Month: September 2016

Almograve beach, Alentejo coast, around 5.30 am. I woke up early one August morning to photograph this beach at sunrise. After Milfontes (previous posting), this time there was no fog, but the quietness was similar. In a few hours, the beach would be bustling with people, but for now, I had it all for myself. Well, apart from the seagulls and a couple of fishermen trying their luck during the low tide.

In recent years, this beach has seen a significant increase in sand in the intertidal zone, which has covered numerous rocks. This has completely changed its profile, and opens new opportunities for photography. In a way, I wanted to document this new character of a beach that I have known for 40 years.

I started by taking photos of the full Moon setting over the sea, with the bonus of some wispy clouds providing added interest to the scene. I tried several exposure times, in the end I decided to keep the 30 seconds one. I knew I could recover the highlight detail on the Moon, and the resulting cloud movement worked out nicely.

From those initial shots, I went down to explore further, making several compositions featuring the rocks, the vastness of the sand at low tide, and even some star trails. The clouds lit by the early morning sun, with some seagulls flying, also resulted in interesting photos. Indeed, there were no lack of interesting things to photograph.

Once more, it really paid off to wake up early and go out in this session. I came away with some keepers, and experienced this beach in its full potential, when it is deserted. And I arrived home just in time for breakfast with the family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do you do if you wake up at 5 am one August morning, with the plan to go out and do some pre-sunrise photography in a nice place, but then everything is covered in thick fog? This happened to me recently, when I wanted to go to the picturesque small village of Milfontes, in the Mira river estuary (Alentejo coast in Portugal), in order to try and get some good landscape photos. Early in the morning is always mandatory for some good and interesting light, and the summer one more reason to go out this early: avoid the summer crowds on this popular beach destination…

I bit the bullet and went out anyway, despite the fog. My plans of framing the village, bridge and houses, against the rising sun, with the beach as a backdrop, was gone. So I quickly came up with plan B, which was to focus more on some studies featuring the sand patterns, the calm water, and a couple of small piers. The difference between the hustle and bustle of the beach during the day, and the calm that was now everywhere, was really big. All I could hear in the near darkness was the slow flow of the water lapping against the margin, and a few seagulls that were probably waking up.

In the end, I was happy with the results I got, and above all, happy with the experience of tranquillity that I had, with a long stretch of nature just for myself. As I was packing up to go leave the place, I met two other early birds, a couple that were starting they daily trek towards another beach. This is what I like about this region: even in the middle of a busy summer season, it is possible to experience the place fully.

Technically, the photos were taken on the Sony ILCE-7 and the Zeiss Batis 25 f/2 lens, all on a tripod. With the low light levels, I was of course using a tripod and Bulb mode with a remote release.

 

With the advent of digital photography, black and white (B&W) photography is quite popular these days. Almost every camera has a B&W mode, and there is even one camera (from Leica) that has a dedicated B&W sensor. In my film days I used to shoot a fair amount of B&W film, that I would drop in a respectable lab in Lisbon. Then I would scan the negatives, for digital archiving and web publishing.

Of course today things are a lot simpler, but, some may argue, not necessarily better. I do not wish to embark on a discussion of what is better for B&W, film or digital. I am only concerned about what B&W can bring to my photography, and some choices thereof. For landscape photography, B&W can add interest and drama to a scene, distilling the subject to its basic lines, shapes, and textures. No more colour to distract us.

One thing that is important to understand is, it takes a lot more than converting a file from colour to B&W, to achieve a good B&W photo. Timing, lighting, subject, and composition, have to be there from the start. Also, it is important to learn how to “see” say a landscape, or your subject, in B&W tones. When I am out in the field, I often think and previsualize how the scene would look like in B&W. With many cameras today, it is even possible to set the B&W mode, and the LCD will display in B&W. As I wrote above, it has never been simpler.

Using the example below, of a long exposure I took recently near Cabo Sardao, southwest Portugal, I thought at the time that it would make a good B&W: the streaks in the clouds would be enhanced compared to the colour version, while maintaining the texture in the cliffs and water. But I also like the colour version, I like the contrast between the golden cliffs at sunset and the blues of the sky and water. In the end, both versions work for me, for different reasons. Converting this file was easy, just a few moments in Silfer Efex, a really nice and powerful software.

So, next time you are in the field, think about how a scene could be improved by using B&W; it could be by eliminating coloured distracting elements, by enhancing textures or contrasts between elements, or a combination of other aspects.

All landscape photographers know that the best time to be out shooting is during the blue hours and golden hours. This is when the light is at its best, with golden hues and long shadows to lift even a normal scene to another level. But how about going out shooting well after the sun has set? In the last few years I have been doing a series of individual “projects” (for lack of a better word), going out into the field at night to photograph some landscapes, and see what comes out.

This is a lot easier to do with digital sensors, than it was with film. And the results can be both good and surprising, especially with the latest generation of sensors, that have low noise during long exposures, and benefit from techniques such as “long exposure noise reduction” (where a dark frame is taken with the same exposure time of the actual one, to subtract the noise in-camera). Of course a good tripod and ball head, plus some sort of remote release, are necessary, as we are dealing with Bulb exposure mode. On the gear side, a so called full-frame camera (with a sensor the size of what 35mm film used to be) helps a lot in the noise department, but smaller sensor cameras are also improving all the time, so do not feel restricted about it.

Recently, during my holidays, I went out to a favourite location of mine, Cabo Sardao, in the Alentejo coast, Portugal. I wanted to try some landscapes under the full moon, or “moonscapes”. I know the area very well, which helps in planning and selecting some interesting locations. This type of long exposure is a bit of trial and error, but again, much easier to do than before. It is possible to raise the ISO to the maximum, just to fire off a few shots and verify exposure time and composition. Then, once satisfied, just lower the ISO and adjust the exposure times accordingly. You can do the very simple math in your head, or get some sort of app to help you out. In the end, you will be reaching multi-minute exposure times quickly, so why not take some time, relax, let the gear work its magic, and enjoy the surroundings?

As enjoyable as the photos is the experience of being out there in the middle of the night, in a secluded place, admiring mother Nature. Try it out some day, summer is great for this type of photography in the Northern hemisphere at least, with warmer nights. It is a literally eye-opening experience, as the camera “sees” in the dark much better than your eyes.