Skye

Back now from an excellent trip to Skye and proving that with patience, sensitivity and consideration all round it is possible to combine a family holiday with a photographic visit. There do have to be many compromises of course and in truth perhaps neither fulfils its true potential but in the same was a really good day's climbing ends in the pub, then a really good session taking photographs ends with being able to share the them with family. The day itself is the better for the social aspect. I failed miserably to get up before the family and return for breakfast triumphantly, the week and my energy just weren't like that . I did manage an evening in Elgol while the family rested after the drive up. The rest was achieved by combining visiting interesting places and what seemed (to me at least...) very efficient picture taking.

The weather was kind with only one day fully saturated and during the rest we managed to visit Elgol (twice), Neist Point, The Old man of Storr, The Quirang, Kilt Rock and Sligachan. On the journeys to and from we also took in The Buachaille twice and Eliean Donan.  A few photos were made from lay-bys and more than a few were made more hurriedly than they should have been but the week was a great success.

From Monday to Friday, less one washout, I managed at least 6 'keepers' which even allowing for the natural attributes of Skye is a good return. If the rest of the family can bear it, I'd repeat this style of holiday again.

Over the sea.....

Counting down to Monday morning. We're heading north for Skye. Hoping to pass through Glencoe in decent weather and praying for some luck from the weather gods on Skye.

North Berwick tidal pool

This image was made yesterday during a brief visit to North Berwick. I've been trying to capture this picture for ages and finally got the combination of my availability, weather, light and tide all together at one point. I waited three hours on the beach and this was the very last exposure I made. It was taken on a Nikon D700 with a 50mm F1.8 lens. 4 minutes at f11 with Lee 0.6 ND Hard Grad and Lee Big Stopper. The structure is a children's paddling pool which in itself is not of any photographic significance. However the tight composition serves to remove most extraneous detail and the long exposure reduces the detail in the water to a flat shape. The result is simplified to the geometric shapes. The icing on the cake is of course the Bass Rock in the far distance. This is a fantastic part of Scotland for coastal photography. This location was first brought to me by Colin Homes, the Edinburgh based landscape photographer.

Refining the process

This image was made three weeks ago. The revised workflow that I came back with has begun to change the nature of the output. The combination of CS5 and Silver Efex Pro has begun to allow me to produce the image that I had in my head.The initial RAW file came out of a Nikon D700, Nikon 16-35mm VR and Lee Big Stopper. 

Lessons learned.

I took the plunge a couple of weeks ago and signed up for a Coastal Landscape photography course. There is an enormous industry out there of people offering to take your photography to a new level and in many cases with not that much to demonstrate that their photography is at any special level. I've always viewed such offerings with a degree of skepticism. Out of the blue, when visiting the delightful seaside town of North Berwick, I was literally stopped dead in my tracks while passing the local art shop. In the window was a huge framed print of the image to the left. I just stood and stared. It was a Sunday and the shop was shut so i did what anyone would do, photographed it on the iPhone and took a note of his name to investigate further. The photographer is Colin Homes and when I discovered that he was running courses, I was hooked. Here was someone taking images I'd kill to have taken and ready and willing to show me how. The booking was made and I duely spent a fantastic day with him a couple of weeks ago.

The day began with an overview of his workflow, a little on photoshop and an insight into creating the best possible file from which to work. After that we headed off, just two of us on the course that day, to the coast not half an hour's walk from the town. The next four hours or so were spent taking photographs with exactly the right balance of guidance from Colin. Never pushy, never intrusive, just there when required. The input for me was balance between a little technique and a greater part of compositional suggestion. We're all different, but for me it was spot on.

We returned in time to base to have a look at our output and for each of us one file recived the Colin treatment using Photoshop CS5. Colin took us through the inital RAW import and manipulation then a whistlestop tour of using layer masks, particularly the use of multiple gradient masks. This gave each one of us a final file demonstrating all the taught elements.

This process illustrated a number of important points in the teaching and learning process. The teacher must for me have credibility, they must be able to pass on their knowledge ina  way that enables me to learn and finally I need to enjoy the process. I had a superb day, thoroughly enjoyed myself and learned loads into the bargain. Almost more importantly, I have continued to learn from the day and  my own process has changed forever. Can't wish for more than that