landscape | alan frost photography

When mono doesn’t always work

Although I largely take black and white photographs there are occasions when I will convert a colour RAW file to mono, only to think that the image looks much better in colour. Stripping out colour can eliminate unwanted distractions in a picture, but equally the colours and harmony of these tones can be at the very heart of the image, so why remove them? As I always shoot in RAW I have a digital negative which contains all the colour data, so it gives me the option of a straight mono conversion or working in colour, whichever I think is the best treatment for the image.

During my recent trip to the Lake District there were two shots I really liked and whilst one is fine in black and white, I much prefer the colour version.

Here are both versions by way of comparison –

and now for the colour version –

Trees at Elterwater in Langdale

I didn’t even consider converting the next shot to monochrome….the colours in the image are just too important in my opinion and make the shot. The warm tones of the foreground contrasting well with the cooler tones in the middle and far distance. These would be lost in a black and white conversion.

Looking towards Watson’s Dodd
taken near to the road from Keswick to Thirlemere

This has though made me think. Am I too restrictive in my choice of shot? Should I consider taking more colour images and not be trying to see the world in shades of grey? Surely there is room for both mediums. There can only be a handful of black and white photographers who never shoot in colour. Similarly most photographers who predominately shoot in colour will occasionally take a black and white picture. At the end of the day this is purely a hobby for me, and therefore it’s all about the ‘taking and making’ of images which give me pleasure but hopefully might please others as well. Whether they are black and white or colour doesn’t really matter. After all it’s simply a matter of personal preference and interpretation.

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Lake District 121 – camera technique at Wasdale Head

On the first morning of my 121 workshop with Paul Gallagher in The Lake District, Paul was keen to establish my camera technique and the typical settings I used. He was not familiar with the Olympus OMD EM5, as he used a Nikon D800E for his digital work, although his preferred system of choice is medium format 5 x 4 Ebony film camera which I was to see in all it’s glory a few days later.

We decided to drive to Wastwater and Wasdale Head.

Wastwater – looking towards Great Gable

I explained that for landscape work I would use the lowest ISO setting available. In the case of the EM5 this was ISO 200. I would also use Aperture Priority. This way the shutter speed would be automatically selected by the camera. I explained that by using ‘live view’ on the OMD, I would preview the image by showing a ‘shadow and highlights’ warning; flashing blue for underexposed areas and flashing orange for overexposed areas or blown highlights. I would then use the exposure compensation dial to make any adjustments in order to balance the exposure. If the dynamic range of the shot was too great for the camera sensor, then it might require the use of a neutral density graduated filter to balance the exposure of say a bright sky with a dark foreground. I told him I would tend to rely upon the camera’s auto focus, rarely resorting to manual focus.

Believing this was a tried and tested way of taking landscape photographs I was a little taken aback when Paul suggested that it would be much easier to use manual settings for the exposure and to always focus manually. He went on to explain that by setting the aperture to say f11 or f16 to maximise the depth of field, the shutter speed could be adjusted to obtain the optimum exposure setting using the histogram as a guide. He was fully in favour of exposing to the right, but suggested that the histogram should not be right on the point of clipping the highlights, as this would leave no room for finer adjustments when it came to post processing. This made perfect sense to me and the exposure compensation dial would no longer be needed. If the histogram was not acceptable, a quick change to the shutter speed would bring about the desired result.

Looking across Wastwater to the Screes

Manual focusing is very straightforward with the EM5. Again in using live view, the instant the focus ring was turned on the lens, the screen would magnify the area of view by a factor of 5x. The amount of magnification can be changed in the settings menu. Using the arrow keys on the back of the camera it was easy to select an area of the composition where pin sharp focusing was critical. This would normally be a subject in the foreground. Having preselected a small aperture opening the depth of field should ensure that the background at infinity would also be in sharp focus.

With the camera on the tripod I used the 2 second timer function so that I could press the shutter button and eliminate any camera movement which would spoil the image. Further I turned off the in camera Image Stabilisation as this can ‘fight’ the lack of movement of a camera mounted on a tripod and try and ‘compensate’ for movement when none is actually present. Don’t ask me how or why, or for a technical explanation, just turn the IS off if using a tripod.

Paul was less concerned about setting the aperture to the optimum opening for the lens, which in the case of some my lenses would be f5.6, as this would rarely give the desired depth of field. Don’t worry about using a much smaller aperture he said. It’s more important that all parts of the image are in focus, even if the lens was not at its very sharpest aperture setting. Again this advise made perfect sense, so I was already benefitting from his knowledge and expertise and it was still only day one.

With photography over for the day but before heading back to our hotel in Keswick, I visited one of the smallest churches in England – St Olaf in Wasdale Head. This church holds special memories for me and in particular the inscription in the glass of a leaded light window. The words are taken from Psalm 121 and the etching is of Napes Needle on Great Gable. A fitting memorial to all mountaineers and climbers who have visited this beautiful part of the world.

The etching and inscription in St Olaf Church at Wasdale Head

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Lone sheep in Dorset

It has been so wet in the past few months with very little sunshine, so it was a real treat to be in Dorset a few days ago to experience a lovely winter’s day when the sun shone and it cast it’s little bit of magic on the rolling hills of this part of the West Country.

As we drove around the Piddle Valley (great name this!), which lies to the north of the County Town of Dorchester, we came across the view below. Bathed in late afternoon sun, long shadows fell across the ground and the backlit sheep added life and foreground interest to this rather archetypal English landscape.

Nothing more to add, just enjoy the view – I know I did.

Lone sheep

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The first snow of winter

Here on the South Coast of England snow is a relatively rare thing but the weather forecast a few days ago told us of its imminent arrival and on this occasion their prediction came true. On Friday morning the snow started to fall and within the space of a few hours there was a thick blanket of the ‘white cold stuff’ covering the ground. Tempted to venture out, I decided to wait until the following day when the snow would no longer be falling and it would be easier to get around.

The presence of snow offers the black and white photographer so many opportunities. The grey heavy skies, bare winter trees all contrasting with the pure white snow. Whilst a ray of sunshine would not go amiss to boost this contrast even further, in many ways an overcast sky is easier to handle and adds to the atmosphere of the shot.

The images below were all taken with the Olympus EM5 and my new 12 – 35 Panasonic zoom lens which has a constant aperture of f2.8. This is the first time I have been out with this combination. All other ‘gear’ was left at home and I have to say in these cold conditions it was a real benefit to have just one lens on the camera. The thought of switching lenses, not to mention the need to take gloves on and off all the time, made for a more enjoyable walk and photographic experience.

Lone tree

Field of snow and ice

Cow parsley

Skeleton of a tree

Grasses in the snow

Tree in winter

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Photographic books – not new camera gear!

Some time ago I remember reading on Eric Kim’s blog that many aspiring photographers would be better to invest their money in good books on photography as opposed to the latest camera gear. This comment struck a chord with me and whilst I can be accused of spending quite a lot of money on my Olympus Micro 4/3rds system last year, at the same time I have also tried to build up a small collection of books. Some cover camera technique and processing, others photographs of a certain genre, landscape for example, or and perhaps most importantly on the work of people I admire.

One such photographer is Michael Kenna, whose exhibition in London I visited recently. I am all too aware that there are many amateurs (and professionals) who have tried to emulate his style or worse still copy his work – plagarism I think its called, but in the photographic art world he is still seen as a master craftsman, creating superb images which can be enjoyed on so many levels.

I was therefore very fortunate to be given for Christmas his two ‘Retrospective’ books, both of which have been signed by him. I am sure he signed many copies, but for me it makes them rather special having his signiature on the inside.

They are beautifully produced and from what little I know about printing and publishing photographic art books, the ‘plates’ are truly excellent. This makes viewing each book (there are not many words to read) a real pleasure. With 130 plates in each ‘Retrospective’, there are many of his photographs to enjoy, study and learn from. Not so that I can be a ‘Kennabie’, as I think the expression goes, but to try and understand and apply some of the masterful techniques which photographers like Michael Kenna have spent a lifetime perfecting. Incidentally both Retrospective books were very efficiently supplied by the specialist photographic bookshop Beyond Words in Edinburgh, Scotland. My thanks to Bruce Percy who first mentioned this supplier when I was on his ‘Eigg’ workshop last year.

Given my love of black and white and the landscapes of the UK, I was also delighted to be given two other books, one on Wales called Pembrokeshire by David Wilson and the other on Scotland by Craig McMaster entitled Elements – The Landscape of Scotland. Although neither book has been produced to the standard of Kenna’s Retrospectives, they both have superb images which in my view truly capture the atmosphere and mood of both countries. These locations are also easier for me to visit. The chances of me going to Kenna’s Japan for example are almost non existent; so from an aspirational perspective these books make far more personal sense.

I have already greatly enjoyed all four titles. Yes, I acknowledge for different reasons but there is no question there is a lot that can learned by not just looking, but studying the works of the other photographers. Trying to apply these lessons to your own work is more difficult, but the latest camera or peice of kit will in my opinion never point you in the right direction! I will be a regular visitor to these books in the months to come, in the vain hope that given time the quality of my own work will improve as a result.

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