The Mourne mountains revisited

This weekend I took myself off to the Mourne mountains again. It is such a photogenic place and is only around an hour's drive from where I live it's hard to resist, especially when the weather looks so promising.

I truly love this place, it has beauty in a very dramatic and desolate sense. In some parts it almost feels like and looks prehistoric, and it is very easy to forget that civilization surrounds it and is only just around the corner.

The brandy pad is a route I have never taken before. This starts at the foot of Slieve Meelmore and leads up past the hare's gap and up past Slieve Bearnagh. The track was created by smugglers and their heavily laden ponies as they transported illegal goods such as tobacco, spirits and leather inland from the east coast in the 18th and 19 centuries. It was so popular by 1835 that almost half the houses in Hilltown were pubs!




Once at the top of the path you climb over the Mourne wall and are then faced with the most amazing plateau that contains Doan and Slievelamagan. The view the stretches all the way down through and past the silent valley reservior to the sea. This is perfect for panoramic shots.



This area is very popular with hikers and climbers so if you don't want them in your images then you may need to be patient to get a clear uninterrupted view.

I will be returning here again in the near future as I didn't have the time (or the energy!) to explore the hares gap.

All the images are in the Kingdom of Mourne gallery.

Bye for now.

Macro and live view

Since my wide angle lens is away for repair this week, I've decided to dig out my Canon 100mm macro lens and get some shots I've been meaning to get for a while. I've also been meaning to use the live view feature which I've never used in the 14 months I've had the Canon camera!

For normal landscape and portrait shots the live view feature really is of no use, but when it comes to macro photography where focusing is crucial, especially when depth of field is so limited, it really does come into its own. The live view doesn't only give you a larger view, it also allows you to zoom in on any particular area at 5x and 10x to ensure the focus is spot on. Auto focus is not supported in live view, but since macro photography really demands that you use manual focus this really isn't an issue.

There is one other feature that I've never looked at before that comes with the EOS utility software which is really amazing. 'Remote live view' allows to to view the image in real time on your computer monitor with real time DOF preview! you can also adjust the aperture and other settings from here and take the shot. The ability to see the image at such a large size on your PC and judge the actual DOF is a real godsend and I can't believe I've overlooked this for over a year!

So what am I shooting at the minute? Well I have some ideas for guitar closeups and reflections (see shot left) and a few other things which I'm keeping to myself! As usual if you are interested in seeing more of my work go to the website at www.chasethelight.co.uk.

Cheers for now.

Glenariff forest, the glens of Antrim

Firstly a happy new year to everyone! I hope you all have enjoyed the festive season and are looking forward to what 2009 will bring.

I took the opportunity this week to visit Glenariff forest park in the Glens of Antrim. This area is famous for its glens and waterfalls which really are stunning. I'd been meaning to go here for sometime, so knowing it would be quiet this week I got up early and headed over.

Following the signs the first main waterfall you come to is 'Ess-na-Larach' which is a huge thin waterfall that looks to drop at least 40 feet in two sections. This waterfall is quite deep in the glen which means that the light level is low. This leads to another issue - I like to shoot waterfalls at around 1 to 2 seconds. Anymore than that and the water just looks like a huge blown out blob with no detail at all. Even whacking the ISO up to 400 and dropping the aperture to F9 only yielded shutter speed of 11 seconds! Far to slow!

I decided to move on to see what else there was along the route as only two large waterfalls are shown and named on the fixed maps that are dotted around the forest. There are many other smaller waterfalls, one in particular is really spectacular (shown left) and I'm sure this must have a name! If anyone out there knows then please let me know.

I had the same issue here with low light all though not as bad as before. This image was shot at 1.5 seconds at F11, ISO 400.

There are many other small waterfalls along here although access to some are impossible without risking a broken neck due to the height of some of the walkways of the ground!


The last one I visited is called 'Ess-na-Crub' which really is spectacular and has excellent access off the walkway to get up close and personal!

This waterfall (shown right) consists of three main shafts of water with lots of little streams and trickles which make this one very photogenic. On days where there has been alot of rain I believe this one is really transformed into something completely different, so well worth another visit on one of these type of days!


Anyone interested in seeing the rest of the shots can see them on the website at www.chasethelight.co.uk.

Thanks for listening.

ND Grad or multiple exposure blend?

This topic is something I see quite regularly on the various forums. People want to know if they need ND grads or split neutral density filters anymore since digital allows us to take more than one exposure to compensate for the difference in brightness (dynamic range) between the sky and ground.

Well the answer is you actually need both to cover all circumstances, as there a pros and cons to using each which I'll cover next.

ND Grad / Split Neutral Density

The filter method is quicker and allows you to get the photo as close to correct as possible 'in camera' which will greatly reduce the amount of time you need to spend in Photoshop. Also if you need to take the picture quickly or hand-held then this is the only way to go.

the main disadvantage to using the filter is the obvious change you will see between dark and light over objects that appear in front of the sky such as trees and buildings. Personally I quite like this effect and I don't think it detracts from the image. Some people really hate it though.

Multiple Exposures

This method is handy if you don't want to shell out for ND Grads or you want to capture more dynamic range than you would with the filter method. Basically you would take 2 or 3 exposures to cover the entire dynamic range then blend them in Photoshop.

The main disadvantages to this method are more time in front of the computer, no hand-held shots, tricky selections to get the blend right (can be a real nightmare with trees!).
you could use a program that specializes in HDR which will blend for you, however these type of pictures always have that HDR look to them that is not always what you want.

So it really comes down to personal preference, personally I like to use both methods depending on what I'm shooting at the time.

Thanks for listening.