Linn Jaw Falls, near Livingstone, Scotland.
Start of the path into the forest
Over the last year or so I’ve been frequently asked to write more about my photography and tell the ‘story behind the image’. This is the first post of an experiment in doing that, based on some of this year’s ‘best’ clicks, depending on the results and feedback I may do a bunch more.
This click is by no means a fantastic landscape, but it is a good example to use for this series as it represents technical success, a degree of artistic achievement and some of the elements of photography that are frequently overlooked by amateurs, as well as some of the ‘side benefits’ of the overall activities necessary to make the result.
As with most disciplines, results will be directly proportional to the level of preparation undertaken. This was my first, and so far, only visit to this location. However, I had spent quite some time researching it and I gave myself basically no time limit on the day. It’s not a known location for shooters, but a bit of sensible Google-foo gave me the essential travel information. Ordnance Survey explorer maps did the rest. I knew where it was and had seen some clicks by others. I did not know how to get to the ideal spot, but I did know which side of the river to be on.
I left Edinburgh with a rough plan to be parked up about three hours before sunset. The location is roughly 40 minutes from the closest possible parking. This would give me plenty of time to get lost or take the wrong path! And of course to have plenty of time at the location, should it not be a bust.
Everything else was ready. Tripod, one camera, two lenses, a bunch of filters, cable release, everything cleaned, charged and really ready. I can’t stress how often weekend warriors don’t have their act together here. It’s the most common mistake aside from not actually making the image in the mind before fiddling with the camera. Anyway, all that crap goes in the mountainsmith. I was also ready: wellies, walking pole, clothes to suit the Scottish weather, compass and a (manual) watch.
I knew ahead of time that there is a trek through a couple brooks and a steep and potentially hazardous decline into the drink. But that was about it.
Satnav took me to more or less the right place, but there is no such thing as a pinpoint on the first visit. Familiarity with this sort of location is of course extremely helpful. Anyway, my research told me there was a single parking spot cut into the side of the road near a gate, which is the entry to a path leading into the forest and towards the river. Spotted it OK, thanks to the vehicle already occupying the spot. Continuing a bit further along, no dice. This could be a long walk after all, but I spot another area where parking could be safe, next to a stable about 500 yards ahead. There are times when an SUV is a really stupid idea. This is one of them! I was in a Ford Fiesta!
As I parked up a horse decided to pay me a visit and see if I had any food. So I said hello to the nice horsey whilst getting wellied up, and then off to the gate and into the path. General purpose GPS is pointless because the map is useless. OS or nothing. Another tip if you want to be a decent landscape clicker: learn how to read a map and use a compass!
It was pretty straight forward for a bit. And very pleasant. This is one of the best parts of landscape photography, the trek or climb to the location. Away from everything, isolated in nature. Quiet, peaceful, calm, beautiful and natural. No bampots. Good thinking time.
It was pretty straight forward for a bit. And very pleasant. This is one of the best parts of landscape photography, the trek or climb to the location. Away from everything, isolated in nature. Quiet, peaceful, calm, beautiful and natural. No bampots. Good thinking time.
After about ten minutes walking along fenced property, we arrive at a bridge over the river and things start to get a bit more interesting as we approach a clearing – we are now in the forest proper and need to skirt a loop the loop to stay on the correct side (the right). There are plenty of rich opportunities for other clicks, but that’s not the task at hand – and those can wait for a return visit.
I've really lucked out with the weather. it's a great day, clear and bright, little wind. The light is fantastic. April in Scotland truly is one of the most stunning times to be making clicks, or just to be out and about.
Bridge over the river
Approaching the clearing
Now, the first mini challenge. We need to cross the river, well it’s more of a stream at this point. Crossing here will save about five minutes not bothering to take a detour over to the far right, where we still must walk thru the stream or attempt to balance over a weir with five grand of camera kit on our back. The water isn’t deep, but the felled trees are very low. A simple exercise, making sure not to get the gear stuck.
Most efficient crossing
A weir much further away
are we in austria? :)
A possible location on the crest of the hill
rekey shots, and my foot!
Another five minutes trek and we are now effectively in the middle of nowhere, perfect! We also can start to hear the falls, and before long there is a high vantage point on our left. Time for a stop, a drink, and an experimental click or five. Clambering into position at the crest of the summit – it could be pretty dangerous but today it’s dry and steady and slow always wins the race.
I set up here and made some portrait clicks of the secondary fall from various angles. It was a rekey. They weren’t any good and I knew it at the time, but this spot could have potential in the future. The key problem here is a branch interfering with the shot, without any good alternative angle to avoid it. Also, as is often the case with portrait clicks of falls, impossible to make a decent composition without the harsh highlights at the top. Filters can’t save a bad composition.
Right, pack up and back to it.
After about three minutes we come to the end of the road, literally. No where to go but down, or back the way we came.
The property on the right, even with right to roam is not cool.
Down, is the steep decline that previous clickers have mentioned is ‘likely to break bones’. Hmm, it looks OK. Especially when it’s dry. But it’s very steep, especially about 2/3 way down kinda hidden in the picture here.
The property on the right, even with right to roam is not cool.
Down, is the steep decline that previous clickers have mentioned is ‘likely to break bones’. Hmm, it looks OK. Especially when it’s dry. But it’s very steep, especially about 2/3 way down kinda hidden in the picture here.
See the dodgy falling over fence. That’s pretty helpful, as is a walking pole. Now, wellies are not a good idea here, but hauling them whilst wearing boots ain't my thing. Less gear. Always!
It's so unusually dry (for Scotland) that it's actually very slippery as the earth just crumbles away under foot.
At any rate, slow and steady. Coming back up is gonna be “interesting”.
Once we reach the bottom, we are presented with the scene. It doesn’t suck.
A short distance into the drink there is a nice big rock we can sit on. One could easily spend many hours here exploring all the various vantage points as the water is about half a meter deep at the edges.
It's so unusually dry (for Scotland) that it's actually very slippery as the earth just crumbles away under foot.
At any rate, slow and steady. Coming back up is gonna be “interesting”.
Once we reach the bottom, we are presented with the scene. It doesn’t suck.
A short distance into the drink there is a nice big rock we can sit on. One could easily spend many hours here exploring all the various vantage points as the water is about half a meter deep at the edges.
time to break a knee
THIS spot doesn't suck
This spot is basically where virtually all the other folks photos are taken from. It’s very convenient but there are much better places. I do a bunch of clicks from here moving about a little bit, just to get the overall scene and make the basic shots. That branch that screwed my previous shot is very annoying, and my eye is drawn to the smaller falls in the background, which also won't suffer (as much) from the highlights of the sky.
It's time to pack up and explore. I'm gonna head around the left hand bank and see what's what. Now, it gets pretty deep in sections and you need to learn how to wade when the bottom will fall away under you all the time. Walking pole. Essential.
Halfway I stop and try a different angle of the main fall, but that branch won't go away. Hopefully someone with a chainsaw will sort it for the next visit! :) You could easily spend all day here, exploring all the various places, crossing the other side, going downstream. I had the entire place to myself. Nothing but the sounds of nature.
making the obvious clix
final location of the shot
I manage to make it all the way to the back. There is a ridge where I can put all my gear down, and have a short rest, whilst looking over the options for the scene. I can’t avoid the sky entirely, but I can get away with it. The light is closing in. I make a few test clicks, and then it’s time to mount the camera and wade out as far as I can go into the drink.
Therefore, my tripod is a brick house. There is no value in a cheap tripod. It’s going at least halfway into the water; it needs to be a proper tripod. Don’t skimp on tripods. It’s a complete false economy. I am done with people who own a five-thousand-pound camera saying “oh, that tripod is too expensive”. Doh!
You really need proper waterproofs, but I’m sufficing with wellies. This time of year, the levels aren’t that bad. And I’m OK with a bit of water.
Now I work the scene for about an hour. Gotta dig the timing and speed of the fall. And the light. There is a balance here between the ultra-smooth silky and the natural. I'm not making an un-realistic click. The other balance is the underlying water speed and the wind. Too long an exposure, it simply won't be sharp. All this effort - the click gotta be sharp as a tack.
I do everything I can on the camera to get the best results possible. I'm using electronic front-curtain shutter and exposure delay of three seconds. I have the eyepiece curtain closed. The tripod and head are locked down tighter than a tennis player’s thighs. I've got a towel and micro fibre ready to deal with spray. I'm totally OK with cleaning quick in the field. It's the nature of the beast.
I do NOT use live view. Well that's not entirely true, I experiment with it, but I do not compose with it.
I do NOT use live view. Well that's not entirely true, I experiment with it, but I do not compose with it.
All my main settings are done back by the bank before I move out into the drink. I so far, have never turned on the long exposure noise reduction in the D850. It doesn’t seem to need it. And it’s never hot enough in Scotland anyway (although on the D810, it was necessary).
I also make some shots with the built-in multiple exposure mode. I’m all the way out here, get as much as I can and learn as much as I can about the options available.
Once I’ve done all that, I adjust the composition. I want the log/branch/whatever to frame the left-hand side. The opposing falls work great just off center and I can place the small bit of sky in the top left. I spot a few unpleasant flowers over to the right and get rid of them by adjusting the frame slightly.
Composition is set. Now I’m looking at the rocks in detail. Detail is important. You gotta be able to see the picture before making the click. No point of a mega mega mega pixel file if you don’t notice the details when you have a chance to do something about them.
Loving the wet rocks. Polariser. That puppy goes on the front of the Lee adaptor. Adjust it just so. Which is important, you need to learn how to use a polariser correctly. In this case I’m looking to remove reflections but also bring out the contrast and light in the wet rocks. So, I back it off a tad more than usual.
I really want the greens to “pop” – I know I can punch these up in post. But I’d rather start with an almost perfect file. There is some yellow and orange up top as well.
There’s a blue rope at the foot of the branch. Can’t do anything about that, but I know I can remove it in a heartbeat with Photoshop later.
There’s a blue rope at the foot of the branch. Can’t do anything about that, but I know I can remove it in a heartbeat with Photoshop later.
With all this in mind I have my settings and filters specified. I’m gonna be using a ND grad 0.6 soft at an angle to knock back the highlights in the top left. Have to be careful here to not overdo it, because it will be really obvious when finishing the file. It will look fake. Subtle is better. I didn’t perfect this but it’s close. I’m gonna slap a six stop ND at the back to allow me to slow the shutter *and* get the look I’m after.
Now, a word on filters. Get the best. Get ones that work with an adaptor. Learn them. There are no excuses. Sure, you’ll drop and crack some one day and be gutted. But so what? You want THE click or just a click? I’m currently using Lee Filters IRND and the landscape polariser with their ND grads. They are the mutts nuts.
OK, settings. They don’t matter, you make the click you need to make based on the situation and light. My settings won’t work for your click. In this case, I wanted around a two-minute exposure. Longer and the risk of wind, river flow etc is too much. And would make the colours in the water disappear, and the whole fake look too much. Ideally, I’m looking for f/13 or f/11. I don’t want total depth.
Thus, the click was made at 25mm - ISO 100, f/11, 120 seconds. White Balance is cloudy.
I’m focusing right into the foot of the rocks in one third from the right. I’m using single point single servo focus.
I’m focusing right into the foot of the rocks in one third from the right. I’m using single point single servo focus.
CLICK! Or rather hit the remote trigger, wait three seconds and then there’s a click and another one a couple minutes later!
I don’t check Facebook whilst the shutter is open.
Now it’s time to pack up, get the hell outta dodge and on the road before it gets dark. The climb back is not great for my knees, and the horsey is still there with the munchies. Next visit I must remember to bring a carrot.
It was a great day, and unusually very lucky with both weather and light. Much better than being sat in front of a computer.
I don’t finish the images when I get home, about three hours later. That’s a bad idea. You look at the files sure. But tiredness doesn’t lead to a good finish. You always overdo things when you are tired. Best to leave it until the next morning and finish in a well-lit room. The thing about a good snap, is the finishing required is minimal.
And that is the story of this click.
Shitty iPhone click from directly above the real camera.
