English Countryside at it's finest.

Bustacapp

I took this pic a few weeks ago when spring was truly springing. That's parbold hill in the ditance.



http://www.imghst.org/uploads/sy1pbw9x3o1v.jpg

Rigga

Lovely! 8)

Kowalski675

Looks like a nice part of the world, where is it? I like the round tree, looks like it's been pruned, lol. I like Cumbria and North Yorkshire, and a nice waterfall myself, here's one of mine (low res internet forum version):

Bustacapp

Kowalski675 wrote:

Looks like a nice part of the world, where is it? I like the round tree, looks like it's been pruned, lol. I like Cumbria and North Yorkshire, and a nice waterfall myself, here's one of mine (low res internet forum version):

It's at the back of Ashurst Beagon near Wigan. Your pic is epic!! How do you get the time lapse effect on the waterfall?

Kowalski675

I wouldn't have guessed Wigan, I thought probably somewhere down south, from the rolling hills. Thanks for the compliment, I wouldn't go as far as epic, lol, but I think it's a nice pic, I have a framed copy on my wall. It's Cotter Force, just west of Hawes (Wensleydale). It's an oft-photographed spot (you'll see it in books, calendars etc), but I've never seen it taken from that angle before (it was mid summer and the water levels were very low, normally you couldn't reach the spot I took the pic from without swimming. A WWII fighter plane flew overhead at low altitude while I was taking it, which was rather cool. I got a blowjob from my last girlfriend there when we stopped off on our (motor)bikes one summer afternoon too, lol

The technique's pretty easy, tbh (the pictures I mean, you'd have to ask her about the blowjobs, lol). You need a sturdy tripod (and preferably a remote control shutter release) to keep the camera steady (if your camera has a mirror lock then use that function too) and a long exposure. Then it's simply a matter of finding a nice composition, selecting aperture priority, dial in f16 for good depth of field (focus about one third into the frame, which is roughly equivalent to using hyperfocal focusing, but less hassle) and check what shutter speed that gives you. If it's ok then take the shot, if the shutter speed's too fast then add an ND filter (or filters) to get the exposure long enough. ND grad filters are useful too, if your composition includes some sky (to stop the sky blowing out). Experiment with shutter speeds to get the look you like (the amount of blur is down to personal preference, there's no rules).

I haven't taken any pictures for a long time now (lost my enthusiasm and motivation), but I used to like photographing moving water. It's a simple technique and easy to get an image that makes it look like you have half an idea what you're actually doing, and using a tripod slows the process down and makes you take time to think about composition (which is the most important aspect of any kind of photography). I used to happily spend hours at it, I guess I should pick my old Nikon up sometime and have another go.

Here's a few more moving water pics (again, low res internet copies - don't want folk downloading and pinching them, rather than buying prints, lol ). Hope you like them, but I'm thick skinned, so feel free to criticise (some would say that they're very cliched). The last one was playing around with abstract water patterns (all the pics I'd taken that day were sh*t, so I thought I'd try something different with them, cropping sections out, enlarging and playing with colours - there's a brown version too that looks like sand), it's part of a framed tryptych I made for an ex girlfriend.