1)Jon’sfinalshotat theendofa longyetenjoyabledaydidn’t
workquiteasplanned,butwithmanygoodshotsin thebag
hewasn’tworried.2)Shootinglongexposurewater details to
combatthedappledlightfloodingthescene.C H A L L E N G E 3:
WATERMOVEMENT
Withchallengetwocompleted,theobvious
directionforthethirdwastoheaddownto
thestreamtoshootsomelongexposures.
Notonlyis thisoneofthemostinteresting
aspectsofthelocation,beinglowerdown
and,in places,betterprotectedfromthe
harshsunlight,butwewerealsohopingthat
we’dbeabletoshootwithouthavingtotry
todealwiththedifficultdappledlight.
Wecrossedthestreamat thetopendof
PadleyGorgeusingthewoodenbridgeand
walkeddowntheothersideforaboutten
minutesbeforewecametothenextbridge
down,whichis situatedclosetosomeof
themostinterestingareastoshoot.We
walkedalonga narrowtracktothesideof
thestream,whichwasseverelyerodedin
placesbutstillpassable,untilwefounda
spotthatwelikedthelookof.
Atthisstage,it wasimmediatelyobvious
thatwehadn’tescapedthedappledlight
andthemixofshadowandhighlightswere
goingtomakeshootingflowingwater
a realchallenge.Theproblemwiththis
subjectandbrightpatchesoflightarethat
highlightsin thewaterblowoutandthe
onlywaytorecoverthemis tounderexpose
theimagesoseverelythattheshadowareas
clipandthemidtonesbecomeextremely
dark.Neitheroptionis preferable.
Withthisin mind,I pointedouttoJon
a compositionthatwasn’taswideaswe
werehopingforbutdidcapturemoreof
thescenethangoingforanabstract– an
approachwewouldmovetolater.Forthis
shot,Jonusedhis55mmlensbecause
his21mmwas too wide. When he firstcomposedhisshot,hewaspositioning
thecameralevelwhichin mostsituations
wouldbecorrect,butwiththeextremely
brightbackgroundI suggestedthathetilt
thecameradowntocropjustabovethe
pointwherethewaterflowedovera small
drop.Thiscapturedmuchmoreofthe
foreground,butI explainedhowthiswasn’t
a problembecausetheflowofwatercould
beusedasa lead-in.
Overthecourseof a fewminutes,Jon
firedoffa numberof shotswiththeaimof
capturingonewithlessdappledlighthitting
theforeground.Oncehewashappy,we
decidedto moveontomoreabstractshots
of thewater,andallthisrequiredwasa
swivelof thetripodheadandto recompose
to focusontheflowingwater.Wespotted
a smalldropin thestreamthatcreatedan
interestingshapein theflowingwater,and
withthisscenecomposedJonshotseveral
imagesat differentshutterspeedssohe
couldevaluatehisfavouriteeffectonce
hedownloadedthemto hiscomputer.
Theseshotswerecapturingsomeof the
colourfromtheskyandtreecanopy,which
combinedwiththetexturein thewater,
lookedfantastic.I’dsaythesewereJon’s
mostsophisticatedwaterabstracts.
ThiswasclearlyJon’sfavouritechallenge
andhewasbecomingmoreandmore
experimentalwitheveryshot;hewas
followingtherules,breakingtherulesand
increasinglybeingdrawntodetailswithin
thescenes.Theprevioustwochallenges
werereallycoming into play.“Asalwayswithlandscapephotography,wehad
torespondquicklytothelight– evenif it tookus
offplan.It wascertainlya blessingin disguise,
though,asit allowedJontoexperimentwith
shutterspeedsaswellasdrawingonnewskills
learnedearlierin theday.Thedappledlight
madelifedifficultbutJoncomfortablyhandled
thesituationandadaptedtoeverychallenge
thrownat him.It wasfantastictoseesuchfast
developmentof hisskills,andindeedhis
photographiceye,in sucha shortspaceof time,
simply because he had the time to slow down.”CHALLENGE 3 Pro verdict
WORKSHOPSUMMARY:
Jon Cartledge“I metJamesat thebaseofMam
Torin thePeakDistrictbefore
dawn.Theweatherforecast
promiseda dayofunbroken
sunshineafterdaysofheavyrain,
andasa keenwalkerI wasdelightedbythis
prospect.OnLoseHill,Jamesintroducedmeto
HDR;concentratingoncompositionandtaking
timetosetuptheshotwithattentiontoaccurate
focusandexposure.I useda tripodforthefirst
timetodotheHDRshotsandpanoramas.At
PadleyGorge,weshotHDRagainandspent
timeexploringthewoodlandtocapturedetails.
I learnttheimportanceofplanningandthinking
aboutcomposition.Longexposureshotsofthe
streamwereourfinalchallengeand
concentratingoncompositionandexposure
produced my favourite images of the day.”1 2ThePhoto Workshop
2.5SECONDS 1.3SECONDS 1/6SEC84 DigitalSLR PhotographyJanuar y 2020