Porlock Bay, Exmoor

[Andrew Stannard]

Hi,

I'd like to share the following image from a recent holiday to Exmoor, for comment and criticism.

Given that this wasn't just a photographic trip I'd spent some time studying the map beforehand to look for good photographic potential. The sweeping curve of Porlock Bay looked good on the map and so it proved in real-life. Any later in the year and sun would set behind the headland, but my sun compass proved accurate.

This was my first trip with some recently purchased Lee Filters, so I was looking for an image that would allow me to blur the water with a long exposure. A 2-stop ND Grad was placed diagonally across the frame to tame the brightness of the water and the setting sun, with a 2-stop ND covering the whole frame to allow longer shutter speed. Canon 20D and 10-22mm lens.

I had another similar image to this taken just after the sun went down, but with the headland itself just sort of tapering off there was no real focus point for the eye to settle on, so I feel that this one works better.

There are some more images from the trip in the Exmoor Gallery on my site.

Thanks

 

[Asher Kelman]

Andy,

The curves are so simple and it works. Tell my about your sun compass. I've never used one! The picture as it is works fine. You have done a fien job and what follows represents a range of possiblities that might be considered if one wanted to explore further how this might be printed for exhibition. So read further with a little salt shaker and use when needed!

It's interesting how a lot of photographers seek to blur water! This especially is true with waterfalls and that cream-white look I personally think is over done sometimes as a "standard" effect. I have never thought of treating the ocean that way! So I'm interested in the effect.

Here, your images shows some loss of detail by the water is now a more whole geometrical shape with little to distract from the composition and the commanding detail of the brown black and gret pebbles. Not a comfortable 5 * beach! So the slow shutter seems to work for me.

The sun is in a good position. It would be interesting to see pictures taken with the sun a little higher. Is there any more dimension possibly in the sky? How much PS did you do or was the sky like that, with not of lot of detail on that particular evening?

I'm surprised there isn't more of a rich line of the sun giving gold and red to the water below it and coming towards us.

I would perhaps look again at the hills in the distance. Is it possible to select that and make it more 3 dimensional with a nice gentle S curve and even some selective sharpening.

Thanks for sharing. If you have more in this series, that would be a treat!

Asher

 

[janet Smith]

Hi Andrew

I love this image, so beautiful, I got the brochure for Lee Fliters a few days ago, and will definately be ordering some after seeing this. Thank you for posting.

 

[Ray West]

Hi Andrew,

Beautifully executed. Advanced planning seems to work ;-). I think it is the best of the gallery, but the 'silhouetted cliffs' runs a close second.

Best wishes,

Ray

 

[Andrew Stannard]

Hi,

Thanks for the comments... Long post to follow...

Asher:

My sun compass is a small piece of see-though plastic about 5"x4". Overlayed is a compass rose that you can use to align it to your map. Around the outside it then indicates the time and location at which the sun will rise/set through each month of the year. Lay it over your map with the centre at your location and hey-presto, you can see where and when the sun will rise and set. Really useful for planning a shoot in advance. I'll post a picture of it when I get a chance.

With regards to the ocean blur - I'd kind of wanted to try out my filters, so would have probably blurred the water regardless, but in this case the small waves on the water were a distraction in any case, so blurring them worked well - like you say they would otherwise have distracted the eye.

I'll post a couple of others when I get the chance. The ones with the sun higher didn't really work - the glare off the water was hard to control and I struggled with the overall brightness of the sky/water compared to the beach. By the time the sun was this low it was going through enough haze to remove the glare off the water.

Very little PS work has been done, just basic adjustments in Lightroom - the sky was clear so no detail to bring back there. Will experiment with your idea with the hills though - the detail is there in the raw file, it just needs some more bringing out.

Janet:

I've really enjoyed my filters since I purchased them. For my 10-22mm lens I needed the Lee Wide Angle adaptor to avoid vingetting - even at 10mm with two filters attached and a slim UV mounted straight to the lens I don't get any vingetting. Lee aren't the cheapest but they're working great for me. I find something satifying about getting the image right in camera, rather than merging two exposures.

Ray - The advanced planning was actually rather satisfying when it came off, felt like the hard work was worthwhile. That said the 'Silhouetted Cliffs' shot was an opportunity shot when the light happened to be just right. I guess you need luck and planning in equal measures


Cheers,

 

[janet Smith]

Hello Andrew

Good to hear about the lack of vignetting, and that Lee Fliters live up to the blurb in their brochure - looks like a must for me too, thanks for the additional information....