Northumberland Photography Course Day 3
05th April 2017
A second six o'clock meet up was on the cards again - and we headed out to the dunes where we had photographed Bamburgh Castle from the grasses on the previous day. The sunrise was looking good, but when we arrived at the location, the sunrise and coloured sky was too far apart from the castle for a good shot to be achieved. So we didn't stay, but instead moved to the other side of the castle where we aimed to photograph the castle being hit by the first rays of morning sunlight. As we walked into the dunes however, Gary noticed that there were two trees perfectly encapsulating the rising sun, so we stopped and set up tripods to capture the sunrise. Many shots later, the sun was fully risen and we had memory cards full of stunning sunrise photographs. It was very hard to pick the best one. My favourite painting is called Four Trees, by Egon Schiele - and there are several similarities with this photograph.
Two Trees
f/16; 0.4 sec; ISO 100
Once the sun had risen, there was too much light to continue photographing the same scene, so we moved on and instead of going for an early breakfast, we went to Seahouses Harbour. Here, we were instructed to photograph anything, tripods not necessary - just see what we find. I found a very rusty old anchor resting on some nets, a starling (I think) basking in the sun, and many lobster pots.
Rusty Anchor at Seahouses
f/2.8; 1/1600 sec; ISO 100
Bird on Lobster Pots at Seahouses
f/4.5; 1/800 sec; ISO 100
Lobster Pots at Seahouses
f/5.6; 1/800 sec; ISO 400
After breakfast, we headed out to the first stop of the day, which was Beadnell Beach. This was a pebbled beach with an outcrop of rocks and a concrete jetty. I found the rocks more appealing and spent some time trying to find the most aesthetically pleasing composition, whilst avoiding the waves crashing against the sea wall.
Beadnell Beach
f/16; 40 sec; ISO 100
The next location was on the cliffs outside of Craster, looking up towards Dunstanburgh Castle from the other side to where we were the previous day. There was intermittent sun, and a lot of wind, which made walking on the cliffs a little treacherous. The idea was to photograph the castle with some interest in the foreground, in the form of the rocks of the cliff edge. These rocks were covered in white lichen, which glowed in the sunlight, when it emerged. The resultant photograph is ok, I think I captured the scene, but with more time a slightly better location could probably have been found.
Dunstanburgh Castle
f/22; 1/15 sec; ISO 100
Behind where we were, was a deep gully where the sea swell came crashing in, creating some mesmerising formations in the water below. We were informed that this would be excellent foreground and so followed Gary the Mountain Goat around and down onto the lower edges of the cliff to photograph the water. In the windy conditions, this was a rather anxious photo shoot as one slipped foot and either or both of my camera and myself would be in the gully several feet below. I've never gripped my tripod so tightly before, but I wasn't going to see it blow over the edge. A fellow photographer captured the scenes as we strove to capture the image of the day.
"The A Team" getting into position, courtesy of Phil
"The A Team" is almost wiped out, courtesy of Phil
My images would probably have been better with longer shutter speeds to show more motion in the water, but I wouldn't have been able to grip the tripod so tightly then, so I decided against it. Many, many images were captured and it was again difficult to identify the best one. Given the option of trying to Photoshop out my colleague from his seated position on the rocks opposite, as he took some images with his 10-stopper, or leaving him in, I decided to leave him in as this provides a nice memory of the course.
Dunstanburgh Castle through the Waves
f/22; 1/13 sec; ISO 100
After a quick lunch at a pub in Craster, opposite the kipper smoking barns, we headed north to Holy Island for the final shoot of the day. Unfortunately, the castle that would have formed the backdrop to many of our photographs, was covered in scaffolding as it undergoes an eighteen month renovation. This cut short our visit, and we were set free to wander and photograph anything we saw and liked the look of. There were several boats in the little harbour, but we walked up the hill for a view of the old Priory. When I saw some little yellow wild flowers clinging to the wall in the foreground, I tried to capture them in the photograph with the Priory. The resultant image is nice - I like how the flowers show there is still life on the Island so many hundreds of years after the monks were made to flee.
Lindisfarne Priory
f/22; 1/13 sec; ISO 100
As we returned to the hotel, the sun fell behind clouds and the chance of capturing any further good images was looking bleak. Rather than try for the last hour of the day, we went back for some extra relaxation time before the final dinner of the trip. This meal was the best of the three, and ended with lashings of custard.
Lightscapes Photography
Northumberland Workshop, April 2017
Gary Groucutt
www.garygroucutt.com
Two Trees
f/16; 0.4 sec; ISO 100
Once the sun had risen, there was too much light to continue photographing the same scene, so we moved on and instead of going for an early breakfast, we went to Seahouses Harbour. Here, we were instructed to photograph anything, tripods not necessary - just see what we find. I found a very rusty old anchor resting on some nets, a starling (I think) basking in the sun, and many lobster pots.
Rusty Anchor at Seahouses
f/2.8; 1/1600 sec; ISO 100
Bird on Lobster Pots at Seahouses
f/4.5; 1/800 sec; ISO 100
Lobster Pots at Seahouses
f/5.6; 1/800 sec; ISO 400
After breakfast, we headed out to the first stop of the day, which was Beadnell Beach. This was a pebbled beach with an outcrop of rocks and a concrete jetty. I found the rocks more appealing and spent some time trying to find the most aesthetically pleasing composition, whilst avoiding the waves crashing against the sea wall.
Beadnell Beach
f/16; 40 sec; ISO 100
The next location was on the cliffs outside of Craster, looking up towards Dunstanburgh Castle from the other side to where we were the previous day. There was intermittent sun, and a lot of wind, which made walking on the cliffs a little treacherous. The idea was to photograph the castle with some interest in the foreground, in the form of the rocks of the cliff edge. These rocks were covered in white lichen, which glowed in the sunlight, when it emerged. The resultant photograph is ok, I think I captured the scene, but with more time a slightly better location could probably have been found.
Dunstanburgh Castle
f/22; 1/15 sec; ISO 100
Behind where we were, was a deep gully where the sea swell came crashing in, creating some mesmerising formations in the water below. We were informed that this would be excellent foreground and so followed Gary the Mountain Goat around and down onto the lower edges of the cliff to photograph the water. In the windy conditions, this was a rather anxious photo shoot as one slipped foot and either or both of my camera and myself would be in the gully several feet below. I've never gripped my tripod so tightly before, but I wasn't going to see it blow over the edge. A fellow photographer captured the scenes as we strove to capture the image of the day.
"The A Team" getting into position, courtesy of Phil
"The A Team" is almost wiped out, courtesy of Phil
My images would probably have been better with longer shutter speeds to show more motion in the water, but I wouldn't have been able to grip the tripod so tightly then, so I decided against it. Many, many images were captured and it was again difficult to identify the best one. Given the option of trying to Photoshop out my colleague from his seated position on the rocks opposite, as he took some images with his 10-stopper, or leaving him in, I decided to leave him in as this provides a nice memory of the course.
Dunstanburgh Castle through the Waves
f/22; 1/13 sec; ISO 100
After a quick lunch at a pub in Craster, opposite the kipper smoking barns, we headed north to Holy Island for the final shoot of the day. Unfortunately, the castle that would have formed the backdrop to many of our photographs, was covered in scaffolding as it undergoes an eighteen month renovation. This cut short our visit, and we were set free to wander and photograph anything we saw and liked the look of. There were several boats in the little harbour, but we walked up the hill for a view of the old Priory. When I saw some little yellow wild flowers clinging to the wall in the foreground, I tried to capture them in the photograph with the Priory. The resultant image is nice - I like how the flowers show there is still life on the Island so many hundreds of years after the monks were made to flee.
Lindisfarne Priory
f/22; 1/13 sec; ISO 100
As we returned to the hotel, the sun fell behind clouds and the chance of capturing any further good images was looking bleak. Rather than try for the last hour of the day, we went back for some extra relaxation time before the final dinner of the trip. This meal was the best of the three, and ended with lashings of custard.
Lightscapes Photography
Northumberland Workshop, April 2017
Gary Groucutt
www.garygroucutt.com