Workhorse of the Sea

There is something majestic about ships, and maritime towns always make for interesting shooting locations. I grabbed this shot on November 8^th, 2012, from the deck of the South Shields ferry, crossing the River Tyne on my way back to Roker after an excursion to Tynemouth Castle and Priory. This is a DFDS Seaways vessel preparing to leave in the evening for its overnight run to Amsterdam. It’s fascinating to be able to see into the open vehicle deck. I’ve often wondered what a crossing would be like on such a ship, a marvelous start to a holiday with one’s car in the hold. This frame is fairly unique as, given the exposure rating of the cameras of the day, I had limited ability to control for low light, The evening was coming in fast, and while the chip handled low light beautifully, it couldn’t compensate for motion with reduced exposure time. I shot plenty of frames, but this is the one where it all came together, and wasn’t blurred by motion. Fun memories, I miss those trips! Minor adjustments to colour, contrast and sharpness in Irfanview; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

Holiday Snap

Fishing boats in Whitby Harbour, Yorkshire, England. Such a simple shot, but one so easy to mess up for so many reasons. Note, the vertical pole is parallel to the side of the frame—this is not adjusted, I managed to get the camera actually level for once! There are no passers-by wandering in front of the lens, there’s no ubiquitous garbage can, no bird dipping suddenly into the shot, no sun glaring off a window somewhere. It all came together, probably by accident, but I remember taking my time, being patient, and waiting for the elements to gel. It’s a bit deceptive too, the river is so calm, generating those nice ripply reflections, and the blue sky looks warm, but this was the November of 2007 (during my second UK trip, when I did some field research at a cemetery in Leicester toward my PhD) and the Christmas decorations were already up. Out beyond the breakwaters there was surf running—I got pictures from the west cliff of white waves coming in, the same afternoon. Nearly twenty years ago—but like yesterday in my memories. Minor adjustments to colour, contrast and sharpness in Irfanview; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

Horizontal Composition

Seeing what’s there and taking advantage of it is an element of photography that comes quite automatically. Suiting composition to the things one encounters is part of the art, and I found from the outset that using an automatic camera liberated me from the mechanics of photography itself and allowed me to concentrate on composition as never before. This is the river frontage at Goolwa, South Australia, looking west to the Hindmarsh Island bridge, captured on October 21^st, 2019. The weather was obviously very fare, that cloudless sky really contrasting with the spectacular, broody Southern Ocean skies one often finds down there on the coast. The framing was simple and the lines of the bridge, the water horizon and the structures in the foreground made a series of more or less parallel horizontal lines that demanded a wide composition. Emphasising the width of the material is as simple as cropping top and bottom, and I’ve included the second version. It’s your choice which you prefer! Minor adjustments to contrast, colour 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.

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.

The Art of Accepting What’s There

Every photographer hopes for spectacular lighting conditions and weather that is kind to his or her composition. The plain fact is that we don’t always get those things (I was sunny when I left Adelaide, and the grey skies and rain began at the first stop, Melbourne), and we work with what we have—making a silk purse from a sow’s ear at least some of the time! But when you’ve travelled across the world and have a particular day available for walking out and shooting what’s there, you make what the conditions give you, and with any luck you can come up with something that’s worth looking at. This was my first day in Sunderland in November 2011 (I don’t have accurate dates, I forgot to set date and time when I cleared the flashcard for the trip!), and I would be occupied at the conference at the university from the following day, so this was it—sight seeing, if possible, through mist and drizzle. Well, I went out and walked, and I shot all sorts—Roker Park, Mowbray Park, the Wintergardens, the museum, street scenes, the river, the foreshore. It’s the same outing as my post “Nature’s Effortless Drama,” and one or two others. This is a view over the lower river, looking out into the North Sea. Sunderland is a busy port for shipping, and the river is a highway for trade. This picture has almost the texture of a watercolour, created by a buildup of washes to depict the flat, misty conditions. This is what it looked like, and I recorded the thick, hazy day in all its glory. I think there is aesthetic appeal in this—the starkness, the apparent “hardness” of the day, metaphorical, if you will, of the bulwark of human industriousness against the impersonal forces of nature. A bright, sunny day would give this view a very different emotional context, but here the dreary weather asks the viewer to think more deeply about the scene. Colour and contrast were adjusted slightly in Irfanview. Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

 

A Giant Passing By

Here is an interesting photographic proposition—a twilight image from an unstable platform. Today, with speed-of-light ISO available, it’s not an issue, but back when this was taken, just over 14 years ago, on November 15^th, 2010, ISO was as limited at dpi, and you did your best. I was on the ferry Pride of the Tyne, on the return leg of a trip to Tynemouth Castle and Priory, crossing the wide river at dusk, and the ferry paused to allow a ship to go by on its way out of port, accompanied by the pilot boat. The ship was the Komet III, riding high as if devoid of cargo, and her towering seven-story superstructure seemed disproportionately tall—to this day I can only imagine how such a ship would roll in a heavy seaway! But as a photographer, I got to expose a whole sequence as the ship glided by in the soft evening colours, and this one is the most detailed close-up. Minimal adjustment was required—she was squared up by a little to get the verticals true, then contrast and colour were tweaked. A pleasing image—I’ve often thought the old Fuji chip handles low light conditions very nicely indeed. The same camera is still in action today! Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

The Mighty Murray

Here’s a frame I captured on October 6^th, 2018—almost exactly six years ago. This is the River Murray photographed from an overlook at Tailem Bend, in the hour before sunset. Not quite “golden hour,” the toning of the evening was quite blue, but the majestic sweep of the river, framed in the gum trees, makes an appealing composition, especially against that great, complex skyscape. This seems to be before I got the trick through my head about shading the lens with my cap when shooting anywhere near the sun quadrant of the sky, thus the lens flare in the lower right. It’s endemic to the nature of lenses, but unless lens flare is the theme or object of an image, I must say I’m not a great fan of it in my images. But this is a worthwhile shot, and the lens flare is part f the story. Minor adjustments in Irfanview, including increasing gamma value to pull information out of the shadowed areas. Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike

 

River Frontage

Here’s a deceptively simple image that’s part luck, part skill. A reflex shot—the scene presented itself and I grabbed it—from the window of a train on Tuesday, November 16^th, 2010, on my journey south from Sunderland to London, to head back to Australia. This is maybe 90 minutes after I got the pics of Durham Cathedral through the haze, and several hours before I framed up the neon lighting at Heathrow Airport (see older posts). The train ran through considerable fog, through towns, past great steam-belching power stations, and by the time I was around the latitudes of Birmingham, the weather cleared to sun and blue sky. This is the River Nene, where it flows through Peterborough, and I managed to catch it through a clean patch of window, with the sun angle right for the scene and not to make every speck of dirt on the glass flare. Some adjustments were done—it was squared-up using custom rotation, and the contrast and colour were tweaked just a little. Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

An Ancient Seaway

As so long elapsed prior to posting the last picture, I’ll post two on consecutive days to catch up.

I recorded this image during my expedition to Tynemouth Castle and Priory, Monday, November 15^th, 2010. I had caught the bus north from Sunderland, then taken the ferry across the Tyne and walked out to the headland, where the Medieval ruins are preserved as Scheduled Ancient Monuments. This has been a busy artery of trade since time immemorial, and remains a major maritime town to this day. The weather was perfect, sunny and mild, and the sea and river were perfect rippled reflectors. This view looks directly out into the North Sea, and the lighthouse is at the end of the north breakwater of the river mouth. I remember the day very well, and the photographic record forms a visual diary, with many excellent shots worth a look.

The image was adjustment slightly, gamma value, contrast, saturation and sharpness receiving minor tweaks. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. 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.

A Not-So Hidden Gem

 

This image evokes thoughts of deep forest, of a gorge in pretty inaccessible bush land, or a national park perhaps; but a main road is actually less than thirty metres away, to the left. This is the Sturt River where it flows through Coromandel Valley, parallel with the main street, and constitutes the Coro Linear Park. There is usually water in this stretch, all year round, and the valley stays remarkably green even at the height of summer. This photograph was taken on January 21^st, 2020, during a walk on the park trail before coffee and going on to Belair National Park. No retouching or fine tuning, this is just as it came off the camera. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

A Refuge for Wildlife

 

This peaceful scene of an Australian waterway is just a stone's throw from habitation—just across a road, as it happens. Here is nature in harmony with suburbia: the Onkaparinga River at Old Noarlunga, the highest stretch at which the river is in fact a tidal estuary. Here one finds fish aplenty and birdlife to match: pelicans frequent the area, testimony to the plentiful catch to be had. I took this frame, looking toward the cliffs on the east side of the river, during a family walk around the Noarlunga “Horseshoe” on February 13^th, 2020; nothing fancy in the approach, simply taking advantage of the scenery to compose a pleasing image. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

The Dry Land

Is this the dry heart of Australia? No, this photo was taken in November, 2006, on a domestic shuttle between Adelaide and Melbourne. The watercourse holds enough moisture for life to survive but away from the river the heat and dust rule. The trick with this kind of shot is to see the interesting ground features, frame and shoot before the plane is past them, but from 20, 000 feet the scenery scrolls by slowly enough for the process to become a comfortable one. Sharpened, and colour- and contrast-balanced. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Urban Visitor

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Seagulls penetrate to the heart of London, reminding the viewer that the Thames, so wide and placid and dirty, is in fact a tidal river and that the arm of the sea known as the Thames Estuary is not very far to the east. This bird posed for a telephoto portrait on a (fascinatingly textured) rotted wharf piling on the river frontage near the Tower of London, with the old cruiser HMS Belfast framed as the background, in November, 2007. Sharpened and colour- and contrast-balanced. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Bridge on the Esk

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This is an intensively reworked shot. The original was taken, with plenty of telephoto dialed up, in November, 2006, through a train window (note the marks), looking under the road bridge just inland of Whitby, alongside the River Esk in North Yorkshire. This perspective, framing the historic buildings on the East Cliff, is hard to obtain from anywhere else but the moving train. The image was squared up using fine rotation, then extraneous top and bottom areas were cropped. The softening effect of the window (due to shooting obliquely through it, rather than square-on) was ameliorated by sharpening around 15%, then the contrast and colour were adjusted. The final result is not up to the standard of shooting without that dirty window in front of the lens, but the unusual composition goes a long way to forgiving the shortcomings. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Big Bridge, Small Boat

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This is the lift bridge over the river at Port Adelaide, photographed in summer, 2008. It's almost visually humorous to see a gigantic bridge opened fully to allow through a tiny sailboat on account of the mast being a fraction too tall to pass under the closed bridge! It also nicely contrasts the weight of the industrial construction of the bridge against the relative delicacy of the boat: one built to work solidly through the generations, the other built for speed in a mobile element. The picture was taken from the Hart's Mill Waterfront area, at medium-high telephoto, and was simply a matter of composition, the bright day providing ideal conditions. Sharpened only. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

River Cruising in London

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The Greenwich Reach lends itself to panoramic imagery wonderfully. This shot was cropped from a standard frame, taken in November, 2007, from the shores of the Thames between the Royal College of Music and the Cutty Sark's drydock. The sleek, futuristic Thames Clippers are a usual sight, the tour boats plying up and down this famous, historic river through the heart of one of the world's greatest cities. Technically, composition was the object here: I framed the city and waited for the boat to cruise into just the right place before releasing the shutter. The picture was enhanced in the usual way, sharpened and contrast-balanced. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

High and Dry for the Winter

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These yachts have been taken out of the water to over-winter, among many others at the marina just inland of the Harbour office near the railway station in Whitby, UK. I took this shot as evening was gathering in late November, 2006, and the low sun striking under clouds made long shadows and warm colours. The composition was aesthetically pleasing, though boats are both elegantly streamlined and oddly-shaped to fit the frame. Does one concentrate on the hulls and ignore the masts, or fit the whole thing into the frame against some appropriate background? The sunlight on the buildings on the far side of the river made just such a background and the two yachts balanced each other in the frame. The usual round of minor enhancements were made for publication. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Greenwich Reach

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Supercities of the future are a reality today: one look at Tokyo, Hong Kong, Los Angeles or London confirms that. This is the latter, a long telephoto shot over the river seen from the Royal Observatory on the hill at Greenwich in November 2007, a place from which, in one glance the eye can scan from the Millenium Dome, over Christopher Wren's hospital buildings begun before 1700, to the new organic tower Londeners christened "The Pickle" for its oblate shape. How many cranes can you count? It's always a game, counting tower cranes on the skyline: London will be a nice town if they ever get it finished. Note the "Thames Clipper" at a landing stage on the river.

The image was sharpened and colour-enhanced, and contrast was brought up somewhat, but the most interesting digital modification was rotation. The frame when taken was off-true, the horizon line was down on the left (a symptom of pressing a shutter release on the right of the camera and most often found in either reflex shooting or subject matter whose outline biases the brain's orientation system to its shape, rather than to what's perpendicular. The arc of the river had such an effect.) It was corrected using Irfanview, a very powerful (free) image manipulation program which includes an incremental rotation routine allowing fractions of a degree. I rotated the image one degree to square up the edges of towers to the vertical. This resulted in a matted area, a series of wedges at the edges of the frame where the image has shrunk slightly within its own boundaries to accommodate the rotation without area loss. I cropped inside these wedges, then proceeded as normal. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic, telephoto. Image by Mike.