Dawn at Hilton Gravel Pits sssi (17 Oct 2010)

The weather forecast had indicated a clear bright start to the day.  Little or no wind so the chance of mist in the early morning.

I do not possess a tripod yet so hand-held it is (mini-tripod will be taken with me just in case).  Will be using standard kit lens.  The gravel pits at Hilton are an area that I have walked regularly over a number of years, during the summer months I lead a walking group out of the village and we regularly take the route that I intend to walk this morning.  In preparation for this I have taken the camera with me to take a few images that will give me a feel for specific locations within the reserve.  Have only had the camera since June and have undertaken this course to get used to the equipment.  Lighting conditions will be mixed and changing with time.  The image stabilisation within the camera has been turned on to allow me to take hand-held shots down to 1/15th-1/30th with a reasonable outcome.

Forecast for a cold morning so need appropriate clothing.  Although I know the area well it will be necessary to be careful around the water as light will be at a minimum.

On arrival at the old gravel pits the mist had started rising off of the water.  The surrounding trees masked the changes to the sky and light. It was a cold morning, whoever had spent the night fishing must have been freezing.  The break in the trees gave me my first view of the lake and provided a frame for the shot.  The first pinks of the morning sky just appearing over the tree line reflecting in the water.  Need to work out how to expose a shot to record the mist accurately rather than just as a blur.

Pre-dawn fishing

Manual hand-held, resting on fence post

15mm, F11, 1/15th ISO200

Walking to the nature reserve before dawn gave me the opportunity to witness the transformation of the sky from night to day.  The change in colours as the sun rose became spectacular, with gold's almost looking liquid in texture.  Keeping the shutter speed fairly high kept the foreground in silhouette and prevented over exposure of the sky.  The bank of clouds in the east almost looks like a range of hills in the distance, providing a false horizon just below the bottom third line.

Aproaching dawn, Lucas Lane

Manual, hand held

17mm, F4, 1/125th, ISO200

The sun not having risen above the tree line turned the sky golden, reflecting similar colours in the waters surface.  I need a tripod!  I need gloves!  Don't breath near a metal-bodied camera when it's this cold. 

Using the tree line as the horizon allows 2/3rds of the frame for sky, making the most of the colours and cloud that the morning has provided.  There is very little wind resulting in the lake surface being almost like a mirror.  Exposing for the sky allows the use of a relatively small aperture, enhancing the depth of field.

First Light, mist rising

Manual, hand held

18mm, F16, 1/250, ISO200

As the sun rose I stepped back from the shoreline to bring some of the foreground into the shot to act as a frame.  The winch adds to the composition as a reminder that this nature area is actually man-made, the lagoon resulting from many years of gravel extraction.  The increasing light levels increase the strength of the reflections.  The flare around the rising sun was not intended, but I like the effect.



Dawn sun flare

Manual hand held

18mm, F16, 1/250, ISO200

Time to change position.  As I walk through the wood I realise how lucky I am to live near this place, which this morning I have all to myself.  The trees frame the path with both the path and the tree trunks forming lead in lines.  The gold of the sun starting to streak through the trees adds to the atmosphere, enhancing something that would otherwise be fairly ordinary.  Still trying to stick to the rule of thirds, using the waters edge through the trees as the horizon line.

Early morning woodland

Manual hand held

34mm, F8, 1/60th, ISO400

A new waterfront site.  With the sun a little higher the rising mist becomes more evident.  More thought about composition of the shot.  Tree line at 1/3rd, sun through the tree at 1/3rd, good reflection and strong frame with the tree on the bank.  This is one of my favourites from the morning.  Throughout the morning I have struggled to capture the mist over the water accurately - almost there with this one.

Misty morning

Manual, Hand held

15mm, F16, 1/125, ISO200

Took more time to look at the composition in this shot.  Clear use of the rule of thirds with the mushroom itself positioned at the first 1/3 vertical line and the head of the fruit at the junction of the 1^st horizontal and vertical lines.  This was the first of three shots. Used the in camera macro programme to help identify potential setting for the following two.  This programme pushed the ISO to 800 which has allowed a very clear image to be taken.  The result of this is an image that is a lot brighter than the ambient, dawn light that was present.

The aperture is set very large, allowing more light to reach the sensor, but more importantly limiting the depth of field, blurring both foreground and background.

The red of the mushroom and the green of the moss stand out well against the autumnal colours of the leaf litter.

I did consider moving some of the leaf litter, but decided against it. 

This is the image as taken; the only change has been to reduce the size of the file to ease uploading.

Fly agaric

Macro programme, mini tripod

26mm, F4.5, 1/13th, ISO800 



First of 2 fully manual shots.  This Fly agaric was about 12 inches away from the previous shot, very close to the bank of the gravel pit itself - you can just about make out the water through the foliage at the top of the shot.  To cut out the relfection it was necessary to get in very close.

The colours in this image are much closer to those on site.  Early morning, Autumn sun, very gold hue.  Have kept the aperture open to narrow the depth of field.  Chose to use an ISO of 200 to increase detail captured.  As I was using a mini-tripod it was possible to use a longer exposure time to make up for the lower ISO.

The reds, greens and golds make the image look very warm, unlike the close to freezing air temperature that was the case.

Fly agaric, woodland floor

Manual, mini tripod

26mm, F4.5, 1/8th, ISO 200

While I liked certain elements of the previous image I wanted to get more detail of the mushroom itself.  Reduced the height of the tripod, moved in closer and reduced the focal length of the lens.  Have increase the detail of the Fly Agaric and the surrounding leaf litter, but lost some of the balance of the composition. 

Fly agaric, woodland floor ii
Manual, mini tripod
19mm, F4, 1/8th, ISO200

Woodland gravel pit

Manual hand held

26mm, F11, 1/125 ISO400 

Misty Dawn reflected

Manual, hand held

18mm, F11, 1/125, ISO100



Woodland walk

Manual, hand held

14mm, F4, 1/60th, ISO200

Unit 208 - a start

Two themes to be progressed, each to consist of a folio of images and supporting evidence.


Which comes first photos or themes?


Theme 1
Built environment
South Derbyshire Community Buildings.

Intention
The intention is to produce a series of photographs that explore the diversity of community buildings within South Derbyshire.  


Images will reflect the range of building style, attempting to explore how the form of the buildings has been impacted upon by function and place as well as how use has changed through time.

Reason for selection
My interest in this theme has developed as a result of the work that I undertake with communities throughout South Derbyshire.  While my work has a focus on people together with their wants, needs and desires I have often been struck by how focus can change from the people of the community to the buildings that are there to support them.  Does the change in form over time reflect a change in need?


Research / Photographic inspiration
Currently looking at various websites that concentrate on photographing buildings - although many of these concentrate on structures in urban areas rather than more rural location.  Research will be added as seperate blog updates through out the time of the course.

Additional research from textbooks has supported this work.  The following have been particularly useful -

• Photographing Buildings Inside and Out, Norman McGrath.  A lot of older, mainly US images.  Good for detail, perspective and use of light.
• Building with Light, Robert Elwall.  Describes itself as "The International History of Architectural Photography".  A really good place to start.  Images cover a wide range of subject from early images of the 19th centuary to more modern times.  Brief bigraphies of the photographer alongside of the image helps pull things into perspective.  Has been godd at identifying potential photographers to research further.

Equipment
Personal equipment is limited to Olympus Pen EP-1 + kit lens 14-42mm and an additional lens - 40-150mm. 

Tripod

Giotto - MTL9351B + MH5011 Kit

	Material	Aluminium
	Folded Height	71cm
	Min Height	30cm
	Max Height with out centre column	147cm
	Max height with centre column	180cm
	Weight	2.21kg
	Weight Capacity	4kg
	Leg Sections	3

Techniques

Throughout the time on this course I will be looking to develop a range of techniques and understanding supported by additional research that I will be undertaking looking at the work of different photographers.  Using the equipment outlined above I will be looking to develop an undertsanding of:

• Composition - looking at the make up of an image, what can help to make an image appealing, interesting to the viewer.  There are many things that contribute to this and are not unique to photography.  The aim from this is to try and understand ideas / rules that will help me develop my skills.
• Rule of thirds - dividing the image into nine equal parts using two horizontal and two verticle lines.  The rule identifies that it is desirable to place the subject of the picture at the intersection of these lines.  It also adds balance if the overall image is divided using this rule i.e. 1/3rd land, 2/3rds sky with the horizon falling along one of the imaginary third lines.
• Diagonals - the use of diagonals to encourage the viewers' eye to move into the image.
• Framing - using elements within the image to frome the main subject.  At it's simplest this could be using a doorway or arch in a building. 
• Golden Ration - refers to a naturally occuring ratio that is regularly seen in nature.  It has been recognised since early times that images that comform to this are attractive to the viewer.  A typical example can be seen in the spiral of a snail shell.
• Patterns - links with colour and texture.
• Use of light quality
• Recognition that the same view can look vastly different under differing lighting conditions.
• The "Golden time" either just after dawn or before sunset.
• Low light photography
• Depth of field - specifically looking at how the use of different apperture settings impact on the image taken.
• Leading lines - using elements of the composition / image to draw he viewrs iye into the image in a specific way to achieve the desiered rusult.
• Colours and textures - use of colours, blending / contrast to highlight specific elements of the image.
• Tripod use
• Timed shutter release 

Safety considerations

Throughout the course it will be necessary to consider health and safety, both self and others.

As both of my themes are targetting outdoor work this will include:

• An understanding of the expected weather conditions and it's impact on the need for specific clothing and equipment.
• Specific dangers related to the location - ground conditions, water, traffic, people etc.
• Use of equipment  - understand how to use specific elements of kit safely as well as other considerations such as weight etc.
• Aim to minimise impact on the environment and subject.  Location photography should not require damage to the location.

While exploring ideas for theme 2 I had been unable to access the reserve at Willington, South Derbyshire, due to flooding (which will have to feature as a safety issue if I am to take this forward within theme 2). 

However, in spite of this it turned out to be a fortunate trip - at 6pm the light was just changing and lack of access to the reserve gave me time to look at the surrounding area including the bridge across the Trent.

Willington Bridge 3rd October 2010

18mm, ISO 200, F5.6, 1/160th

I took a series of pictures of the bridge as the light changed.  I particularly liked the composition of this photograph - it has not been processed in any way, other than to reduce the size for the blog.  I looked to use the rule of thirds on some of the other images, but the reflections in the river were so clear that placing the horizon at the halfway point actually gave a more pleasing result, however the end of the bridge does fall at one of the third points and this has worked better than other images where this is not the case.

The colour of the stonework appears very true to how I remember it on this occasion. The low sun has given the usually grey looking stone a golden hue.

The image could have been sharper, as you look at the stone work of the bridge the image is a little soft.

Anyway it has reaffirmed that this is an area that I would like to work in as theme 2 develops.


Theme 2
Nature

Intention

To produce a series of photographs that reflect the character of the nature within South Derbyshire and the reserves developed by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust as part of their Transforming the Trent Valley Project.

 Specific focus will be placed upon Hilton Gravel Pits, a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest).

Hilton Gravel Pits, nature reserve

The aim will be to show through photographs the changes that take place as seasons change from Autumn to Winter to highlight the natural world that is accessible to all within a couple of minutes walk of major housing developments.

Reasons

The communities along the A50 have undergone a period of rapid change.  South Derbyshire is one of the fastest growing Districts in England.  The village of Hilton has almost doubled in size over the last 10 years with the development of a huge housing estate that would be at home as a suburb of any of the larger towns and cities of the Midlands.

All of this can be left behind within a matter of minutes; accessing nature reserves that many do not realise are there.  They lack some of the drama of the Peak District, but are difficult to beat for tranquility.

http://www.derbyshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/projects/projects_trent_valley.php

Regular walks of these areas over several years have continually surprised me.  The continually changing scenes, wildlife and tranquility that is so accessible.


Research
Research will be undertaken throughout the term of he course using written text, internet, presentations and general course work.


Equip
The equipment is as identified above for theme 1


Techniques
Techniques are as identified for theme 1

Safety Considerations

For theme 2 all photography work will be outside, including at water based nature reserves.  These reserves have areas of rough paths, water (either deep quarry lakes or large flowing river), woodland and open scrub.  One of the reserves is heavily wooded, the other is open to the elements.


The majority of the photography will be taking place at dawn or dusk during late Autumn or winter.  Weather is a major consideration for either area.  It will be important to pay attention to weather forcasts to ensure that appropriate clothing can be worn.  Specific issues are likely to be keeping warm and dry.

Other considerations are as for theme 1.

Type Body material Metal Lens mount Micro Four Thirds Image Sensor Type 4/3 '' Hi-Speed Live MOS sensor Effective pixels 12.3 Megapixels Filter array Primary colour filter (RGB) Aspect ratio & area 4:3 / 17.3 x 13.0 mm Full resolution 1 Megapixels 183204 Exposure System Modes Programme automatic, i-Auto, Aperture priority, Shutter priority, Manual, Scene Modes Exposure compensation +/- 3 EV ( 1, 1/2, 1/3 steps ) Exposure bracketing 3 frames ( +/- 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, 1 EV steps ) ISO bracketing 3 frames ( 1/3, 2/3, 1 EV steps ) Shutter Speeds Shutter speed range 1/4000 - 60 s Bulb mode 1/4000 - 60 s Up to 30 minutes (selectable longest time in the menu, default: 8 minutes) Sensitivity Auto ISO 200 - 6400 (customisable, default ISO 200 - 1600) Manual ISO 100 - 6400