow, tree, winter.
Despite the media hype about the “big freeze” we had very little snow really in Leicestershire this January - although I tried to make the most of the 3 or 4 decent snowfalls by nipping out early in the morning each time to get a few shots. It was worth it too, not just because I got some good shots, but because I’m a big kid and you can’t beat getting to the snow before everyone else 
Posted in landscape, trees.
Tagged with leicestershire, path, snow, trees.
Two old images today, both of the same subject, taken on the same day.
When I got my first DSLR in late 2008 I didn’t really consider just how much space all these raw files where going to take up, and I certainly didn’t think about organising the files - each outings images just went in a folder and I processed the ones I liked the most. As you can imagine, when you use the camera a lot it doesn’t take that long before this gets messy, so towards the end of 2009 I started having a bit of a tidy up. This also gave me chance to review images that I’d missed first time around - things that I’d overlooked in favour of different compositions.
The day these photos were taken was a bit of a breakthrough day for me - prior to that I’d been trying too hard to become “a photographer”. I was too obsessed with composition and trying to take “great photos” but I hadn’t the learnt the things that I now find more important, the non technical things like enjoying the beauty of your surroundings and trying to capture some of what you feel in the scene.
The photo below was the one I chose from this scene at the time but when going back through the shots I found the one above, with its open space and gentle ripples, which I now like far more. It just goes to show how important it is to review your old shots
Posted in filters, landscape, water.
Tagged with boat, cropston, leicestershire, print, reservoir, ripple, water.
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I’ve must admit I’ve been neglecting this blog a little lately - mainly because I’ve been too busy just enjoying taking photographs. On the plus side though, I’ve built up a nice backlog of photos to work through
It’s been reasonably snowy here for the past week or so, and having just picked up a second-hand Canon 5D Mk 1 I’ve been making the most of this by getting up early and going to our local park. The image above is of a well photographed landmark in the park showing the final scene from Shakespeare’s play of King Lear. I’ve always put off taking any photos of this, and indeed this is hardly the most adventurous composition but there was something about the light and colour that made me stop here this morning.
The snow lying on the figures had also added extra depth to them, which seems more emphasised by the narrow depth of field.
The vignetting in this shot is caused by using the Canon 50mm 1.8 lens on the full frame 5D camera at a wide aperture setting - it goes away after about f/4. I could have corrected it but I think it adds something to shot.
Technical info : 1/100s, f/2.8, 50 mm, ISO 1600
Posted in landscape.
Tagged with birstall, ice, lake, leicestershire, snow, watermead park.
One of my favourite locations for both sunsets and getting a bit of peace and quiet - although the mood was spoilt a bit by people shooting nearby when I was there last time
There is quite a prominent bit of foreground at this location which is shot very often, indeed I’ve done so myself on a number of occasions, but this simple view across the gently rippling water as the sun sinks behind the trees is my favourite.
Posted in landscape, sunsets, water.
Tagged with cropston, reflection, reservoir, sunset, water, winter.
We spent ages trudging through the heather on Eyam Moor trying to find this stone circle, in the end we found it by accident just after we’d given up. The sun, which had popped out from behind the clouds a few times during the afternoon, made a brief appearance to light up the heather.
I should perhaps have taken some shots of the stones, but I got distracted by the light on this piece of grass.
Posted in b&w, landscape.
Tagged with b&w, grass, monochrome, moor, stones.
By Andy
December 16, 2009
Taken on a recent visit to Yorkshire with Dan.
Whilst many people moan about dull weather and cloudy skies I quite like an overcast day when I’m out in the countryside like this - perhaps you have to think about taking a different type of shot but I find it adds to the feeling of space and emptiness of this type of environment.
The light is also more diffused, which means that not only can colours be more faithfully reproduced than in direct sunlight but it also makes it possible to capture greater detail on the ground without having to worry as much about blown highlights in the sky.
Posted in landscape.
Tagged with clouds, fence, grass, moor, moorland, yorkshire.
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The weather has been a bit variable to say the least over the past few days - but then I’ve been too busy to take any photos anyway so it’s not bothered me that much. The sun was out for a while this afternoon so I took a late lunch and headed to Bradgate Park as the late afternoon light is really nice on the bracken.
Old John wasn’t my intended subject for today - as you can imagine this local landmark is much photographed - I had planned on walking straight past but the light was too nice to ignore so I took a couple of shots handheld and carried on my way. I managed one other shot before it started raining again
Posted in landscape.
Tagged with bracken, bradgate park, folly, golden light, leicestershire, old john.
By Andy
November 24, 2009
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My first new image for a couple of weeks
I’ve been incredibly busy with a few things recently - work, getting prints made, cleaning up and reappraising some old shots - and I just haven’t had time to update this blog. I’ve got a few things that I want to upload but it’s finding the time to get everything done. I’ve only been out once with the camera in the last two weeks - I normally go out every 2 or 3 days - but at least I got lucky with my timing and choice of location here.
The above shot was taken at Beacon Hill, near Woodhouse Eaves in Leicestershire. I’ve previously avoided this location (although the fact that there are a couple of other shots from here on this blog would seem to indicate otherwise) but decided to try it as I was short of other ideas (and time).
Initially I was disappointed by the mainly clear sky but moments after the sun went down a blanket of fog began to fill the valley below. The remaining sunlight lit the fog in patches as it drifted towards me. All I had to do then was try to find a composition I was happy with before the moment was gone - whilst keeping an eye on the nearby cows to make sure they didn’t get too interested in the camera bag I’d discarded on the floor.
Posted in landscape, sunsets.
Tagged with beacon hill, cokin nd8 grad, fog, leicestershire, mist, rocks, sunset, tree.
By Andy
November 15, 2009
It was about an hour before sunset when we arrived at this location, and the light had just taken on the golden hue we had hoped for. After a bit of wandering around trying to find somewhere to make the most of the light I settled on a nicely constructed platform that was probably intended for fishing and took a couple of shots of the scene above. It was quite pleasant, but a bit bright and there was no interesting foreground to speak of so, as I had a bit of time before sunset, I thought I’d give the Cokin P151 - Gradual Fog 2 filter a try.
I popped the camera into Live View mode and slid the fog filter into the P-Series holder. The fog filter is graduated - foggy at the top and clear and the bottom, fading gently between the two states - and using Live View enabled me to see accurately where the effect was going to begin. If the effect started too low or too high in the picture it wouldn’t look natural.
This was the shot as it came out of the camera…
I liked the effect but found it a little too bright and unrealistic so I just made some minor curve adjustments to improve the overall balance.
Posted in filters, landscape, sunsets, water.
Tagged with cokin, filter, fog, print, sunset.
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This shot is was taken one lunch time in Autumn. I’d gone out a few days earlier in search of rich autumnal colours but I didn’t really see anything that I liked. When I found this scene I was intrigued by the light more than the colours and knew it could look really striking in black and white.
Unfortunately it was windy and the end result had some movement in, so I made a note to come back again when conditions were better.
This retaken effort was processed in exactly the same way as the original but fortunately none of the leaves are blurred
Posted in b&w, trees.
Tagged with b&w, fence, monochrome, path, trees, tunnel.
There, I’ve said it. It’s probably incredibly unfashionable in this age of digital - in fact I often see people on forums etc discussing selling their grad filters because they have abandoned them in favour of exposure blending - but they are currently my preferred method of attempting to balance exposures.
An ND (Neutral Density) grad (Graduated) filter is basically just a piece of plastic that is dark at one end and clear at the other - the dark part of the filter is positioned over the lighter portion of the scene, reducing the light variation (dynamic range) of the scene so that it can be captured without any loss of detail.
Drawbacks
As with other methods used to make your camera faithfully reproduce a scene with a wider dynamic range than it is capable of, ND grads certainly have their drawbacks:-
- The line between the clear and dark parts of the filter is a straight one (albeit with a slight fade/graduation to make it less noticeable). Rarely will a scene have a simple, straight line transition between dark and light so you end up having to compromise and perhaps hide the transition somewhere you hope the viewer won’t notice it
- Getting the gradient to start in the correct place takes a bit of practice - if it starts too low some of the foreground with appear slightly darker - if it starts too late the brightness of the sky might appear uneven.
- Like all lenses and filters they need to be kept clean - and as I swap them around between filter holders I have a tendency to drop them
With so many negative points, why use them?
Other methods of exposure balancing (such as exposure blending or HDR) require multiple exposures of the same scene, which realistically means using a tripod. I have a tripod, and I use it a lot, but I don’t always carry it - when I’m out with the family it’s an unnecessary burden - and sometimes I make the decision not to use it at all as constantly relying on it can lead to a lack of invention. A set of grads takes up very little room in my camera bag.
Processing time. Other techniques may only take a matter of minutes when you are skilled at them but if I’m taking an afternoon’s worth of casual shots I want them all to look their best with minimal editing.
An Example
These two shots, taken at sunset in Bradgate Park show the subtle but pleasing effect of using the Cokin P121M (ND4) grad. The first shot was taken without the filter. As you can see, the foreground is quite dark.
Technical info: ISO100, 18mm, f/22, 0.5s
The second shot (below), with the filter in place produces a much more even result.
Technical info: ISO100, 18mm, f/22, 0.6s
No further processing has been done to either image. As you can see from the technical info, the second shot was exposed for slightly longer (0.1s) which allowed more light from the foreground to be picked up by the camera sensor, resulting in a more even looking photograph.
Posted in filters, tutorials.
Tagged with cokin, filter, gradient, kood, nd grad, neutral density.
With Cropston Reservoir being the location of my first sunset shot, it seems fitting that it was also the first place I sat with my camera and waited for the sun to rise.
I’m not really very good at getting up in the morning, but with the sun rising a little later now (7:22am on the morning this was taken) I figured now was as good a time as any, before Autumn turns into Winter and it becomes too cold to use the camera without gloves.
I took a few shots before this one, with just the ND4 grad on, but the foreground was too dark - I wanted the sunlight to be casting a night glow on the boat. I popped to my bag to get the rest of my filters but unfortunately I’d left my filter wallet open and they were all covered in condensation. I had a frantic couple of minutes trying to get the ND8 grad dry and smear free before the run rose too high in the sky.
Technical info : Sigma 18-200 lens at 21mm, 1/20s, f11.0, ISO100, ND4 and ND8 grads
Posted in sunrises, water.
Tagged with boat, cokin, cokin nd8 grad, cropston, filter, leciestershire, print, reservoir, sunrises, water.
When I was first introduced to photography I was horrified by the concept of “Chasing the Light” - trying to be in the right place at the right time to capture a scene at its best (or at least, how you want it to look). Now, a year later, I find it one of the most interesting and fun aspects of photography. Of course I expect it can also be a dreadful chore, revisting the same place tens of times, just waiting for that special moment - but for the novice photographer it’s an interesting and useful experience.
I often go out in the evening for an hour around sunset - sometimes the light is quite good, other times it is overcast, but it’s always nice to visit new locations and get out for a walk in the countryside. The first time I went to this location, a field next to a footpath that leads to Bradgate Park, it was just getting dark and the light was quite poor. However I was intrigued by the crop so decided to go back the next day. Despite it being lovely and sunny when I set out, by the time I got there the weather had changed and the sky was filled with cloud.
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Despite me quite liking the subdued brown of the crops I really wanted a bright, golden shot of them. I only had to wait a couple of days for the weather to improve. When it did I went back again in the afternoon - not a time I’d normally shoot but I knew the sun would be in a good position to illuminate the field but would also be out of shot.
The final shot was taken with a Cokin ND8 grad filter on the sky and a Kood light tobacco filter on the ground. The grad was used to balanced the exposure so that I could get a nice bright crop, with the tobacco filter being used to emphasize the colour.
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I don’t actually know which I prefer now, but I’m glad I made the effort to get both. I’m also pleased that I went back so soon as the farmer mowed the crop down a few days later - something else that I learned the hard way - never put off taking a photo.
Posted in filters, landscape.
Tagged with cokin nd8 grad, crops, golden, kood, leicestershire, light tobacco.
The day before I took this I noticed just how red the clouds were as the sun disappeared beyond the horizon. Keeping an eye on the weather over the course of the next day I thought it looked like there was a good chance conditions might be the same so I popped out an hour before sunset to explore some local lakes that I’ve ridden and driven past many times but never walked around.
The major challenge when attempting shots like this (for me at least) is getting the exposure just right. Even though the sun has disappeared below the horizon the sky is still bright enough to completely overpower the rest of the scene. I’m sure the camera could have dealt with this in one of its automatic modes in conjunction with evaluative metering and auto white balance, but from experience I doubt I would have been that happy with the results. The shot would either have contained a properly exposed sky and little else, or more light in the rest of the shot with blown highlights in the sky.
In order to maintain an even level of light in the sky and in the reflection on the water I used my trusty Cokin ND8 (P121) grad *. It’s ideal for shots of this type where there is a nice straight, dark line across the image where the start of the graduation can be placed. Using this filter allows a longer exposure time so that we can pick up more of the light elsewhere in the shot, such as the faint light on the reeds in the foregound. Once the grad is in place it’s always a good idea to double check its positioning with the DOF preview button if you’re using a small aperture as fine adjustments can make all the difference.
Before I put the grad in I’ll usually spot meter what I think is the brightest part of the scene and set it so that it exposes at just below +2EV - I do this manually by adjusting the shutter speed (but if you are using AV you can just used the exposure compensation control to achieve the same results). Once the grad is in place I’ll then adjust the shutter speed to compensate for change in light - so if I’d settled on 1/100s before the grad I’ll change it to 1/25s (even though the ND8 makes a 3 stop difference I won’t usually adjust by 3 stops initially).
Then it’s just a case of taking a test shot and checking the composition and the histogram (and keeping an eye out for blinkies). If there are blown highlights (blinkies) then the shutter speed needs to be faster - if the histogram doesn’t look right (usually not containing data in the right-hand 5th) then the shutter speed needs to be slower **.
* It’s worth noting that the Cokin P121 does give a pink/purple colour cast so it’s not really ideal for use during the day, unless you are prepared to attempt to correct the problem either by using Auto White Balance or by fixing it later in post-production. It is however great for shooting towards the sun at this time of day
** If the shutter speed can’t be slower - because there is too much movement in the shot - then compromises will have to be made with aperture size or ISO setting. A brief explanation of exposure control and stops can be found here - http://www.andystafford.co.uk/exposure-control-stops/
Posted in landscape, sunsets.
Tagged with clouds, cokin, cokin nd8 grad, lake, leicestershire, reeds, reflection, sunset, water.
By Andy
September 26, 2009
This image was taken during a short break in North Wales. The main purpose of the visit was for a family walk to the summit of Snowdon (and of course for me to take plenty of photos) but unfortunately the weather was too poor for either. In the end this was the only image I really liked from the trip, which was taken on the only really sunny day of the week, before the rest of the group arrived.
A Hoya circular polariser was used here to darken the sky and improve the contrast in the rest of the shot.
Technical info : Sigma 18-200 lens at 18mm, 1/160s (because it was windy and I didn’t want the grass to blur), f8.0, ISO100
Posted in b&w, landscape, trees.
Tagged with gorse, llanfairfechan, north wales, penmaenmawr, rocks, tree.
By Andy
September 13, 2009
It’s funny how sometimes the last shot of the day, the one you aren’t really expecting to be that special, turns out to be the favourite. This was taken at the end of brief walk in and around Swithland Woods one lunchtime in February this year. It had snowed a few days before but it was all gone now, leaving water lying in the fields and paths. This still water had been my original reason for going out, but as I had a few minutes to spare and no shots that I really liked I ventured into the woods and noticed how the bare branches of the trees filled the view above me.
After finding a suitable spot and waiting for a plane to pass overhead I took 3 bracketed shots. These were then processed in Photomatix to produce a black and white HDR which I then toned Lightroom.
The title, which is borrowed from a Godspeed You! Black Emperor album, was the first thing I thought of when taking the shot.
Posted in hdr.
Tagged with canopy, duotoned, hdr, leicestershire, photomatix, swithland, trees.
By Andy
September 5, 2009
Not the only shot from this location on my blog, but my favourite of the two here (and of the 10 or so I took) - taken just a few minutes after the previous one.
Posted in b&w, landscape.
Tagged with breakwater, cumbria, groyne, nd grad, pebbles, print, sea, st bees.
This hadn’t been intended my location for the evening - I’d been going through some earlier shots and wanted to carry out some further experiments with the green filter and reflections in water, so I chose somewhere at random from the OS map. Once I’d been for a walk through some fields and found that the water was on private land and not that great anyway I set off to find something else to do - then I noticed the Ratcliffe On Soar power station
I watched the sun go down from another location, waiting for the light to improve to give me a good balance between the sky and the ground but it was cloudy and slightly windy. In the end I decided to head home without any particularly decent shots but, when I drove past this field with easy access and a good view of the power station I knew there was going to be the chance of a nice image. Fortunately the breeze was intermittent so after a few attempts it was still enough to get this 1 second exposure without any noticeable movement in the crops.
I used a Cokin P121 ND grad filter to reduce the brightness of the sky by 3 stops - it would perhaps have been better if I’d stacked another grad on top too, but the wide angle filter holder only has room for a single filter (and even then there are still vignetting issues between 10 and 12mm)
Technical details : P121 ND grad, 1 second exposure, f/22, 10mm, ISO100
Posted in landscape, sunsets.
Tagged with cokin nd8 grad, crop, power station, ratcliffe on soar, sigma 10-20, sunset, wheat.
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