Sunrise & Sunset

We had a break in North Wales last week. The hotel we stayed at is at the mouth of the Conwy estuary and we were fortunate to have a suite with a terrace overlooking the estuary. As far as photo locations, it’s about as easy as you could get for capturing great sunsets and sunrise images. I took my Sony cameras and lenses and shot at a variety of focal lengths, capturing various stages of the sun coming up and going down.

I kind of fell out of love with sunset photos a couple of years ago, as I tended to overdo them. Living in the upper Calder Valley, there are some great vantage points to capture amazing sunsets and spectacular skies. If you repeat a subject too often, you can get fed up of it. I had reached that stage and shied away from regular posting of orange skies and silhouetted landscape features.

These sunrise photos were taken using the Sony 20mm f/1.8g and the Sony 40mm f/2.5g. I say sunrise but the sun hadn’t quite risen so they more blue hour than sunrise. The location lends itself to these images as it’s a tidal estuary so water levels create fabulous detail in the sandbanks and the meandering path of the river Conwy out to sea. We were also fortunate to have some beautiful weather for these types of photo. Most landscape photographers like moody skies, fog or challenging conditions but clear skies and warm weather can bring benefits too. The colours rendered up in the early morning were stunning.

If you think the sunrises were good, the sunsets were incredible. The sky was on fire and add to that, beautiful rich patterned clouds topped the deep orange horizons. This image was taken with the Sony 24-50 f/2.8g lens which pretty much was glued to my camera throughout the days of our break. It is a superb piece of glass that covers the wide to standard focal lengths in a small package. I took a Sony 70-200 f/4 lens as well but didn’t really enjoy using it as it struggled with contrast in bright sun. I decided whilst away to trade for a Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 g2, in the hope I will get a better long telephoto option. This view looking west towards the mouth of the estuary and marina was the perfect spot to get the best of the dying sun. It reignited my desire to take sunset photos and also to spend more time at the coast.

This final image over the marina was taken ten minutes before the sun went down and was taken with the 70-200. It’s a great lens but also a dust magnet (for some reason) so let’s hope the Tamron performs a bit better. There is something magical about the going down of the sun but I also loved the early mornings. I’m an early riser and the onset of summer is a gift for my photography. I need to get out more early morning and late evening, I have spent a few months in a state of apathy regarding my landscape photography, maybe born out of a lack of self confidence, a worry about sharing in a saturated area of photography and a bleak winter. I used to be an autumn/winter fan but in my older age, I find myself appreciating spring and summer more. if you haven’t visited North Wales, I urge you to go. It is a beautiful region with great beaches, stunning mountains and some of the best locations for sunset I’ve ever experienced.

Light & Shadow

I’m nearly ten years into my ‘serious’ photography journey. I’ve photographed pretty much every style of subject in many different locations. I have taken tens of thousands of photographs, maybe half of one percent, worth keeping or at least ones which I am proud of.

I don’t know if this hit rate is unusual but all the while, I’ve been searching for a distinctive style. I want people to look at my work and instantly recognise it. A distinctive look that my photos take. The one constant quest in my work is to examine the relationship between light and shadow.

I enjoy the work of street photographers such as Sean Tucker, Samuel Lintaro, Roman Fox and Faizal Westcott ; who all maximise the use of shadows, strong patches of sunlight and people moving through these spaces. I went into Manchester last week and made the most of the sunshine by finding spots where it partially lit up the scene. Im still learning the techniques involved with making strong images but I do use the highlight weighted metering mode on my Sony cameras. It’s a fairly common metering mode on most makes but the Sony one helps me to produce a certain look that I’m after.

The light gods do have to bless you in order to achieve this style but when they do, you need to work the scene quickly and with intent. I like people or interesting objects to be in the light or people passing through. I’m not worried if others in the scene just come out as black shapes because it helps the viewer to concentrate on the detail in the lighter spaces. The three pillars of photography to my mind are light, composition and time. I am far from the finished article when it comes to all three but I have learned and improved my understanding of all of them in the last ten years. I now take photos intentionally rather than in hope. I compose a scene and wait for something or someone to walk into it. In the case of the image above, the man eating a snack was stood for a while but I had to wait for him to be isolated rather than behind passers by.

The image above has elements of light and shadow created entirely by the shape of the building. The geometric patterns of the building look fabulous against the blue sky ( if you look carefully, there’s an airliner flying above) and shows you don’t need to be on the street waiting for someone to walk through a patch of light to make a good photo. The legendary British photographer Martin Parr has said that you need to find a subject that interests enough to want to explore more and more. My landscape photography works best for me when I have dramatic skies or strong light on parts of it. I struggle with landscape photography because I think people like landscapes and they are less challenging than street or documentary photography. I’m drawn to the coast because it has texture, light and drama. I just don’t think I’m much of a landscape photographer and I admire those who create beautiful images in nature. It’s just not my main interest and I need to accept that.

I can’t conclusively say my style is distinctive, that is for others to determine. I know I haven’t perfected it by any stretch of imagination but I am getting there. The one thing that those who see my work like is my moody look to my images. I like to create a bit drama, to make the everyday seem a little more interesting.

On another topic, I find myself getting a little frustrated with some photographers on YouTube who tell you that ‘gear doesn't matter’. I am no beginner and have been at this for a while now. I sell my work, have had my work featured in magazines and do studio photo shoots and gear does matter. The fact I’ve been through pretty much every camera brand to end up where I started with Sony. Why did I switch from Nikon Z to Sony? The cameras are as small as full frame cameras get, they have an extensive range of native and third party lenses available and they just work. They aren’t aesthetically the prettiest, they don’t go for retro or sleek. They are purely functional but very good at that. I enjoy shooting with them because they don’t get in the way of my composition or execution.

Often these photographers shoot with the top of the range camera bodies and lenses, get gear sent to them and are sponsored to make their videos.

I don’t begrudge them these factors in any way. They are very experienced professionals who have worked their socks off to get where they are. They provide useful information for those wanting to upgrade or switch gear; and I know it isn’t their intention to make you go out and buy the same in the hope of you being as good as them, because it doesn’t make you a better photographer. I do however reserve the right to have gear that is slightly more than I need for the essentials and allows me to be even more creative. I have traded my way to my present set up and don’t plan on switching because I’ve been there and got several t shirts to prove it.