A few days ago, a comment was made on my blog article about perfect moments : “I hope you run a travel workshop in the near future. Something really laid back, relaxing and being about experiencing the place. It’s not always about the shot.” In response, I quipped something along the lines about how people would be unlikely to pay for a workshop not about getting the shot. Given that one of the most successful TV series of all time was based on the premise of a ‘show about nothing’, perhaps there is more to this idea than meets the eye.

This morning, I engaged in my first landscape shoot of the year. Driving into Bude after a week of fine weather in Paris, I was reacquainted with my old Cornish friends : dense fog, driving rain, strong winds and a featureless overcast sky. Nothing had changed by the time I drove out to the beach the next morning. Fortunately this was one of those locations that has never failed to deliver a memorable experience, whether I came back empty handed or not. Even when blowing a gale, the conditions only add to the windswept ruggedness of the place. I was content to walk up and down the shoreline and marvel at the rusty cliffs, smooth rock formations, orange sand and the aquamarine water in the tidal pools. There was no hurry; whether I even made a single exposure was of no consequence.

At its most transcendental level, landscape photography becomes an almost spiritual pursuit. Watching the elements of earth, sea and sky interact, you are confronted by higher powers whether you believe in a higher entity or science. To take this analogy a step further, does a person pray because they have faith or because they expect results? Is the success of a morning outing dependent on whether the photographer bagged a shot or not? What is the best measure of how good a workshop is? The number of images added to a portfolio. How much you learned? Or perhaps how much you enjoyed it?

One aspect of landscape photography that I find increasingly tiresome, is the persistent trophy-hunting style of making images. It’s photography on steroids : more extreme angles, more intense colours, more post-processing and the rush to nail a shot at the most recent discovered location. Of course there are times when it is necessary to pursue an idea relentlessly, after all photos don’t take themselves. However when the hunt becomes an ingrained part of the art, it’s time to slow down. Instead of trying to score a great sunrise or sunset, with time I’ve become more concerned with listening to the story a place has to tell and what I have to say.

Caressing the Sea

So what happened this morning on my first landscape shoot of the year? I eventually settled on a composition that incorporated the features that I had found most striking during my stroll. While setting up, a small break opened in the sea mist and sky – too long after sunrise to produce any colours but it added luminosity to the subtle colours of the scene and a touch of mystery. It was the perfect expression of my mood this morning.

Of course the large version on the website is much nicer and can be found here.

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A Beautiful End

The first email I received in 2012 was a piece of spam from a company claiming that they had been studying the MHT website and could offer their services in improving web traffic. Ironically, www.magichourtravelscapes.com’s Alexa ranking of 400,000 plus (not bad for a photography website) was higher than their own ranking of around 3,000,000. Even though web popularity is hardly an indicator of quality, it is nice to know that my photography and blog is being appreciated around the world. A big thank you to everyone who visited the galleries and particularly those who contributed to the blog discussions.

It was another successful year in terms of photography contests.

• The only honour roll  I missed out on was “Take a View” although two images made it to the shortlist.
• Making it to the Veolia Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at the British Natural History Museum for the second year running was my highlight of 2011. This year I was recognized in the “Animals in Their Environment” section.
• “Dawn Stars” also made it to the commended list in the Nature’s Best Windland  Smith Rice Awards. I’m hoping that it will go on to be part of the 2012 exhibition at the Smithsonian in Washington DC.
• First place in the “Threatened Species” category with a bird image in ANZANG, Australia’s most prestigious nature photography competition, was particularly encouraging, reminding me to look beyond the landscape when in the field. I also was successful in the landscape and environmental sections of this competition.
• I closed out the year with a win in the extremely popular Digital Camera Magazine “Photographer of the Year” contest – 1st place for landscapes with “Symphony of the Thousands”. Thanks to Gustav Mahler for the title!

Rabbit Proof Fence on display at the South Australian Museum's ANZANG exhibition

Dawn Stars at the British Natural History Museum

The ANZANG exhibition is travels around Australia. The Veolia WPOTY 2011 exhibition recently opened at the Australian Museum in Sydney. I was blown away by the difference between seeing many of the photos in print at the museums compared to the yearbooks.

Veolia WPOTY Exhibition opening at the British Natural History Museum in London

MHT ran its first international workshop, a 19-day expedition around the south island of New Zealand. Some of the awesome locations we visited included : majestic Mount Cook, the wild west coast (where I photographed “Dawn Stars”), the lush rainforests and petrified shores of the Catlins, autumnal foliage around Queenstown and Lake Tekapo and the meeting of mountains and the ocean at Kaikoura. The workshop participant gallery will be up for a few more weeks here.

Shooting the Catlins during the NZ workshop

Some of you may have noticed that over the last year, I have shifted my focus towards the genre of travel which requires a more holistic approach to photographing destinations. Together with a diminishing reliance on magic hour light and more on composition as well as the recent emphasis on black and white, I may have to consider rebranding. How does KKYPhotography sound?

Overall there were not a lot of shooting days in 2011- less than 60, including the time spent running the New Zealand workshop. The only other landscape destination was Cornwall where I spent a few weeks scouting its impressive coastlines. Conditions were challenging overall but fortunately at the three most important locations, some good light turned up when it counted most.

Just Another Morning in Paris

Two weeks in Paris was a real shot in the arm for my travel photography. I took my work in architecture, street and portraits a new level and hope to expand my Paris portfolio further this year as part of a larger project. A couple of useful and unexpected developments came out of this last trip : a flirtation with the panoramic format and learning a great deal more about monochrome conversions.

The year kicked off with a quick trip to northern Italy. With Carnevale in Venice just around the corner now, I can only say that it’s always a fantastic experience, one that I hope to repeat each year if possible. Every year, many of the masks return and I look forward to seeing their new ‘characters’.

On a final note, I don’t have a lot planned for 2012. Since I will probably be working without an assistant this year, any workshops are likely to be shorter and with smaller groups. Those interested in a New Zealand, Australia, Paris or Cornwall should email me on the MHT website and we can discuss tailoring an itinerary to a small group. Look out for updates on the MHT gallery as some of my best stuff from Paris and Cornwall are still to come.

Last but not least, I would like to use my first blog in 2012 to introduce you to www.whytake.net the brainchild of Alister Benn, Juanli Sun, Anca Minican and Rafael Rojas. Many of my favourite nature photographers are involved in this global network and this ambitious project is already off to a great start. Seeing so many fantastic images on the one website from this impressive line-up of nature photographers cannot fail to inspire.

Happy New Year and excellent light to you all!

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Date: Thursday March 8, 2012 – Sunday March 11, 2012

Price: $899 per person

Special Discount: $100 refund for first Three registrations. Discount Code  “HoleInTheRock”

Former Students Price: $599 per person (Special Discount does not apply)

Location: Moab, Utah

Description

Summary

• Workshop Begins March 8, 2012 at 6pm – Students and instructors will meet at the hotel lobby, and go to dinner at a local restaurant for introductions and a discussion of plans for shooting the following day.
• Workshop Ends March 11, 2012 at 1pm – Students and instructors will meet at the hotel lobby, and go to lunch at a local restaurant. The workshop will end after lunch.

Arches National Park is home to a vast collection of natural sandstone arches. This high desert region offers a stunning variety of geological features. Its pinnacles and spires, potholes, and balanced rocks are every bit as fascinating as the arches for which the park is named.

Canyonlands National Park is a beautiful desert wonderland of canyons, mesas, and buttes on the Colorado Plateau. The region offers a rich variety of locations perfect for practicing composition, and learning the essentials of landscape photography.

Hands-on practice is the best way to improve your photographic skills! This workshop will focus on photographic essentials for nature photographers – including composition, hyperfocal distance, filters, and field work. Knowledgeable and experienced professional photographers, Varina and Jay Patel, will be available to answer questions, offer guidance and advice, and help with equipment.

We plan to rise early to drive to our locations and shoot the sunrise. We will stay up late shooting the sunset as well, and the return trip to the hotel could be lengthy. Please be prepared for long days.

Approximate Sunrise and Sunset Times:

• Sunrise: 6:40 AM
• Sunset: 6:20 PM

Lodging

It is easy to find lodging in Moab, Utah. Instructors will be staying at:

Days Inn Moab
426 North Main Street
Hwy 191 & Main Street Moab,
UT 84532 US
Phone: 435-259-4468
Website: http://www.daysinn.com/

Tentative locations for this Photo Tour include: Arches National Park, Mesa Arch & surrounding overlooks in Canyonlands National Park, Dead Horse Point State Park.

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Date: Thursday April 26, 2012 – Sunday April 29, 2012

Price: $899 per person

Special Discount: $100 refund for first Three registrations. Discount code “GetWet”

Former Students Price: $599 per person (Special Discount does not apply)

Location: Hood River, Oregon

Description

Summary

• Workshop Begins Apr 26, 2012 at 6pm (Pacific Time) – Students and instructors will meet at the hotel lobby, and go to dinner at a local restaurant for introductions and a discussion of plans for shooting the following day.
• Workshop Ends Apr 29, 2012 at 1pm (Pacific Time)

Columbia River Gorge is a beautiful, scenic area near Portland. In Spring, lush green hillsides and stunning waterfalls provide photographic opportunities in abundance. Many waterfalls are easily accessible, making this an ideal location for a hands-on photography workshop. Part of the Columbia Gorge region lies in the temperate rain forest at the base of Mount Hood. Views of the mountain are plentiful.

Hands-on practice is the best way to improve your photographic skills! This workshop will focus on photographic essentials for nature photographers – including composition, hyperfocal distance, filters, and field work. Knowledgeable and experienced professional photographers, Varina and Jay Patel, will be available to answer questions, offer guidance and advice, and help with equipment.

We plan to rise early to drive to our locations and shoot the sunrise. We will stay up late shooting the sunset as well, and the return trip to the hotel could be lengthy. Please be prepared for long days.

Approximate Sunrise and Sunset Times:

• Sunset: 8:15 PM
• Sunrise: 6:00 AM

Tentative locations for this Photo Tour include: Columbia River Gorge Waterfalls, Lost Lake, Trillium Lake and other locations around Mt. Hood.

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I’ve decided to do a regular feature called Blog Watch which is a way of tagging interesting or noteworthy articles I come across. Reading these is a great way during downtimes in between trips or processing images to fire the spirit of adventure, ignite creative juices and pay tribute to the wanderlust within. Ticking all these boxes is Guy Tal’s recent interview with Marc Adamus. When Marc exploded onto the scene about 5 years ago, he quickly became one of the most inspirational landscape photographers in the world. Just looking at where we are today, his influence is obvious. His work and style is probably the most imitated of any photographer I’ve seen. My advice is to use Marc as inspiration but those seeking to copy too closely should bear in mind that most imitations fail miserably in comparison with the original. Thanks Guy for this fantastic insight into Marc’s life, philosophy and approach to photography and processing.

In the meantime, I’m preparing a workshop gallery including ‘behind the scenes’ images from New Zealand, which should be up in the next week.

Photographing Tekapo

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Perseverance

There was only one truly awful day in terms of weather on our 19 day New Zealand workshop which occurred near the end of the trip. Many of the cornerstones of nature photography had already been covered by then either in-the-field or during tutorials : exposure, filters, image review, composition, perspective control, post-capture workflow. Some less tangible aspects of the craft were about to be demonstrated that day…

Our planned morning shoot at Lake Matheson had to be cancelled and our afternoon was not looking much better. Arriving at our coastal location, we were met by white featureless sky and torrential rain far too heavy to photograph in. Rather than give up and return home, I suggested that we wait and hope for the best. At some point I must have dozed off in my sleep-deprived state. After my power nap ,the conditions were still looking hopeless and I started up a conversation with one of the participants in the car. Mid-sentence, I noticed something behind his shoulder. “Is that something on the window or is that a small hole in the sky?” Winding down the window I was delighted to see that it was the latter. “Quick! Everyone run!” Several minutes later most of the group had scampered down to the beach as the clouds broke up to let a hint of golden light through.

It turned out to be one of the most memorable shoots of our expedition for those who made it out into the field. With the evening punctuated by sporadic showers and heavy atmospheric storm clouds I felt truly alive. At the end of the day, whether I made a shot today mattered not.

It became clear to the participants that there were more important factors than f-stops, L-lenses and hyperfocal distances such as perseverance and the confidence that you can turn nothing into something. Above all, if you don’t stick it out, the shot isn’t going to take itself.

High resolution versions : Perseverance, Testing Times

Testing Times

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I am the Anti-Christ – well, at least to most fashion and portrait photographers. In a world of Alien Bees, Pocket Wizards, Bowens and the like, I choose to shoot exclusively with natural light. I’m a firm believer that skills can cross-over between different areas of photography. No matter what your subject, it all boils down to light, composition and the know-how to make reality what one sees in the mind’s eye.

So why the bare-bones approach to people photography? As a travel photographer, I love the practical aspects of not having to carry my own lighting around. I have learnt to make the best use of the available light to complement this approach. It also means that my shoots can be more spontaneous and I am free to connect better with the subject. For the same reasons I have done away with tripods too.

Mother and Son – Cuba

Perhaps the way I operate is a throw back to my admiration for painters. I am most inspired by painters like Caravaggio and Vermeer and the way they use light. If you imagine their paintings using fill flash and other extra sources of illumination, something organic would be lost from their impact.

Now I’m certainly not expecting anyone else to agree with all this. Perhaps I will broaden my techniques with time but I am currently deriving a lot of enjoyment and satisfaction working within these limitations.

This week I have uploaded what I consider to be my prize photo from the two Carnevales I have had the pleasure of attending in Venice. I was about to finish my morning shoot when something about this ‘mask’ caught my eye. The light was already quite harsh and not ideal for portraits however the way it highlighted the edges of her cape caught my attention. The dramatic lighting reminded me of the paintings of Caravaggio and his style of chiaroscuro and Tenebrism with its strong contrasts between light and shadow. By exposing for the highlights, the shadows became even darker and the result is what I wanted to convey about the theatre of Carnevale in Venice. The much better high resolution version can be found here.

I am attending Carnevale in 2012 and will be able to accommodate a small group boutique workshop (up to 5 participants). The dates will be February 17th-22nd which will give us 4 full days of shooting. It is open to people of all levels of photography. Register your interest through the main website or email me directly kahkityoong@magichourtravelscapes.com

Chiaroscuro

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One of the most important messages I try to get across to my workshop participants is that one should learn to be adaptable to the conditions at hand. Whether it be rain, hail or shine, the landscape photographer should remain unbowed and be able to make the best use of whatever light is available. This skill is even more important on photo trips far away from home when one does not always have the luxury of returning multiple times to stake out the location and light demanded by our appetite for wish fulfillment. If the conditions do not pan out as you previsualised, stubbornly continuing to point your lens at a scene that is not working for you and ignoring the possibilities around you will invitably lead to stagnant photography.

This sort of situation was somewhat reversed on the New Zealand trip. I was visiting locations that I had already photographed on numerous times and by the last week all the participants were off doing their own thing in the field. Our final landscape shoot was sunrise at Kaikoura, a location that boasts mountains, coastline and a whole host of wonderful marine and avian wildlife. With the Kaikoura Alps hugging the coastline, this is a great opportunity to photograph a seascape with mountains in the background. One of the problems that this presents is that when using a wide-angle lens, the alps look diminished in size and can appear like cardboard cut-outs.

Unfortunately on his morning, a cloudless sky meant that the conditions would be less dramatic than I had hoped. I suspected it would be difficult to make an image able to stand next to my previous efforts here. A long thin cloud appearing in front of the mountain just after sunrise held some promise, glowing a soft pink for a minute or two, during which I took a few exposures. By cropping away most of the sky and sacrificing the foreground I was able to put the focus the strongest elements (the rolling waves, a rock catching the light, the low-lying cloud and the coloured part an otherwise insipid sky) as well as emphasize the layered foundation to the composition. It also allows the mountains to retain their true scale in relation to the rest of the landscape. Even though the very popular panoramic format is not exactly innovative, it is a step outside of the way my mind’s eye views the world and I think the crop makes it a much more effective image.

One unexpected benefit is that on our scrolling web gallery, panoramas are very well presented. A large version can be found here.

Shooting at Kaikoura

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I’m pretty quick at the photo editing and post-capture processing stages of the image production line. The best images just jump out when I review them at the end of the day. When shooting for myself, these photos will be processed to within 95% of the final result before I call it a night. While running a workshop, I was consumed by other priorities and I’m only now finished with the first round of images. Nevertheless, I’ve managed to keep up a steady stream of new images posted to the New Zealand gallery in the past couple of weeks. A gallery for the participants will also be set up once everyone has had a chance to review and work on their images.

Workshop Tutorial and Review Session (iPhone capture)

Those who have attended my digital workflow sessions will know that I usually spend a weekend teaching it. My post-capture technique is something that I’ve developed over the 6 years I have been photographing. While most of it came about simply through trial-and-error, I’ve adopted and incorporated bits of pieces learnt from Marc Adamus, Tony Kuyper and Scott Kelby. Despite taking an entire weekend to teach, the whole process usually only takes about 5 minutes to apply. More complex jobs keep me occupied for 15-20 minutes. Since I have no formal training in Photoshop, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not an ‘expert’; however I can teach what I know and do. Even though I did not go through the entire weekend digital workflow program on the New Zealand expedition, we managed to fit in several sessions dedicated to this most important subject.

A Moment of Clarity

Among the new images to go up this week is “A Moment of Clarity”. The area around Mount Cook features several lakes which contain iceberg  fragments derived from glaciers.  It is a dynamic landscape and on the two days I visited, the floating bits of ice had rearranged themselves considerably. In fact one afternoon, I entered one of the lakes to get up close to one of the icebergs. After setting up the shot, my subject spun around and disappeared down the river. Not a great result for 15 minutes standing in a freezing lake in shorts barefoot. It was quite a while before I could feel my lower legs and toes again! Fortunately on this still clear morning, I was able to fish this beautiful piece of ice out of the lake without getting too wet. I spent some time positioning my prop to echo the peak of Mount Cook. The warm light of early morning just hitting the mountain tops provided a nice contrast with the stark cold-looking landscape below. I have exaggerated the size of the piece of ice with a near-far composition. The camera was positioned so low that I had to use live-view to compose and focus. Even at f22 the depth of field was not quite enough to get everything in focus but some selective sharpening on the mountains fixed that nicely. A 2 stop hard graduated neutral density filter was used to balance the sky and foreground. I also took a second exposure without the filter to blend in detail in the shadowed part of the mountains. With a bit of extra effort, I think the result is stronger than my other attempt, “Fragmentation”, shot the same morning. A large version is available to view on the web gallery.

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Our time in New Zealand ended up very much the same way that it started. A 5.3 aftershock in Christchurch woke up all of the participants in the dead of the night, one of whom admitted the first thing he grabbed was his external hard drive! And no wonder judging by the quality of the photography I have seen during the image reviews.

When I look back on the journey through the south island, I’m blown away by the places that we have visited. It remains the best destination for landscape photography that I have visited. Combined with some terrific weather, light and luck, it was a recipe for great images. Our two aims were for everyone to come back safe and with a great portfolio of shots. I think that we have achieved that in spades. Even though it was not a priority for us, MHT managed to come back with about a dozen keepers which will be added to the web gallery in due course.

Fragments

The 19 day itinerary was bookended by two of my favourite locations in the world : the alpine scenery at Mount Cook and the seascapes of west coast. We spent two days photographing floating icebergs in glacial lakes and the faces of the majestic peak of Aoraki from various locations in perfect conditions. The most memorable highlight of the trip was spending several hours after sunset photographing startrails over Mount Cook with three other members of the group. This was from a new high perspective that I had only discovered during our hike that afternoon. It was a humbling and spiritual experience to watch the stars appear during nightfall. I’m sure that it will prove to be a very significant and memorable experience for everyone else too – well worth the long hike back in the dark. Unbeknownst to the people in the group, it happened to be my birthday too – Mother Nature seems to always give me the best presents!

Our penultimate destination was the wild west coast. I could feel the excitement after our shoots here. The buzz. I had timed our visit with the optimal tidal conditions to see this location and many from the group were mesmerized by the starfish colony I discovered here last year. On this trip, I worked the unusual multi-coloured polished rock formations and giant sea stacks. Many exposures were made trying to capture the water flowing through the channels in a particular rock that took my fancy. Ultimately it was an image with no water action at all that proved to be my favourite. After a series of waves had receded, the sand was left glistening and metallic, reflecting the purple twilight sky.  Looking at the processed image I wondered initially about this colour. However reading through the notes from one of the participants, I am reassured by the sentence ‘pink sky turning purple’ to describe the sunset.

And so I ended up making some pleasing shots. However it was the process of allowing my own photography to take a backseat this trip that has brought me a step closer to unravelling the mysteries about image creation.

Sculptures

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