Hand Held Photography….
For some unknown reason I said to everyone meet downstairs and be ready for a 7am departure. It was only when I went to bed that I realised we were only going 40 minutes up the road and sunrise wasn’t until 9am. A bit of a miscalculation, but nevertheless we still left at 7am and I chose to drive an hour and a half up the road instead arriving at the first location just before sunrise. The forecast wasn’t great for today, in fact, if I’m being honest with you, it was pretty lousy. Therefore, I knew the main emphasis of today was going to be the development of my workshop guests skills in hand held photography. Now, I don’t mind not using the tripod from time to time. I find it quite liberating moving around the scene in bad weather and taking photographs which wouldn’t be possible if I had a tripod in tow.
The weather forecast was pretty grim for Assynt, with on and off constant drizzle, but it was the forecast of strong winds which had me interested. The 2 places to go in Assynt for “strong wind photography” are Clachtoll & Oldshoremore. No brainer, Oldshoremore was further and I had 2 hours to get there. It also has the added benefit of being one of my favourite beaches in Sutherland. The panoramic vista that greets you as you approach by road, the vast expanse of marram grass that greets you as you walk towards it. The view, the bloody view is world class. It was blowing a gale with winds approaching 50mph. I have spent hundreds of hours on this beach in all kinds of weather, but strong winds is my favourite. It comes alive and makes me feel alive. My guests were absolutely lost for words and told me so. I quickly demonstrated what I’d like them to do – shutter speed fast enough to hand hold, aperture small enough to get the required the depth of field. The ISO unfortunately came last and it was what it was. It ended up being ISO2500 for most of us.
I rarely get my camera out and take photographs whilst I’m running my workshops. But with Oldshoremore, I always make an exception. Its far too good an opportunity to miss and I don’t think they minded. They are very capable and it’s much harder to stand over somebody when they are photographing with a hand held camera.
After an hour or so playing amongst the sand dunes of Oldshoremore, we made our way back to the car, as one of my guests was keen to return to Loch Stack whilst the rain held off. Another massive plus to this area is that it is a completely 100% no phone signal area. Consequently, as we entered the small village of Kinlochbervie, everybody’s phone started to ping. I glanced at one of my emails to see it was from a New York Gallery interested in showcasing my images. I’m sure there’s a catch somewhere and it’s going to cost me money, so I’m not too excited by this initial prospect. But you never know.
Anyway , back to the workshop…..
I always give my guests the option of going back to a location, which they’d like to revisit to maybe improve upon what they already have or if the weather conditions are different. Loch Stack was one such location. It is an amazing place to spend time at with a camera and I can totally understand why someone would want to go back for a second time. I’ve been back hundreds of times so who am I to comment. Unfortunately, by the time we had arrived the weather had closed in so quickly it would have not been possible to improve upon.
This weather front proved to be the start of a frustrating day for us. It started to rain quite heavily and the wind certainly picked up. It is very rare to pick up a wifi signal up here and so it’s very difficult to see whether there any breaks in the weather elsewhere. Thus, it becomes a bit of a dilemma whether to turn left or turn right at the next junction. Which turn will reveal the better weather. Coastal tends to be the safe option and one which normally pays off. Therefore, we turned left and headed to the coast.
It was at least an hours drive to the coast and I could sense that the group were deflated after the aborted location shoot at Loch Stack. Their mood wasn’t exactly lifted by the driving rain and low cloud which I can understand totally. But as the workshop leader, it is important to remain positive and cheerful at all times. It’s no good me feeling sorry for myself and cursing the weather. That’s not going to help even if I do share their disappointment and frustrations.
I therefore, drive along the back roads to the coast rather than the main road. This allows me the opportunity to talk to them about the history of the region and the impact of the North Coast 500 on the area. This is where it is an incredibly huge asset to be a local to the area. It provides them with a deeper understanding of Assynt and develops their affection for the place. Once, I have reminded them of their love of the place, their spirits pick up and we are all back on track. We arrive at Clachtoll in much higher spirits than what we left Loch Stack in. This despite the fact, the weather conditions were worse.
Clachtoll is an amazing photographic location and can usually be relied upon to provide lively conditions. Today, was no exception. The wind was brutal and it was difficult to stand up, let alone use a tripod. In fact, it was a mission to get out of the truck without losing the doors. However, a great opportunity for my guests to capture the pure energy of the place and try to convey this to the viewer. The use of a tripod was a pathetic thought. It was hand held photography all day long. The waves, the rollers and the location. All the ingredients to capture wonderful photographs. I stayed close to them, mainly to make sure they didn’t fall over or fall into the ocean. But to also guide them through the shots. Shutter speed was vital to freeze the action. I was on hand with drying cloths and to hold their lenses when a different one was needed. An amazing experience was had by all and thankfully Clachtoll delivered yet again.
The weather was deteriorating at a fast rate. Not only was the wind lively, but the sky was developing into a blanket of featureless white. It was not looking any better as we headed inland and towards Loch Assynt. I have never aborted a days shoot, I have never returned back to the accommodation early. I feel that every available daylight hour should be spent on location, no matter what the weather. There is always something you can learn and despite the rain, we found a little waterfall to photograph. This was the first opportunity of the week I had to demonstrate the skills in photographing a waterfall – the use of a polariser to take the glare off the surface, the use of different shutter speeds to capture the flow. A very useful exercise despite the weather. The rain was pretty steady by this time, but we ploughed on. You just never know when something may develop.
A Good Landscape Photographer
To be a good landscape photographer, you have to experience all weather conditions to improve your understanding of how it works. You have to be out in it, rather than reading weather apps, watching the news etc. This was a good lesson for my guests to experience and learn from. Essentially, never give up and always remain positive and optimistic. If nothing else, look out for locations that you may return to when the conditions improve.
Therefore, in spite of the conditions we didn’t return to base until well after dark and in the editing session later on in the evening we were all surprised and impressed by the results. A day, which on the face of it, appeared to return very little, did in fact exceed our expectations and the images were fantastic.
Let’s face it, a day out at Oldshoremore, Clachtoll, Loch Assynt and a tour guide through some of the wildest scenes in the UK is not a bad day.