A Different Perspective Can Gather More Photo Opportunities

-
This week we headed north to Berwick for an overnight stop in England's most northern town.  Berwick on Tweed is a wonderful place with a rich history that can be seen in the medieval fortifications that still surround the town.


Seaweed on the beach near the pier in Berwick on Tweed
A beautiful sunset had us heading down to the pier at the mouth of the River Tweed and I decided that a return trip was worth the effort of braving an early start in the biting northerly wind that had air temperatures hovering just above freezing.  However I was rewarded with a stunning sunrise that has me looking for opportunities while the light lasted.
 
I decided to use the Lee 'Big Stopper' 10x ND filter to smooth the sea and let the clouds smudge a little as they scuded across the sky.  While the Nikon D700 was attached to the tripod completing the 2-minute exposures, I started to look for other opportunities with my Fujifilm X100 while I waited.  There was plenty of debris on the beach and then I spotted a piece of seaweed lying in the surf and decided this could make an interesting subject with the pier and lighthouse as a backdrop.
 
There was no way I was lying down on the cold and very wet sand but using the rear screen on the X100 I was able to put the camera on one of my gloves to keep it off the beach and take the shot.  I decided on a shallow depth of field to throw the background out of focus and consentrate the viewers attention on the subject, so selected f4 on the 23mm Fujinon lens and set the camera to Aperture Priority.  I also used a 0.6ND graduate filter to balance the scene. 

Three shots were taken and I was very pleased with the result which shows you can take pictures of the most mundane items if you select an unusual perspective.
 
This is the shot I took with the Nikon, which was a 2 minute exposure.
 
The pier in Berwick - 120s exposure using a Lee 10x ND filter
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ALL IMAGES ARE THE PROPERTY OF MACLEAN PHOTOGRAPHIC AND CANNOT BE USED FOR ANY PURPOSE WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION

If you like what you see on this blog please visit our Facebook page and click 'like'

MORE IMAGES CAN BE VIEWED ON FLICKR AND ON OUR WEBSITE

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

REVIEW: The New Fujinon 2x Converter

-
Image
Yesterday Fujifilm launched the latest edition to the Fujinon XF lens line up, the XF 2X TC WR teleconverter for use with the XF50-140mm f2.8 and XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 zoom lenses.  In April I was invited by Fujifilm to test the new converter and here are my thoughts on this new lens. Before I go into details I need to be upfront about something.  I've never been a fan of 2x converters because the optical quality of the lens is usually affected to a large degree.   I did have a 1.4x and 2x converter for my lenses when I was shooting with Nikon. While the 1.4x converter was regularly attached to my long f2.8 lenses, the 2x converter was probably used about three times in the 18 years I used Nikkor lenses.  I didn't like the results when using the converter so tended to not use it. Anyway back to the X-Series!  The 1.4x Fujinon converter was launched in 2015 and I have been a fan of this diminutive lens attachment on both the 50-140mm and 100-400mm....
Read more

Review: Little and Large - Using a Fujifilm X-T20 for Sport

-
Image
In July 2015 I posted a review of the Fujifilm X-T10 which I tested alongside my X-T1 as a lightweight alternative to the larger and more expensive camera.  So when Fujifilm announced the launch of the X-T20 I was keen to put one to the test.   I took an X-T20 along with me to the FIA World Endurance Championship event at Spa-Francorchamps and also shot the TCR International Series race during the European Le Mans Series event in Monza.  I also took a few shots with it during the recent Water Ski event at Hazelwood Ski Centre last month and these three events really put the X-T20 through its paces. Like the X-T10, the T20 is tiny compared to it's bigger brother.  Even with the battery grip removed from the T2,  the picture above shows the larger camera dwarfing the X-T20.   Now this can be seen as a good thing if you are traveling and need a lightweight camera with a big punch but when using it with long lenses such as the 50-140mm or 100-400m...
Read more

REVIEW: Using Nikon Lenses on a Fuji X Camera

-
Image
I've been using the Fujifilm X-Pro1 for the past month and I haven't enjoyed my photography so much since I bought the Fuji X100 12 months earlier.  The only issue I have with the X-Pro1 is the lack of a long telephoto lens.  The longest lens I have is the 60mm f2.4, which is the equivalent of a 90mm telephoto; it's a great lens but I sometimes wish my Fuji system had a bit more pulling power.   Fuji have provided the X system with a telephoto zoom, the 55-200mm f3.5 / f4.8 R LM OIS and I will be testing this lens next week for three days. I will be showing the results on this blog. However my Nikon kit has one of the best short telephoto zooms in the world, the Nikkor 80-200mm f2.8 AF-D.  I bought this lens brand new in 1996 for £1600.00 and it has been a faithful companion ever since. I've bought and sold plenty of SLRs / DSLRs in the past 18 years but I've never felt the need to upgrade the 80-200mm because it is still optically the best lens I own and it ha...
Read more