Portrait Competition

I'll admit it - portraits are NOT my cup of tea. I'm not very good at them and I feel awkward asking people to pose, so I tend to take grab shots only and those are tough to compose well.

This week the NYIP photo challenge is offering a free t-shirt and a chance for your image to appear in one of their excellent a educational podcasts, but the theme is... you guessed it.... portraits. Now, with landscapes I would have been straight in there, but I was struggling with portraits. On looking through my portfolio, I found this one that I had completely forgotten about. as i said, I tend to go for grab shots and so, without the planning and preperation that goes with a landscape image, my portraits tend to slip out of my consciousness rapidly. However, I think I did a good job of this one. This is my (at the time) 6 year old daughter practicing on the piano while my parents-in-law listened and enjoyed the candles on the Christmas tree. I tried to make this a timeless image by converting to black and white and hiding the existing noise from the high ISO exposure by adding to it with more, to make it grainy and just that little bit less modern. I used the keyboard as the anchor of the image and as a lead in line . The way the light fell on the keyboard lets the eye be grabbed by a bright band of light taking you to my dughters hands. From there the reflection of the trees candles on the black keye gives an interesting contrast and leads you through the room and past my parents-in-law (in soft focus - and with their backs to us as they contemplate the tree - they are there for mood and context, not to be the subject) and on to the distinctive but out of focus tree. The idea here is that the viewer appreciates my daughter playing piano as the subject, but the context of a tranquil Christmas period is evident from the grandparents standing close together, and the glow from the tree in the dim lighting. The three key elements necessary to tell this story are practically all that is visible, each element is appropriately exposed and there is little else to distract the eye. altogether I think this was very successful - we shall see what the judges at NYIP say... Have a look at the other entries too, some are of an exceptionally high standard when you consider that all of us there are students on a journey from the basics to becoming better photographers.

Just for completeness, here is another image that I "grabbed" at last years festival. Unfortunately I can't enter it in any competitions or sell the image as I don't have a model release form. This is a very pretty girl who could not have looked more pensive. It was about 5pm on the last day of the 2008 Edinburgh Festival and I would bet that she is a dancer in one of the shows (after all she was wearing leg warmers Sherlock) - she looked utterly dejected and alone, possibly sad that the excitement of the last few weeks was coming to an end. I was scanning the milling crowds for a good image and my lens happenned to alight on her just as the sun came out for a few seconds and illuminated her perfectly. I reeled off a couple of snaps so that I would not miss the chance and then was able to wait a few seconds without her noticing me till I was able to get this image with all the people crowded round her but passing her by with their backs to her. This really accentuated the mood and makes the image in my opinion.

If you would like to see anymore of my Fringe Festival images, please have a browse at my PBase Fringe gallery. I wonder what this years will bring.

My conclusion from these two images, my two most successful "portraits", is that a portrait must tell a story or evoke an emotion - I see so many portraits of cute kids and beautiful girls but so often, they are just "record" shots, posed and perfect and essentially boooooringggg. For me a good portrait is almost a foray into photo journalism. We shall see if I have the courage to take the final step into that most risky and scary of all photography genres...

1st August - East lothian and the Borders - St Abbs Head

My 3rd walk in 8 days - it was my turn to come up with a location for a walk so I was delighted when TB said she had never been to St Abbs before. I'd been to the quaint little town but never on the cliff tops. A quick bout of Googling helped me plan a route and get an appreciation for some of the rugged cliffs that could be seen along the way. The route looked fairly flat (which proves just how poor I am at map reading!!!) so I gathered up the big beastie - the 40D plus 3 of my 5 lenses. I was sensible enough to know my limitations however and left the tripod at home.

On this occassion we decided to leave TB's dogs behind - neither of us fancying an exuberant dog louping about at the edge of sea cliffs... In the end I think they would have been fine as the cliff paths are a few meters from the edges and there were only sheep around in one field. We live and learn.

Arriving at St Abbs Nature Reserve car park the first "sight" to see is the coffeee and bun shop, selling the much sought after by Mr MacD, cream teas!! As ever though, I had set off far too late and there was no time to partake - I will have a cream tea on one of these walks, I will!

A gentle slope on a nature trail path along the main road takes you to the start of the walk. From the path I could already to see what was ahead of us - jagged stacks of rocks, sunshine and hay bales. I had a good feeling about this. Walking away from the road and towards the cliffs we wlaked alongside a high wall, simply covered in yellow lichens and dotted with the less serious walkers pointing their point and shoot cameras at the lichen. When you see "non-photographers" grabbing abstract patterns in lichen it is a very promising sign. At the end of the wall there is a breath taking drop to the see and a rocky bay surrounded by cliffs. My thoughts were already turning to dusk, an ND8 filter, 3o second exposures and blurred waves washing across the crescent of boulders framed by the cliffs. There is definately a decent image to be made there, but today wasn't the day, no tripod and the sun too bright and contrasty. So off we set on the "flat walk" up a 300 yards of fairly steep slope to the top of the cliffs and right up close to the jagged rocky stacks and a fantastic view down to picturesque St Abbs. I left the picture taking for this till later counting on a lower sun and less brightness.

Having gained the top it was straight back down again to a rocky bay with some great boulders. With bags of time before the light went we had a wee scramble about omn the rocks before heading onwards - straight back up a hill. sensing that perhaps I had gotten the degree of difficulty of this walk a tad wrong, we passed on climbing up a 50 degree slope to a rocky ridge and wandered round it, along the flat path through the rural countryside. Finally we came to another climb up to the very high cliff tops and what a view greeted us - coves and inlets back to st Abbs, low cliffs past them, sea as far as we could see and yet another lighthouse, my second in 3 days. A slope up to the lighthouse along the cliff tops had us "bravely" trying to out do the other by edging closer to the sheer drop. I think I won by about 50 cm with my 2 meters to the edge but TB certainly looked more confident and may have done better if I had actually told her we were competing. I am told by my friends that I am pathetically competitive.

I snapped a few of the lighthouse and the cliffs but felt that nothing had really grabbed me yet. But as we rounded the headland to Pettico Wyck suddenly we were faced by bird covered giant seas stacks, slate gray in a bright blue see. Time for the wide angle lens, careful not to photograph my feet, TB was able to have a seat and enjoy the view while I scrambled all over the cliff tops looking for a good angle.

Onwards and upwards - actually downwards on this occassion we followed the road down and came across an amazing vista of cliff after cliff receding away into the distance. Now this was the view that needed some attention. Various lenses were tried and some passable images snapped. Unfortunately there were some vehicles on the road ahead spoiling the shot, but no matter, that's what the cloning stamping and patch tools are for! As we moved towards the firts of these cliffs it became obvious what the vehicles were - police vans, ambulances and cars. The area is popular with divers and it seemed that one had gotten in trouble. I had a wrestle with my conscience, attach the zoom lens and get some photo journalism practice or be a human being and keep my nose out. In the end I decided I did NOT want to photograph someones misery but I WAS nosey enough to ant to see what was going on. It turned out to be a chap with a broken ankle, which in the grand scheme of things is not that bad. Theer have been some diving fatalities there over the years. I did nearly get my camera out when the police van made a mess of negotiating the sigle track road and kept hitting the fence posts along the side, but my copmpassion for the police officer made me stop myself from giving him extra pressure. His partner did however find it all very amusing. Accident drama aside, this looks to be a very promising location for a sunset, with parking nearby, all be it 2 hours from my house. I think I will be back there soon.

After satisfying our curiosity, TB and I headed down the hill and along the loch my map had said we would pass. I assume we did pass it but only flashing glimpses between the vegetation confirmed that. To pay me back for my curiosity I managed to fall over on the wet slippy muddy path here, but my pride bounced me back on my feet before TB noticed... or so I thought "...and he's down", she called without even looking round. My main worry was whether my camera was OK or not, but by simply breaking it's fall with myself, it was.

At the far end of the loch there is a small path back up the other side - we darted in here for rest and a view over the loch. TB being a sensible sort had brought some fruit to eat while scoping out future walks in her walking guide book. I busied myself with pictures of a boat house, interesting fences and reflections and some bull rushes. Hmmmm... a classic example of practicallity versus artistic creativity :-) A rested TB and a hungry MacD set off again and within 50 yards found ourselves on the outward path again and walking back to St Abbs, snapping the view over the rock stacks on the way (see above).

A quick pint and a bite to eat later in St Abbs and we were heading off home in the car. along the way however I remembered how picturesque Cove is, so we popped in for the 30 minute walk through the ancient tunnel and around the old harbour. I'd been togging here before and I'm sure there's a great image of the natural void in the giant rock to be had - I just can't get the right angle!!! It could be cool on a stormy day, perhaps I'll venture down that way again in the winter. Incidentally, here is another shot, from Cove last year - I liked this image and having shot it already last summer, I didn't drag, the by now getting weary, TB round the headland to reprise it (I of course was fresh as a daisy - ahem....).

All in all, I felt pretty good at the end of this walking day, my previous hikes had prepared me to be able to tackle the hills without sore legs the next day and it had been an interesting walk with some great photo opportunities on the day, and for the future. A good one to finish with, with Mrs MacD and the mini MacD's returning this week I shall probably not get out and about again for these all day walks for a while, but this week has opened my eyes to the potential of some areas that were previously not far enough away to justify a holiday to, and too far away to drive out to for an hour or or so. But I can see more day long excursions in my future.

30th July - East Neuk of Fife, Elie to St Monans

Completely enraptured by the joys of walking, I decided to spend a rare day with my sister by going for a gentler but interesting walk between two picturesque villages in the East Neuk. Starting at that car park at Ruby Bay in Elie, we were immediately able to see Elie lighthouse. It's not the most interesting looking lighthouse but it was duly photographed and added to my collection. I'm an absolute sucker for lighthouses.

Within a couple of hundred yards of the car park we came face to face with the Lady's Tower - a folly built for the local Lady who was a naturist to get her kit off out of the eyelines of the townspeople. we didn't reckon it would be a very comfortable climb down the limpit encrusted rocks for a lady of gentle breeding to attempt in the buff! Sis said it was obviously built by a man. Again photo's were duly taken - unfortunately without the presence of a nudey noble woman. Could be a nice location for a glamour shot though if you are into (have the brass neck for) that sort of photography.

We followed a sheep path down into some high ferns eventually joining a sandy path just above the beach. This walk takes you past a 13th and a 15th century set of ruins. Unfortunately the first is buried in the vegetation and the second is covered in scaffolding/fencing so not many togging opportunities. After a slow stroll we ended up in St Monans and while we dissapointingly couldn't find anywhere that sold cream teas, we were able to get tablet, icecream and drinks and took a time out stuffing our faces on a hill, looking down on the pretty new St Monans Church. I have ancesters who lived in St Monans in the early 1800's, and aged 16, they ran away to Edinburgh to get married. There is a special mention of them in the church records.

The walk back was exactly the way we had arrived, the difference being that it was evening, the light was great and the shore birds were active before roosting time with oyster catchers, sand pipers and curlews fairly close by and feeding.

With the low evening sun bathing the Lady's Tower in golden rays, I got my "shot of the day" - with a small vertical rock in the bay mirroring the geometry of the tower itself.

This was a fairly interesting walk for twitchers and gentle enough to take the kids on. With expansive beaches to play on it yells "PICNIC".

25th July - The Trossachs - Rob Roys Grave to Irishmans Loch

My old pal TB and I have been talking about doing this walk for about a year. She knows it well and promised me some jaw dropping scenery. With a free weekend for us both, finally it was time to pull on the hikies. I was promised quite an arduous walk and it's been a few years since I last walked seriously in the hills, so the 40D was left at home and the lightweight S3 IS was slung over my shoulder. Camera batteries charge, SD card emptied, car filled with petrol and TB's english bull terriers safely stowed in the back, off we went to the Trossachs, via the longest traffic jam we could find. TIP, avoid Callendar during the Callendar Highland Games.

We stocked up with bottles of water and tablet and began our walk from Rob Roys Grave at Balquhidder Kirk. The first part of the walk was a fairly gentle but steady climb into the foot hills along an easy well defined forest road, but a few drinks for TB the night before and a pathetic 3 hours sleep for me had us both looking alarmingly knackered - luckily the dogs dragged us up the hill, strong wee beasts that they are. The road levelled out and were able to enjoy the scenery as we strolled along the glen, while TB tried to teach me how to control her boisterous terriers - I was finding that more physically demanding than the walk by this stage. After about an hour we had covered the first 2 miles or so of the walk and, about to part company with the road, we were at the bottom of a scramble up through the heather (blooming purple and looking decidely photogenic, although I just didn't do it justice with the S3).

A handy bench allowed us to stop and let the dogs rest (ahem). We had a drink and the tablet while they "rested" by running around and begging sweets off us. Off we set again up the steep rocky path through the heather, stopping to put the dogs on leashes when we got to sheep territory. Hangovers and sleepiness were behind us now (isn't fresh air wonderous) but the path was hard going and called for regular rests. Eventually we came to a rickity wee stile and had the pleasure of lifting 2 three stone english bull terriers over the fence - hefty! Just beyond the style the ground became open and we had the choice of various sheep paths up around a rocky knoll. This was easily the toughest part and at one point I was hoping TB would consider it too tough and say that she had had enough. Not a chance - unfortunately she was looking a bit too fresh and I had to just soldier on. But it was worth it. Cresting the hill I was looking back at where we had come from when I noticed TB had gone quiet - she was waiting for me to notice Irishmans Loch, right in front of me - "Wow" was about all I could rasp out as I tried to avoid the coronory. The most placid looking sizable tarn stood on front of me, the reflection of an enormous rocky stack mirroring off it. Looking up at the stack we both saw an incredibly huge bird wheeling round - my suspicion is that it was a sea eagle, and the wind dropped to nothing as we stood in the lea of the stack. Fish rose to ripple the surface and the dogs decided it was swimming time. What an idyllic spot! We sat and rested by the bank of the lochan, and snapped some pics of the dogs playing in the water. What fun they had, wading about, coming over and shaking themselves next to us or trying to sit on us with their wet fur.

We had a stroll about the summit and all the way around the lochan spotting various great angles for photography and I wished I had my tripod. An HDR of the cliff face would have been superb. 3 hours since we had left Rob Roy, we headed back down, past a boulder the size of a house that had fallen out of the stack - we could see the gap where it had once hung and eventually joined up with the path we had taken up.

This was a superb walk, about 5 miles and it took us 5 hours of ambling, togging and picnicking. Beautiful. To make it even better we discovered a fantastic pub - the Rob Roy Inn, where we had an interesting chat with a couple of shepherds over some surprisingly sophisticated but cheap food. That was it, I had the walking bug again!

Driven to Walk

How do you get to your locations? I know that the likes of Richard Childs and some of the other big hitters in the photography world will think nothing of climbing a mountain in the dark or camping overnight at a summit, just to get that 10 minutes of golden time when the sun rises. I however am a little more leisurely in my approach. I don't have all day to go togging generally. What I get is a couple of hours to get on location snap away like fury and get home in time for tea with the family. So I drive. I drive to the location, I park on a grassy verge, or halfway into a field or in a layby or passing place and then I rush out, unfolding my tripod as I go, walk maybe 100 yeards, snap away and get back in the car to get to the next location half a mile away. It's not ideal, but needs must.

Recently I had the chance to pick up an old hobby from my youth - hill walking. But now I was walking with a big Lowepro camera bag over my shoulder and keeping my eye out for a great composition. Unfortunately I'm not fit enough to carry my heavy but stable tripod too, so everything has had to be a short exposure, well lit and hand held. But what a benefit. To get out to the wild places, to see the less frequently photographed sites, to get to the sort of rugged areas that cars simply cannot, you HAVE to get out and walk. Cycling wont do either, you zoom by too fast. With walking you get the time to spot compositions and you are mobile enough to make a picture by adjusting your position. I was guilty of having gotten too lazy and had neglected this completely in recent years.

So over the last couple of weeks, with my wife and family away on holiday and me left with time on my hands,I have been out on 3 seperate 5 mile hikes in 8 days - and what locations!!! The Trossachs, the East Neuk of Fife, St Abbs Head. All glorious, I've even been lucky with the weather!

Having found these great locations, now I want to be there for sunset, I want the tripod so I can make a 30 second exposure. The great thing about being on your feet is you can climb to higher ground and spot the tiny roads that go to the best views. At St Abbs, I found a great location and I also found a road to get me there. It is a road I thought would be private and would never have gone up, now I know differently. In Fife, I found some great bays that are within half a mile of a car park - if I had not gone there to walk, I would never have known they existed.

So now I use the best of both worlds. I use the car to get me to walking locations. I use my feet to scout out great compositions and routes to get to them, and having timed the routes I can use the car to get back there again at the right time of day for a dramatic shot.