Whitburn

We had our first decent sunrise in weeks this morning, so I headed down to Whitburn to photograph the famous arch. Unfortunately, the tide was higher than expected and I couldn't actually get to it, so I settled in the bay just around the corner.

EXIF: 50mm : f/16 : 242secs : 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

 

My 3-stop soft grad struggled to keep the sun under control without crushing the blacks in the rocks to the right. At times this like this, I could really do with another soft grad to layer on top, as the hard grad just isn't suitable for this kind of shot.

EXIF: 50mm : f/16 : 47secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Soft Grad : Lee Big Stopper

 

I wanted a shallow DoF shot of the wet pebbles, so I had to use a whopping 14-stops of ND to get a long exposure at f/2.0. The result was quite nice, though I would have liked to have experimented a little more. Unfortunately, I was kneeling in the surf at this point, with my precious camera about 6" above the water, and the sea-spray was quite overwhelming.

EXIF: 50mm : f/2.0 : 16secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Soft Grad : Lee Big Stopper : Lee 1.2 ND

 

I always kick myself after taking shots like these, as they say nothing about the surrounding environment - they could have been taken anywhere - but I just find rock formations like this absolutely fascinating!

EXIF: 50mm : f/16 : 80secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : 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.

Finding your motivation

There are as many motivations for starting up in business as there are stars in the sky. My own business is a web design and build agency in Newcastle, but I guess this applies to any kind of company.

The reasons that crop up most often seem to be…

South Shields

It was -5° at South Shields this morning and the rocks were frosted over, making them doubly treacherous! It was worth the white-knuckle treck along the harbour wall to get this shot though.

EXIF: 50mm : f/16 : 320secs : 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 made about 8 attempts at this shot, but the sun kept coming out from behind the cloud, blowing out the sky. Ordinarily, I just use my ND grads to dim the sun, but in this case the sea was almost as bright, which made it difficult to balance the whole exposure out.

EXIF: 50mm : f/16 : 144secs : 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

This shot was deceptively challenging. The sea and the bottom half of the sky were seriously bright, but the land mass and the top half of the sky were really dark, so it took a few attempts with various combinations of hard and soft grads to get an exposure that worked right across the image.

EXIF: 50mm : f/16 : 49secs : 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.

Newbiggin-by-the-Sea

The photo gods were against me this morning. First, the sun came up and dipped immediately behind a great slab of cloud, leaving everything dull and flat. Secondly, I discovered why there aren't many good photos of Newbiggin-by-the-Sea: no matter how hard I searched, I just could not find an interesting composition. I've heard since that I might just be looking in the wrong place!

EXIF: 50mm : f/16 : 206secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Hard Grad : Lee Big Stopper

This one turned out okay, but it feels like just more of the same. I need some interesting rock formations to photograph!

EXIF: 50mm : f/16 : 258secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Hard 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.

Whitley Bay at Dusk

My first shots of 2011 were a little depressing. I didn't make it to the coast in time for magic hour, and the sun had dipped behind the horizon by the time I made it out onto the rocks.

Since it was really gloomy, I turned the camera inland and tried out a large(ish) aperture long exposure shot, just to see what it would look like - never seen one before. This was the only decent shot I got before it got completely dark.

The result is interesting: The shallow f/2.0 gives back a little depth that the dwindling sun had all but drained away, and the long exposure really pops the colour out in the sky, as usual. Not great, but worth hanging on to.

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

EXIF: 50mm : f/2.0 : 181secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Hard Grad : Lee Big Stopper

St. Mary's Lighthouse at Dusk

Missed the sunset again tonight, due to a smash on the coast road. Facing a long drive back home, I decided to see what I could get away with despite the sun having dipped below the horizon. I'm not sure if the dark smudge of clouds behind the lighthouse ruins this or adds interest!

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

EXIF: 50mm : f/2.8 : 136secs : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 : Lee 0.9 ND Hard Grad : Lee Big Stopper

Klarty Kids Collection

Babies and kids are always so much more natural when they're covered in food! These are some of my favourites from my great niece's first birthday party at the weekend.

Click on any of the photos to see them full-size against black.

EXIF: 50mm : Av Mode : Canon EOS 5D Mark II : Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4