http://www.digitalcameraworld.com OCTOBER 2019 DIGITAL CAMERA^95
ABOVE
HARRIS POOL, SCOTLAND
I have long had a passion for reeds in any
form – but for some reason, I always prefer
them as they near the end of their lives. But
in this truly magical pool, with so much beauty
hidden from view, there lay not simply a pool
of reeds but a multitude of water lilies which
had already turned to rich ambers, lively
yellows and smoky magentas.
With the reeds still green, the entire
ensemble seemed beautifully presented
upon the calm surface of the water. The
cold blue sky contrasted well with the
predominantly warm-coloured lily discs, and
the two cloud reflections contributed to the
blue sky not becoming too flat and monotone.
There were moments when the lightest of
breezes arose and quite literally demolished
the entire scene, but thankfully there was just
enough protection from nearby hills to keep
the wind from spoiling the pool’s serenity.
Many landscape photographers enjoy
introducing a polarising filter; here I did so
to remove a degree of some white-light
reflection from the surfaces of the lilies. The
use of the polarising filter allowed their true
autumn colours to be collectively revealed.
There is often a segment of a landscape
photograph that unsettles the photographer:
it could be compared to a corner of a room
that has never quite ‘worked’. With the big lilystatement in the foreground, the very back
of the image might appear to lose strength,
with the reeds becoming apparently more
compressed due to the lens’s focal length. In
addition, the perspective might also have the
effect of compressing the reeds. I did enjoy
the cyan tone at the top of the image, though.
I chose to stop fussing and get on with it, and
am glad that I did – the breeze soon returned
and this pool of beauty collapsed and fell apart.SETTINGS
LENS 150mm
EXPOSURE 1/30 sec at f/16
FILTER Polariser