Landscapes My Way - Jim Stevenson
Hamnoy Morning
On Thursday evening we welcomed the first speaker of the season to our club meeting. Jim Stevenson presented his talk ‘Landscapes My Way’ which he modestly told us was probably no different to anyone else’s way. Jim promised a talk for all levels of photographer, which he achieved by presenting a considerable amount of information as a set of ten tips, beautifully illustrated by stunning images from Scotland, Iceland, Lofoten and Dungeness.
Tip 1 – Shoot your local area. For Jim, this is the Ayrshire coast. He advised “don’t just take the obvious shot and walk away” and described how he spends time looking at scenes from different perspectives. He also gave a bonus tip here regarding equipment – specific tripod heads (bowl and pan-and-tilt), an L-bracket and a good pair of wellies!
Tip 2 – Use a tripod. This was a recurring theme throughout the evening, and Jim gave us six reasons to illustrate why we should use a tripod which were for long exposures, night photography, focus stacking, exposure bracketing, time blends and panoramas.
Tip 3 – Set the picture style in your camera to monochrome. This avoids the distraction of colour and highlights form and texture. RAW images can still be imported to software applications in colour.
Tip 4 – Re-visit locations. Jim emphasised that you will never take the same image twice, nor the same image as someone else, due to subtle differences in light, lenses, compositions, seasons, weather, etc.
Tip 5 – Make the foreground the star. Images to demonstrate this technique used wide-angle lenses, pointing the camera down at your feet and vertoramas (panoramas shot vertically).
Tip 6 – Don’t be a fair-weather photographer. We were treated to stunning shots taken in wet and windy conditions, with Jim promoting the Tesco carrier bag as protection for your camera!
Tip 7 – Try drone photography. Jim uses his drone to access shots which he can’t do on foot rather than for high overhead images.
Tip 8 – Spend a whole day on photography. Conditions can change dramatically throughout the day, and Jim reported spending up to three and a half hours waiting for the light and weather to give him the image he wanted.
Tip 9 – Try infrared. This can be achieved using a dark red filter and very long exposure or a converted camera. Additional filters can give altered colour effects.
Tip 10 – Try a long telephoto. Use it to create intimate landscapes. Throughout the evening, Jim told the stories behind his images which included explaining different types of ice and its formation, crawling on hands and knees to reach specific viewpoints, braving the elements, and waiting for prolonged periods to get the desired shot. This resulted in an entertaining evening which inspired everyone to get out and do some landscape photography – with a tripod of course!!