last post

It has been an interesting experiment, but I've decided that blogging is not for me. I will continue to post pictures on Flickr (skye-steve) if you want to see what I'm up to. I've been exploring a bit of local woodland recently, so here's a shot from that session:

Pobull Fhinn



Scottish skies are often very dramatic and to make the most of them I often need to use graduated filters to balance the exposure. If you have more than one grad, it's best to switch to manual spot metering. The reading from the bracken is the one that will be used for the actual exposure. A reading is then taken from the brightest bit of sky and if this is 3 stops (3 EV) brighter than the bracken then a 2 or 3 stop grad will be used, depending on how much drama is required in the sky.

Close-up landscapes

Close-up landscapes are a particular favourite of mine and so I'm happy to comment on this one, sent in by Gordon. The water is well-exposed and the chosen shutter speed certainly shows the movement in the water. The water creates an interesting pattern by flowing in various directions, but unfortunately this pattern is rather obscured by the large log. Because of its position the log dominates the picture, and I have to say that I don't find it very interesting. Things like this succeed either because of their texture, which we can't really see too well at this size, or because of their shape, and unfortunately this is not a very interesting shape. I like the stones and greenery at the top right, but it gets a bit messy moving left from there. Simplicity is usually the key to success on a shot like this.

The day before Christmas

When you get unusual conditions like this it can be difficult knowing where to go, so it's nice to have a little database (on the computer or just in your mind) of places that you know will be ideal for certain types of weather or certain lighting conditions. It's only by continually revisiting the same locations that you acquire this sort of information.

reader's image for discussion

Thanks to Gordon for being brave enough to send this one in.

Firstly the things I like about the image. The sky is a good colour and has some nice clouds. I like the fact that the image contains areas of light and shade rather than being uniformly lit all over. The viaduct adds an element of interest to what would otherwise be a rather empty scene.

Now for the bad news! The part of the landscape that is illuminated has very little of interest in it. The lighting does nothing to bring out the texture of the hillside or its shape. The area of shadow is too large - it should not be larger than the sunlit area. The main point of interest (the viaduct) is too far away and rather blends in with the background. The sheep are too small to make a significant contribution to the composition.

Let me see your pictures

I'd like to make this blog more interactive and so I'm inviting everyone to send me a picture (just one a week) to feature and to talk about. We'll give it a try for a few weeks and see how it goes. They can be good, bad or indifferent.

Here's one I took a couple of months ago:

Merry Christmas!