Thoughts and Feelings

The aim of "5: Natural Light" was to show the variety of outdoor light, how to make the best use of it and how to choose appropriate lighting conditions for particular subjects.

The sun rises in the East, so if a chosen subject is facing East a photographer would have to shoot it at Sunrise in order to light it from the front. The opposite applies for subjects facing West, they would have to be shot at Sunset.

Sunrise and Sunset are great times to take photographs as the sky has a much higher range of colours. The intense red and orange hues of the sky at sunrise and sunset are mainly caused by scattering of sunlight by dust particles, soot particles, other solid aerosols and liquid aerosols in the Earth's atmosphere. Sunrise colours are typically less brilliant and less intense than sunset colours since there are generally fewer particles and aerosols in the morning air than in the evening air. Night time air is usually cooler and less windy, this allows dust and soot particles to settle out of the atmosphere. Sunrise colour intensities can however exceed sunset's intensities when there are night time fires, volcanic eruptions/emissions or dust storms to the east of the viewer. A number of eruptions in recent times, such as those of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 and Krakatoa in 1883, have been sufficiently large to produce remarkable sunsets and sunrises all over the world.

Whilst completing Natural Light I have learnt to plan my shots in order to light subjects from certain positions and obtain a more aesthetically pleasing colour in the sky. I have also learnt that cloudy and dull weather doesn't stop me from taking impressive shots. Very cloudy and layered sky can provide a lot of contrast and ultimately produce some very attractive results.

Cloudy, Dull and Rain

In cloudy weather the light from the sun becomes greatly diffused, therefore meaning that the level of light is lower thus requiring longer shutter speeds and wider apertures to correctly expose shots.

Clouds also alter how a scene is lit. Shadows become much softer and subjects are lit much more evenly.

01. Dunstanburgh Castle

Cloudy1/60sec  f/9.5

Sun1/180sec  f/9.5

02. My Girlfriend Lindsay

Cloudy1/20sec  f/6.7

Sun 1/180sec  f/9

03. Dear in Snow at Dunham Park

Cloudy1/125sec  f/9

Sun 1/80sec  f/13

As we can see from the technical data of the photographs above, in each cloudy situation I have had to use either a slower shutter speed, wider aperture or both to correctly expose the shots (in comparison with the ones taken in bright sunlight).

Having kept my white balance on the daylight setting it’s clear that in cloudy situations, there is a slight blue cast on the photographs. To counteract this effect, a straw coloured filter could be applied to the lens. The effect is most visible in my third set of photos. Shot during sunset, their is quite a dramatic colour difference between the two shots of the same dear. The one taken under cloud is very blue whereas the one in sunlight is quite yellow, even slightly orange.

Rain

Many people would consider dull weather to be unsuitable for photography and therefore rain is thought to be even worse. If you’re careful with your camera, keep it dry and wipe drops of the lens, many interesting photographs can be obtained in rainy weather. If you’re lucky and it happens to be sunny and raining at the same time, rainbows can appear and improve the most mundane photographs.

My photograph of a rainbow isn’t the most attractive, however, had I been in a more scenic location it would have been a great addition to my shot.

My next shot, taken at Dunstanburgh Castle is quite plain but the contrast in the sky keeps it interesting. I applied a graduated filter to my lens when taking this shot so that I could expose the foreground and the sky equally. The rain can be seen splashing in the lake and the contrasting dark and light clouds draw us towards the horizon.

My shot of a leaf is similar to one that I used in Assignment one to portray “Wet”. The texture of this specific type of plant’s leaves allows water droplets to remain on it’s surface after it has rained. This is a very interesting effect and is intriguing to look at. Viewer’s eyes constantly flick from one droplet to another as each one is the same yet quite different.

Rain hitting water leaves very attractive ring patterns if only for a brief moment. Capturing the patterns are very difficult to do but I feel I’ve acquired a couple of quite pleasing representations.

For my final shot, I layed a piece of glass above a dark green background and captured some very fine rain splashing onto its surface. On viewing this shot a person would instantly think of rain.

Graduated Filters

To demonstrate how useful graduated filters are I have taken the shots below.. For my first test, I found a room that was lit by a window on one side. I set my camera on a tripod and aimed the lens at a wall perpendicular to the window. The window is on the right hand side in my shot.

No Filter

We can see that without the use of a filter the right hand side of the shot is lighter than the left.

Graduated Filter

Keeping the shutter speed and aperture the same; applying a graduated filter so that the darker half is on the right and the soft edge is vertical evens out the exposure across the wall.

Next, correctly exposing a shot for landscape will leave the sky very bright, we can see an example of this in my first shot.

No Filter

To counteract the bright sky problem a graduated filter can be attached to the lens.

Graduated Filter

Again the shutter speed and aperture need to remain the same. With a filter attached, it should be positioned so that the darker half is placed over the sky and the soft edge is slightly above and parallel with the horizon. This should help to both correctly expose the sky and the landscape.

The Edge - Alderley Edge

The Edge itself is a wide red sandstone escarpment situated above the village of Alderley. It is a ridge of land which separates a narrow and short valley from the higher ground of south east Cheshire and Derbyshire. It rises gradually from the town of Macclesfield, until, at a distance of 7 or 8 kilometres, it terminates abruptly, having reached a height of nearly 215 metres above sea level, and 110 metres above the Cheshire Plain below it. From its highest point, the Edge offers panoramic views across Cheshire and the Peak District. There are walking paths through the property and one to the nearby National Trust property Hare Hill. From the Edge, the Cheshire Plain can be seen extending from the area of Macclesfield Forest (on the south east side with its undulating land and woods) towards the extreme easterly point of the Derbyshire peaks and northerly to Manchester and Blackstone Edge in Yorkshire. The area was once mined for copper and tours of these caves are available. It is also home to numerous myths and legends. The woodland offers peaceful walks but if you like a challenge then you can be a little more adventurous and walk on the sloping hillside.

View from The Edge aka Castle Rock

View from Stormy Point

Below I have added a couple of my photos, taken at Alderley Edge

Lindsay sat on The Edge

The Mythical Wishing Well

A shot of part of the woodland

An enormous strangely cracked rock