Whatever The Weather
…..Throughout the journey there the conditions looked perfectly set for such a shot. Wave clouds were high in the sky, the horizon was hazy but clear of low cloud formations and it was fairly still. We hit a bit of a delay as a coach had come off the road near Devoke Water and whilst waiting to get moving again, a weather front moved in from the west coast. Upon arriving at Wastwater, the sky had completely covered……
As much as photography is my hobby, it is also my full time job, through which I cover many genres of both photography and film. I thoroughly enjoy my work and all of the shoots I get to do, but there’s no doubt that my landscape photography days sit as the highlight of my working week.
Quite early on, after making the move from my corporate career to full time photographer, I decided that I would incorporate a day each week to be designated my ‘Landscape’ day. It isn’t a specific day. It is determined by the way my bookings fall. But 1 of 5 days is always left free.
Having the freedom to do that is absolutely magnificent, but has one downside. Because my landscape day is usually set weeks in advance due to the bookings in the diary, it is never planned around the weather. Whether glorious sunshine; grey and windy; or full blown storm; that is the day I will go out to shoot in the landscape, and I do, whatever the weather.
Wastwater, Lake District National Park, UK. I bet the sunset was beautiful behind those clouds
But, as I talked about in last weeks blog, the weather is your friend. It can give you that beautiful awe inspiring sunrise or pelt you with hail, but it will always be unique to that moment. It offers a challenge and changes the way in which a scene will look, and can completely change how it might be captured for a photograph.
Take the above shot of Wastwater as an example. I had ventured there hoping to capture the sunset with an idea of a long exposure shot, enhancing the glorious colours of the suns rays filtering through the earths atmosphere. Hoping for great reflections in the still, mirror like water.
Throughout the journey there the conditions looked perfectly set for such a shot. Wave clouds were high in the sky, the horizon was hazy but clear of low cloud formations and it was fairly still. We hit a bit of a delay as a coach had come off the road near Devoke Water and whilst waiting to get moving again, a weather front moved in from the west coast. Upon arriving at Wastwater, the sky had completely covered with low cloud. the shot which I had planned from the southern end of the water was now pointless. The cloud would cover most of the water up to the peaks. A change of plan and a drive north, up the western edge, to around half way up the water found a slightly clearer view and the moody image you see above was born. A polariser helped cut through the remaining haze above the water, the square crop reflected how I felt under the grey sky; a little hemmed in.
The weather forecast the evening before had predicted that this would happen, but I was hoping that it may hit a little later, forecast are never truly accurate until a short while beforehand. However, even though the weather did go that way, I’m still pleased with the shot. It tells a story. And each time I look at it I’m reminded that whatever the weather, it is always worth going out to shoot.
Another Place in Crosby on a very overcast dull day
The two photographs (above and below) of Anthony Gormley’s Another Place in Crosby, Merseyside, show another example of just how different a shot might be dependant on the weather. In the first shot, taken at sunset in October, 2019. The weather was grey and cloudy with only hints of sunlight breaking through the clouds for brief moments. The sun wasn’t visible and it had been raining on and off throughout the afternoon. A long exposure became the order of the day as there was little detail in the sky. In May 2020, the shot became something else entirely as this time the sky was hazy with infrequent clouds, the sun setting right behind the scene into which I was shooting. No long exposure here, I would not have wanted to have the sun become a blurred line down to the horizon. The feel of the two shots is very different.
The same scene (albeit a slightly different composition and exposure) with a hazy sunset months later
Whatever the weather, there is always something to shoot, there is always a way to capture that moment in time. But it will certainly help if you have the right equipment for the weather. And I’m not talking camera gear or lenses etc. Comfort in terrible weather will play a huge part in your time in the landscape. I have been caught in some awful weather, and early on in my landscape photography journey, I did not have the right footwear, clothing, bags or jacket. I was cold, wet and miserable and the majority of the time completely unmotivated to even contemplate taking my camera out of the bag.
Investing, even a little, into outerwear and footwear has helped me out no end. You still end up wet, cold and miserable….but it takes a lot longer to get to that point.
And so, my ‘Landscape Day’ is a day on which I head out regardless, each week, ready to take on the Landscape and all of its challenges…...
Whatever The Weather
Dave
June, 2020
If you can get through the rain, you might just spot the rainbow
Revisiting a location - Marys Shell, Lancashire
This is always a popular part of the coast for photographers, who come from miles around to capture their take of the fabled shell. But most of those photographers aren’t aware that they are being watched from beneath the ocean by the Ogre. You see; Mary’s Shell is magical, and it has a story to tell…….
This was my second visit in 9 months to photograph Mary’s Shell in Cleveleys, Lancashire, UK. Revisiting locations is something that I have made a conscious effort to do in these weeks following the relaxation of lockdown measures within the English borders. Familiarity with a place means that I am more than knowledgeable in what I require to take, not just photography gear wise, but footwear, type of clothing, safety equipment and of course food. Unnecessarily having to visit a shop 60 miles from home is not part of the plan in our socially distanced way of life.
It seems like the natural first steps back out in our new way of life world.
Plus, of course, all of the photographic reasons to venture back to this lovely part of the world. The last time I was here was a wet overcast Autumn afternoon, grabbing shots in between the rain clouds. And whilst I was really pleased with the shots I got on that day; this time, I was looking forward to the sun
A shot from Autumn 2019 during a short respite from the rain
Upon arrival, I wasn’t surprised to see that a fair few of my peers had also decided to pay a visit. This is always a popular part of the coast for photographers, who come from miles around to capture their take of the fabled shell. But most of those photographers aren’t aware that they are being watched from beneath the ocean by the Ogre. You see; Mary’s Shell is magical, and it has a story to tell…….
The Ogre keeping watch from afar
It’s story starts in Singleton Thorpe, which was a village off the coast of Cleveleys in the mid 1500’s. Swallowed by a tsunami in 1554/55, only three people survived and they went on to become founders of the village now known as Singleton in Fylde, near Blackpool....or so folklore says.
And that folklore is responsible for inspiring ‘The Sea Swallows’ tale, a short story based on that sunken village. In the story, the heroine is Mary, who attempts to save the village from a Sea Ogre....armed only with her magical golden shell.
And so the Ogre sits there, looking on and getting swallowed by the ocean twice a day, whilst Marys Shell commands the swell to stop.
The short story is inscribed on the inside of the shell. Worthy of a read if ever in this part of the world at low tide. And when you have finished reading, take a look over to the far left of the shell towards Blackpool Tower and there you might just see a rather rotund rock glaring at you……or is it an ogre.
The Sun and The Shell. Cleveleys, Lancashire. June 2020
There are many, many shots of Mary’s Shell on the mirror like sea and I wanted to take at least one with the sea in flow. When lining up this shot I was a bit worried that the pebbles could become somewhat of a barrier in the image, putting the Shell at bay, rather than drawing the viewer into the scene. However the sky came to the rescue, providing a lovely wisp in towards the shell, perhaps it had worked its magic again? However, that magic didn’t come for free. As I removed a soft graduated filter from the front of my camera, the unthinkable happened and I dropped it front first onto the jagged pebbles. The price of photography I suppose.
The lovely colours of a spring sunset on the North West coast
There was no doubt though that I wanted to grab a long exposure and really flatten that, now reducing, tide. This would allow for a mirror like effect, twinned with the beauty of the final farewell of sunlight from the day. The big stopper came out. A 10 stop filter came out of the bag and, very carefully, was attached to the front of the lens. This would allow my exposure time to increase to 5 seconds, enough to flatten out that fast moving outward tide. But that wouldn’t be enough to create the image that I really wanted. A multiple exposure would be needed. This would allow for the dying embers of sunset to be captured gloriously, whilst also capturing the side of the shell which faced into the dark of ensuing night, to be captured at a long enough exposure to capture the details hidden in the shadow. Referred to as High-Dynamic-Range Imaging, this meant that the exposure time of 5 seconds would need to be both decreased and increased in order to capture all of the detail. Three separate shots of 1, 5 and 30 seconds were merged to create the final image seen below. Exactly the image I wanted.
Dave, June 2020
The image I wanted required a bit of time and thought but was well worth it