Northumberland Photography Course Day 4
06th April 2017
The final morning would see just a dawn shoot, before we all headed home. Checking the weather forecast the day before showed that there would be full sunshine at seven o'clock, but by nine o'clock, there would be full cloud. We kept optimistic that this would be the case, and how lucky we were that it was. We went over to the other side of Bamburgh Castle, where we had photographed the Two Trees the day before, and climbed the dunes to get a good view of the castle. As the sun rose, there was not a cloud in the sky and we could have been anywhere in the world (were it not for the six layers, down coat and bobble hat). The idea was to capture the castle as the sun rose and the first rays of light lit it up, with some grasses from the dunes in the foreground. From my position, I wasn't completely happy with the composition, so I moved to higher ground to include the sea and Holy Island. This made the castle seem more dominating and gave more of a sense of power to the image, in my subjective opinion.
Bamburgh Castle in the Glow of Sunrise
f/16; 1/10 sec; ISO 100
We stayed at the location as long as we could, until we needed to be back for breakfast. This was the end of the course, and I reflected on what I had learnt and would be taking away with me.
1) I was pleased to have worked in manual mode every day, understanding more and more how changing one setting necessitated changing another.
2) I used manual focus all the time in Live View - which is not something I've done for a while.
3) I wasn't afraid to move my tripod if the composition didn't seem to be right in my eyes - I wasn't there to take photographs that would look good to someone else, they needed to look good for me. That said, I did persevere when Gary said "this is the shot", as he does tend to know best.
4) There is so much more kit I want to invest in!
5) I was lucky to be on the course with the other photographers who were there. We got on very well, helped each other when necessary and enjoyed some banter in the down time.
6) Northumberland is much greener than I thought it would be.
Lightscapes Photography
Northumberland Workshop, April 2017
Gary Groucutt
www.garygroucutt.com
Bamburgh Castle in the Glow of Sunrise
f/16; 1/10 sec; ISO 100
We stayed at the location as long as we could, until we needed to be back for breakfast. This was the end of the course, and I reflected on what I had learnt and would be taking away with me.
1) I was pleased to have worked in manual mode every day, understanding more and more how changing one setting necessitated changing another.
2) I used manual focus all the time in Live View - which is not something I've done for a while.
3) I wasn't afraid to move my tripod if the composition didn't seem to be right in my eyes - I wasn't there to take photographs that would look good to someone else, they needed to look good for me. That said, I did persevere when Gary said "this is the shot", as he does tend to know best.
4) There is so much more kit I want to invest in!
5) I was lucky to be on the course with the other photographers who were there. We got on very well, helped each other when necessary and enjoyed some banter in the down time.
6) Northumberland is much greener than I thought it would be.
Lightscapes Photography
Northumberland Workshop, April 2017
Gary Groucutt
www.garygroucutt.com