Broken Record.

EdinburghGary

EdinburghGary

Reply not Report
Suspended / Banned
Messages
19,271
Name
Gary
Edit My Images
Yes
Sorry to go on like a broken record, but I need help. Before I had my month or so without using the camera, I was starting to feel disillusioned with Landscapes if I did not have that special light. Unless the sun was making the scene dance, I was getting a feeling that most of my efforts were pointless...

Anyway. I have been hooked again for the last 3 weeks, and every day I feel the urge to go out and shoot. Generally landscapes and scenery, coastal, rolling fields, etc etc. The trouble is, we are getting NO golden light in Edinburgh and surrounding areas just now. Every day for the last week or so has been dull and overcast, to the point where I can't even remotely get turned on by the camera. I just feel flat. The minute I see some light, it's the opposite. I want to be out and shoot in it, I feel everything pops to life and finding a decent shot is so much easier.

I feel like a broken record as I keep repeating myself and banging on about the same old thing, but hang on - there is a difference this time! I want you guys to help me, and we can all help each other too...

I want all of us to go find between 3 and 10 photos each, already posted the forum, by any member, which breaks this stupid rule I am self imposing. I can already think of 1 astonishing photo, but I want to see others :) Strictly landscapes / seascapes!!!

Feel free not to play, and ignore my rant. I just think if we can actually have a look at great non "light critical" shots, it might help those of us who are struggling to shoot on the dull days...

I will reply shortly when I find some rule breaking inspiring shots!!

Gary.
 
EdinburghGary said:
Unless the sun was making the scene dance, I was getting a feeling that most of my efforts were pointless...
Click to expand...

I feel exactly the same, and blame Joe Cornish and other 'pro' landscapers. Before I became aware of and started looking at their work I was quite happy producing flatly lit 'views'.
 
jeangenie:
DSC_2283LR.jpg

Taken from http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=126837

Dejavu
IMG_9576fp.jpg

Taken from http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=127349

Ted:
20090417222729_curved%20river%20small.jpg

Taken from http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=127810

And probably one of the most inspiring images to take advantage of crap weather, is Dave's:
3444958279_e11c243653.jpg

Taken from http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=127325

Just shows, it can be very silly to pigeon hole your "requirements".

:bang:

Gary.
 
I'm not going to play....but I do understand your rant! :) (I'm just not a landscape person)

Like this morning...I woke up, looked out of the window..and there isn't a cloud in the sky! I so want to go out shooting, but have shopping down :(
 
Well thanks for this thread Gary. Any delusion of near adequacy has been well and truly shattered. :'(

:D
Gives me yet more to aspire to though.
 
::Good news gary acording to weather forecasts Edinburgh area is to have lovely weather Tommorow (Sunday) get out there early just in case they are lying.
Dont shout at me if it rains , go to the pub instead.
Guid healthbeer::beer::beer
 
Whatever weather it is outside you should think "Right im going to use this weather to go out and get a fantastic landscape!" I can understand if its literally gray and dead but if its fog, rain, a bit of sun, go out and get a landscape!
 
Landscapes are always there It's just different weather conditions that changes the overall view and if your lucky you'll be in the right place at the right time. Oh and have your camera with you.

Paul
 
Tis a film shot but...

Ilford HP5 400, taken with my OM1 (that i'm almost considering selling and going full EOS... ohh the dilema!)

n707805081_5741458_3353.jpg


and a more digital type version...

P7051488.jpg
 
I had no choice, unfortunately, but to go out shooting these places in the middle of the day. I don't think the images came out too badly, but I do rue the fact I couldn't be there early morning or late afternoon/early evening.

3390054732_db6fabe32f.jpg


3387332175_7f7bd6f65c.jpg


3452557570_49b751f633.jpg
 
Gary I have been wanting to say this to you for a while, but have held back because it may seem a little shock inducing to those who strive to get the best landscapes around. But I think your work was best when you weren't trying so hard. I think the best thing you can do for yourself is relax and don't worry about finding 'golden light'. Just make the most of each day, and what that days weather brings. If you're intent on looking for golden light you might miss other great skies without realising. :)
 
I feel the same as you Gary, Edinburgh has been getting crap weather lately. I don't know about others but the way it's been with me lately is weather is crap on your days off from work or when your at work you see some wonderful light and beautiful skies but your on the wrong damn shift to do anything with it. With my work I can't just stop and setup the camera to take a photo, that would cost me my job. I'll be glad when I retire in 18 months and do what I bloomin well want & when I want.
 
Just because the light isn't "golden" doesn't mean you can't take nice landscape photos.

205192359_xut2K-L.jpg
 
Ok,

Think the term "Golden" was a bad one. I guess what I am trying to describe, is the lack of any decent light. Stewart that is a cracker, and one I have always enjoyed viewing. I would never complain about conditions such as the ones above.

I guess being under this permanent dull, gray detail lacking sheet is getting to me more than anything. There is literally no nice light, the sky is 100% flat and has been all week.

Jo, I hear you and the days of me picking up the camera and just going out, are gone I feel. When I look through my old photos, in particular landscapes, they all had the conditions & light I am now looking for. The difference is I was lucky before, and had not aimed to take photos in those conditions. Now I simply wish I had more of those conditions to enjoy :)

Gary.
 
You probably could't get any duller,grayer or flatter than the light I had this day. I was struggling to see 50m ahead :)

3363192937_7f4635d68f_o.jpg
 
EdinburghGary said:
I am now looking out my patio doors at blotches of blue sky! :D
Click to expand...

That's great. But you will be spending quality time with the missus by the time any decent light comes. You're a landscape photographer... you've been commissioned to produce a book and your latest submission needs to be in first thing in the morning. You can't sit there worrying about the light. Get off your arse and go and take some shots. Use what you've learned and your creativity to produce something for us. You'll be given critique, and if necessary you can reshoot at a later date when conditions are more favourable. But for now, we wanna see some shots. Now go! Shoo! Pee off! :D
 
68lbs said:
That's great. But you will be spending quality time with the missus by the time any decent light comes. You're a landscape photographer... you've been commissioned to produce a book and your latest submission needs to be in first thing in the morning. You can't sit there worrying about the light. Get off your arse and go and take some shots. Use what you've learned and your creativity to produce something for us. You'll be given critique, and if necessary you can reshoot at a later date when conditions are more favourable. But for now, we wanna see some shots. Now go! Shoo! Pee off! :D
Click to expand...


http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=127995 and http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=128017 :D

OK, not great, but still - half a result!

Gary.
 
No reason to moan about the weather today. Lovely weather in Edinburgh at last :clap:
 
Your second post - post #3 on this thread - thank you for the compliment, Gary. :)

I've just been pointed to this thread!

I've said elsewhere I'll post my 'method' later - I've got to work it out again because it was just an experiment which I thought everyone would HATE, :D

Jean
 
stumpybrown said:
You probably could't get any duller,grayer or flatter than the light I had this day. I was struggling to see 50m ahead :)

3363192937_7f4635d68f_o.jpg
Click to expand...
Wandering about the Abbey Craig in that murk was a brave thing to do. Bits of the hill fall down on to the road below on a regular basis. Hope you kept to the paths.
 
I discovered that I shoot more in the winter, or on stormy days - than in the golden light!

469866930_59abf34159_o.jpg

Helena in the Mist

469972285_db81458838_o.jpg

Storm Path

510633567_8d389903dd.jpg

Storm at Loch Linnhe

297275170_f42c13aca8_o.jpg

Hawthorn Dusk

Just a small sample - but often I find that although the golden light looks amazing, the shots I get don't always live up to what I saw. But the Stormy shots always surpass my expectations.

Weird huh? - So get out there in bad light and get shooting.

Overcast skies and a bit of duotoning... who says you can't make Edinburgh shine??
2473013967_5de36cb236.jpg
 
If the sky isn't offering much in the way of interesting subject matter, then I'll just go to town trying some new PP techniques.

I'm also in the habit of taking bracketed exposure of all my landscape shots, so I can usually rustle up some 'pop' with HDR.
 
nigelcampbell said:
I discovered that I shoot more in the winter, or on stormy days - than in the golden light!

469866930_59abf34159_o.jpg

Helena in the Mist

469972285_db81458838_o.jpg

Storm Path

510633567_8d389903dd.jpg

Storm at Loch Linnhe

297275170_f42c13aca8_o.jpg

Hawthorn Dusk

Just a small sample - but often I find that although the golden light looks amazing, the shots I get don't always live up to what I saw. But the Stormy shots always surpass my expectations.

Weird huh? - So get out there in bad light and get shooting.

Overcast skies and a bit of duotoning... who says you can't make Edinburgh shine??
2473013967_5de36cb236.jpg
Click to expand...



I would be happy to shoot in most of the conditions above. It's the flat grey lifeless sky that gets me. No cloud detail, no light shining through, just manky dirty Edinburgh Sea Haar and thick dense gray sheeys of cloud. It does my head in.

Gary.
 
EdinburghGary said:
I would be happy to shoot in most of the conditions above. It's the flat grey lifeless sky that gets me. No cloud detail, no light shining through, just manky dirty Edinburgh Sea Haar and thick dense gray sheeys of cloud. It does my head in.

Gary.
Click to expand...

Ah well in that kind of light I shoot gloomy photos of dead flowers indoors!
529446409_369b81e060_o.jpg


If you're in a grey mood - I say go for it!
 
EdinburghGary said:
ANy examples?
Click to expand...

I'll have a look when I get home. I did take a few 'nothing' shots of St Paul's against a clear sky the other day, which I was about to bin, but then ran through Photomatix and came out quite striking. It was just a plain clear sky, usually a bit bland, city shots work better with some gloom in my opinion :)
 
I find if you have travelled a fair distance to get to your location then you try that little bit harder (imo) to get the most from the scenery in that given time. Plus I feel its great to have pictures of a location in both good and bad weather. But when I am at home and its bad weather I usually just can't be arsed:lol:

DSC_3946.jpg


DSC_3960-Version2.jpg
 
I think that I would prefer dull gray skies to the bright cloudy skies - by which I mean those days when the cloud forms a huge softbox light source with all the exposure issues that that brings.

That shot by Jeangenie -:love:
 
Gary, I'm very much in the same boat as you at the momement; fits and spells of inspiration dotted with bouts of photographer's block. I went for a stroll yesterday while the sun was out and aside from a few texture shots for use as overlays in photoshop, I came away with nothing. The sun was out but it just didn't feel right.

I actually prefer to shoot landscape when it's dull. I find there's more mood and it just suits my style more. Plus, I can never get up early enough for dawn!!:)

Here's are my dull day shots to help you beat the blues... :

Drum-_-post.jpg


The-boathouse.jpg
 
Afraid I've only skimmed the rest of the thread, but I agree that flat grey light is pretty nasty for landscapes... bad weather is fine as long as there's some interest in the sky. However, I find that even on very overcast grey days with little sky detail you still get about 5 minutes of interest just as the sun hits the horizon, and it allows you to shoot right into the light. It's pretty much my favourite conditions for shooting. Some examples from last winter down here in Cornwall, from days when the skies have otherwise been blank (obviously they've pushed to varying degrees in PP to bring out the details and colour):

Gull_Rock_by_HairyToes.jpg


Land_Sea_Sky_IX_by_HairyToes.jpg


Land_Sea_Sky_IV_by_HairyToes.jpg
 
TomB said:
Afraid I've only skimmed the rest of the thread, but I agree that flat grey light is pretty nasty for landscapes... bad weather is fine as long as there's some interest in the sky. However, I find that even on very overcast grey days with little sky detail you still get about 5 minutes of interest just as the sun hits the horizon, and it allows you to shoot right into the light. It's pretty much my favourite conditions for shooting. Some examples from last winter down here in Cornwall, from days when the skies have otherwise been blank (obviously they've pushed to varying degrees in PP to bring out the details and colour):

Gull_Rock_by_HairyToes.jpg


Land_Sea_Sky_IX_by_HairyToes.jpg


Land_Sea_Sky_IV_by_HairyToes.jpg
Click to expand...

Dude I really like them. Some of the best seascapes I've seen. #2 and #3 in particular.
 
TomB said:
Afraid I've only skimmed the rest of the thread, but I agree that flat grey light is pretty nasty for landscapes... bad weather is fine as long as there's some interest in the sky. However, I find that even on very overcast grey days with little sky detail you still get about 5 minutes of interest just as the sun hits the horizon, and it allows you to shoot right into the light. It's pretty much my favourite conditions for shooting. Some examples from last winter down here in Cornwall, from days when the skies have otherwise been blank (obviously they've pushed to varying degrees in PP to bring out the details and colour):

Gull_Rock_by_HairyToes.jpg


Land_Sea_Sky_IX_by_HairyToes.jpg


Land_Sea_Sky_IV_by_HairyToes.jpg
Click to expand...

These definately show what can be done outwith the golden hour! Very nice indeed.

Gary.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top