Of The North are very straightforward subjects to photograph. As always, the light controls the conditions and the photographer controls exposure. A combination of correctness in both areas can yield a great final image, and although there's no such thing as 'correct' weather, as this is entirely open to interpretation based on the type of efffect you wish to achieve. There's no effects in these images though - they are simple daylight shots with plenty of colour under ideal summer weather conditions. As always, I try to include people in my Angel shots to give a sense of scale - The Angel Of The North rises 70 feet, but to anyone who hasn't seen the sculpure up close they obviously don't know the sheer size of it, hence the addition of people as extra's. I shot this first image from an angle that I previously hadn't attempted - crouching low under bushes in a small wasteland near the perimeter path. An overhang of leaves at the top, and grass sprouting from the bottom, frames the Angel quite nicely. There was a lot of broken cloud which sheltered the sun from the Angel every few seconds, so I had to act sharp and release the shutter precisely as the sun shone through, bringing out the natural rusty colour in my subject.After switching postion to the far side
of the Angel I heard voices nearby. People were walking up the path and into my shot - time to add that sense of scale - My second shot shows what I'm talking about. I waited a while longer, hoping more people would come along and lend themselves to my shots, but no-one showed up. Once again I heard voices and got myself ready for some more photography, but this time I got more than I bargained for. A coach load of German tourists had arrived at the site and within a few seconds the place was flooded with them, but this was no good to me, the shot would have been far too busy with that lot in frame. No thanks. Hoards of camera's were clicking away as I packed up my camera and made my way back to the car park. They seemed to be enjoying their experience so who was I to complain, eh. The 'Jormans' have landed!!!My third shot
was taken later that day when I returned to the site after a brief visit to Newcastle. Once again I waited for human intervention, which came in the shape of a mother with young child. The mother disappeared behind the legs of the Angel, leaving the youngster as an extra in my shot once again - now that's what I call scale! The only filtration used on each shot was a 67mm Circular Polarizer (Hoya Pro-1 Digital), rotated accordingly for maximum effect on the sky. All shots were taken handheld, on 'Shutter Speed Priority' (1/30th), using an ISO setting of 100. My trusty old 7D rig done the necessary once again. Can't be without it these days - it's a breeze to work with!Coming next - Whitley Bay Sunrise - getting to grips with my brand new set of Lee filters.
Cheers, Ash
