Digital SLR Photography - UK (2019-07)

CHALLENGE1:

LOOKINGFORLIGHT

Thebesttimetoshootin woodlandis often,

butnotexclusively,aroundsunriseand

sunset,soStephenandI arrangedtomeet

at thewoodsat 5am.Thiswas 30 minutes

beforesunriseandwouldallowenough

timeforustofinda suitablelocationfor

thefirstchallenge,whichwouldtakethe

longestofthethreeasit wasgoingtobeall

aboutwaitingforthelighttoilluminatethe

scenein therightway.

Withclearskieswhenwearrivedand

cloudcoverslowlyincreasingastime

wenton,wewerefairlyoptimisticabout

experiencingfavourableconditions.

Unfortunately,themistwewerehopingfor

wasn’tpresent,whichmeantthatsomeof

theshotsI hadin mindforStephentotry

wouldbeimpossiblebecausetheyrelied

onthesespecificconditions,soweinstead

lookedforshotswheretreesstoodoutfrom

themessybackground.

The 30 minutestosunriseelapsed

quicklyandI explainedtoStephenthateven

thoughthelocationis soflat,it’snotuntil

aftersunrisewhenthesunwouldriseabove

thetreesandprovidethebestlight.Sowe

founda shotthatlookedlikeit wouldwork

andStephensetuphiscamerabyattaching

hisSigma70-200mmf/2.8.I suggested

thatheusethislensbecauseshooting

witha telephotomeansyouhavetostand

furtherawayfromthefocalpointthanyou

wouldwitha wide-angle,andtheresultof

thisis a muchlowerchanceofdistortionin

particularconvergingverticals.

WithhistelezoomattachedStephen

turnedtomeandsaid:“Wehavea problem,

mylenshaslockedup.”Andsureenough,

hisbattle-wornworkhorselenswasn’t

functioningasit should– thelenswouldn’t

focuspasta specificdistance.While

thiscouldbea hugeproblem,I keptmy

concernsto myselfandStephencalmlytried

a fewadjustmentsto getthelensworking

again.And,asis quiteoftenthecasein these

situations,the lens sprung back into action

asunexpectedlyasit stopped.

Stephenimmediatelyattachedhis

cameratohistripodandframedupa shot

withthelonetreestandingoutagainsta

fairlycleanfoliagebackground.Withthe

shotin thebag,wemovedontoanother

spotfacingtheotherdirectionwhere

Stephenidentifieda rowofstraighttrees

thatwouldbeilluminatedbythesunas

soonasit was high enough. When the

Afteranextremelyearlystarttotheday,taking

travellingintoaccount,wewerewelcomedby

calmconditionsandplentyoftimetofindthe

bestviewpointsfortheshotswewerelooking

for.Thelackofmistthrewa smallspannerin the

works,butthiswasquicklyovercomewitha

slightlydifferentfocusandweusedthelightto

ouradvantage.Despitethelackofmistanda

lessthanwillinglens,Stephentookalladvice

onboardandcapturedhisfirstwoodlandshot

thatwastechnicallyspot-onwithnodistortion

or other visual issues – well done!

CHALLENGE 1 Proverdict

1)Stephenframeshisshotin anticipationofbetterlight.

2)Usinga slowshutterspeedcombinedwitha telephoto

lens,a shutterremoteis essential.3)Watchingthelight

fallingonthescene;usingLiveViewis oftenmore

comfortable than looking through the viewfinder.

ThePhoto Workshop

2

1

3

lighthitthetreesStephentooktheshot,

butthefallentreein thescenewasa little

distractingsoI suggestedwemovetothe

leftslightlywherethesunwasalsocreating

a lineoflightontheground.

At thispoint,thecloudcoverhad

increasedsowehadto waitfora break

beforethesunlightcouldhitthetreesand

createthedesiredlineof lightontheground.

Afterabouttenminutesof waitingwegot

theresultwewerelookingfor,andwhenI

askedStephenwhathethoughtof thisstyle

of imagehegavemea blankexpressionthat

said it all – it’s definitely an acquired taste.

66 DigitalSLR PhotographyJuly 2019

NOLIGHT WITHLIGHT