Long Exposures

There are many reasons why I love long-exposure photography. It is great as an aid to simplify composition, particularly near water or in the city, for contrasting cloud movement or light trails against a stationary subject, and for the lovely surprises that sometimes creep into the frame while the shutter is open. Above all, however, I’ve grown to love the way that it slows my photography down, giving me plenty of time to appreciate the landscape and to consider composition and the way the light is interacting with the subject of my photos.

For daytime long-exposure photos I use neutral density filters. I have a 10-stop from Lee and a 6-stop from B+W. When stacked, they give 16 stops of light reduction, which allows me to take long exposures of 2mins, 4mins or 8mins, even at midday in bright sunshine.

In the UK and Europe, my favourite seasons for mono landscape photography are autumn and winter. Not only are sunrise and sunset times at a more sensible hour (I get to stay in bed longer), but also I love the changeable weather conditions at these times of year. When the weather is so changeable, there is always a great chance of capturing interesting light to enhance the resulting images.

My office is in Manchester and the city is well known for its fog and mist during the autumn and winter months. Fog and mist can really help to isolate subjects from the background and add a wonderful sense of mystery.

Trees are one of my favourite subjects for photography, and I find that they are at their very best in winter once they have lost their leaves and the delicate yet powerful structure of their branches is revealed.

CHANGEABLE WEATHER
One of the first big breakthroughs that I made with my black & white landscape photography was the realisation that it was a great idea to go out with my camera when changeable or stormy weather was forecast. This is Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong during a monsoon thunderstorm.

GREAT LIGHT
As landscape photographers, we all live for those occasions when the light is so beautiful that it stops us in our tracks. I photographed this lovely display of sunlight breaking through clouds during a road trip along the stunning black volcanic coast of Iceland.

INTO THE SUN
It’s always worth having a go at shooting into the sun. The results can often be unpredictable, but they are always interesting and you never know when you might get something really special. This shot was taken at sunset on the north-west coast near Liverpool.

DRAMA
Sometimes what I look for in my black & white landscape photography is drama rather than beauty. Industrial landscapes lend themselves well to this kind of approach – this photo was taken at dusk at Fiddlers Ferry, a coal-fired power station near my home in Cheshire.

FOG AND MIST
Fog and mist can bring an aura of mystery to photos, especially in black & white. This is the Ponte dell’Accademia, which spans the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy. I was there in October and lucky enough to get misty conditions on several mornings in the early hours before dawn.

SIMPLICITY: WHY IT WORKS

Iceland is a fantastic location for mono landscape photography, with dramatic waterfalls and geysers, the northern lights and black volcanic sand beaches with dramatic cliffs overlooking the North Atlantic ocean. These two photos were taken early one morning on the coast at a place called Vik. I had been in the same spot on top of the cliffs with my camera and tripod since before dawn, photographing the towering basalt sea stacks. I was entranced by the changing light and cloud formations, and by the contrast between the white of the Atlantic rollers and the black basalt sand of the beach.

After a while, I noticed that the composition could be simplified by excluding the nearest sea stack. Moving the camera slightly to the left has emphasised the lovely curved shape of the beach and it’s now a much stronger picture.

Tips & Trick 5:46 AM