Soft-Light Perfection

I don’t often claim perfection, and if it happens it’s probably by accident, but here is a frame where it all came together. Just a simple country view—a farm in the valleys on the railway between Middlesbrough and Whitby, photographed through the carriage window. But all the elements are right—no dirt on the window, no reflections of interior lights, the POV is square-on to the scene (no fine rotation required), and the composition fell into place, the farm framed neatly in the view. The sun came out—the weather was grey and damp but for a while there was sunshine. And even then, the sun angle was low, so the light had a soft, almost transparent quality that makes everything seem different to the hard light of Australia. This was November 14^th, 2006, on my first England trip, and I was about to see my home town for the first time in 35 years—getting off at the very station the family left from in 1971. Talk about circles in completion—it was something that just had to be. But the November light in England, closing in on winter and the snow, is low and soft, and I can hardly describe it—you have to see it, feel it, to understand. Minor adjustments to colour, contrast and sharpness in Irfanview; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

Magic Hour in Yorkshire

I took this frame in the late afternoon/early evening of a day in November, 2007, from the window of a moving train on the Esk Valley line between Middlesbrough and Whitby. After many grey skies and soft exposures on my 2007 UK trip, the sun finally—momentarily—came out, and I shot as much as I could, The train windows were not the cleanest, and the internal lights reflected in the glass, so I was constantly trying to find an angle to both catch the scene and exclude reflections. This one has an almost painting-like feel: the softness of even the direct light as “golden hour” progresses—note the length of the tree shadow—and the inherent autumn sombreness combining to create an emotionally evocative image. I left Whitby the next morning, going up the coast to Sunderland, and the light and feel of the next batch of shots is completely different. “Magic hour” indeed! (Just a little contrast work, and one click sharp.) Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

Green Valleys in Spring

The hills of South Australia have a seasonal range of colour values, from a green so rich you’d think it was Ireland, in the wet months, to their characteristic yellow-grey in the harshest summer months. Depending on elevation and what sort of season we get, their nature can vary a lot at the same time of year. This is the stud farm at Hope Valley, in the southern hills, photographed on October 9^th, 2022, one of our three consecutive La Nina years. The landscape is still appreciably lush, though spring is well matured and what should be the hot weather is just around the corner. But in these times of strange weather patterns there seem no hard and fast rules any more. This is a medium telephoto shot, framing up the horses in their paddocks against the house on the hill for a very picturesque composition. Contrast, colour and sharpness were adjusted slightly. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.