Image: Culross at Night

February Newsletter (New Format)

Most people have a much greater grasp of their mobile phones and the Apps available than I have, but I am going ahead anyway, to tell you about a few Apps that I find useful.

Because we live near the Forth, a tidal river, the first App that I use is called, 'Tides near Me'. This gives me the time of the tides for both sides of the river. I use this alongside, 'Sunrise and Sunset Times' and 'Moon Phases'. These three Apps combined allow me to decide whether to go towards the Forth, or to look for another venue. If, for instance, I want to take shots of seabirds with a good sunset; I will first check the tides, because I want a low tide, then I will see if the sunset and the low tide coincide. If the do and if the weather is good, I can plan my trip and be at my chosen location in plenty time to set up. If, on the other hand, I am hoping to take shots of the moon over the river, I can use the Moon Phases App alongside the Tides app to work out the optimum night and time for a particular location. If none of the above will work together for me, I can change my idea for a subject and go elsewhere to shoot something that will work on the day. For example, if the weather dry but overcast, shooting a waterfall will work, or shooting in a wood, doing close up shots of wildflowers or mushrooms, is not reliant on perfect conditions. One app that I do not use is a weather app. I prefer to get Met Office weather and look at the sky on the day or night of the shoot.

Another three Apps that I use are, the Glendale Aurora App, the Depth of Field App and the Mushroom Identifier App. These apps are all useful in different situations, each name speaking for itself as to the use of the app.

Using the Sunrise Sunset app allowed me to be across the loch from Craigmohr at the right time to get this shot, even though it is halfway across Scotland.

Using Apps is a good way to assist with planning your shoot, but it is not the only way. Because my time is often limited, I will often take a camera with me when I walk the dogs. Essentially, the only planning that I do is to choose the lens that I think will be the most suitable. This normally will be my long 150 - 600mm wildlife lens. The reason for this choice is because we are walking in open fields and any wildlife that I see is normally a long way away and being chased by Tilly, one of our Labradors. Using this lens does not stop me from taking other types of shot. The opposite also holds good, one day I only had a short macro lens on the camera with which I took the following shot at about 40mtrs.

The owl presented too good a shot to miss simply because I had the wrong lens on, so I took it knowing that I was going to have to crop the image. The following images were taken with the 150 - 600mm lens, the deer using 600mm and the grass using 150mm. The two subjects are totally different and represent two different shooting styles. The deer is very opportunistic and therefor fast, the grass shots are both composed carefully and are taken from a prone position, to show both, the play of the sun on the grass and the way in which the wind creates patterns in the grass. Of the shot above and the three below, only was taken using, what we would consider, the, 'correct' lens. It is of course best to choose the lens that is most suitable for the job, when possible. When it is not possible, then use the lens that you have got, get the best shot that you can and worry about how to deal with it in your editing software.

None of the four images above could be considered as keepers and certainly would not ever be printed, but each one was taken as a test shot and for fun. Tilly and the deer was taken at a range of about 100mtrs, which I think is slightly beyond the limit of the lens. With the grass shots, I wanted to try and highlight the play of both sun and wind on the grass, especially the, almost, bowl shape in the grass. The owl was taken because I wasn't sure what type of bird it was and I knew that when I cropped the image, I would be able to see what it was.

I highly recommend that you continually experiment with your camera and lens or lenses, the result will often surprise you.

Planning your shot often means returning to a venue that you have used before. This applies to the very top image, 'Culross at Night'. I have often used Culross, both for the architecture and the river. On this occasion I wanted a particular shot, the one above, at a particular time of the evening. The reason for the particular time was, quite simply, cars. Getting the shot after dark in the spring, summer or autumn means that you are there after people come from work and that there are cars parked all along this road. I, therefor had to find a day that was dark enough before 5pm and when the weather was good enough to give a fairly clear sky. I had planned this particular shot for about nine months and, while I took an opportunity, on the day, the shot had been planned well ahead. All that I had to do non the day, was go to the venue, set up my tripod and take the shot, ( I still had to avoid one car). I did this simply by using a longer lens, which narrowed my field of view and moving back a few feet while retaining the correct angle that I wanted. 

Finding a shot that you feel would be good, on another day, remembering it and going back when the conditions are right can be extremely rewarding, as this shot is for me and well worth doing. You may have to be patient for a long time but the end result can be a fantastic shot that you are proud to display.