Under the night sky...

Many people would know the expression “May you live in Interesting times”… I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy during these “interesting” times… it wasn’t the way I planned to start the year but here we are in June and I must say I have learned some things along the way…

One of the advantages has been staying home and that gives some flexibility in our regular schedules… this allowed us to go out and explore at unusual hours… with the beautiful spring weather we’ve had in southern Germany, there have been many clear days… while not ideal for normal landscape photography (big blue skies can be a little boring), the clear nights have allowed us to try our hand at Astrophotography… at this time of year that means leaving home at 11pm and getting back around 3-4 am…. we have some locations with reasonable dark skies within a one hour drive so we have ventured out on a couple of occasions…

When doing this type of photography, a bit of preparation is needed so that when you get to the location, you don’t have to guess too much…. there are a few apps and websites which help with the planning (Photopills for one)… also fully charged batteries, empty memory cards and sturdy tripods… a headlamp with a red light is also helpful to maintain your night vision though make sure to use it with caution so it doesn’t show up too much in your final images (you’ll see why I said that later)

Hohenzollern Castle with Milky Way, Nikon D850, 20mm, f2.8, 6 seconds, ISO 12800

Hohenzollern Castle with Milky Way, Nikon D850, 20mm, f2.8, 6 seconds, ISO 12800

Of course, as with any shoot, you also have to have a little luck… I was shooting a series of images for a timelapse (every 10 seconds)… for the shot above, a car drove up the road behind us and it’s headlights illuminated the tree and hillside… it must have still been far away at this time as the tree is quite nicely lit… in the next images, it was much too bright to be useful but I quite like the balance in this shot….

Same setting and camera as above but stacking of 350 images to form the trails

Same setting and camera as above but stacking of 350 images to form the trails

Shooting multiple images for a timelapse gives a bit of flexibility in the editing process later as you can combine the images in many ways… for the stacked image of star trails above, I was able to remove the images with the car headlights but still get enoguh images for the trails… the above images represents approx one hours worth of movement in the stars… the timelapse video is embedded below… you’ll see where the car passed through the shot (Twice) and also where I wasn’t as careful as I thought with the headlamp (red foregrounds… ooops)… overall I’m very happy with the shots and I learned a lot to apply next time when the weather and schedules cooperate

Frost - Winter's Harvest

One of the most important things in photography is to always have a camera so you make sure you can take advantage of opportunities as they come along… that was really the case on this day…

I had to make a trip from Stuttgart to Dusseldorf for a meeting… since it’s just over 400km, I decided to drive and packed a camera “just in case”… the weather turned out to be very foggy and very cold… this resulted in a lot of frost on the trees and grass verges of the autobahn…. very distracting while driving as you’re not supposed to stop on the side of the road unless in an emergency… I decided to take a detour to visit Burg Eltz as it was on the way (kind of)… only about a 120km detour :-)

Once I was off the Autobahn, the roads took me through many smaller villages… on the outskirts of one village, I came across an orchard of apple trees which were all covered in frost… i actually drove past before deciding to go back and take some pictures… the conditions were magical and I spent quite a bit of time just choosing various trees and compositions… hopefully some of them will appeal to others as well… I also took some detail shots of ivy growing on a wall in the village

After a while, I decided it was time to move on but I must admit I didn’t get very far… it seemed like every corner brought new views which tempted me to stop again and again… one particular set of trees lining a curvy section of road caught my eye so I found somewhere to stop and take more pictures… fortunately there was very little traffic so I was able to play around with the compositions… (full disclosure: I removed some signage and road markers from these shots ;-))

I did eventually make it Burg Eltz but unfortunately it was closed for renovations (suppose I could have found that on their website :-))… the whole valley was covered in frost and would have been really cool to photography earlier in the day (and without scaffolding)… still a wonderful place for a walk through the forest and the end of this little photo adventure as I had to get to Dusseldorf for my meeting

14th Annual Spider Awards - Results

Every year, we choose a few select images to be entered into photography competition…. this year, I entered two images into the Spider Awards for the first time…. this competition is strictly for Black & White images so needs a slightly different approach than colorful images… the two images i selected came from a trip to New Zealand last year with Steve Gosling, Joe Cornish and Christian Fletcher… the full set of images is here (https://www.keithwilson.photography/new-zealand)

The first image was nominated in the Wildlife section… when we arrived at Milford Sound , the weather was very moody and we couldn’t believe our luck to find the Heron in the water just near the shore… I grabbed my camera and delicately maneuvered over the very slippery rocks to get the composition I wanted… there wasn’t really time to setup a tripod so I was just shooting handheld… I really wanted to keep the Heron and it’s reflection inside the line of the mountains while keeping the full reflection of the mountains as well…

White Heron fishing in Milford Sound… Phase One XF IQ250, 80mm, 1/80sec, F8, No Filters

White Heron fishing in Milford Sound… Phase One XF IQ250, 80mm, 1/80sec, F8, No Filters

The second image was awarded an Honorable Mention in the Nature Category… this was a very spontaneous image as I was driving along one of the many back roads on the way to Queenstown… I was struck by some dead trees I could see beside the road... turns out they were in the middle of a dam beside the road... since it was clearly private property, I approached the local farmer to get permission to enter his fields... I think he was surprised there was anything photogenic on his farm... I really enjoy the long exposure effect of smoothing the water and clouds... I always envisioned this image in Black & White while taking it as the weather and setting really worked for this image… maybe I’ll need to send a copy to the farmer so he understands what I saw…

2 minute exposure... Phase One XF IQ250, Mamiya 24mm Fisheye, Nisi 3 Stop Medium GND and 6 Stop ND, Custom holder

2 minute exposure... Phase One XF IQ250, Mamiya 24mm Fisheye, Nisi 3 Stop Medium GND and 6 Stop ND, Custom holder

Having such great results from my first time entering is very encouraging… normally the main goal of taking images is to get out and enjoy the world around us… whether it’s a cityscape or landscape… good weather or bad… sunrise or sunset… middle of the day or night… having that effort recognized on a international level is really the icing on the cake…

Prints of these or any other images are available for purchase / licensing…

Moscow - an eye opener for sure

One of the things I love about travel is the chance to see other places and culture through my own eyes… a visit to Moscow in Russia was certainly one of those times… I must admit to having a few pre-conceptions of Russia from watching too many Hollywood movies in the 90s… basically my view was very bleak, a bit like this image

Red Square and Saint Basil’s Cathedral just before a heavy rain shower

I’m happy to report that I was wrong… one of the advantages of travelling in summer are the very long evenings… it meant lots of time to explore once our work was completed each day… since our hotel was near Red Square I was able to visit on multiple occasions to make the most of varied weather conditions and what a variety we had…

On the first occasion, I wandered down in the early evening since I had plans to meet a colleague for dinner… I was traveling with a simple kit of D800 & 24-120mm F4 lens… I just grabbed the polariser as well since there were no clouds in the sky and no smog as well thanks to recent rains… got quite a few shots of the vibrant colours around Red Square and Saint Basil’s Cathedral…

Always possible to find some historic figure on a horse :-) Did you know that how the horse stands can tell you how the person died?

On the second evening, we got back from the customer site a bit later and by the time we finished dinner, the sun had already set (again not much cloud)… not knowing how the week would progress, I decided to head back for some Blue Hour photos (with tripod) and was very pleasantly surprised to find the square and surrounding buildings very well lit in the evening…

Red Square during Blur Hour showing the Kremlin, National Museum and GUM Department Store

For the third evening, we were joined by one of our Russian colleagues for a walk around (surprise, surprise) Red Square… since there were a lot of clouds around, I brought the tripod and a 5-stop ND filter to try some longer exposures… this is when I took the first photo in this blog post and we got wet approx 5 minutes later when the heavens opened… we decided to head for dinner during the rain and by the time we finished, the rain was gone and Blue hour was beginning again… this time with a ton of clouds which gave a really nice texture to the sky… I told my colleagues I would be a “while” as this was too good an opportunity to pass up and I spent the next 2-3 hours wandering around Red Square and surrounding areas taking pictures… the city lights made it possible to still capture the clouds well after Blue Hour had ended and I also played with some car lights and reflections… overall a very productive evening…

Saint Basil’s Cathedral during Blue Hour using a 5 stop ND to capture teh cloud movement and blur the people

On our last day in Moscow, we were scheduled to fly out at 7pm so had the day to do a little more sightseeing… the forecast was for rain so we planned to visit some of the metro stations (Moscow Metro is known for it;s architecture in the stations) and also the food market… the weather was much better than forecast so we ended up doing some other stops along the way… I think my colleague who was travelling with me was a little surprised by the amount of walking we did though I was still keen to see as much as possible… the food market (Danilovskiy Rynok) was fascinating with all the different fruits / meats / spices which are all familiar yet different … well worth the visit… of course, we made one final stop in Red Square on the way back to the hotel before catching the cab to the airport…

Food galore at Danilovskiy Rynok

Overall, I found the visit to Moscow far exceeded my expectations and I look forward to the chance to return and explore other areas around the city… where have you been which surprised you?

See full gallery of images

https://www.keithwilson.photography/moscow







There's no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weathe

A little break in the blog posts as we've been working on some wedding and other event photos for the pats few weeks... got to do the paying jobs first :-)

Officially, our group trip didn't officially start until after lunch when the rest of the group was scheduled to arrive so there was a little time to explore downtown Queenstown... the weather was not great so I dropped off the hire car and then walked around the local park and foreshore... overall Queenstown has a pretty nice vibe being a city which thrives on tourism... lots of cafes / bars to hang out and very close to the Ski Fields... in New Zealand, there is very little opportunity to stay in the ski areas so towns like Queenstown become the party hub :-)

After lunch, the weather hadn't really improved but as we were a bunch of photographers, we still packed up the vans and headed out to our first location in the Remarkables... the trip was organised by Christian Fletcher (http://www.christianfletcher.com.au/) from Western Australia and co-leaders were Steve Gosling (https://www.stevegoslingphotography.co.uk/) and Joe Cornish (http://www.joecornishgallery.co.uk/) for the UK, so we had a great opportunity to learn / discuss different philosophies... the group was quite a mix, mainly from different parts of  Australia, a few from Hong Kong and one Kiwi...

This is where the title of this post comes into play... the weather was very "changable" with sunlight and rain showers moving through the whole time... this can make for very interesting photos so in cases, you've just got to set up a shot and then wait for the conditions to change... we spent some time at our first location enjoying the views of the mountains as the clouds moved across...

Phase One IQ250, 210mm, 1/125s, f11

Phase One IQ250, 210mm, 1/125s, f11

After some time, we decided to try a different location... unfortunately, as we drove further up the mountain, the weather got worse and soon we were driving into horizontal snow showers... so we decided to head back down in search of calmer conditions... we ended up an area called Jacks Point which offered some options... we managed to get few shots before being chased away by the storms again... I actually got one of my favourite images of the trip during this time so it pay to always be prepared for the weather, no matter what comes

Phase one IQ250, 80mm, ISO400, 1/200sec, f8

Moeraki to Queenstown

One of the things I really like about travelling is having some flexibility in the plans to adapt to local information... after such a magic morning at the Moeraki Boulders, I needed to make it to Queesntown to meet up with the group of other photographers but I didn't have a fixed plan for the route... I discussed the different options with the motel owner when I checked out and got recommendations for things to see along the way... 

NZ_map1.PNG

Overall it's a very interesting drive across much of the width of New Zealand... every corner was a temptation to stop and explore... from one of the largest gold mines in the southern hemisphere at Macreas Flat to the home of Curling in Naseby... since I live in the south of Germany, i found it funny to see a Black Forest Cafe in Naseby so I definitely had to stop and have lunch there... it was really good food and I struck up a conversation with some locals at the next table... turns out they were hanging a selection of Night photos from around the world to prompt the listing of the local area as a Dark Sky reserve... I got a sneak peek as I was going to miss the main show and end up helping them setup some parts of the exhibit :-)

After lunch, I moved further down the road and made a stop in St Bathans, another old mining community... they have taken the time to really preserve the old buildings and ruins in the village and lots of information around town on the inhabitants during the glory days... the weather wasn't the best for photography (very flat cloudy skies) so I was more in tourist mode than photographer mode but that was soon to change...

As I left St Bathans and headed back to the main road, I was struck by some dead trees I could see beside the road... turns out they were in the middle of a dam beside the road... since it was clearly private property, I approached the local farmer to get permission to take enter the his fields... I think he was surprised there was anything photogenic on his farm...

2 minute exposure... Phase One XF IQ250, Mamiya 24mm Fisheye, Nisi 3 Stop Medium GND and 6 Stop ND, Custom holder

2 minute exposure... Phase One XF IQ250, Mamiya 24mm Fisheye, Nisi 3 Stop Medium GND and 6 Stop ND, Custom holder

I hope you'll agree it was worth the stop... I really enjoy the long exposure effect of smoothing the water and clouds... by the time I was finished here, the rain clouds were starting to roll in and I still had approx two hours drive to get to Queenstown... there were so many other places I could have stopped along the way so it just means I need to go back and spend some more time in the area... I rolled into Queenstown and got checked into the Heritage Hotel before jet lag kicked in... as luck would have it, the others from the group were just meeting for dinner so it was a good time to sit down and get to know some new friends

A dream morning...

Leaving Christchurch, I moved on to my next location... it was quite a drive (over 3.5 hours) since the roads are a bit different to Germany :) I'm very glad i took the option to stay in Christchurch on the first night to get some rest... would have been crazy to attempt this directly from the airport (at night)... my goal was to reach Hampden on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand...

I arrived around the time for sunset but there wasn't much sun to be seen as the heavens opened as I got to my motel... I did take a quick trip to the beach to make sure i knew where everything was in the morning as this location would be an early start for sunrise... following advice from the motel owner, I went to the Moeraki Tavern for dinner which was an excellent suggestion but just make sure you're not too late as things close early in these small towns... more on that later in the trip

I'd love to tell you I planned my visit to this area in minute detail... consulting long term weather forecasts and tide tables but in all honesty, I got lucky... I only had one night / morning in the area (could have maybe squeezed another) and the tide was coming in at a perfect time for sunrise... so the alarm was set with hope that the rain would clear overnight

Let me tell you that 5am is one of my least favourite alarm times but looking out the window made it worthwhile as the rain was gone and enough clouds to be interesting... so I grabbed a quick coffee, a snack, my headlamp and headed to the beach... I was the only car in the carpark... this was surprising as Moeraki Boulders is one of the most popular photo locations in New Zealand but I wasn't complaining... I walked about 10 minutes up the beach to the main boulder area and actually took my first shot about 5:55am... I had to wait about twenty minutes for the light to improve and BOY... did it improve!!!! Over the next hour and a half, the light just got better and better... the sort of morning you dream of as a landscape photographer and I had the beach basically to myself... one other photographer turned up about 6:30am and a third around 7am... this gave me to the freedom to fine tune compositions and get some long exposures without getting in anyones way...  the only problem was the incoming tide which was giving me wet feet but that was a small price to pay... also had to remember to keep my bag on my back so it didn't get drenched as well... below is a gallery of images from the morning... just click for the next image...

Warning.... techie speak coming... to be able to smooth water and balance the sky, I needed to use Neutral Density filters... I have a set from NISI Filters... I used a solid 6stop to get the longer exposure times and a 3 stop Reverse Grad ND for the sky (otherwise the boulders would be too dark)... I can combine these in my custom holder for my Fisheye lens or in the NISI S5 150mm Holder on my other lenses.... if you want more details, just comment below or send me a mail... Here endeth the techie speak :)

This post is already a bit long so I'll talk about the travel to Queenstown in the next post

 

 

Christchurch - City of Art (and construction)

After 45 hours of travel (including an overnight stop in Melbourne), I finally touched down in New Zealand for the first time... after a small detour through the quarantine line (they wanted to check my hiking boots), I came out through customs and immediately was greeted with the artwork installed at the airport... this was to be a continuing theme as I walked around the city and there is even an app which highlights all the artwork...

I stayed in central Christchurch and there are still very visible reminders of the earthquake even though it's been more than seven years... there are many empty blocks and facades of building being held up by shipping containers... also lots of new construction right next door to buidling which are boarded up... quite a contrast.... I wandered the streets a bit and got some dinner while also find some spots for photos in the morning

Seemed like a good attitude

One advantage of the long travel is that I slept well and was up (very) early and able to explore before much activity on the street... still got to chat to a few locals who were wondering why I was up and about so early... got a beautiful sunrise over the city and a few different locations... another advantage of the early start was I was able to go back and have breakfast and a nap before checkout time :-)

After checking out, I wandered around some more and visited some of the other artworks and graffiti locations... lots to see... another highlight was a stop at the Royal New Zealand Air Force museum... when I arrived it was extremely busy in the carpark but I then found out there is a church which holds services in one of the halls and everyone was leaving the Sunday morning worship... much quieter inside... If you enjoy history and flying (that would be me), then it's definitely worth a look... there is no admission fee but you can make a donation or purchase something from the shop and onsite cafe

Enjoy this selection of Christchurch images below...