Where land meets sea

Posted on October 26, 2014 by Rachael

The last few weeks have been hard and blogging has been far from my mind. But I wanted to share this slideshow, which I made for a talk I gave in the summer at the Shed Gallery’s ‘Muse’ exhibition in Lyme Regis. It features a few of my own pictures, but mostly inspirational images by other photographers that I selected from the Gallery, on the theme of my talk, coastal photography. Being a very proud Mummy, I must add that my favourite thing about it is the music, an original score composed and recorded for the talk by my very talented daughter, Maggie Talibart. Not too shabby for thirteen!

Spectra over London

Posted on August 10, 2014 by Rachael

Spectra, by Rioji Ikeda, is one of several art installations in London at present to commemorate the centenary of the start of WW1. Certainly an imposing sight. You don’t have to go into London to see it as it is visible for many miles around. However, if you do want to see it for yourself, you will have to be quick – tonight’s the last night.

Two lights in one day

Posted on May 20, 2014 by Rachael

One day last month, I managed to get out to Chatley Heath during some early morning mist. The forest of towering scots pines looked spooky in the mist so I gave this image an infrared style treatment. By the early afternoon, the mist had burned off and colour returned.

I love going back to familiar locations and discovering how their mood changes with the season and the light.

Fields of gold

Posted on April 14, 2014 by Rachael

Fields of oilseed rape are in full bloom right now.

Oilseed rape is not a subtle crop. Each Spring it blazes out its presence in the English countryside, briefly turning this ‘green and pleasant land’ into something far more extroverted.

I took the opportunity to capture some of its moods twice last week, near Wisley in Surrey and the village of Northchapel in West Sussex. It was interesting how the colour changed with the light, from acid yellow to something far more mellow, with a hint of amber.

The farmer of this field has sown his crop right over one of the many public rights of way that criss-cross the meadows here.

What footpath?

If you are not a fan of swathes of yellow in the countryside, you might be interested in this news item from last year, although after seeing the artist’s impression of how the future of oilseed rape farming could appear, you might feel that yellow is not so bad!

Landscapes by Women

Posted on April 8, 2014 by Rachael

I am delighted to have been accepted into Landscapes by Women, a collective of inspiring photographers with a growing presence in the industry. My fellow members not only have strong portfolios but they also educate, lead tours, inspire through lectures and contribute images and text to prestigious publications here in the UK and beyond. I am honoured to be in their company.

By why Landscapes by Women? In this emancipated age, do we really need a group specifically for women? Landscape photography is a male dominated field. There may be purely practical reasons for this. Issues of personal safety complicate being out alone with expensive kit in remote locations and low light. Although there are many exceptions, generally women take the larger role in raising children. It can be hard to chase the best light when tea has to be made, homework supervised, bedtime stories read. I can’t count the number of times I have watched beautiful light through the window while cooking dinner.
I hasten to add that I wouldn’t have it any other way. I feel privileged to be a mum and consider it the best and most important job I will ever have. But you can see why landscape photography might favour the men.

However, there are more female landscape photographers now than ever before. Landscapes by Women celebrates that fact and aims to ‘show that regardless of any challenges women face, we can bring unique and compelling images’. I would love it if you had time to visit the website and see for yourself. You can also find us on Facebook.

Dartmoor Six

Posted on November 29, 2013 by Rachael

I had fun putting together this set of moody black and white landscapes taken on Dartmoor on New Year’s Day. I hope you like it.

The wonderful Wey

Posted on November 19, 2013 by Rachael

Two more shots from my stroll along my local stretch of the Wey Navigation in Weybridge. The top one is a panorama, stitched from five separate vertical images to make a big 11000 by 7000 (approx) pixel file, which will make a mighty print, if I ever print it. The lower image is the same viewpoint as my moonrise shot last month.

I am now writing for a local website once a week and the second shot featured in my article last week.

An adventure in Dorset, with filters

Posted on November 18, 2013 by Rachael

f11, 30 secs, ISO 100, 24mm, cropped
Lee circ. polariser and Big stopper

Yesterday I had a bit of an adventure. I attended a one day, Lee filters workshop in Portland, Dorset led by Jeremy Walker. I have been thinking about investing in some filters for a while, particularly to try my hand at some long exposure photography, but also to balance my exposures in camera, so I can spend more time out taking photos and less time in front of my computer. When I came across Jeremy’s course online, it seemed the perfect way to learn how to use the filters, and to try before I buy.

f/11, 2 minutes, ISO 800, 28mm
Lee 0.9 pro-glass, big stopper

After an early start and a two and a half hour drive, I found myself tucking into some much needed coffee and meeting Jeremy, Ed (the Managing Director of Lee filters) and Luciana, my fellow student. We were provided with a set of filters for the day and were soon heading off to capture the waves and pebbles on the shore of Portland, Dorset. The weather was inauspicious but, as we quickly learned, with filters you can make a photograph out of the most unpromising conditions.

f/11, 2.5 secs, ISO 100, Lee circ. polariser, 0.9 pro glass

I am mostly a solitary shooter, finding it difficult to concentrate when in company. Add to that learning how to use the Lee filter system, and it is perhaps hardly surprising I did not take nearly as many exposures as I would normally when at the coast. But Jeremy and Ed are good company and they were very patient with my rather fumbling, disorganised approach. I also appreciated all the chocolate!

f11, 45 secs, ISO 400, 28mm, Lee 0.6 ND grad, circ. polariser, 0.9 pro glass

There is something very satisfying about using filters. I think part of the pleasure is that you’re forced to slow down. It takes time to select the right filter(s), set them up and position them (although I expect one becomes much quicker with practice!). I liked taking it slowly, just enjoying the process and the experience. Of course, I also learned a lot and not just how to use the filters. For example, I can now adjust the kelvin value in camera, which was rather fun. I chose to emphasize the blue tint in the light. Well, I like blue!

f/11, 8 secs, ISO 200, 24mm. Lee 0.6 ND grad, 0.9 pro glass

Of course, back at home, I had to convert some images to black and white.

Now I just have to buy some filters and start putting every thing I learned into practice. I leave you with what is possibly my favourite shot from the day. Of course, it’s a blue hour shot, and that’s my favourite time of day, as I have said often enough here. It also breaks rules (look at that horizon in the middle and all that emptyish space) but, as you know by now, I like breaking the rules. We may not have had a sunset, but we made the most of what the weather dished up.

f/11, 30 secs, ISO 200, 24 mm. Lee 0.6 ND grad, 0.9 pro glass

If you are interested in learning about using filters, I heartily recommend Jeremy’s workshops. And no-one is paying me anything to say so!

An autumn stroll at Winkworth

Posted on November 16, 2013 by Rachael

I had a lovely day yesterday in the company of Jenifer Bunnett at Winkworth Arboretum in Surrey. Magical light and location, and a small starburst in keeping with this week’s theme. One of the many wonderful things about Autumn as a landscape photography season is that the sun never gets very high in the sky, making for softer light, longer shadows and the availability of starbursts filtered through leaves.

Starburst – no filter required

Posted on November 11, 2013 by Rachael

I have recently posted a few shots where the sun looks rather like a star. A few people have asked me what filter I have used, either on camera or in processing, so I thought I’d take a post to explain a simple piece of aperture know-how. The sunburst/starburst effect is simply what you get when shooting small points of bright light using f16. No processing, or special filters required.
It works with man-made light as well as the sun. Look at this detail from the London night scape. All the lights have that ‘twinkle’. And, yes, the photograph was taken at f16.

The exact appearance of the burst will vary from lens to lens. My 16-35mm does a particularly nice job, but even the cheapest of kit lenses will do. The London shot was taken in 2009 using the 18-55mm kit lens that came with my very first digital camera, a Canon 400D, and the shot of the Statue of Liberty below was taken using my Fuji X-E1’s kit lens.

Sometimes you can achieve this effect with wider apertures, f14 or even f11 but, to be sure of it, stop that aperture down to f16 or smaller. It only works really well with small points of light. The trick, if you want to achieve this effect with the sun, is to capture it partly eclipsed by an object, the horizon or, as here (taken using yet another lens, my 24-105mm), a tree.