Olde Tractor & Why Cameras are Rubbish!

While scouting out possible locations for my future Oxfordshire workshops I came accross this old farm. I knocked on the door and asked permission from the owner to photograph some of the barns - Rex, the owner, slightly bemused, gave me the nod.

This is finally the shot I was looking for. I have been back and forth to this same position 6 times in the last 3 days. 

This 1974 Ford tractor sits in the old hay barn waiting for its turn to shine again - Rex told me that the cylinders are shot, and the exhaust system is broken as well. It used to get let out once a year to cart the hay out to the lambs for winter bedding in the barns on the hill. Now it stays in situ for 11 months of the year. It reminded me of Brum. 

I walked around the barn, thinking of how I would compose the picture. Eventually I pulled the tripod legs out and found this spot - I looked down as one of the tripod's legs wasn't sitting on the ground properly. I looked down in the dark corner and discovered that I had put my tripod leg entirely through the semi-rotted body of a rat the size of a beaver. I let out a subtle yet masculine-ish yelp and hit my head on the wooden beams above me.

After removing the corpse, I realised why this scene was so difficult to photograph. 

Why Cameras are rubbish! 

CONTRAST 

Very simply, the contrast is the range of brightness in the scene. A high contrast, as in this photograph, shows there are very bright parts of the image (entrance of the barn on the left) and very dark parts of the image (the roof or parts of the beams). 

When looking through our eyes, we can see the detail in the brightest part of the image AND in the darkest shadow but the camera cannot. Without getting too technical - our eyes have a higher dynamic range than the camera - Our eyes are able to pick up a larger range of brightness than cameras can. 

Here is an example:

Here is the finished shot of Moreton Forest in Dorset. You can see that it is a high contrast scene. This is how I saw it with my eyes. 

This is how the camera sees it.

This is the first image I took - See how the foreground is well exposed but the trees at the top are completely white and overexposed. This is because cameras can not see the amount of brightness as our eyes can. 

This is the second shot I took - I made the shutter-speed faster to let less light, giving a darker image than the previous. 

You can see now that the foreground is under-exposed but the trees are well exposed. 

This scene had a too high contrast for the camera to deal with... so what do I do? 

GRADUATED FILTERs

For any landscape photographer, in fact, any photographer, these are a must. Graduated filters reduce the range of brightness (dynamic range) of the image. By placing them over the brightest part of the photograph (usually the sky) the camera is now able to cope with the amount of brightness of the scene. 

I placed this filter over the trees until half way down the image and the camera produced this photograph. 

Piece of cake! 

John

  

John-made-frames

I have always wanted to make my own frames. Friends and family have nudged me towards framing courses, however I don't want to make standard frames, I want to make frames that are different. I am bored of thin black frames.

So today I went on a mission, I found this beat-up old window frame and loved the rusty handle and broken hinges on the sides, giving the frame its individual charm and character. This is something that most frames lack in my opinion.

I got it re-glazed and removed the wildlife from the corners and I was ready...sort of.

Now I have this frame, what image do I put in it? Scroll through my images on my website www.johnalexander.me.uk and you will find pretty much zero vertical images, let alone a panoramic vertical image that was needed for this frame. I had to shoot a new image.

I went to scout out my Oxfordshire workshop location as I knew there are some great textures there - rusty door handles, latches, peeling paint that would look great in this frame.

I found this old school tractor I thought was might work - gnarled beams, bales, clapped-out old Ford Tractor. Seemed like a pretty good recipe to me.

I would love to know what you  think of the frame? Shall I do another one?

John

Andalucia - Spain - Textures & Patterns

I am pretty sure that I was the only person on the plane who looked up at the sky when stepping out of the plane and hoped billowing clouds would appear. 

Clear blue skies are great for holidays but not so great for landscape photographers as there is no drama in the shots. I want stormy skies, colourful sunrises and big waves. 

Due to terrible weather (for landscape photographers!) and perfect heavenly weather for everyone else, I changed my mindset, and instead of looking for the usual big sweeping scenes, I aimed for TEXTURES and PATTERNS. 

Look for bold colours, simple patterns, and textures. It is hard to convey it on the web but when these photographs are printed they will look sharp and as if you can peel off the paint with your finger!

Peely Paint - My favourite. 

 Abandoned buildings scatter the landscape around Almeria. When most people lie by the pool, gradually tanning themselves until burnt, I found myself climbing through collapsed roofs of abandoned farmhouses and treading on their dodgy floors with rotten beams.

I asked this fisherman in my perfect GCSE standard Spanish if I could take some photographs of him repairing his fishing lines. I thanked him and as I left he asked to be interviewed! I didn't think my Spanish would stretch as far as hooks, fishing lines, and species of fish, so instead I smiled and ran away before he thought I was more gifted at Spanish than I actually am.