Morning Glow

I have used a range of exposures for theses shots; the shortest exposure being 2.5 seconds  the longest being 15 seconds. Given the brightness of the sunrise I also used a 32ND filter and aperture of f22 and ISO 100. My camera was also mounted on a tripod of course.

It was a beautifully crisp and clear morning as you can see. There was virtually no breeze at all however I was surprised that there was still quite a lot of disturbance on the lake's surface making the longer exposures essential. You can still see the rippled surface to the left of the jetty in the first few images. The colour images give a sense of warmth from the sunlight despite the fact it was bitterly cold. The black and white image does give a sense of how cold it was but also looks like it could have been shot on a different day entirely.

I like using long exposures, when the subject is right of course, the calendar I produced for 2025 is almost exclusively long exposure photos. This method allows more light onto the sensor/film and exposes more detail in the image. This is really useful when doing night skies, it can create subtle motion blur and can also provide fun details like light trails from traffic. In the images below it has been used to smooth out the surface of the water and to create some nice soft reflections.

Although longer exposures capture more detail there is another slightly counter intuitive effect that is possible and that is it can help eliminate moving people/objects from a scene. Depending of course on how fast or slow the people/objects are moving and how long an exposure is used. In the final image below you can see how this has worked with a small group of people walking  on the path around the marine lake just below and to the right of the moon. They appear as a white blur, had I used a longer exposure I could have removed them completely but then the whole image would have been washed out. It is fun to try different things and develop these skills. The fact that this location is within walking distance of my home means that I can practice often without having to make any long journey. It means I can make better use of what is local to me, something I mentioned in another recent post. Anyway enjoy the pictures and hopefully a sense of calm.

I love where I live. 

 

Lac d'Annecy

 On my road trip after leaving Florence I drove through Pisa, I saw the leaning tower but did not stop to explore the town as time on this leg was tight. There was an interesting drive along the Ligurian coast and then inland via some exciting mountain roads to  a small town called Casale Monferrato in Alessandria, on the banks of the River Po where I stayed overnight. It was a lovely town but for some reason the only photos I took were using  my mobile phone and I don't have any to hand to share on here.

From there I drove to Courmayeur and then through the Mont Blanc Tunnel to Chamonix and then on to Lac d'Annecy where I stayed in a lodge on the edge of the lake just a few metres from the jetty in the images above.

This was in June 2018, in Italy the summer was in full swing and it had been hot and sunny the whole time. In fact apart from the thunderstorm and landslide outside of Dresden early on in the trip the weather had been nothing but hot. So it was a bit of a shock to the system arriving in Annecy where it was cold, and overcast. It was a welcome respite for my son however as he had caught a little too much sun in the preceding days so he welcomed the cooler conditions.

The town of Annecy is very picturesque and is a popular destination for French holiday makers all year round, for the lake in summer and the ski slopes nearby in the winter. 

These shots were taken in the early evening and as the clouds rolled in it was very atmospheric, albeit quite chilly.

Don't Perch So Close To Me

I took this shot because I wanted to use the posts supporting the jetty to lead the eye towards the snowy fells (Causey Pike) in the distance and I think that works quite well. 

I also liked the fact that the gulls were sitting on top of the posts giving life to the image but what I hadn't fully appreciated until I got the pictures home was that the gulls were sitting on alternate posts all the way along and in fact there had been another gull on the post immediately to my left out of shot but it flew off just as I arrived.

It was a cold morning and walking along the jetty was quite a risky business because it was incredibly slippery. I think it was worth it though.

At Silver Islet

A couple of week ago I posted a photo, taken using my phone, of the front of the old store at Silver Islet and gave a very brief history of the once thriving mining town here. I really loved visiting the area although it is no longer a bustling mining community it has a very special feel to the place and was probably my favourite spot that we visited during the whole trip. 

I liked it so much that one morning while camping in the provincial park I got up early, borrowed a bike and set off on my own for the ten mile round trip to take some photos before other people started arriving. It was warm and the air was quite still so I managed to get some nice shots of the small harbour, a small lake and the islands just off the shore as well as the many interesting buildings which have stood for many years against the harsh weather conditions in this area. I will of course be coming back to share some of these pictures with you and I look forward to doing so. 

This photo is a rear view of the old store taken from the jetty, it involved a bit of scrambling to get to this spot as the jetty itself was fenced off but it was worth the effort, for this and the several other shots I took from here.

This isolated community as I say had a special feeling to it and I could easily see myself settling here in a cabin facing out into the bay. 

Marina

Today's pictures are from Barcelona where we stopped for 3 nights on our trip around Europe. I had said that I was a little disappointed with the city but as I have looked through the photos I took I think I made a misjudgement. 

On the first evening we went and sat by the marina for some time in the sun and watching people walking along the promenade. There were some fantastic yachts in the harbour but I was especially taken with the reflections of the masts in the rippling water.  I am really happy with the pictures above and I hope you like them too.

The final picture was taken from a jetty looking back towards what I think was the old olympic village, as the sun was setting it gave a lovely warm glow to the buildings and the mountains on the horizon. It was nice to join the other people enjoying such a beautiful end to the day.

A New Day

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I thought I would start the new year with some fresh early morning images.  I also thought that the song Feeling Good by Muse fits really well with todays post so after looking at the pictures why not take a few minutes to listen to the tune on YouTube.

The pictures above are all slightly different takes of the same view of West Kirby Marine Lake, just slightly different angles and different exposures.  Shooting into the sun can be problematic and lens flare can spoil a good image however I think that in these pictures the warm glow of the morning sun (although it was actually bitterly cold) and the slight flare work well.

Tomorrow I will have a few monochrome images from the morning photo shoot for you.

More from Portchester

Today's pictures are linked to yesterday's blog from Portchester Castle.  The first two pictures are of a wooden jetty.  I particularly like the perspective in the second photo.  As a kid I would catch crabs and small fish from this jetty and in the moat. 

The third picture is of the castle keep framed in the gateway of the 12th Century Priory Church which sits in the Inner Bailey of the castle.  I have attended weddings and funerals in this church.

The final picture is looking across the water to the Historic Naval Dockyard at Portsmouth.  It is just possible to make out several naval ships and by enlarging the picture it is possible to see the mast of Nelson's flagship HMS Victory.