Sunset in Malahide.

Calina

When I got home from work today, there were big nasty grey looking clouds out the back. Immediately I thought

"What a great opportunity to go and play with my tobacco filter and gorillapod which I bought after I did gallery duty on Saturday...", grabbed the camera and drove to Malahide Estuary where I expected to have some fun with the sunset.

It was an interesting evening. It started raining. The herons ran away every time I got within 50 feet of them. The longest zoom I brought with me was 85mm. They never quite cooperated.

But I had all sorts of weird fun with ND grads, the tobacco grad and long exposures. I realise I may well be on my own here (proud mammy and all that)

Malahide Village:



Cooperating Heron:



Playing with long exposures, light and three ND filters stacked;



(wonder what the white balance was)

M1 Bridge at Malahide Estuary



More fun with the stacked NDs, long exposure and general waving around of the camera after half the exposure time (or so - I wasn't scientific about it, I was accidental).



I had fun. I might go to Howth on Wednesday evening.

rahtkennades

Lovely stuff! the colours are very nice, really warm.
Do you have a smudge on the filter though? Seems to be a black spot on all the filter shots?

Calina

Darn. I never saw that.

I have to clean the damn things anyway since they got rained on.

I like the colours too.



oh well, we go again and hope for the best. The waving around the camera wasn't exactly scientific...

Heathen

those shots are amazing... please post pics of howth if you do it, im from Dublin and love relaxing up in howth cos the scenery is amazing!! but im stuck in waterford the last 9 years so dont really get much time to chill out up in howth.. would love to see some pics done like that..

would also love to get some of those types of pics of howth or sutton coastal areas blown up on framed canvas for my walls down here.. like a little artistic touch of home... anyway really nice pics

sNarah

I like them very much Calina

Ostrom

Can I ask what filters you use? Very curious, I would like to know more

I use the square cokin P series ones for B&W, do the ND grads fit the bracket the same?

AnCatDubh

pretty wonderful stuff shaping up there Calina. Well done.

Calina

The three filters I had stacked were the following:

P121M
P121
P121L

Looks like it's the P121M had the smudge on it. Bad filter.

The tobacco grad is P125S. Ironically I didn't use it much tonight.

I think the NDs should fit the same bracket as you have as far as I understand things. I only have them a couple of weeks myself and so am learning by doing.

KylieWyley

i love the colours in the 3rd and 5th ones.
the 3rd i would pay for (minus the unfortunate smudge!)
excellent work

PaulieC

#3 is pretty special. As above, it's something I'd pay for. Well done!h

Ostrom

Thanks for the reply, I love the photos.

You have inspired!

Calina

rahtkennades wrote: »

Lovely stuff! the colours are very nice, really warm.
Do you have a smudge on the filter though? Seems to be a black spot on all the filter shots?

One of the filters has a black mark on it. I can't clean it off, it's not huge which would explain why I didn't notice it while putting the filter on the camera but it probably caused this. I will need a new P121L.

At least I know.

@efla: that's a nice thing to say. Thanks. Have fun trying it out.

@everyone else - I am really pleased that other people liked this. I was a bit nervous, particularly - believe me - about number 3 because it was just so left of centre.

Thanks you all.

af_thefragile

Great pics, Love the colors!!!!


Good ol malahide! Lived there for almost 2 years... Would love to go back there someday. The estuary is a surprising tranquil place!

minidazzler

Calina wrote: »

One of the filters has a black mark on it. I can't clean it off, it's not huge which would explain why I didn't notice it while putting the filter on the camera but it probably caused this. I will need a new P121L.

At least I know.

@efla: that's a nice thing to say. Thanks. Have fun trying it out.

@everyone else - I am really pleased that other people liked this. I was a bit nervous, particularly - believe me - about number 3 because it was just so left of centre.

Thanks you all.

Try Metal/Stainless polish on it before you dump it.
Great for cleaning glass but I have to admit that I've never tried it on filters.
Nothing to lose anyway.

LightningBolt

Number Three is amazing and is what I love about photography. I think I may have to pm you sometime during the summer (when I'm not a poor student lol) to see if I could buy a copy.

Great work.

WheresMyCamera?

Calina wrote: »

The herons ran away every time I got within 50 feet of them. The longest zoom I brought with me was 85mm. They never quite cooperated.

I've been there quite often and those Herons never cooperate. They are so skittish. The Swans and ducks however are a different story, very easy to hand feed them.

Also watch out for the bully Robin (I kid you not!!) It's always around the first place where cars park to feed the Swans. Forever attacking cars it is, all puffed up.

mehfesto2

I really like these shots. Fantastic work.
I go up ther fairly often, but I'd struggle to get anyhing like these.

Are these filters similar to UV Filters in that they 'clip on' to the lens, or are they ones you slide into a seperate square bracket? Im investing in a few in the coming weeks and I'd like to know what I'll need to get great results!

KStaford

I personally think it's a magical world we live in. It does not need altering or filtering. The magic is there and it comes if you are patient. Not a fan of filters or pp. Shoot it natural imo

Calina

mehfesto2 wrote: »

I really like these shots. Fantastic work.
I go up ther fairly often, but I'd struggle to get anyhing like these.

Are these filters similar to UV Filters in that they 'clip on' to the lens, or are they ones you slide into a seperate square bracket? Im investing in a few in the coming weeks and I'd like to know what I'll need to get great results!

These are filters you slide into a separate bracket. Most people will recommend Lee or Hoya - these are cokin filters though and they are not bad at all. I stacked them on top of each other, probably a bit of overkill but to be honest, the trip out was purely experimental anyway.

KStaford wrote: »

I personally think it's a magical world we live in. It does not need altering or filtering. The magic is there and it comes if you are patient. Not a fan of filters or pp. Shoot it natural imo

KStaford, your eyes function as filters. No two people see a scene the same way; the difference is the filters are internalised. No one shoots anything as is, not a photographer, not a painter. It is always an interpretive journey. If you want to recreate a scene, the minute you take a camera to do so, you are not shooting natural at all, whether you are using film or digital.

Platitudes about what constitutes a magical world are time wasting and disappointing. I see the world as utterly magical and a lot of my time is spent in trying to present the ordinary common place as something utterly extraordinary. The minute you try to reproduce a scene you have passed from the realms of what is natural, whether you are using a paintbrush or a camera.

No one forces you to use filters. I occasionally use them for practical reasons, and occasionally for creative reasons. Whether I am successful or not depends on a level of skill which reaches far beyond simply waiting for something to happen. Either you actively create or you passively wait for something to be served up.

Both approaches have merit. I don't diss the one I don't use. I wish people wouldn't diss the one I do use.

KStaford

Calina wrote: »

These are filters you slide into a separate bracket. Most people will recommend Lee or Hoya - these are cokin filters though and they are not bad at all. I stacked them on top of each other, probably a bit of overkill but to be honest, the trip out was purely experimental anyway.



KStaford, your eyes function as filters. No two people see a scene the same way; the difference is the filters are internalised. No one shoots anything as is, not a photographer, not a painter. It is always an interpretive journey. If you want to recreate a scene, the minute you take a camera to do so, you are not shooting natural at all, whether you are using film or digital.

Platitudes about what constitutes a magical world are time wasting and disappointing. I see the world as utterly magical and a lot of my time is spent in trying to present the ordinary common place as something utterly extraordinary. The minute you try to reproduce a scene you have passed from the realms of what is natural, whether you are using a paintbrush or a camera.

No one forces you to use filters. I occasionally use them for practical reasons, and occasionally for creative reasons. Whether I am successful or not depends on a level of skill which reaches far beyond simply waiting for something to happen. Either you actively create or you passively wait for something to be served up.

Both approaches have merit. I don't diss the one I don't use. I wish people wouldn't diss the one I do use.

Thank you for putting me in my place, I needed that badly as I am a terrible person, how dare I express an opinion. How dare I!

Calina

You're free to express an opinion. However, anyone with a differing opinion is entitled to reply and since in expressing your opinion you dissed quite a lot of my work, I think I have a right to reply.

mehfesto2

In fairness, Calina was right. Not using filters is akin to not wearing sunglasses when driving - you don't need to, but it makes things a lot easier! :pac:

And besides if you take offense that easily (at someone expressing their opinion), boards.ie probably isn't the best place to spend your time!

KStaford

Calina wrote: »

Platitudes about what constitutes a magical world are time wasting and disappointing.

fair enough, I did find the above a little condescending tbh. I was just giving my opinion and I stand by it. The photos you present here are unattractive to me. I dont really care for pink skies or blue trees or whatever. I much prefer the mist at dawn or a blade of grass photographed from underneath or my holy grail, the magical orange sky at dusk. OK I'm done, I shall say no more on the topic.

nk12

Hi there

I love both Malahide and Howth so looooooove looking at these shots!
Can i ask do you frame those shots in photoshop or the like???

Thanks a million
Nicky

Calina

nk12 wrote: »

Hi there

I love both Malahide and Howth so looooooove looking at these shots!
Can i ask do you frame those shots in photoshop or the like???

Thanks a million
Nicky

Hi Nicky,

thanks for the comment and I'm glad you like them.

yes, I add the frames in Photoshop. There's not much to it - you increase the canvas size by however much you want on either side and choose what colour you want the frame to be. My default is black but I will use white as well.