The Impact of Light
In my previous posts on the landscape shots taken whilst on holiday in Scotland I mentioned the adverse weather conditions. This set of 3 shots of Beinn Alligin in the Torridon area hopefully give you a better idea of the conditions, and also show how important light is to give the image that dramatic punch.
On this particular day it was storm conditions, with gale force winds and the occasional very hard and heavy downpour of rain. Extreme wet weather gear was essential. The one big saving grace was that this walk started just outside our self accommodation, so no long drive back with wet feet. The walk was circular, providing good views across Torridon loch and the mountain range behind.
The Zuiko Olympus OM4 ti does not have auto exposure bracketing, so I always have a slight time delay between each of the shots when bracketing exposure. Exposure bracketing is very good if you not sure of the exact exposure you need, or you want to do HDR (High dynamic range) imaging, or you want to do exposure fusion. I will be posting examples of HDR and exposure fusion in the near future. This delay between shots (also caused by me changing the composition of the shot) provides, I feel, a very good example of the impact of light on a landscape shot (Plus shows you how windy it was!).
All of these were taken with my Zuiko Olympus 24mm F2 landscape lens on Fuji Velvia 50 slide film.
The first shot is without any rays of light.
(Click on any shot to see a bigger image or rotate through the set)
The second, slightly delayed with the change in composition and so caught the brief shaft of sunlight on the foreground.
and the third, only 1 or 2 seconds later than the 2nd shot, shows the light half way towards the mountain.
The last shot was -1/3 exposure compensated.
A very good illustration of changing light, and the differences it creates as it moves across the scene. Really like the last shot.
Were you using any filters ?
Hi Chris,
Thanks for the positive feedback. This time round I alternated between no filters or a circular polariser filter. Unfortunately, I failed to made adequate records in my note book for some of the shots I took on holiday. From memory this was without any filters.
Slide film can normally cope with a 3 stop difference in light between highlights & shadows before you need to think about using graduated ND filters.
Pete