Roving-Eye Gallery update and newsletter #15 for March 2022

 

Hello to everyone and thank you to the new subscribers.. welcome aboard!

 

With the latest update just uploaded head to What's New - March 2022 | Roving-Eye.com and you can scroll back month by month for an easy catch up for previous months too!

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With all the wet weather up and down the east coast this summer it sure has been challenging to dodge the “rain bombs” but sometimes the moody skies can give some great opportunities as well since it all can’t be blue sky and sunshine otherwise that’d get boring!

 

To maximise shooting opportunities I turned to other techniques such as classic black and white photography when there was not only a general lack of colour at times but also patterns and contrasts that suit black and white so well so that could be done instead!

 

The other great thing about moody and cloudy weather is that it can generate awesome lighting opportunities when you have such as moving gaps or holes if everything lines up well.

 

So it was for the 2 photos included in this month’s newsletter that are great examples of these points.

 

One late afternoon, following a day of gloom and rain, the area in front of the house began to unexpectedly lighten and glow with the still dark blue/black background of the sky and I didn’t waste a second as I knew exactly the shot I wanted with this scenario and where to head with all haste!

 

I grabbed the Olympus and the newly acquired long and sharp lens, since this shot I had in mind called for a long zoom instead of typical wide angle, and dashed off in the car to the ideal spot to hopefully catch the light if it was to last!

 

As I raced to the location, heart beating fast all the way watching the sky (and the road!) knowing the single gap in the cloud blanket was only going to be a quick one so I could only hope to get set up and shooting while it lasted.

 

The lighting when I got into position could only be described as “bucket list” perfect. The full sun on the gleaming white lighthouse and the newly wet grass with varying layers of ultra dark blue background meant it was off the scale perfect composition with that background making the sea and sky barely distinguishable from each other but with an awesome light band of cloud running across to complete things!

 

Of course being such a popular place you will nearly always find some people milling around and so there was just this single person randomly moving around in my oh-so-perfect scene!

 

While it’s possible to use editing tools such as Photoshop to remove small distractions like that I very much prefer to keep my shots as-is in camera unless I’m really desperate.. so while this person was in-shot I used that time to do a series of shots to think on and hone in on the best zoom level to use and lo and behold the person moved to the other side and it was free and clear!

 

Because I was already warmed up to the task I quickly got my “bucket list” shot in for the few seconds I had in full light and my composition finalised and then the light started to fade.. all in all I had just 2-3 minutes from setup and first shots before the light was gone forever but the “perfect moment” was safely captured and now in my portfolio forever!

 

Not all landscape shooting is as quickly done and over as that of course and so with the 2nd image in this newsletter I was operating on the exact opposite scale.

 

I had the Fuji Medium format on a tripod with filters installed doing a post-dawn time exposure and in full anticipation of the shot I was after and could take my time getting it.

 

In this scenario the colour was subtle but not very powerful so I imagined it as a black and white and with the insane resolution of the Fuji I would be able to pick out every rock crack and crevice sharply contrasting with the waters softened by virtue of the long exposure that the neutral density filters allowed.

 

In case you didn’t know what they were “Neutral Density” filters are effectively sunglasses for your camera.. they come in varying strengths and by virtue of cutting down the light level, but not affecting any colours thus “neutral”, they force the camera into using long shutter speeds to arrive at a given exposure.

 

In short the perfect tool for getting time exposure shots even with lots of light around that would not normally be possible!

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I had this image printed on a metallic finish black and white paper to a substantial 1.2 metres wide and the detail and crispness and contrast is exactly what I was hoping for so I am having it framed and will add this to the growing “fine art” portfolio that I have the Fuji set up to deliver!

 

I will likely skip a month for the next newsletter since I will be heading off on the road over this time so by the next issue at the end of May I will have covered a good stretch of the Murray River hunting for classic riverscape scenes followed almost immediately by a trip to the SW corner of WA where I am aiming to cover a diverse cross section of scenes from inland salt pans, to beach and water colour to soaring forests!

 

I can’t know of course what lighting I will get but rest assured just like the lighthouse scene described above I will be on location with the gear to pounce on any opportunity that comes my way so I can share it with you on my return with fresh gallery updates and the next newsletter!

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Take care and thank you for reading this far and sharing the journey!