War Memorial

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle

Paddy Freemans

Wedding Day

Heathrow Terminal 5

Marsden in Black & White

St. Mary's Lighthouse

Cullercoats

After yesterday's disappointment, I decided to try again this morning, this time in Cullercoats. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't on my side, and the sky was flat and grey, so no light at all. This black and white image was the best I could muster under the circumstances.

South Shields

This morning was my first trip out with the camera in months, due to a busy work life and a lack of energy for early summer mornings. I was very rusty, and it shows. These were the only three images I managed to rescue.

EXIF: 50mm : f/1.8 : 24secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 1.2 ND : Lee Big Stopper

 

I'd picked an uninspiring spot along the South Shields coastline (I won't be going back), so I opted for some close-ups of the rocks instead. This kind of thing irritates me, as it gives no sense of place, but then I guess it's better than coming home empty-handed!

EXIF: 50mm : f/1.8 : 15secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Soft Grad : Lee 1.2 ND : Lee Big Stopper

 

There's something I find extremely fascinating about wide-aperture long exposure, that I'd like to explore more. Long exposures are usually shot at very narrow aperture for maximum depth-of-field, and to increase the amount of time the shutter can be held open.

EXIF: 50mm : f/1.8 : 25secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Soft Grad : Lee 1.2 ND : Lee Big Stopper

 

I've been experimenting with extreme neutral density (11-stops) to get a reasonably long exposure time, yet with a very narrow depth-of-field, which leads to some interesting and unusual shots. I just need to get them looking good now :)

Click on any of the photos to see them full-size against black, and please do leave a comment below if you like the photos.

Collywell Bay, Seaton Sluice

I wasn't feeling well this morning, but I hadn't been out with my camera for a while, so felt compelled to get myself out. I couldn't be chewed to travel far, so I took a short trip back to Collywell Bay to see if there were any better viewpoints. The only radically different viewpoint I found was this little cave.

EXIF: 50mm : f/16 : 133secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 1.2 ND

 

This was shot from the top of the cliff. At 50mm, my Zeiss lens flattens everything out, so St. Mary's Lighthouse was barely noticeable. I headed down onto the rocks to see if I could get closer, without getting the other half dozen photographers down there in my shot.

EXIF: 50mm : f/16 : 45secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Soft Grad : Lee 0.9 ND Hard Grad : Lee Big Stopper

 

I managed to get down in time to catch the sun just above the lighthouse. It's difficult to get a good even exposure on a shot like this, even with the ND Grads. This was the least burnt-out version of the three I shot before the sun disappeared behind a cloud.

EXIF: 50mm : f/16 : 39secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Soft Grad : Lee 0.9 ND Hard Grad : Lee Big Stopper

 

Closer still, the lighthouse looked better, but there was a distinct lack of foreground interest and what there was was hard to get in shot with a 50mm prime. I think it's about time I saved up to get myself a super-wide - perhaps an 18mm or 21mm.

EXIF: 50mm : f/16 : 180secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Soft Grad : Lee 0.9 ND Hard Grad : Lee Big Stopper

 

I only got one run at this one, as the sea was swirling in around my ankles. Thankfully my new GoreTex Salomons lived up to their reputation and kept me dry, but my filters were getting sprayed, so I had to head home.

EXIF: 50mm : f/16 : 100secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Soft Grad : Lee 0.9 ND Hard Grad : Lee Big Stopper

 

Warning: If you're planning on heading over to Collywell Bay, be seriously careful over at the Seaton Sluice end, as it's very slippery and there are tons of plunge-holes big enough for a grown man to disappear, and deep enough that it would be difficult to climb out of. The number of flower wreaths tied to fences on the way down serve as a grim warning! The New Hartley end isn't so treacherous.

Click on any of the photos to see them full-size against black, and please do leave a comment below if you like the photos.

Collywell Bay, Seaton Sluice

I was missing the cold wetness of getting soaked to the bollocks in the North Sea, so I took a short drive across to Collywell Bay in Seaton Sluice this morning to shoot St. Mary's Lighthouse.

EXIF: 50mm : f/1.4 : 8sec : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 Hard Grad : Lee 0.9 ND

 

I was running late, and by the time I got there I didn't have time to change into my trusty waders, so I had to go down onto the rocks in my trainers. This wasn't too bad, but the tide was coming in fast, and with 5 minute exposures, the sea was sloshing around my ankles by the time I got some decent shots.

EXIF: 50mm : f/1.4 : 19sec : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 Hard Grad : Lee 0.9 ND

 

It wasn't until I'd been there for about 15 minutes that I realised I was sitting in some other photographer's shot! Really sorry, whoever you are; I hate it when people do that to me. I'm just a skinny wee fella, so hopefully I wasn't too much trouble to remove!

EXIF: 50mm : f/1.4 : 311sec : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 Hard Grad : Lee 0.9 ND

 

Despite being out of practice with long exposures and becoming photoshop-fodder in someone else's picture, I came away with some okay shots. Nothing startling or new, but nice nonetheless, and hopefully something a little different from the usual shots we see of the lighthouse.

EXIF: 50mm : f/1.4 : 285sec : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 Hard Grad : Lee 0.9 ND

 

Click on any of the photos to see them full-size against black, and please do leave a comment below if you like the photos.

Whitburn III: Waves of Destiny

I took my first sunrise trip out since the winter this morning, mainly due to being extremely busy and too tired to get out of bed to catch the 4am sunrise. Now that we're in late summer, the sunrise is at 5:20am, which is far more reasonable, so I got up at 4:30am and headed over to Whitburn.

EXIF: 50mm : f/16 : 275 secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Hard Grad : Lee 0.9 ND Soft Grad : Lee Big Stopper

 

I've been running down at Shouth Shields Whitburn regularly over the last couple of months, as part of my training regime in preparation for the Great North Run (please sponsor me) and had spotted this out-crop from the road.

EXIF: 50mm : f/16 : 228secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee Big Stopper

 

There are nice little arches, tunnels and caves, if you can catch the tide at the right time, and it's relatively easy to get to. When I got down there, ther water was quite calm, which doesn't make for a particularly good long exposure shot.

EXIF: 50mm : f/16 : 64 secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Hard Grad : Lee Big Stopper

 

As ever, extremely long exposure pulled out a lovely green-blue from the sea that couldn't be seen with the naked eye, which more than made up for the lack of drama. Be careful if you venture down this way, as the rock formations make it really easy to become marooned as the tide comes in around and behind you!

EXIF: 50mm : f/16 : 191secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Soft Grad : Lee Big Stopper

 

In my hurry to get out of the house, I totally forgot to take my waders, so I go a bit wet scrambling back to dry land!

EXIF: 50mm : f/16 : 40secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Hard Grad : Lee 0.9 ND Soft Grad : Lee Big Stopper

 

EXIF: 50mm : f/16 : 189secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Hard Grad : Lee 0.9 ND Soft Grad : Lee Big Stopper

 

Click on any of the photos to see them full-size against black, and please do leave a comment below if you like the photos.

South Shields at Sunrise

The colour of the sky this morning was so much better than last weekend, which is just as well, since I chose a really crappy section of beach to photograph - I had to settle with a sunrise shot. I feel like I’ve turned a corner; I’m starting to get decent shots like these straight out of the camera now - very little tweaking needed in Aperture.

Click on the photo to see it full-size, or buy a print (from only £1.51)

EXIF: 50mm : f/16.0 : 60sec : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Hard Grad : Lee 0.9 ND Soft Grad : Lee Big Stopper