Celtic Compositions

So, was it worth the effort and early rise?

Well for me, I have to say no. The sun illuminated the subject as planned, and had the warmth that was anticipated and expected. However, due to the sun rising behind me and front lighting the subject, this resulted in a rather flat image, with little texture, and some of the images even appear slightly 'bleached'. Unfortunately, due to the shape of the valley, with its steep sides, it's impossible to have the preferred side lighting with the warmth of golden hour light, and particularly at that time of the year, when the leaves are showing their autumn colours.

The images is still quite nice, but I am my own worst critic, and it doesn't meet my requirements. All was not lost however, as some other shots from the morning produced some pleasing results.

 .

 So, will I be returning to this location at sunrise next Autumn??? -  Absolutely!

The main image may not have turned out as hoped, but I feel giving the correct weather conditions, perhaps dappled golden hour light, or even the glow of pre-sunrise light, on high cirrus, cirrocumulus or cirrostratus clouds, reflecting and illuminating the autumn foliage, the ingredients are there to produce a stunning image of a magnificent location.

I would love to hear your thoughts, so please comment on what you've read.

Thanks for viewing my blog and Merry Christmas!

BCNU!

Carl,

Carl Jones - Welsh Landscape Photography

www.celticcompositions.co.uk

04:30!!!

Time to check forecast before getting out of bed:-

Forecasts often change overnight as the Met Office et al run models through the night, so it’s important to check the forecast hasn’t changed before dragging oneself out of bed at such a painful hour. Checking the real time rainfall radar available with some forecasts apps give the most accurate description of what the weather is doing at that moment in time, and how the forecasting models predict the weather systems moving on in the coming hours. On this occasion, the forecast was as predicted the night before, with the only change being stronger winds than first predicted, but there was only minimal rainfall, and this was set to clear for a few hours before a band of rain was forecast to come back in later on in the day.

Climb out of bed, get dressed, clothing already prepared the night before, to avoid waking anyone else up, quick bit of breakfast, load up the car, set the SAT NAV, and we’re off…

Check out my blog next week to see if the effort was worth it...

(next Blog:- Tuesday 20th December 2016),

Thanks for reading!

What would be perfect conditions for this shot?  A cold night, with a touch of frost, a brief shower over the woodland, some low lying mist in the valley, red alpine glow on the cliff face, and a rainbow, echoing the colours of the autumnal foliage!

Or if you live in Wales, you settle for low wind and an absence of torrential rain!

The forecast, although not particularly inspiring, offered some positives, with cloud not moving in until just after sunrise, and no indication that this would be thick cloud, which may obstruct the sunrise light. As the optimum dates for the shoot had been established, and the forecast wasn’t a complete washout, the decision to proceed with the plan was made.

Decision made,

Check list:- camera bag checked, accessories all present and correct, batteries charged, memory cards formatted, sandwich box made, diesel in the car, postcode obtained for the Sat Nav.

What time to set the alarm for….

At around 60 miles drive over some poorly aligned rural road, it’s worth allowing plenty of time to arrive on site. Reference to the AA route planner gives a good indication of possible routes, and likely duration of the trip. The waterfalls are a few miles away from Llanrhaeadr Y.M. so 1hr 45mins was established as driving time. The walk from the carpark, up the hill, with a heavy camera bag and tripod, was established as 30 minutes. 15minutes setup time before sun alignment at around 07:30.

I needed to leave the house at 5am. Alarm set for 04:30 (ouch!)

 Be sure to revisit next week to see the final article.

Part 3 will be available from Wednesday 14th December.

Thanks for visiting my blog,

Celtic Compositions turned 2 today!

With the move to North Wales and settling in to a new job, and all the distractions and new places to explore, I’m conscious I’ve neglected my Photography Blogs, so here’s a bonus one. In this Blog, I’ll talk through how I go about planning a shoot. Some people think I wander around all day with the camera shooting away merrily, but the fact of the matter is, the visit is planned way in advance, to increase the chances of getting the right conditions to hopefully capture an image that’s more striking than that of say a tourist randomly point and shooting as he/she walks around. 

And with the high footfall of tourists visiting the iconic landmark and destinations, all carrying at the very least a camera equipped mobile phone, means there are masses of images out there in the digital world, and so to make your work standout from the crowd, some planning, (and luck!), have to come in to play.

The first thing I consider is how exactly I will attempt to produce something original or something that stands-out. This usually entails photographing from a different perspective, a lesser accessible viewpoint (most people are too lazy to go for a walk or climb a hill!), a fresh composition, sometimes so fresh, that it’s not recognised at first glance. To aid this search, my first resource is a map, either an OS foldout, or online maps. I pay particular attention to the contours and paint a picture in my head of the shape of a particular mountain or valley. In this instance a steep glacial trough with a very obvious cliff face at the end of the valley. The topography at this location dictate that the waterfall and surrounding woodland would be cast in shade for much of the day, particularly during the summer, and any light hitting the valley is likely to be harsh midday sun. Thankfully, the South East facing falls is perfect for Autumn sunrise, which also coincides with the more pleasing autumnal tapestry of the surrounding woodlands.  

I highlight a few possible vantage points, then if available, I will also use Google Earth and select a road that is as near to that viewpoint as is possible. This gives a rough perspective of the subject, but also may show access to the desired final shooting position.

Waterfall as seen from the approach road (it’s tall!) (Google Earth)

To get a higher, and slightly more original view, a climb up the right hand bank would be required. Thankfully, further reference to Google Earth shows a Public Footpath, which although doesn’t remove the effort of a climb, does at least save me from wading through the thick bracken!

Next, it’s time to narrow down the timing of the shot, both from a Date and Time perspective.

Firstly, the preferred day(s) must be established. The days when the sun will be rising from the correct positions, un-obstructed by other hill or mountains are what I was seeking. This also needs to fit in, as far as possible, to the optimum time to visit with regards to foliage colour. So a compromise is often made and the preferred dates are established. With reference to the Ephemeris, it’s possible to pin point the sunrise location, the angle at which it will rise about a particular obstruction, and the time the sun will clear the obstruction and illuminate the subject. In this instance, I believe sunrise was 07:09, with the sun lifting sufficiently to clear a nearby hill by 07:25. The aim is to take the shot as close to Sunrise time as possible to absorb the golden light into the photograph.

The yellow line indicates the direction of sunrise (07:09), while the orange line indicates the sun clearing nearby hill and hitting the subject with the first light of day (07:25)

There’s no substitute for getting on the boots and zoning in on the final shooting location(s), and so a weekend trip during the day was made several weeks prior to the intended date, and time taken to walk from the car park up the hill recorded. Several other compositions were also considered, in case a Plan B was necessary (nothing worse than turning up at a location in the early hours, having been on the road for an hour or more, to find someone’s erected scaffolding infront of your chosen composition!)

All the advanced planning done, all that was needed now was the weather….

Part 2 - Will be blogged on the 26th November, be sure to check it out!

BCNU,

Carl

www.celticcomposits.co.uk

Having had yet another aborted trip to Castlemartin on Saturday, trying to make the most of the winter sun's direction on The Green Bridge of Wales, and another overcast day forecast on Sunday, attention turned to photographing a subject that is well suited to overcast conditions, - waterfalls. The indirect or muted light afforded by overcast skies, ensure that waterfalls, which are usually located in wooded valleys, aren't deteriorated by excessive contrast and blown out highlights in the white water.

I've photographed most of the waterfalls of Waterfall Country, and so for a change, I set out to capture some images of a waterfall I hadn't photographed before, namely Henrhyd Waterfall, in nearby Coelbren.

Henrhyd waterfall is the highest single drop waterfall in South Wales, and at approximately 90ft (27m), dwarfs many of the falls of Waterfall Country, high in the Vale of Neath. Due to its natural yet majestic size and the large chasm surrounding the falls, Hollywood paid a visit in 2011 and included Henrhyd Waterfall in the final scene of the Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises" where it doubled as the Batcave!

However, size isn't everything, and the falls of Waterfall country are certainly more picturesque and easier to photograph than this one. Even so, Henrhyd fall is an impressive fall, and when including a figure in the shot, displays the true scale of the falls. Michelle seen posing under an umbrella in this shot.

D600, Lens 24-70mm, @ 27mm, f/11, 4 seconds, ISO100. Polariser.

There was medium flow of water on Sunday, following a wet Christmas and New Year period, and so there was a lot of spray to contend with. To combat this, I covered the camera in my snood, composed my shot and set the focus and exposure. Then turning the camera away from the falls momentarily to wipe the lens clean before re-composing quickly and firing the shutter. Many shots were binned, but occasionally the circulating wind would drop long enough to get a shot off without moisture on the lens.

To ensure as sharp an image as possible, the lens was set up on a tripod, which itself was weighted down to my rucksack through use of a bungee rope. Knowing the desired aperture, shutter speed and lens magnification made it easy to refer to my hyperfocal distance chart, to read and set the optimum focusing distance, thereby ensuring front to back sharpness. Finally, the mirror was lifted and left to settle, before the shutter was fired through use of a remote release.  

D600, Lens 24-70mm, @ 34mm, f/11, 5 Secs, ISO100. Polariser

At this time of the year, the waterfall doesn't look its best due to the starkness of winter 'shrubbery', and so I'll aim to return in the spring to get my full length landscape shot when there's a little more greenery. Since the surroundings were a little bleak, I turned my attention to capturing a more detailed study, that of a dead, fallen tree below the falls. A little abstract from what I usually do, but good practice and an interesting couple of shots.

D600, Lens 24-70mm, @ 24mm, f/11, 8 Secs, ISO100. Filter:- Polariser.

Hopefully my next blog will have some winter snow scenes, if the snow falls on the weekend instead of during the week!

ATB,

Carl

With relatively poor weather recently, and also the restrictions imposed by the military on visiting some of the best beauty spots in Pembrokeshire, which always seem to lie in a firing range, this weeks photography trip turned out to be more of a reconnaissance trip than a shoot, but well worth the visit in anticipation of a future shoot. Although the forecast for the day was sunny spells with some cloud, the day turned out to be predominantly overcast, with just the odd break. However, I was able to explore the vantage points and workout what time of year I was most likely to get the best direction light to illuminate the scene. Return visit planned for December and January - weather and MOD permitting.

Stack Rocks, Castle Martin Firing Range, Pembrokeshire.

(f/16, 1.3 seconds, 6 stop ND Grad Filter)

Looking to return to this site, when wind direction suits, to shoot with a 10 stop ND filter, to blur the clouds and the sea.

Self Portrait, Green Bridge, Pembrokeshire.

(f/16, 1.3 seconds, ISO 100) (wide angle)

This is a shot that will benefit with some southerly warm light of sunset hitting the rocks, and bringing out the rustic colours in the cliff face and pick out the shadows in the fissures, adding some craggy texture. Will need to return in December or early January to take advantage of the most southerly sunlight.

Ohhh yeah, that's me on the bridge!

For more images, please visit my site Website:- www.celticcompositions.co.uk

or get in touch via e-mail:- [email protected] 

or facebook:- https://www.facebook.com/pages/Celtic-Compositions/1508123012777654?ref=hl 

Welcome to my new photography blog. I hope to keep everyone up to date with my latest projects here, and look forward to hearing comments from any viewers of my blog or website.

My name is Carl Jones and I am a Landscape Photography Enthusiast based in South West Wales, and I currently concentrate my Photography on the Mountains of the Brecon Beacons National Park, the Waterfals of Waterfall Country( Vale of Neath), and the Coasts of the Gower Penisular and Pembrokeshire National Park, all in the beautiful South Wales.

Please visit my website at www.Celticcompositions.co.uk and feel free to comment on the content, both positive and constructive criticism is welcomed.

The above photograph is of sunset at Three Cliffs Bay, in the Gower Peninsular, Near Swansea, South Wales, UK.

Thanks for visiting!

Carl,

www.Celticcompositions.co.uk