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. 

 

Faro (that's lighthouse)

Here is another one of my experimental long exposure shots. The lighthouse is at the entrance to the marina by the Abbey of San Giorgio Maggiore. I was using a long  exposure and variable ND filter so I could smooth out the surface of the water, there was a fair breeze so the lagoon was a little choppy. As I clicked the shutter a small boat passed in front of the camera, initially I was annoyed but when I saw the resulting image I was actually quite pleased because the blur of movement and the swirling water have added a really nice effect.
 

Gliding By

 Here is one more shot from my recent walk on the beach, this was actually from the path around the marine lake; I had been photographing some sailing boats when this young herring gull flew by.

I have adjusted the white balance slightly to give greater depth to the blue.

I love the glossy surface of the water and the shiny reflection of the gull. I am also really pleased with the detail which you can see if you view the image at 100% (you can see a little glint in the birds' eye and a flash of red on its' beak).

Tomorrow I will share the last selection from the day at the beach (probably several colourful shots) so look out for those.

Jammy Dodger

These are the last two shots from last week that I will share.

Both of these were really unexpected, but they are really amazing.

Sweetness

I missed posting yesterday but I have come back with a few pictures that I think are really cool.

I had been dripping milk droplets in all my other shots but I thought I would try adding a splash of colour. Firstly I tried colouring things with some strawberry milkshake but it was too pale to stand out, then I used some Vimto but that didn't work as well as it had in water.

I finally settled on strawberry syrup (for ice cream) and although it was a little more difficult to control the drops the results were really nice. I was surprised to see the clear crystal like shapes that emerged. You might need to enlarge the image to really see them 

Cool As Milk

Three more shots from my lockdown session at the weekend.

These were the result of releasing the droplets from varying heights and I think they make for some cool images.

Say What You See

Two more shots today to show off some of the beautiful shapes and patterns created simply by squeezing droplets of milk from a syringe .

You never know what you will get each time, whether it is a flying droplet, a sharp peak or a random ripple.

I chose these images today for the smooth textured shapes. The second shot looks rather like an inverted ceiling rose, I was amazed at the symmetry from something so random.

I love the first image too and apart from a random ripple I wonder what you can see. A bit like when you see shapes in clouds I think that when you look at images like this you can see different things. For example perhaps you can see a spoon, perhaps an eye or maybe a swaddled baby.

Making Waves

So not waves exactly but here is another image from my Ripples and Reflections series.

I love the way the ripples that appear so smooth viewed from a distance when seen close up have so much texture and depth of colour.

The Lighthouse

This cool reflection is of the Faro San Giorgio Maggiore in the last of the evening sun.

I like the transition from blue to gold to green as the reflection moves from sky to stone and then shadow.

Something to make you go OOOH!

Here's another of my abstract ripples and reflections pictures. 

I love the light, depth and motion in this image.

I am loving these images and hope you are too.