Photo Objectives & why they (sometimes) don't matter

It’s been a slow month photographically. I had a great week off at the end of October; we spent a couple of days ina Aviemore, staying at the brilliant Hilton Coylumbridge. It’s one of my favourite hotels, feels more like a little community than a hotel, the food is brilliant and the a few days there is a great way to relax and get away from it all.

Photographically, Aviemore is a real treasure chest of opportunities. It has one of the largest arboreal forests left in Scotland, which looks stunning in autumn, the gorgeous Loch Morlich, which nestles in the forest and I haven’t got onto the pleasing pointy-ness (not a word, but should be) of the Cairngorm mounting range.

But the Gods of photography did not smile on me. Low cloud and crappy weather conspired against me and I struggled to get any decent shots. Photographing autumn colours is a real skill by the way. My mate Ted has nailed it, as have many other photographers, the challenge is composition, you have the dilemma of getting the blaze of autumn foliage in enough detail, coupled with the challenge of giving the shot some context. I struggled with this, especially given the flat, dull, damp weather conditions. In fact, my favourite shot of the time spent there is a black and white one, taken on one of my dawn strolls. I went out with the objective of shooting landscapes, sunrises and mountains, but came back with this shot and a few of the forest. I’ve talked before about setting objectives when you go out with the camera, but sometimes it pays to be flexible with that objective if the conditions/environment isn’t right. The shot below was taken in RAW at ISO 200 & F22 about 20 minutes before sunrise. This aperture slows the shutter and creates that the blurred water effect, but by shooting in Aperture (A) mode, your camera does the hard work of exposing correctly. The black and white treatment came from using photoshops black and white sliders to balance the shot. I’m really pleased with this one.

Okay so that was Aviemore, not great for photos, but a perfect, relaxing trip away. November to date has been a wash out, almost constant rain and very few crisp, frosty mornings or that lovely hard, clear afternoon light. Just rain, rain, rain. I managed to dodge the showers a few weeks ago and got out and about to shoot sunsets. Once again, the sunset wasn’t great so instead I turned my attention to other things, namely the swans on the river. You can read more about Nairns swan community and other wildlife at this great blog. Another Black and White shot, this time using Nik Colour FX pro to balance the colours.

So the moral of the tale? Set yourself goals when you head out with your camera, but be prepared to change your objective if the environment conspires against you. Not much of a message, but then I’m not much of a photographer! I guess a better message would be to keep taking pictures and enjoy it.

My highlight of the week (and my real reason for blogging today), the brilliant folks at http://www.gurnnurn.com/ have featured my photos not once, but twice this year. Huge kudos to them, not only for having a most excellent community blog, but also for having a very discerning taste in photographers!