Photographing seascape and coast - Part 1

Coastal scenery offers unique challenges to the photographer simply because it seems able to perform visual somersaults every few minutes. Partly, of course, this is due to the rise and fall of the tide which can transform a view of rolling breakers into a scene of mud, sand and rock pools within minutes. And of course, there's the ever changing light...

Backlight over a dimpled shiny surface, like these wet rocks (picture above), can create wonderful results just bursting with atmosphere. Again, timing is critical for success. Take several shots to ensure you capture the spray when it is in mid air. There is often a moment when it is almost suspended – that’s the moment to press the shutter button

As with all landscape photography one of the prime considerations is the direction and quality of the light, and the quality of the light along our coast can be spectacular. Sea and sand reflect the light, softening and putting detail into the shadows. I’m lucky enough to live in Galloway on the west coast of Scotland, and as I prefer to have the sun low over the sea and not over the land when I’m taking photographs of the shore, this means I don’t need to get up at dawn to take pictures of some of the coves and inlets along this beautiful coast. I can delay my assignments until later in the day and shoot into the low afternoon sun, or work even later as it sets into the sea.

TIPS
1 - Check the tide times before you go – do not get trapped by a rising tide.

2 - Time your photo shoot to have the sun low over the sea.

3 - Check the weather forecast before setting out – there are often clear, blustery skies following a cold front - ideal for dramatic sea and sky pictures.

4 - Take a good look at the scene and try to form a rough plan of action. Try to walk across the beach along the edge of the surf if possible. That way you won’t spoil pristine sand with your own footprints.

5 - Keep lens changes to an absolute minimum when working on the sea shore. Don’t change lenses in wind and spray.

6 - Always use a UV or Skylight filter to protect your lens from sand and spray. Keep plenty of lens tissues handy.

7 - Anticipate cloud movements. Have your image framed in the viewfinder and be ready for the moment the sun breaks through.

8 - Wellie boots are far more useful than walking boots – you can get right into the water

9 - Try to capture splashing waves just before they start to fall back into the water – they will be almost suspended in mid-air for a fraction of a second.

Don’t restrict yourself to landscape format. Think vertically for extra impact and crop in closely. This shot was taken with a wide angle lens – remember, your wide angle lens is not just ‘to get more in’. It can be used as a compositional device to accentuate an illusion of perspective and create a feeling of distance within the shot. You must not overexpose photographs like this when shooting almost straight into the light. Let the blacks go black to increase the contrast and add drama. Over exposure will lead to bland, flat uninteresting images

Next, in Part 2. Getting the exposure right

Rubbish tip children, Cairo

Now that I’ve had a little rant about an entire generation of childhood going unphotographed because of stupidity, it seems a good moment to show you some pictures of children who really do need some attention.

I was commisioned some time ago to photograph the ‘zebeline’ children, who scratch an existence out of the rubbish tips of Cairo. Not only do children as young as four of five pick among the filth and rubbish, but whole families live and work quite literally IN the rubbish.
The conditions in which these people live are quite beyond belief. Yet no parents came rushing up to say I should not be photographing their children. I was met with nothing but courtesy. I was never threatened, I never felt threatened. I hope my pictures went some small way to bringing their plight to the eyes of the world.

photographing children

When I am asked which subjects I enjoy most enjoy photographing, the answer comes easily – people are my favourite subjects. If I were pushed even further I would have to say that I used to be able to enjoy photographing children in the street. Children just being kids; enjoying themselves. There were few more natural, charming or more interesting subjects. Not any more.

Now if I point a camera at a child in the street some idiot immediately things I’m a weirdo. What utter nonsense we have allowed to happen. There is a whole generation of childhood that will go unphotographed; unrecorded. Paranoia has taken over. How terribly sad.

This photograph was taken in the street over 30 years ago, and that little girl is now a mum herself. She was very happy when the picture was printed in one of my books some year ago. Her family thought the picture was charming – and so do I. It was sold through an agency who captioned it: ‘I can’t bear it!’

You have a RIGHT to take photographs in a public place. Make sure you don't lose it.

Oh, I also like photographing older people…

How to take indoor pictures without a tripod. Part 3

In the third short article about how to get interior pictures indoors without using a tripod, let's take a look at how we might use flash. A variety of techniques were used for flash in the ironmonger's shop.

Direct flash light, either from the camera's pop-up unit, or from a flash gun mounted on the camera, can be hard and unpleasant. Bouncing the flash off a wall or ceiling is common practice. But what do you do if there are no walls to bounce it off? Or the ceiling is far too high? All is not lost.

You can raise the quality of the light and soften it by swivelling the head of a flash mounted on the camera’s hot shoe to one side and angling the light to reflect off a piece of paper. Anything white will do. Just get your angle right. You can even aim the flash at a reflector held in one hand while holding the camera in the other hand – as in the picture above.

The stag's head was mounted high up on a wall in dark corner of the shop. Without a flash I could not have photographed it. The flash head was turned to aim at a sheet of paper held in my left hand. The flash has reached right up into the corner with a lovely soft light. Using one of those small box-type diffusers that clip over the flash will have little effect if there are no reflective walls or objects around the flash. The light will still be from a very small light source - and that's what gives hard shadows. If you think about it, the stag's head is lit by a light which is the size of the magazine pages - much better.

For the picture of the plant pots and shop interior, the camera was settled on a bag of dog food. I took the flash gun off the camera. A shutter speed of 2secs was used with the self timer. I fired off a couple of low-powered flashes by hand while the shutter was open. This added a little light into the shadows.

Shooting from behind the life-size dummy horse in the shop window and looking out into the street, the lighting contrast was very high and created only a silhouette image with little detail in the foreground. To counteract this I used the camera's pop-up flash, but reduced its output by –2 values... just enough to add detail and colour.

How to take indoor pictures without tripods. Part 2

For the pictures of the interior of the shop and the goods on the shelves, I either steadied the camera on the floor or on a piece of shop furniture. For at least one photograph, the camera was nestled onto a bag of dog food and the shooting angle adjusted by stuffing my handkerchief under the lens. Use whatever you have at hand. You may be forced to make some small compromises with composition and angles if you cannot get the camera into exactly the position you would prefer. Don’t let this prevent you gathering pictures.

For the shot of the baskets hanging from the ceiling, I simply rested the camera on its back on the floor pointing upwards. Set the self-timer, stepped back, and the picture took itself.

A variety of methods was used for flash. The camera might be steadied as above, and the flash fired by hand during the long exposure. Or the camera was held in one hand with the flash on the hot shoe with the flash head angled to reflect off a sheet of paper held in my other hand. Sounds like a conjuring trick, but it’s easy once you get the hang of it. I also used the on-camera flash for one shot.

For the picture of the rope and walking sticks in the shop doorway, I steadied the camera on the shop counter. Expoure was 1/15sec at f8

Unless your camera has 'live-view' facility, it can sometime be impossible to get your eye down to the viewfinder when it is resting on a table or other surface (see the picture below). In this case, frame the picture as near as possible before you set it up. Then try to aim it as near as possible for the shot you want. You will be surprised how accurate you will become with practice.

For the picture of the row of pot pigs, it was easy to just rest the camera on the floor, aim roughly in the right direction and press the button. Check your image, if you don't get it exactly right first time, try again.

The total time spent in the shop to take some 20 very different photographs was just 45 minutes – time I thought very well spent.

In Part 3, I'll show you how to create natural-looking light with your flash mounted on the camera.

How to take indoor pictures without tripods Part 1

It’s midday in Menorca and the sun is blazing down from almost directly overhead. That means toplight – horrible. It’s time to go for a beer or change subjects - look for better light indoors maybe.

There are plenty of interior subjects to go at, churches, for instance, but what do you do if you are not carrying a tripod to enable the slow shutter speeds you may need for those low light levels indoors.

The first picture taken was as I approached the shop and the owner's dog put her head around the door and looked up the street (right). Always have that camera ready for these unexpected opportunities. Not an interior shot, but a lovely bonus

Well, for a start you can up the ISO setting to around ISO 400 or more, but, of course this will mean some loss of image quality. There are any number of lightweight gizmos on the market to help steady a camera during the necessary long exposures indoors – bean bags, adjustable clamps and so on, but I don’t own any. I simply look for make-shift camera platforms and do the best I can with these. It’s amazing how steady you can keep a camera using a set of step ladders, a spectacle case, a handkerchief and a bit of ingenuity.

I asked the owner of the Mahon’s ironmonger and gun shop - a wonderful place selling everything from wicker baskets to sporting guns and three-pronged wooden hay forks - if I could spend some time taking pictures in his shop. I often take my students there on the photography holidays I run in Menorca.

I had just one lens – 17-35mm and a Nikon flash unit. No tripod, no reflector, no cable release, no extension cable for the flash. The task was to create a set of pictures that captured the atmosphere of the shop. I used a combination of technique including long exposure using the self-timing facility on the camera; upping the ISO, and flash both on and off the camera.

The picture I feel captured the atmosphere of the shop is of the owner stroking his dog while his assistant served a customer. The sidelight is coming in through the door and the window to the right. ISO was up to 400. Shutter speed down to 1/30 aperture f4.5. No tripod, I simple leaned on a wall beside me

Next, in Part 2. Using makeshift camera supports

How to photograph a two-headed camel

I show you this picture for no better reason than I hope it raises a smile.

It's genuine, there is no digital trickery involved. I was photographing these camels in the back of a lorry in Cairo when this shot just presented itself.

If there is a lesson to be learned from it - it's keep that camera to your eye every moment the subject is in front of you. That way you will never miss those fleeting moments.

How to photograph sparks - Part 3

For this picture I have used a separate flash unit to add some details to the man’s face. Compare this shot to the one shown in Part 2. That was taken without flash.

The technique I use is desperately simple. If the shutter speed is set to ‘bulb’, or is slow enough (perhaps 1/2second or less), there is no need to connect the flash to the camera by any means – cables or infra-red. You can even hold the flash in one hand, point it at your subject and fire it manually just before you close the shutter. So – open the shutter - fire the flash – close the shutter. This is the way Victorian photographers worked over 100 year ago when they used flash powder… yes, I know, I’m an old git. The technique works just as well today with your electronic flash and digital camera. But the makers of hi-tech gear will not thank me for telling you.

The flash has lit the man’s face. I set the flash to ‘manual’ mode and put it on half power. This was just about right, taking into consideration the flash to subject distance, the f11 aperture set on the camera, and the brightness of the sparks. Experiment with your own flash unit you get the results you want. You can play with your flash guide numbers if you have the patience, but, frankly, to me life is too short.

For the picture of the glass-modeller (left) I used two flash units - one from behind the sitter to separate his dark hair from the black background.

Whatever you do, do not use too much flash power. This will destroy the atmosphere. To be effective, most of the light should come from the sparks themselves.

Sometime I do connect the flash to the camera with an extension cable, radio, or infra-red device. Then I prefer to set a fixed shutter speed on the camera (not ‘bulb’ mode). I also set the flash synchronisation mode to ‘rear’. This fires the flash at the end of the fixed exposure, just before the shutter is closed. The reason for firing the flash at the end of the exposure is to avoid the subject’s movement (they often jump) as soon as the flash goes off.

TIP… It is vital that you brief your subject before you start. The subject’s head must be kept very still during the exposure.

TIP.. To find the ‘bulb’ setting is on your camera, set the camera to ‘M’ Manual exposure mode. Slow the shutter speed down as far as it will go. The ‘bulb’ setting is usually the next setting after 30-seconds.