Rainy City | Weekly Photo #73

Here’s a familiar view of London, grey, dull and pouring with rain. For some, it’s a cue to get indoors to keep dry but for crazy people like me, I think it’s a great time to be wandering the streets with the camera, seeking out some creative photo opportunities.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF23mm F2 | 23mm | 1/250th Second | f/2.8 | ISO200

Before I head out with the camera, I tend to check the forecast so I‘m prepared for weather like this but as they say, you can’t predict the weather and nor it seems could any of my weather apps, as on this particular afternoon, there was no rain forecast, so I wasn’t exactly dressed for the occasion. Although I was lacking a raincoat, the good news was that I had my weather-resistant Fujifilm XT2 and XF23mm lens with me so even though I was going to get wet, my camera would keep on shooting without me having to worry about rain affecting the gear. So, with the rain falling, I set off towards the city to capture a few shots.

I spotted this view as I wandered towards London’s Bank station and although I was already familiar with the composition, the rain-soaked road added an opportunity to be creative and play around with some reflections. As I worked to refine the composition, I had great fun jumping in and out of the road to avoid the busses so it took a few tries and although I was soaked through, I got the shot I was after.

My aim was to use the huge 22 Bishopsgate building as the main focal point and place it on the left hand third. I also wanted to introduce some colour by using the London bus on the right and at the same time, keep the camera close to the ground so that the reflections were prominent in the foreground. As it was quite dark, I was shooting wide open which enabled me to keep the shutter speed up at 1/250th second and keep the ISO down at 200. Keeping the ISO low helped keep the shot clean of too much noise and the wider aperture and shallower depth of field helped keep the raindrops visible in the foreground but soft enough so they didn’t appear too distracting.

Back in Lightroom. I opened up the shadows just a bit on the right-hand side to brighten up the red bus so it stood out a little more. I also introduced some contrast in the foreground to emphasise those reflections and finished off with some tones and grading adjustments.

In between chasing some autumn landscape photos closer to home, I’m back in London for an evening shoot tomorrow so looking forward to seeing what shots I can come away with.

I’ll talk to you next week.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

Late Summer | Weekly Photo #72

London has been my main focus of photography for a number of years now so photographing the natural landscape without an architectural focal point is all a bit new to me. I’m rediscovering nature again and trying to work out the best time to photograph the seasonal changes and seek out local places that have photographic potential is a challenge, to say the least, but one I’m certainly enjoying.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 18mm | 1/50th Second | f/10 | ISO200

Although there’s not much in the way of dramatic landscape locations down here in the relatively flat South-East corner of the UK, there’s still plenty of places for me to explore and take photos. There’s one particular place I’ve visited far more than any other and that’s the Ashdown Forest in Sussex. This beautiful area made up of part heathland and part woodland has an abundance of places to explore and is where I took this photo during a sunrise shoot a few weeks ago.

It took me a couple of trips into the forest before I got the right conditions for the shot I was after and when I did, it all came together with a cracking sunrise and some atmospheric mist across the low-lying ground. It’s not perfect as I had a few challenges, in particular, where to stand to get the best composition. You will probably notice the green fern in the foreground. I could have waded into the heather a little so it wouldn’t feature in the frame but I didn’t want to damage the wildlife (leave it how you found it!). I also would have preferred the sun slightly further away from the right edge of the frame but if I shifted the camera any further to the right, then the brighter area of mist down in the valley would be too close to the left edge. I couldn’t really win and as the sun had already cleared the horizon, time was not on my side and I had to take the shot. Although it’s not technically perfect and I had to compromise somewhat, I still really like the atmospheric mood and gorgeous light in the photo.

I used a wide-angle 10-24mm lens to take this photo and although this gave me lots of depth of field, being so close and focusing on the heather rendered the background soft and out of focus. To get a sharp image from front to back, I had to focus bracket this shot. While using all manual settings (exposure, aperture, ISO, white balance) I took three exposures, the first focused on the foreground, the second towards the middle of the frame and the last focused on the background. Later, in Photoshop, I used the “Auto-blend Layers” option to focus stack the three layers together to create this single image which is sharp from front to back.

It’s great to be out in the natural landscape, relaxing, recharging and keeping active and it doesn’t get much better than on mornings like this when the conditions are just beautiful. With Autumn just about to kick in, I’m looking forward to getting out there with the camera to see what photos I can take and as ever, if I capture anything worth sharing, I’ll post it here soon enough.

Check out a couple of recent blog posts featuring photos taken in the Ashdown Forest.

On Location Photographing Ashdown Forest with the XF23mm F2

Forest Bliss | Weekly Photo #58

Until next time.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

Venetian Light | Weekly Photo #71

This is one of the most famous views in Venice and one I absolutely love. The winding Grand Canal which cuts through the city, lined with those iconic red and white striped mooring poles and architecture that spans a thousand years topped with traditional terracotta tiles. All of this leading to the main focal point of the domes that belong to the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute or known simply as the Salute. Translated to Saint Mary of Health and finished in 1681, this 17th-century church was built as a votive offering to commemorate the end of a terrible outbreak of the plague and needed an astonishing one million wooden piles driven into the ground to support the weight of this ornate stone structure.

“To build a city where it is impossible to build a city is madness in itself, but to build there one of the most elegant and grandest of cities is the madness of genius.”

— Alexander Herzen

Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 39mm | 1/20th Second | f/9 | ISO200

This photo was taken during my second visit to this jewellery box city in October 2018. I took a wider shot of this view from Ponte dell'Accademia with a single gondola on the water which you can find here Weekly Photo 11 | Solitary Gondola and as I said in my previous post, I got a bit lucky with the river traffic as I only had to wait around for 20 minutes before it cleared for a short while, allowing me to snap a few different shots of the city.

It was getting towards the end of the day and at this time of year, from this vantage point, the sun was going down almost directly behind me so the scene I was photographing had some gorgeous defused light falling on it as the sun was slightly obscured by a thin layer of cloud. Although being in October meant it wasn’t as busy as during the summer months, there was still plenty of people on the bridge and with the light levels getting lower, my shutter speed was getting slower and getting a sharp photo handheld was getting tricky. I could have opened up the aperture or cranked up the ISO but to get the best quality and depth of field, I used a small table-top tripod and rested it on the thick wooden rail that lines the bridge so I didn’t have to compromise the photo at all.

In my previous photo, the focal point was the gondola in the foreground but for this photo, it’s the Salute so I zoomed from 18mm to 39mm to bring the domes forward and make them more prominent in the photo. The diagonal line created by the buildings that line the canal on the right-hand side leads the eye in nicely to the Salute and the darker slither of buildings on the left help frame and add balance to the composition.

Considering how busy Venice can get in high season, the lack of river traffic and the cooler diffused light falling onto the buildings gives the photo a sense of quiet making the city seem almost sleepy, so I tried to respect that mood and reduce the contrast and colour saturation in post-processing. I think it worked out pretty well.

Until next week.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

Blending Light in London | Weekly Photo #70

I cannot wait to get back up to St Paul’s Cathedral with my camera again. I love the 360-degree views of the city it provides and no matter how often I go up there, the different times of the year and the changing light conditions mean that there is always a fresh shot to be taken.

Fujifilm X-T30 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1.7 Seconds | f/6.4 | ISO160

I’ve talked about photographing from St Paul’s Cathedral in a couple of previous posts here:

• Western Towers | Weekly Photo #24

• Square Mile | Weekly Photo #59

For this photo, choosing a focal length was easy. I wanted to take it as wide as possible to capture the top of the roof and Western Towers so I used my XF10-24mm wide-angle lens on my Fujifilm X-T30 camera. No tripods are allowed at St Paul’s cathedral so I discreetly used a small table-top tripod I carry in my lightweight kit and rested it between the pillars that surround the Stone Circle to ensure the photo was sharp in these low light conditions.

What I particularly like about this photo is how a potential ordinary, monochromatic photo of the city is brought to life by taking it at just the right time to ensure there is enough ambient light to capture lots of detail in the buildings and sky but late enough for the city lights to add areas of interest and separation into the scene. Some situations will require a technique sometimes called time blending to get an effect like this. You take two photos of the exact same composition but at different times. The first photo to capture a brighter scene with lots of details and the second when it gets darker and the city lights are turned on. The two photos are then later blended in post-production so it shows the lighter scene with the city lights, like the photo here.

Thankfully, I was able to capture all the detail I needed in a single frame and later in post-processing, I focused on emphasising the brighter orange lights and desaturating the strong blue tones across the entire photo, all using the HSL sliders in Adobe Lightroom. There is one thing that bugs me though and that’s the big spotlight near the centre of the image. It’s too dominant and distracts somewhat. I tried toning it down a little but otherwise, I’ll have to accept it as part of the scene I was shooting.

I’m looking forward to getting back up to capture London’s rooftops and have already booked to re-visit the Sky Garden viewing platform next week. Fingers crossed I get a keeper and if so, I’ll be sure to share it here soon enough.

Cheers

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

On Location Photographing Eastbourne Pier and Beachy Head

Photographing Eastbourne Pier

A few weeks ago I decided to drive down to the Sussex Coast for a sunrise shoot at the pier in Eastbourne. I’ve visited the south coast with the camera many times before but this was the first time I’ve taken the camera to Eastbourne to photograph the pier. Personally, I think this is the most photogenic pier along this particular stretch of the southern coastline as despite suffering a fire in 2014, it still has a lot of its original Victorian features and hasn’t been overrun by fair rides and illumination so I was pleased to finally be able to get down there and capture it.

After arriving and finding my first composition, I placed the bigger Fujifilm XT2 camera onto the tripod and took a couple of long exposure photos (I will share one of two of them on my site sometime soon) and used my pocket rocket X-T30 to take some handheld shots as I wandered around seeking out alternative compositions and it’s these photos I have shared below.

In the first couple of photos, I used the wooden groynes that line the beach to help with the composition and lead the eye towards the pier and although there wasn’t much in the way of a pre-sunrise show in the sky, I still really like the cool pastel tones I managed to capture.

As the sun started to rise, I made my way down to the water’s edge, right beside the pier to get a better sense of scale and to use the reflections on the wet sand as some foreground interest.

Photographing Beachy Head

After an hour or so, I was finished with the pier but not finished taking photos so I took a 10-minute drive up to Beachy Head to take a few more photos along the cliff’s edge where I spent some time playing with different compositions of the lighthouse and views out to sea using the Fujifilm X-T30 and 23mm F2 camera and lens combo.

While trying to use some of the wildflowers as foreground interest in the photos I took of the lighthouse, it was pretty obvious that I was too late in the year and most of the plant-life was long gone which means I will make a point of getting back to Beachy Head a little earlier in the year next time so there should be a lot more wildlife to choose from.

It’s posts like this that make having a blog so useful as I’m able to share a collection of photos that tell a better story of the shoot which in my opinion doesn’t work so well on social media. It’s not all about the technical details or techniques I used, it’s just a good way to share a few different shots from a shoot displayed in a way think works best for the photos.

I have a couple of posts lined up from some recent trips back into London which I will share in the next few weeks.

Take care

Trevor

London Light | Weekly Photo #69

I’ve been able to travel into London with the camera a couple of times over the last few weeks and although the city still has a sleepy, quiet undertone to it, it felt great to be up there creating images again. I spent some time wandering London’s streets and along the River Thames and thankfully came home with a few good shots that I’m sure will be shared on this site soon enough. With the pandemic situation heading in the wrong direction for us here in the UK, the shackles are getting tighter and restrictions are increasing so it might not be long before opportunities to photograph London dry up once again, so, I’ll try to get back up there for more socially distanced photo trips as often as I can.

Fujifilm X-T10 | XF35mm F2 | 35mm | 1/600th Second | f/5.6 | ISO200

This is a pre-pandemic photo taken from the roof terrace atop the Garden at 120 on Fenchurch Street which happens to feature in my Top 5 Rooftop Locations to Photograph London.

It was taken while I was in London having an early spring day out with the family exploring London and having dinner. We decided to visit a few rooftop locations where we could grab a drink and take in the views so after visiting the Sky Garden, just down the road, we popped along to the Garden at 120 to have a look around.

As it wasn’t a photo trip, I had with me the since retired Fujifilm X-T10 camera and 35mm F2 prime lens. I now use the X-T30 for such trips which is the same size and form-factor as the X-T10 so it’s a perfect, lightweight combo for trips like this where photography isn’t the priority but if needed, I have the gear to capture a photo if an opportunity such as this presents itself.

It must have been about 3 in the afternoon by the time we arrived up at the roof terrace, but because of the time of year, the sun was still relatively low in the sky providing some nice contrasted light across the rooftops and it’s that light that caught my eye and the little voice in my head said: “take the shot”.

Instead of writing about the photo, I’ve decided to start including an annotated version of the image in some of these posts to help convey my thoughts about the image and what motivated me enough to press the shutter button.

Back in Lightroom, I went to work using the HSL sliders to bring down the blues in the sky and across the scene, allowing the light and warmer tones across the image to take centre stage without the harsh daytime colours taking over.

What do you think of the annotated image? Does it help convey my thoughts and approach when taking the photo? I hope so.

Stay safe everyone and talk to you next week.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

Beachy Head Lighthouse | Weekly Photo #68

I reckon I’m not the only person that does this but when I visit specific locations such as Beachy Head Lighthouse here, I research just a little about it. Not just how to get there, when the best light will be but also why it was built, who built it, how old it is, what stories does it tell. Apart from finding the history of places like this fascinating, it changes how I look at the subject and how I might photograph it.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/15th Second | f/13 | ISO200

Back in 2011, the owners announced they couldn’t afford the £27,000 needed to repaint the Lighthouse and declared it would be left to fade back to a granite grey colour. That would have been the case if it weren’t for a sponsored campaign which raised the funds and had the structure repainted. Read more on Wikipedia here. When I edited this photo, I knew how close lighthouse had come to losing its colour, so, in post-production, I made sure to spend a bit of time focusing on the lighthouse so those fantastic, vibrant colours remained a feature in the final image.

Photographing Beach Head Lighthouse

A few months ago, after checking the low tide times aligned with sunset, a friend and I set off along the rocky beach near Eastbourne in East Sussex to photograph this cracking coastal subject.

For tidal rivers and coastlines, I use an app called My Tide Times which tells me the high and low tide times for a given location. The app is available in both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

After about an hour of dodging rock pools and clambering over boulders, we arrived at the lighthouse and began hunting around for compositions. My intention was to use the reflection of the lighthouse in the pools of water left by the outgoing tide to create some foreground interest but as I wandered around, I found this layered composition with the rocks anchoring the image in the foreground, the pool of water and reflections in the midground and to top it off, a cracking lead-in line taking the eye from the bottom left corner, diagonally across the scene towards the lighthouse.

Along with the trusty Fujifilm XT2 camera, I had both my 18-55mm standard zoom and wide-angle 10-24mm and although the wide-angle would have emphasised the rocks in the foreground, I decided to keep the standard zoom for this shot as a wider angle would have pushed the lighthouse too far into the background for my liking and I didn’t want to confuse what I deemed the main subject of the shot.

Dialling in an aperture of f/13 to keep the rocks in focus, with the camera mounted on the tripod and image composed, I went about taking the photo.

Although the sky could have put on a bigger show, I’m still pretty happy with this photo and in a way, the more subtle colours mean the lighthouse stands out that little bit more.

After an hour or so of shooting, we noticed the tide heading back in and with a long walk back around the beach and up the cliffs, that was our cue to start heading home.

Until next week.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

3 Minutes in London | Weekly Photo #67

One of the reasons I like to take long exposure photos of a cityscape is that not only can it help to simplify a potentially cluttered image by blurring out distractions, but in the right conditions, it can also add a sense of energy, movement and dynamism into a scene and that’s what I think I’ve captured in the photo shown here.

Fujifilm X-T10 | XF10-24mm | 13mm | 180 Seconds | f/9 | ISO200

I took the photo from Tower Bridge in London late one evening in Summer 2017. It was back when the Fujifilm X-T10 was my primary shooter which I used along with the wide-angle XF10-24mm lens to take this photo. I don’t often shoot quite as wide as I’m usually left with lots of distortion in the architecture that lines the river, but I think it works quite well here. The wider field of view allows more of the sky to be included and gives the impression the moving clouds are spreading apart as they get closer to the camera, creating some strong lead-in lines that bring the eye back towards the middle of the frame.

Along with an aperture of f/9 and ISO of 200, I used a 10-stop Formatt-Hitech filter to reduce the light hitting the sensor and stretching the exposure all the way to 3 minutes giving the river a smooth, glass-like look and those streaky clouds in the sky.

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

Church of our Lady | Weekly Photo #66

This is the Dijver Canal in the picturesque city of Bruges, Belgium. Taken from the Wollestraat Bridge, located just along the river from the more popular view of the Dijver Canal as it zig-zags past the pretty Relais Bourgondisch Cruyce Hotel, I took this photo while on a photo walk on a clear summer’s morning in the city.

For a longer read with lots of the photos I took during our weekend in this beautiful city, pop over to my On Location post here: On Location Photographing Bruges.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 17mm | 1/13th Second | f/11 | ISO200

Anyone that has been to Bruges or has seen photos of the city will probably be aware of the popular viewpoint along the canal, right in front of the Relais Bourgondisch Cruyce Hotel but even though I visited the spot during the day, at sunset and sunrise, I couldn’t get a shot I was happy with from where most people stand. The composition didn’t work for me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a pretty scene and popular for good reason but a good view does not necessarily make a good photo. To me, it felt unbalanced, lacked a foreground and the hotel was too dominating in the scene.

I wasn’t defeated. I knew there were some good photos to be had along the river, I just needed to explore, look for compositions that I did like that also reflected my style of photography. I didn’t have to wander for long and before I knew it, I had captured some photos I was happy with. Two of them have already been shared in this Weekly Photo series (see links below) and the third is this image looking along the canal towards the bell tower in the distance belonging to the Church of Our Lady.

As I crossed Wollestraat Bridge, I decided to photograph this charming scene as I liked the balanced composition with the bell tower on the left and the hotel on the right. Both sides of the canal lead the eye nicely into the photo towards the tower and the reflections in the water add some great foreground interest. If I had to change something, I would remove the cars along the left-hand edge of the frame as they are not really in keeping with the rest of the photo, but they are quite small and not overly distracting in my opinion.

Onto the tripod went my Fujifilm XT2 and wide-angle XF10-24mm lens and I went about capturing the photo you can see here.

As mentioned above, this is the third photo of Bruges I’ve shared in this Weekly Photo series from a trip I took back in 2018. You can see the other two photos using the links below.

Wollestraat | Weekly Photo #8

Dijver Canal | Weekly Photo #32

I don’t buy into the opinion that when visiting popular spots serious photographers should avoid taking those postcard shots. In fact, I don’t buy into telling other people what to photograph at all but when I do visit places like this, I’ll often grab the postcard shot first and with that saved to the card, I am free to explore and hunt down other unique compositions. You won’t always get the shot you had spent time planning for, there are too many variables we landscape photographers have to deal with to guarantee a perfect photo but when it doesn’t go to plan, try not to be put off, instead of feeling deflated, take advantage and search for other, unique compositions. You never know, you might come away with something you are much happier with.

Talk to you next week.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

Bankside | Weekly Photo #65

Looking back through my last 64 Weekly Photo posts, I see that I’ve never included a photo of this composition with the Millennium Bridge leading to St Paul’s Cathedral, even though I have photographed it on countless occasions and come away with a few decent shots of it, so, after giving it some thought, I think I now know why I’ve not shared one to date.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 21mm | 71 Seconds | f/10 | ISO200

You’ve probably heard this quote, or a variation of it before: “Perfect is the enemy of good” which is kind of how I feel about photographing this view in London. It is one of the most popular views to photograph and for that reason, there are so many excellent versions of this image out there. Over the years, I’ve repeatedly visited this spot to capture something better, more epic than I have seen so far and the problem with that is the chances of doing so are, in reality, pretty low. I probably visit this spot every other month when I think the conditions look good to shoot in so when you think about it, that’s only 6 times a year. I want to capture a long exposure, similar to this composition, but with a bit more drama. I want the clouds heading towards or away from me to create some strong lead on lines that mirror the bridge. So far this is the closest I have come to getting that shot.

I decided to share this photo as a bit of a lesson for me really. I have been so caught up in trying to capture the photo I envisage in my mind, I have wrongly dismissed some of the other good photos I have taken, so, it serves as a bit of a reminder to me that although the holy grail is to capture the perfect shot at a particular location, I need to appreciate and not dismiss the photos I capture along the way.

I took this photo in July 2019 while walking around Bankside in London. Hoping for some favourable conditions, I headed to this spot in front of the Tate Modern, which provides this great composition of the Millennium Bridge which leads the eye over the River Thames towards St Paul’s Cathedral. For this long exposure shot, I used my Fujifilm XT2, XF18-55mm lens and my Formatt-Hitech 10-stop ND filter. As there was quite a lot of cloud cover, the light from the sun would come and go so I needed to wait for a large enough gap in the clouds to take this shot while the sun was hitting the bridge and dome.

At this time of day, the area is still busy with locals and tourists, especially during the summer months, so, another advantage of using the 10-stop filter and taking a long exposure is it will blur all of the people crossing the bridge out of the image. With my aperture and ISO dialled in (f/10, ISO200) I got a 71-second exposure making it appear that nobody was crossing the bridge while the shot was taken. In reality, there were plenty but luckily no one stopped for a selfie while crossing.

Although I really like this photo, the clouds lack the definition and subsequent drama I was looking for which means I’ll certainly be returning again soon. It’s possible I’ll never get the image I’m looking for, but I guess that’s part of the game we landscape photographers play. We are slaves to the elements and let’s face it, if it was easy, it wouldn’t be worth doing, right?

Until next week.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

London's Burning | Weekly Photo #64

After a couple of weeks away, having a much-needed break from adulting, I’m now back and eager to get out again with my camera. I did manage to venture out a couple of times while on holiday but judging by the photos I’ve seen on social media, it looks like I’ve missed some fantastic misty sunrises as a result of the extremely hot and humid weather the UK has experienced recently. I’ll be heading out this week on the hunt for some misty woodland landscapes, so fingers crossed I get some favourable conditions of my own.

Fujifilm X-T30 | XF35mm F2 | 35mm | 1/20th Second | f/10 | ISO160

This is the third and arguably my favourite photo I’ve shared on the Weekly Photoblog that was taken during the same morning back in January this year. I was travelling light with just my Fujifilm X-T30 and a couple of small prime lenses while photographing along the River Thames and More London.

I’ve said it before that, while I normally carry a heavier backpack with a few lenses, filters and a tripod, etc, I will often ditch the weight and take my ultra-lightweight kit into London as it allows me to stay quick and nimble as I search for new, interesting compositions and you can’t get much smaller and lighter than Fujifilm’s F2 prime lenses.

It was a predominantly cloudy morning during this shoot but after capturing a few blue hour shots of Tower Bridge and HMS Belfast (see the links below) I noticed some warmer light peeking through some gaps in the cloud so as my optimism for a great sunrise increased, so did my pace as I headed to London Bridge to take a shot of this classic composition of HMS Belfast and Tower Bridge. The good thing about taking photographs from London Bridge is that it has a rather wide ledge, making it a perfect platform for my small table-top tripod. In theory, I could have opened up the aperture by a few stops to increase the shutter speed enough to hand-hold the camera but as I had the tripod with me, I could keep the aperture slightly smaller at f/10 to maintain a larger depth of field and a slightly sharper image.

It seemed to come out of no-where but all of a sudden, that small area of light I’d seen as I was walking towards the bridge exploded across the sky like a raging fire. I kid you not, I haven’t enhanced the colour, it really did look like this. Luckily, I had already lined up the shot, ensuring the ship and bridge were dead-centre in the frame as no sooner as I had taken a few landscape and portrait photos, the light disappeared behind a cloud and the fire was out, which was my cue to pack up and head to the office. After a successful morning shoot, I couldn’t wait to see how these photos looked back on the computer.

As the sunrise was so epic, the resulting image was very bright with deep oranges and magentas. These days, I tend to like a more desaturated photo so, in Lightroom, I dialled back the saturation to help tame those bold colours. I didn’t want to take too much away as like I said before, the scene really did look like this and I wanted to stay true to the image I captured. Apart from that and along with some of my usual edits, I used the radial filter to selectively brighten the darkest areas of the image as with so much backlight, the foreground was quite dark. Overall, I’m really pleased with the final shot and I said above, it turned out to be my favourite of the shoot.

If you missed the other two posts from this particular morning, you can find them here:

City Blues | Weekly Photo 34

First Light at More London | Weekly Photo 44.

Until next week.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

Misty Moat | Weekly Photo #63

This is Bodiam Castle, a 14th century castle located in East Sussex. The castle, originally built to fend off the French in case they invaded during the 100 Year War is now owned and managed by the National Trust and a popular tourist attraction here in the UK’s south east.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 11mm | 1/20th Second | f/10 | ISO200

I’ve wanted to photograph Bodiam Castle ever since I first visited these medieval ruins around 15 years ago and given that I live only 60 minutes’ drive away, I’m a little ashamed it’s taken me so long to finally do so. Over the last few years, I’ve been focused on photographing London and only in the past few months have I been venturing around the UK’s south to scratch the photographic itch.

In late May I finally put it right and drove down into East Sussex for a sunrise shoot at Bodiam castle with a fellow photographer. Depending on the conditions, I had two plans lined up for the shoot. If it was cloudy, I would grab the 10-stop filter and capture a long exposure of this view along the bridge that crosses the moat and if the sky was clear, there was a good chance of mist across the water to add the required interest in the scene. As you can see, I was greeted by the latter.

As the sun was rising, I got the tripod out and mounted the Fujifilm XT2 on top. For this shot, I used the wide 10-24 lens to get more of the foreground in and help emphasise the converging lines along the bridge that lead the eye straight to the castle. Just as the sun’s warm light started to catch the side of the castle, I went ahead and captured this shot here.

I’m really pleased with this photo although I can’t help but wonder how it would look as a long exposure image with lots of clouds streaking across the sky. Well, I guess I’ll have to pop back there soon to give it a try. Oh well :-)

Until next week.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

Look Up | Weekly Photo #62

I do love a good look-up shot. Whether it’s an urban, architectural shot like this, the inside of a cathedral’s dome or the tall trees in the middle of a forest, as long as you are surrounded by much taller objects you can capture some fresh, unique photos wherever you are.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1/210th Second | f/4 | ISO200

Not too long ago, I didn’t think much of the “look-up” city shot and I’m sure many of you feel the same but now I love to capture this type of photo when I’m in the city surrounded by these new and impressive high-rise towers. So, what’s changed? Well, after giving it some thought, I think the reason why these photos didn’t appeal to me is that I saw them as a cheap snapshot, an easy photo to take when walking about the city. There was no time needed, no real compositional thought, just point the camera up and take the photo.

In some ways, that’s still true. As long as you are surrounded by tall buildings, the shot is there to take, but after taking quite a few over the last year or so, I now think that to take a half-decent look up shot that is compositionally pleasing to the eye, sharp, well-exposed image, some time and thought needs to be invested into the photo.

I took this photo while photographing around the city earlier this year during a foggy morning in London. After taking a few pictures from across the river, I decided to head into the city to try to capture a look-up photo with the tops of the buildings disappearing into the low clouds. No sooner as I started walking, I noticed the cloud was lifting and by the time I got amongst the high-rise buildings to take my shot, the cloud had lifted to just above the tops of the buildings so the shot I had in mind was no longer on. One for another time then.

I still took the shot, however, as I still liked the way the scene looked even without the low clouds. I used a wide-angle 10-24mm lens at 10mm to get as much of the scene in as possible which also helps to emphasise the many converging lines that run up the buildings. The dull, colourless day gives the image a cool monochromatic look and the subtle reflections in the glass add some more interest in the shot. Finally, I placed the top of the buildings on the right-hand third so that 22 Bishopsgate coming in from the left looked as tall as possible.

When I next come across a foggy London, Ill head into the city and try to capture the image I originally intended but I’m still happy with the photo I came away with.

Until next week.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

Ibiza Town | Weekly Photo #61

This week’s photo was taken a couple of years ago at one of my favourite places in the world. I’ve been going to Ibiza on and off for a few years now and up until just a few days ago, we had a two-week family holiday booked for August but due to the change in government advice and quarantine rules, we had to change our plans and are now heading to the Island of Kos in Greece for a couple of weeks but as I’m going to miss visiting the White Isle this year, I decided to go ahead and share a photo taken in Ibiza.

Fujifilm X-T10 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/60th Second | f/22 | ISO320

This is Ibiza’s Old Town, perched on a hilltop in the south-east of the Island, it is a town of multiple identities as by day, the traditional Spanish streets are quiet and sleepy and by night, the Island’s capital comes alive with bars, music and street performers.

I love Ibiza town and whenever we visit Ibiza Town, we always make a point of visiting Ibiza Castle which is located halfway up the hill. Up there, you’ll be greeted with panoramic views of the town and marina and if you catch it right, you can be there as the sun sets over the horizon just like I did here. Using a small aperture to help capture those sunburst rays, I snapped a few shots as the sun was setting and this was the best of the bunch.

When we travel, we like to get out and explore, so, while we’re in Greece, we will hire a car as usual and get off the beaten track. I’ll be on the lookout for landscape photo opportunities and if I manage to capture any keepers, I will be sure to post a photo or two here in the coming weeks.

Although I am hugely disappointed that we won’t be returning to Ibiza this year (yeah yeah, first world issues), I am looking forward to our trip to Greece as I haven’t been there since before we had kids. I have scheduled a couple of weekly photo posts to be published here while I am away and look forward to writing again when I return.

Until next week.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

Starflyer | Weekly Photo #60

This time of year, I tend to slow down my photography a little as the days are long and there are only so many 3am sunrise shoots I can stomach before my sleep-deprived body says enough is enough but with three months of the year written off already, I’ve been making an effort to get out in the early morning and late evening to capture photos and it’s certainly taking its toll. With the uncertainty of a second wave lingering over us, I keep going because you never know if we might be told to stay home again.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 46mm | 1/12th Second | f/7.1 | ISO200

Despite the late nights traveling home, I love to take sunset photos in London during the summer months. There’s always a great vibe around and the warmer weather makes the whole experience a lot more pleasant.

I took this photo of the London Eye while crossing Waterloo Bridge at sunset. I knew the composition well, but I wanted to capture the Starflyer whilst it was up in the air to help balance the composition and add a bit more life and activity to complement what looks like a party on the boat in the foreground. The Starflyer seemed to take an age to load between each ride and it took me a few attempts to dial in the right settings to capture the right amount of movement as the ride rotated around, so, what I thought would take just a couple of minutes to capture, turned out to be much longer. I did try to take the shot at a longer shutter speed but the swings and chains just blurred out completely, so in order for them to be a feature and show some movement, I ended up going with a shutter speed of 1/12th second.

I think I will revisit this spot when the sun has set and the lights are on as I think capturing the movement of the Starflyer and the London Eye while lit up with a long exposure could look pretty awesome and I don’t think I’ll have to wait too long as slowly but surely London is starting to open its doors once again.

Talk to you next week.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

On Location Photographing Ashdown Forest with the XF23mm F2

A few weeks ago, I ventured out into the forest with my dog, Holly and Fujifilm X-T30 camera. Apart from taking Holly for a nice long walk, I wanted to try out my new Fujifilm XF23mm F2 prime lens I had recently bought to go with my other two 16mm and 35mm prime lenses. This line of Fujifilm prime lenses are fantastic. They are well made, fast focusing, light, and weather-resistant. All bases covered when needing a light-weight walkabout camera kit.

To test the camera, I decided to head into the forest and make a series of photos that told the story of the place I was in, the time of year and the conditions we had. I wasn’t looking for a portfolio worthy photo, I knew the conditions weren't great for some fine are woodland photography such as a recent image I shared here Forest Bliss | Weekly Photo #58. I just wanted to document my walk with Holly, play with a bit of depth of field, and have a bit of fun with the new lens.

I’ve not yet introduced you to Holly so here’s a little bit about her. Holly has been with us since December 2019. We’re not sure what breed she is but she is a rescue dog, brought over from Romania by a charity that looks to rehome dogs away from some quite awful conditions. Holly came to us underweight, riddled with flees and feeling quite sorry for herself but after a visit to the vets, the groomers, and a lot of love from her new family, she has settled in and is now loving her new life with us. Holly will undoubtedly become a regular feature on future posts.

After my walk, I wanted these photos to look like they belonged together. As I mentioned, none of these are portfolio worthy, alone they might look rather average but bringing them together as a sum of multiple parts makes the entire collection stronger in my opinion.

There were a few things I did in Lightroom to make them feel a part of the set. Firstly, I focused on colour and tones. I edited the first image in the set, played with the HSL sliders to get the colours the way I liked such as the deep, summer greens on the ferns, and the rich oranges and purples in the flowers. I then applied the same edits across all of the photos and tweaked each one individually to match the rest of the set. Next, I cropped each one to a square format, again, to help uniform the look of the photos and make them appear to be a part of this set.

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With the sky full of dense cloud, light levels were really poor, especially amongst the trees in the forest so this was a really good test for how my new prime lens coped. Close focusing was a bit of a problem at the widest apertures but its far from a macro lens so that is easily forgiven. That aside, the camera and lens never missed a beat. Across all of the photos, the only setting I changed was the aperture. I set the camera to aperture priority, a target shutter speed of 1/125th second, and auto-ISO was set to a max of 800. I would then tweak the aperture depending on the light and look I was trying to achieve. You can select each image to get a larger view and see the settings that were used for each photo.

I’m pleased with the final collection of photos and hope to share more, presented in a similar way in the future. I would love to hear what you think about picture storytelling, this particular collection, or just to say you like dogs too!

Until next time.

Trevor

Square Mile | Weekly Photo #59

One of my favourite places to take photos of London is from up high amongst the rooftops as I love the unique perspective of the city it can provide. This photo here, taken from St Paul’s Cathedral is probably my favourite of all London’s rooftop views, made even more special by the fact it was taken after sunset during the summer months which is not usually possible and I’ll expand on that a little later.

Like many cities, getting access to rooftop locations can be quite expensive but there are some parts of London that provide rooftop views for free. To help you, I recently wrote a post with My Top 5 Free Rooftop Locations to Photograph London so if you are visiting the city and want to take some rooftop photographs, I recommend checking this post out.

Fujifilm X-T30 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/15th Sec | f/5 | ISO160

For those that don’t know, London is made up of 32 boroughs and 2 cities, one being the City of Westminster and the other being the City of London, also known as the Square Mile (it actually has an area of 1.05 miles but who’s counting?). Located in the Square Mile is St Paul’s Cathedral from where this photo was taken from and London’s first financial district which is the impressive cluster of buildings you can see in the photo.

I also featured this location to shoot from in my previous blog post titled My Top 10 Photography Spots in London

As I alluded to before, the reason this composition of the city during a summer’s sunset is hard to get is that St Paul’s Cathedral usually shuts around 5pm which is way before the best light starts to appear, but during August, the Cathedral opens later on Thursdays, so, if you are lucky enough to be available for just 4 nights each year; you can climb to the top of the Cathedral and capture some fantastic photos of the city.

I took this photo with my small Fujifilm X-T30 and XF18-55mm lens. Whenever I plan a trip to the very top of St Paul’s, experience tells me to pack as light as possible because the Summer Lates can get busy with other photographers and there is very little room up there so I try to avoid a big, bulky backpack and it goes without saying, tripods are a big no-no.

For this shot, the shutter speed was a little slow for handheld, so I rested my camera on the rail with my camera strap around my neck (just in case) and took this shot of the city with the last of the sun’s light reflecting beautifully on the then unfinished 22 Bishopsgate tower.

Unfortunately, St Paul’s will not open later this year due to obvious reasons but when they do, I will be there, in line to capture my favourite view of the city.

Until next time.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

Forest Bliss | Weekly Photo #58

Now for something completely different. No, I’m not talking about Monty Python’s Flying Circus, I’m talking about my photography and what I’ve been shooting over the last few months.

In March, this year, I decided to spend a little less time photographing London and more time photographing closer to home. The first photo I took at the time was of a cluster of trees in Ashdown Forest during a foggy, wet afternoon, which I released back in week 50 of this series. You can check out this photo here: Misty Trees | Weekly Photo 50. This change of direction doesn’t spell the end of my cityscape photography, but more of a shift in focus at a time where being in open space and away from crowds makes a lot more sense. I will, however, be taking trips back into London, I have one planned this week in fact but I will choose my times and locations carefully to make sure I don’t contribute to the problem during these social distancing times.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 55mm | 1.4 Seconds | f/13 | ISO200

In May, lock down rules started to relax and I was able to venture further than the end of my street for the first time in weeks, so with the bag packed and the camera charged, I headed back to the Ashdown Forest in East Sussex late one afternoon to explorer some of the more traditional woodland it has to offer. Although it’s called a forest, much of Ashdown Forest is actually open heath-land. Apparently, the word “Forest” had a different meaning back in the day and was used to describe open or common land with plants and trees, not like today where we associate the word with a large, more dense area of trees.

Anyway, after missing the best of the Spring flowers, I was pleased to find this area of the wooded forest still with plenty of colour created by these Rhododendrons. Woodland photography is still very new for me and looking back, I didn’t really have a clue what I was doing, I just searched for a scene by studying the shapes of the trees, using them to create the stronger compositional lines and used the colour from the fresh green foliage and Rhododendrons to add some interest. Don’t get me wrong, I put a lot of thought into finding a scene I wanted to photograph but I also know that to get really good and take great woodland photos takes a lot of time and patience to understand how to seek out nice compositions and how the elements interact with each other. I wasn’t going to kid myself that a woodland rookie like me could just rock up to a location and take a portfolio image. I should be so lucky.

After I found the scene I wanted to photograph, I set up my Fujifilm XT2 camera and 55-200mm lens, on a slight hill, against a tree (wishing hopelessly it would move out of my way) and began to compose the image. I ended up going with a focal distance of 55mm which could have been achieved with my lighter 18-55 lens but I find when shooting above 40mm, it’s not as sharp and between the two lenses, the 55-200 takes a slightly better photo and has a slightly wider aperture at 55mm. A lot of you will glaze over when talking about gear but I guess the message here is that to get the most out of a photo opportunity, it’s really helpful to know how your camera gear performs and what lens you should be reaching for in any given scenario. Once I found a composition I liked, the sun was just setting and the dappled light which I found very distracting disappeared and I was able to fire off a couple of shots.

Although I really like this final image, I need to be careful that this admiration isn’t driven by novelty which is why I tend to wait a while before sharing my work. I already know there are areas I need to improve such as I need to work harder to adjust my position to arrange the elements a bit more carefully, I need to learn what light works best for the given scene and I also need to ensure I have my circular polarizer filter with me for times I need to cut down the reflective light from the leaves.

I’m excited and energised to see where this shift in direction will take my photography and looking forward to sharing the photos I take along the way.

Talk to you soon.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.

My Top 10 Landscape Photography YouTube Channels

Over the last few years, I’ve drawn so much knowledge from some of the world’s most well-regarded landscape photographers by watching them go about their craft on YouTube. YouTube has become one of the world’s top resources for information about pretty much anything you want to learn. Type in “How do I do this?” or “How do I fix that?” and you can be pretty confident someone has already been there, made the video and posted it on YouTube.

I’ve cultivated a healthy list of great landscape photographers, some will post the occasional video that piques my interest enough to watch it, but there are just a few YouTubers that I subscribe too that I look forward to and for one reason or another, will always try to watch the content they release. I decided to share with you my Top 10 Landscape Photography YouTube Channels.

Before we dive in, do remember to balance watching videos about landscape photography with actually going out and practising it yourself. Try to use the videos you watch to inspire and motivate you and not replace your creative outlet entirely.

In no particular order, here are my Top 10 Landscape Photography YouTube Channels.

#1 Fototripper

Fototripper is a channel run by Gavin Hardcastle, a landscape photographer from the UK, now living in Canada. Gavin is a great landscape photographer, an excellent teacher, and a really funny guy. If you want a great mix of landscape photography and comedy, this is the channel for you.

#2 Henry Turner

Henry is a bit of a rising star in the YouTube/Landscape photography field. Henry is a natural in front of the camera and has an incredibly open and honest approach to the way he goes about making videos and taking photos. Although he doesn’t have the subscriber numbers of some of the big hitters in this list, I’m confident it’s only a matter of time until he does.

#3 Joe Allam

I’ve been watching Joe’s YouTube channel for a few years now and although not strictly a landscape photographer, his usual travel photography includes plenty of natural and urban landscapes. Not only is Joe a fellow Fujifilm shooter, but his videos are always nicely polished and have a nice mix of both travel photography and graphic design content.

#4 Kim Grant

I’m so pleased I was able to include a female landscape photographer in the list as there seems to be a shortage of them out there but make no mistake, Kim makes my list because she is an incredibly talented photographer, an accomplished YouTuber who makes some truly engaging videos covering her photography journey around her native Scotland.

#5 Nigel Danson

Nigel is one of the best landscape photography teachers on YouTube. His videos provide a great mix of on-location photography and studio-based talks and tuition. He is particularly good at examining and critiquing his own work so others can learn the same lessons he does.

#6 Simon Baxter

Simon Baxter has been an inspiration to me since I started to take woodland photography more seriously. I have watched his channel for some time now and he really is the master of seeking out compositions amongst the forests and landscapes and importantly, talking you through the scene, communicating his thought process.

#7 Thomas Heaton

Thomas should not need any introduction. He’s a bit of a superstar amongst the YouTube landscape photography community and for good reason. He has a huge following, an honest and unpretentious manner, and makes fantastic videos from all over the world. Thomas seems to be able to find a photo out of nothing and even when he can’t he is content to come home empty-handed due to his “good shot or not shot” approach.

#8 Andy Mumford

Apart from being a fellow Fujifilm shooter (I know, it’s not all about the gear.. blah blah), Andy is an incredibly talented travel and landscape photographer. Andy frequently visits the Dolomites and his photos and videos created there are both engaging and always polished. Andy doesn’t make videos as regularly as others but when he does, they go straight onto my watch list.

#9 Ben Horne

If you are after a pure photography experience, look no further than Ben Horne. He shoots wilderness photography on large format film at places like Zion and Death Valley National Park. Ben will regularly head out on a trip and document his journey as he seeks new and different compositions and to match his apparent minimalist photography. After the trip, he continues to present some image review photos in his usual chilled out way.

#10 Chris Sale

Last but not least we have Chris Sale. Chris is another up and coming landscape photography YouTuber who predominantly shoots in and around the Lake District. His videos are his own documented journey from amateur to pro landscape photographer and he is very honest about his ups and downs while he navigates his way towards making his business a success.

So that was my list. I’m currently subscribed to 111 photography related YouTube channels and I must admit, I skip many more videos than I watch but having a good selection of channels allows me to watch just the very best shows that peak my interest so you can’t have too many in my opinion. With that in mind, feel free to share your favourite channels in the comments.

Beacon | Weekly Photo #57

A couple of weeks ago, I made my first trip back into London after the lockdown started to ease here in the UK. It was a slightly odd experience as the city was still quiet and void of commuters and overseas tourists. From what I could tell, those that were wandering about, enjoying the gorgeous weather seemed to be mostly made up of locals enjoying this rare and unusual time where they can have the entire city all to themselves.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 1/60th Second | f/10 | ISO200

As I arrived at London Bridge Station, it was still pretty early so I decided to have a wander around the Square Mile with my Fujifilm XT2 camera and FX16mm f2.8 prime lens. So, off I went across London Bridge into the financial district and to quote the famous words of Björk, it was “Oh so quiet!”. If it were a Sunday, I’d think nothing of it as this part of the city is normally quiet on the weekend but on a Monday evening, this area should have been a hive of activity with city workers spilling out of their offices and either heading home or to the local bars and pubs. Snapping the odd pic along the way, I continued to St Paul’s Cathedral, then across the river, past the Tate Modern and arrived back at More London just as the sun was going down. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t thinking too much about making photographs while I walked, I was just soaking up the sunshine and enjoying being back in my favourite city after being away for so long.

On my way back along the river, I noticed The Shard had turned on its blue light in recognition of the NHS and keyworker’s efforts on the front line during the pandemic and it’s then that I decided that if I took just one good photo during this visit to London, it had to be of The Shard, with its blue beacon of light representing the heroes acting as beacons for all of us.

To get the photo I wanted, I had to time it right. I wasn’t necessarily after a night shot but taken too early and the blue light against the blue sky wouldn’t stand out enough so I waited for another 10 to 15 minutes after the sun had set before I took the shot. I chose a composition I know works quite well with the wider 16mm focal length as it takes advantage of the sweeping lines of the rail which leads the viewer around the image to The Shard and up to the light on top.

The biggest challenge I had was the light on the pole in the centre of the frame (I’m sure it has a name). With a well-exposed photo, the light was so bright, it was totally burnt out of the frame and I couldn’t recover any detail at all in post. Knowing this would be an issue, I decided to take a separate, underexposed image and during the editing stage, blended just the light into this frame so it didn’t look like a bright white blob in the centre of the image.

I really like how this image has turned out. The slightly desaturated tones, the strong lead-in lines, the subtle light reflecting on the rail and most importantly, the way this photo is my own small tribute to the heroes that stepped up during these difficult times.

Until next week.

Trevor

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This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.