Shane Johns
Well-Known Member
I was on holiday/vacation in Cornwall, UK, this summer. It's a beautiful place, and I recommend any visitor to the UK (time permitting) to spend at least a week there.
By driving there it allowed me to take my camera gear and tripod. Although I love landscape photography, I have relatively very little experience and was soon to discover just how time consuming and demanding it can be.
I thought I could just turn up, set up my tripod, and shoot away. Wrong!! Planning is the most important thing, as is TIME. I was with my GF, who is incredibly patient and supportive, but I must admit on a few occasions even this wore thin
.
We visited Lands End a few times and my goal was to get a good sunset pic. The difficulty was that I only had a small window of time to do this, plus my lack of experience with landscapes didn't help.
The first pic below is of Lands End as the sun was setting. I converted this to black and white and then set about painting with light and shadows. You can see the 'First and Last Inn' on the right.
The next day I came back to try and get some more sunset pics, but this time it was much different. The sun had set but a huge storm was brewing out at sea in the distance. There were a few of us watching but only me with my tripod perched near the edge! The whole sky seemed to fill with a monstrous black cloud, and we could see three waterspouts, which were heading from west to east. It started raining. By this time the people around me had taken cover (including my GF) but I was determined to get some shots. I managed a few before I realised that the storm had changed direction again and was heading towards us! I shouted at my GF to get in the car, grabbed my gear, and made sure we got out of there pretty quickly. You cannot really appreciate the conditions by this photo, but let's just say it was 'exciting'
The last 'face' is a dreamy one. We spent our last evening at a place called Marazion Beach. The most famous structure here was St Michael's Mount (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Michael's_Mount) and I was hoping the sun would set behind it...no such luck. It set to the right and there was nothing there but the side of the pub! Anyway, I screwed on two ND filters and took this really long exposure - I think it was about 1.5 - 2 minutes. What you can see is actually the beach.
I've sort of decided that proper landscape photography with tripods is not the thing for me. If I can get some pics without spending too much time then fine, and I have a lot of respect for the dedication and patience of landscape photographers now.
By driving there it allowed me to take my camera gear and tripod. Although I love landscape photography, I have relatively very little experience and was soon to discover just how time consuming and demanding it can be.
I thought I could just turn up, set up my tripod, and shoot away. Wrong!! Planning is the most important thing, as is TIME. I was with my GF, who is incredibly patient and supportive, but I must admit on a few occasions even this wore thin
.We visited Lands End a few times and my goal was to get a good sunset pic. The difficulty was that I only had a small window of time to do this, plus my lack of experience with landscapes didn't help.
The first pic below is of Lands End as the sun was setting. I converted this to black and white and then set about painting with light and shadows. You can see the 'First and Last Inn' on the right.
The next day I came back to try and get some more sunset pics, but this time it was much different. The sun had set but a huge storm was brewing out at sea in the distance. There were a few of us watching but only me with my tripod perched near the edge! The whole sky seemed to fill with a monstrous black cloud, and we could see three waterspouts, which were heading from west to east. It started raining. By this time the people around me had taken cover (including my GF) but I was determined to get some shots. I managed a few before I realised that the storm had changed direction again and was heading towards us! I shouted at my GF to get in the car, grabbed my gear, and made sure we got out of there pretty quickly. You cannot really appreciate the conditions by this photo, but let's just say it was 'exciting'
The last 'face' is a dreamy one. We spent our last evening at a place called Marazion Beach. The most famous structure here was St Michael's Mount (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Michael's_Mount) and I was hoping the sun would set behind it...no such luck. It set to the right and there was nothing there but the side of the pub! Anyway, I screwed on two ND filters and took this really long exposure - I think it was about 1.5 - 2 minutes. What you can see is actually the beach.
I've sort of decided that proper landscape photography with tripods is not the thing for me. If I can get some pics without spending too much time then fine, and I have a lot of respect for the dedication and patience of landscape photographers now.
