August 2010

It is 5a.m, and I am standing by a tripod, midge bitten and waist deep in dew soaked grasses. Before me lingering clouds disperse on the breeze while a still and silent Glengesh pass is slowly unveiled by the breaking dawn. The view is stunning.

Recently on one of my workshops, a participant mentioned that Landscape photography is like a “metaphor for life” – in that you have to slow down and watch what the light is doing.

That “waiting for the light” is second nature to landscape photographers. Changing light and its effect on the landscape especially at sunrise is a landscape photographers dream. Most people don’t see it. Either in bed or too busy with their lives to slow down. Light is what makes a photograph. It is the most important tool a photographer has to generate mood, atmosphere and depth.

Take the series of images below as an example of how light changes the mood and atmosphere of a location. The first image on the left was shot a 5.16a.m as dawn was breaking while the image on the right was taken 45minutes later from a similar location.

As a set of images both are interesting. The image in the left is more subtle. It relies on the cool blue tones and gentle lighting to generate atmosphere. While the second scene is more dramatic, as the rising sun bathes bathes the distant valley in early morning light.

Which ever you prefer is a matter of choice.

Later that evening, I headed back towards Glencolmcille or Glen as it is known by the locals. This would serve as my base for a few days. The location has every thing a photographer would want, mountains, cliffs, beaches and of course a few good pubs!!

Despite the temptation of the local hospitality, I am standing somewhat precariously at the edge of a headland. A few feet below me the sea is heaving. To my left Glenhead rises over 760ft from the sea, while the setting sun and encroaching clouds make the sky as dramatic as the location.

As always the camera is tripod mounted and looking through the viewfinder I carefully frame the scene to include the rocks on the left of the image you see below. Without the rocks on the left the scene would look unbalanced.

With light levels dropping like a stone, a long shutter speed was always going to be the order of the day. With long shutter speeds come movement, and in this instance I wanted to exaggerate the movement in the sea and sky as much possible. To do that the ISO setting on the camera was dropped from the standard 100 ISO to 50 ISO. Which gave me an exposure of 15seconds at F13.

Tripping the shutter as a wave rolled in, the result is the mage you see below.

The following morning at the more respectable hour of 7a.m I am standing at the edge of pontoon peering through the view finder across Lough Auva to the Slieve league.

It was a location I had come across previously, and had earmarked for a return visit. The pontoon formed a nice if possibly clichéd foreground, and as the sun highlighted details on the distant hills and everywhere else except for the pontoon in front of me. I fired a number of frames. However the shot wasn’t quite right, so as all landscape photographers do I sat back and waited for the light.

Twenty minutes later and my patience paid off. Sunlight illuminated the pontoon and as you can see from image above that bit of light on the pontoon makes the picture. Hell there was even time for a self portrait. What else can you do in the bog a 07.30 in the morning!?