“Being present is being connected to all things.” S. Kelly Harrell: Gift of the Dreamtime - Reader’s Companion
This is the first blog I’ve posted since November 2021. Briefly, an underlying health condition diagnosed four years ago reappeared that month giving me symptoms not unlike long Covid - nothing serious but easily fatigued, breathless and not able to walk more than about 2km and experiencing what I can only describe as “brain fog” – difficulty in concentrating for any length of time. This is not ideal for pursuing a creative past-time requiring energy and concentration in the field, and considerable focus while processing in Lightroom! However, the good news is that two planned trips were able to go ahead in February and March which I’ve used as the subject for this blog while “getting back in the saddle”, or photographically “getting back behind the tripod”.
February: Stonehenge
I was able to join a VIP trip to this internationally-renowned neolithic World Heritage Site, to wander among the stones for an hour just after dawn with only 20 others. I then walked the entire circumference to maximise the photographic experience. Most of my shots were four versions of each view with different exposures, and I found during processing that I was experimenting more with how best to present one of each: the following are among my favourites. The main consideration was whether to process in colour to show the actual context as seen, or black and white to highlight the texture of the stones and sky more dramatically. What do you think?
March: St Michael’s Mount
We rented a cottage in Marazion, Cornwall, for four nights - our first break since the first lock-down in March 2020. It was a good opportunity to “get out there again” and my main objective was to experiment with my Kase neutral density filters to take long exposure shots around this classic coastline at different times of the day. As you’ll see, this enhances the movement of waves into a dreamy, miror-like quality which contrasts well with the rugged rocks around this magnificent coastline. For interest, all but Tranquil sunrise were taken at ISO 100 and I’ve shown the exposures and times to reveal the impact of using the ND filters.
Some people prefer water to appear natural: others like this smoothed out effect providing it’s not overdone. Let me know your preference in the comments below: