It was seven days ago when I put my Canon 5D MkII to the test for the very first time at Seaham Harbour, County Durham (See my recent blog entry here). Today I revisited that same location, and although the weather conditions were similar, there were no big waves, but a much calmer North Sea. Because of this, the pier gate was open to all, so the vantage point I wanted was very much up for grabs. I passed through the open gate an hour before sunrise, giving me ample time to set my gear up to prepare for what would hopefully be a good sunrise at 7.41am. I had an odd feeling as I walked along the first stretch of concrete, bearing in mind the battering this pier received a week ago from those 80 foot waves. There was evidence of more recent waves too, judging by the many pools of saltwater I passed as I walked further along a pier of ageing concrete, peppered with pot-holes galore. These add to the character of Seaham Pier and most definitely give the photographer food for thought when looking to add some foreground interest to the frame. Many a Seascape composition 'Checked out' with good foreground detail, and I was ready to join the list of those like-minded folk who had made the same mental prep's before getting down to work. I wasn't alone on the pier, as I chatted to another photographer for a while before the sun showed up. He too was hoping to pull in some good sunrise shots, so we stood almost side by side, waiting for something to happen. His dog was standing on the edge of the pier, gazing down into the icy water, causing a worrying distraction for his master. Several shouts eventually brought the hound back to safer ground, although it wasn't long before he was off again and looking to engage in more mischief. 'Jasper, come here man, are ya friggin deaf or summat' was the sudden holler, much to my amusement, but the docile mutt never flinched as its eye was transfixed on the waters below, which appeared to be stirring up somewhat, despite the outgoing tide.
More chat followed, covering aspects of photography and social sharing sites like Flikr. He showed me a few of his shots on a mobile phone, which were female models under specialist indoor lighting. Quite impressive they were too. By this time I was kinda wishing I was indoors myself, as my hands were almost numb and the toes were having none of it. The sunrise wasn't too far away, so after 45 minutes of good photo-chat and zero minutes of photography, I reluctantly decided to move on as I was being distracted far too easily for my liking. At this point I took my first real shots, following two or three earlier test efforts. The situation was tailor made for my Lee ND filters, so out they came, along with their filter holder, and immediately the f-stop calculations were being made. I was up and running at last, with no distraction, and the shots were beginning to roll in. A combination of two filters, 0.6 and a 0.9 soft grad were used, stacked in the filter holder, delivering some great shots as cloud colour peaked in front of me. These filters are most definitely 'The doggies danglers' and a must for every serious landscape photographer - expensive, but worth every penny. Balancing exposure between shade and highlights is a very important part of exposure, so the need to introduce Neutral Density Grad's is very often a wise one, resulting in the type of shots shown here.
The sun rose on the horizon at 7.41am, as predicted on my Weather Channel app. I've included three shots here. A pre-sunrise shot, another when the sun appeared, plus a Black and White conversion - hope you like them. At 8.00am I was off Seaham Pier and climbing back into the car. On came the heated leather seat, once again, a regular feature during these cold Winter mornings. And that was it, another job done, another Sunrise outing, another freezing arse - but not for long, he he.
Might be out again tomorrow, some time, some place, putting this fantastic camera through its paces once again. This Canon 24-105mm L series lens is ridiculously sharp, although slight distortion at its widest setting, which is easily corrected with a single mouse click in post-processing. A new era of photography is under way, so let's see what I can pull in with the Canon 5D MkII. Judging by the photo's shown here, it's gonna be a smooth ride. Let's hope so. And on that note I shall bid thee farewell until the next time. Ta ta for now.
Ash
What can I say - I've been AWOL once again and this time it's been longer than ever. My blog page has been put on the back burner over the last few months due to other commitments, but I'm back once again and hopefully it won't be a fleeting visit.
As anticipated, the sky kicked off with some fine colour just before sunrise, so I set to work knowing it wouldn't last too long. It's a game of patience waiting for the swans to take up the ideal position for the composition I wanted. As there was a pair of swans I waited for a gap between the two before hitting the shutter button. When one bird obscures the other it doesn't make for a good photo and I also try to capture them with a side profile or head on, rather than the back of a head. It's a tricky game, it has to be said. I can easily run off a dozen frames before I finally bag a keeper, but it's all part of the fun and the challenge. The swans are at ease with the flashgun and are more bothered about whether they're gonna get fed or not, which they always do. It's the very least I can do when they're willing to pose for the camera, but throwing food to them always attracts a posse of ducks, which I don't want in my shots as they're nothing but a distraction.
Here is a few shots from this morning's visit. Glad I made the effort to lift my arse out of bed today!
