Tree & Sea—Sunset Perspective

A simple telephoto shot, part of a long sequence documenting sunset on May 2^nd, 2022. Taken from the carpark on Range Road, above the Adelaide plain, the alignment of the sun with the trees and nearby power pylons created some interesting silhouettes. One would not think so many frames of essentially the dame material would create so many aesthetically different choices, but they do! I featured a frame from this shoot once before, quite a way back. Minor adjustments to colour, contrast and sharpness in Irfanview; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

 

Bridge Over a Watercolour Sea

Sometimes the shot just happens, all you have to do is release the shutter. This is one of a series I took on November 23^rd, 2012, from a train heading up the line from Cardiff to the village of Shifnal, during my last main UK trip. I think this is the Severn Estuary, though I confess my geographical sense is a bit turned around on this phase of the trip. No matter, the sun was at just the right angle and the waters were very calm, creating this amazing visual—like a watercolour painting. The overall toning is probably as much to do with some polarising effect of the train window as with the lighting angle, but the result is delightful.Minor adjustments to colour and contrast in Irfanview; and the frame was squared up with fine rotation. Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

Vertiginous View

This is another frame from the set I took at York Minster, England, in November, 2011, on my fourth UK trip (I mistakenly quoted it as my third in a previous post). This was once the tallest building in Europe, some 800 years ago. Everything I said before applies, but this frame, with the skew-off in framing, creates a more vertiginous aspect. The sun came out—that’s the big thing, because so many of my UK trip photos are dominated by grey skies and racing clouds, which, though spectacular in their own right, can get a bit monotonous. Here is proof that blue skies do occur in the British Isles—just now and then! Fuji S5600. Image by Mike.

The Tall Trees

These are Pinus radiata at Kuitpo Forest, south of Adelaide. Kuitpo is farmed timber, and these trees are probably the better part of a hundred years old. The symmetry of the straight trunks struck me with its hint of a vanishing point, while the sun through the pattern they create was irresistible lighting. A simple photo, taken on August 31^st, 2017, on an outing to the woods, but it’s engaging in the sense of ‘you had to be there.’ I can almost smell the pine needles and hear the wind in the tops. Minor adjustments to colour and sharpness in Irfanview; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

Cool in the Valley

Even at high summer, there are places the water continues to flow and the trees remain green. This is the Sturt River flowing through the bottom of Coromandel Valley, South Australia. This shot is dated 21^st of January, 2020—deep in the hot weather. But under the trees, life blooms—the river is filled with life, and the long trail beside the water is a popular walking route. It feels a long way from civilization but the main road is about fifty metres away. This is just a snap shot, taken from a bridge, but the variety of vegetal greens, the reflections on the river, the contrast, all make the image an interesting and well-featured composition. Minor adjustment to colour and contrast only. Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

Nature’s Effortless Drama

I took this shot in November, 2011, during my fourth UK trip. It’s a view over the Sunderland foreshore in thick and hazy weather, one of a series, this one with a fair measure of zoom used. I took a walk when I got into Sunderland (for a conference at the university) after a long journey from Australia, and you can see by how low the sun is that the date is well advanced toward winter. This was probably mid-afternoon but the sun didn’t seem to pass about 25 degrees of elevation at that latitude at that time of year. I did not process this image at all—it speaks for itself. The haze, the sun through cloud, the way the chip exposed on the brighter sky and plunged the land and sea into twilight, are, to me quite perfect in their own right. This is the kind of show nature turns on all the time, and thick weather can deliver images far more dramatic than bright sunshine and sharp shadows. Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

Calm Bay

This is Horseshoe Bay, Victor Harbor, South Australia, photographed on April 16^th, 2019. It’s a simple point and shoot at medium-high telephoto value, from the carpark at the Bluff. This is the trip where I was airing out the Fuji S6500, a very good camera with lovely lens and chip performance. I got some great shots that day, and this one is attractive for its simplicity. There’s enough resolution to see people on the far beach as surely as leaves in the foreground, and the lighting conditions were very nice that day. Just a nice photograph! Minor adjustments in IrfanView. Fuji FinePix S6500. Image by Mike

 

Deceptive Woods

Why deceptive? This image excludes anything man-made: one would be forgiven for thinking I was in the depths of a forest when I took this frame, and that’s somewhat true, as the whole region is heavily forested. But there was a town’s main street just behind me. These trees are above the carpark at Aldgate, in the Adelaide Hills, where a walking trail begins, leading a few kilometres to Mylor. The main road, carrying the weight of through-traffic, is below and behind my POV; sun through trees is a favourite theme and composition of mine. This frame was captured on the 15^th of April, 2017. Some minor adjustments were made: colour was increased a little, and gamma correction was used to pull out mid-tone detail from the otherwise harsh contrast. Image by Mike.

 

River in the Sun

A simple but effective shot, looking into the late afternoon glare of a low sun on a wide sheet of water. This is the view from the north side of the River Tyne, at Tynemouth, in northeastern England. I visited Tynemouth Castle and Priory on the ancient and famous headland where three kings are said to be buried, including Malcolm IV of Scotland. This was the last full day in England of my 2010 trip, being Monday, November 15^th . The conference at the University of Sunderland concluded the previous day, and I took the Monday for a trip up the coast to Tyenmouth by bus, and a ferry ride across to the north. I walked around the castle and priory for hours, had very good fish and chips at a pub called The Turk's Head, on the highstreet opposite the castle frontage, then made my way back to my boarding house in Sunderland as evening gathered. This image is not modified in any way. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Angles and Reflections

 My sense of composition can't resist the effects created by a built environment. Here are reflections in modern plate-glass architecture on a clear sunny day—taken downtown in Adelaide, South Australia on February 23^rd, 2011. I remember being on some errand or other, having the camera with me and being captivated by the angles and lighting conditions the day and structures presented. Cities are sterile places in comparison to the natural world, but filled with the abstraction of human inventiveness and notions of aesthetic appeal, and the engineer and futurist in me can appreciate these things as a form of, yes, abstract art. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Hot Sundown

One would expect this shot to be using a gold filter, but it was taken without any aids at all. It's a high telephoto value on the setting sun, taken off Brighton beach, South Australia, in August, 2007, and it suggests a hot day, a very tropical feeling: it was a cool late afternoon, and after sundown conditions became rapidly chilly. The horizon line is almost exactly horizontal also, which is pretty fair for hand-held shooting. Sharpened only; Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic, telephoto. Image by Mike.

Sun Quadrant

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Shooting into the sun quadrant is always an adventure, as the characteristics of your lens will interact with the lighting angle and any other local conditions to create flash and glare, often intrusive factors but sometimes aesthetically pleasing on their own merits. The prismatic artifacts in the dark area are particularly interesting. This shot was taken at the base of the east breakwater in Whitby, North Yorkshire, UK, in November, 2006, looking toward the west side of the harbour, something of a reflex shot to catch the passers-by in the midst of the glare, and basically see what happened. Sharpened only. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

The Light From Beyond

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Images like this always evoke thoughts of dimensional portals, energy disruptions, gateways between "here" and "there" so popular in SF and fantasy. This is the afternoon sun framed amongst trees on the high slopes of the Adelaide hills, just south of Mount Lofty, in the upper parts of Loftier Gardens, April, 2009. Capturing the sun is one thing, but what the chip makes of the rest of the image is the measure of it. Mid-tones, harsh contrast, lens flare, backlighting, strike-through and silhouette, and a sharp registration of detail as a consequence of the forced minimal aperture, make for a fascinating study of the natural world. Sharpness and colour were enhanced. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Sunglare

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Looking into an extreme lightsource can sometimes give a chip a hernia, and certainly the viewscreen has difficulty interpreting the volume of light, but the image itself can be a remarkable one. Harsh contrast, of course, but still with plenty of information. I took this shot in May 2009 from Carpark 1 of Flinders University, looking from the hills at Bedford Park across to the sea, with the late afternoon sun framed neatly among high cloud, and though much of the foreground area, here cropped out, was essentially black in comparison, there was enough information in mid tone areas elsewhere to make the image interesting and visually representative of the day. Colour and sharpness were enhanced, and fine rotation was used to square up the horizon line. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Ships in the Glare

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It's always worth keeping your neck screwed round and your camera on the window when you're flying, you never know quite what you'll see. If you're in the cheap seats, you get a great view of the wing, and it does interesting things, like completely reconfiguring for approach, with spoilers up and truly impressive flaps down. The wing blocks your view forward so the scenery appears below you, and sometimes it can be amazing. I shot a long series of frames on approach to Singapore on my way home in November 2007, and captured several shots of the merchant fleet lying off the islands, mile after mile of ocean scattered with freighters and tankers, a truly spectacular sight. Add in the sun angle, glare from the sea, and the aerospace interest of the wing, and it makes for an image that would have been science fiction fifty years ago. I didn't bother squaring this one up as the tilt gives a feel for the motion of the aircraft. Sharpened and colour-enhanced only; Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Chivalry in the Hills

This is another frame from the Medieval Fair at Gumeracha in the Adelaide Hills in early May 2009, one of The King's Horses demonstrating ancient equestrian skills and the great Middle Ages sport of jousting. The field set aside for galloping at eachother with sharp objects was at the foot of a steep hill over which the sun was sinking in the afternoon, creating an amazing lighting situation as the viewing area was on the east side. Thus the dark background of hillside in shade, but full backlight on the subjects, resulting in various lensflare effects due both to shooting into the sun quadrant and reflections from polished metal. This frame is medium telephoto and automatic exposure, with the sport setting selected for fastest possible shutter speed. Sharpened and colour-enhanced only; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

Optical Opportunism

Seeing the potential of a shot is the photographer's knack, and seeing this building looming against the sky from the main carpark at Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, in April 2009, offered all sorts of possibilities. First the unusual curved morphology of the building created visual interest, the low angle against a blue sky offered colour, but realising the sun would be reflected from the windows was the cherry on the icing. I took a series of frames in both axes to catch the image at its best, a prerequisite with digital cameras on bright days if only because the light level and relative angle often means you can barely see the camera-back screen to really fine-tune what you're doing shot by shot. The image was sharpened and the colour raised a tad. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Life in the Waters

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Life finds its niche anywhere, and calm waters will always throng with organisms. This simple shot looks into the pond at the Flinders Medical Centre rainforest garden, one of Adelaide's little-known treasures. Plants installed to fill out the ecosystem are complimented by the natural algae that provides food for the many ducks that use the waterway, and a high afternoon lighting angle sets the flare of the sun among the plants that depend on it for life at the base of the food chain. The chip did an excellent job of capturing the background while nestling the sunflare into the organic broth. The picture was sharpened and the colour intensified slightly. December, 2007. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Low Sun and Industry

There's always something engaging about the juxtaposition of the natural world with the pure artifice of human technology, and industrial buildings against the sky are the simplest of such compositions. But an industrial complex with a design aesthetic is not common at all, and the eye is drawn to the composition. These towers appear to be the chimneys from underground furnaces or kilns, at Britain's National Glass Centre, by the river at St Peters, in Sunderland. A rare clear sky framed the low sun of early winter; this would have been mid-afternoon and looking into the south, which tells you how far north Sunderland really is! The chip did an admirable job of balancing the extreme glare with the total silhouette of the towers. Fuji PinePix S5600, automatic. November, 2007. Image by Mike.