So I’ve made it to week 4 and for once I’d managed to designate some time for an early morning shoot. The alarm went off at 3.30am but it was almost a non starter with the huge temptation to just roll back over. It’s funny, I’m used to ridiculously early rises often earlier than this for my work and to be honest, although it’s reluctant it’s rarely a problem. But when it’s voluntary and the option of just going back to sleep a real possibility I find it harder to get up. With hardly an open eye I quickly recheck the weather half hoping for it to have changed to wind and rain, for the slightest excuse to justify pulling back up the covers.
But this morning the weather was still 50/50 and I gave myself that boot up the backside to go for it especially as it had been a while and there wouldn’t be much more opportunities with the weather set to change for the worse, which it did and it feels like its still not changed back.
So off I went to an area not too far from my home on the look out for some hazy morning mist or at least soft light. My first stop didn’t look promising with thin cloud looking like it was going to scupper any chance of colour or light for that matter. I moved on to an area I had wanted to visit for a while, passing it regularly on my train. I’d tried on 2 other occasions to find the best way into it to no avail, but this time I had checked google maps and believed I’d found the best way in. On approach to where I could park I had noticed some mist/fog begin to appear above the ground with the cloud starting to clear. From here things started to move quickly so I was out of my car and on my way hoping I would have a clear unhindered route in. I got onto the farm track I had spotted and soon I was beginning to see some colour break through the clouds so I had to quickly set up the camera and begin the look for a pleasing composition. Not so easy when I haven’t visited before, I find there’s always a nagging feeling I’m missing something better just around the corner. This being the main reason why I wholeheartedly believe in scouting and repeatedly returning to locations to learn where the best compositions are so you can go straight there allowing for 100% concentration for each capture. For this visit though it was think fast and move fast to try and capture something worthwhile in these lovely conditions.
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It was at this time I was already wishing I had came straight here. The light was glorious but the cloud was lifting fast and the sun was already starting to burn off that lovely morning mist.
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I tried to settle down and concentrate a little more. I found an area where the farm track swooped towards the mist and the small copse on the hill. I felt there might be something to work with here.
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I liked what I was seeing but the space to the left on the above shot was troublesome so I changed to portrait and moved a little closer and tried to make the overhanging branches frame the copse more evenly. I loved the warm light hitting the foreground tree but I was beginning to feel it was making the image slightly unbalanced. Moving beyond it made for a more symmetrical balanced image although the light had changed and was just ever so slightly cooler with the haze falling back.
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This now felt like a cleaner more polished image, even with the path just clipping the edge of the frame. I now turned around making my way back towards the car but found there was still room for two more shots with some cloud and mist still hanging around behind me.
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The black and white image was taken mostly because for some reason when looking at this wind swept tree I couldn’t help be put in mind of Donald Trumps hair. The colour image was my last shot. With my car about 50yrds to the right of it, this tree sits near the road but from afar the haze and mist was creating enough blur to hide the road from sight. I had to use the Sigma 70-200 for this to bring it closer and isolate it from its surroundings, although a crop was still required as the blue sky was a distraction just above the thinning mist.
Later in the week I took advantage of some still overcast conditions to practice some macro again in the garden, something I’m in desperate need of. Finding a composition that’s appealing still feels secondary in my thoughts with macro but I’m working on changing that instead of just capturing something small and beautiful.
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There was to be one last little flirt with photography on the Sunday when I was at work. Weekends usually mean engineering work and for us that can occasionally mean a bit of waiting around between movements of the trains on site. On this occasion I was going to be on the train through the evening and during sunset in the middle of the countryside. For this reason I had taken along my IR converted D80 and 25mm Zeiss combo just in case there was an opportunity to get out for a wander. That wasn’t to be but there was the odd moment to observe from the cab of some lovely changing light. I’d wished I’d brought along a longer lens for this shot but instead I had to settle for a crop which unfortunately with such small MP capabilities of the D80 it’s not going to be that usable an image.
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The Sony is always with me too and there was an opportunity to capture a possible addition to my Cab With A View series that unfortunately I’ve fallen behind with.
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So that was #MyOrdinaryWeek 4. Can I take this opportunity to thank anyone who has read it and especially anyone who has returned from any of the previous weeks, I hope you have found something interesting within it or any of the others.
I do hope you will return.
Until next week………
