The end of last year meant it was time for my annual family visit to the Lakes, which is always a good opportunity for another adventure with my camera! In previous years I’d explored different places and wanted to do the same again this time (you can see my blogs here for 2016 and 2017).
I started off the week with a few photos of my surroundings to get my eye in…
…unfortunately after a nice first day it rained for most of the week, so going off on big walks wasn’t really an option! Not to be deterred, I was inspired to “go-with-the-flow” and make a switch by focusing on photographing water.
As I'd just bought a LEE Filter’s Big Stopper (which basically acts as a really dark set of sunglasses for a camera) I was able to experiment with taking photos at different shutter speeds, all the way from 1/2000 of a second to 8 minutes.
Combined with my Fuji X-T2 camera, setting long exposures was a breeze as there was no need for a shutter release cable or intervalometer to set the times as I was able to do it on the camera.
My Fuji X-T2 with the LEE Big Stopper mounted on the front (looking a bit wet!).
I’d already made a start photographing water on the first day at a waterfall near Skelwith Bridge, shooting a mixture of fast and slower shutter speeds. Faster speeds froze the movement into sharper looking photos, whereas slower speeds blurred the movement - for this first set I preferred the photos that froze the movement.
1/2000s
1/10s - For comparison - the same waterfall as above, but at a slower shutter speed.
1/2000s
1/5s
1/60s
1/100s
1/30s
30s - This photo was taken as the sun was setting…
2 mins - …I came back to the same spot the next day to shoot the scene with more daylight.
1 min
1/250s
From the balcony of our lodge I took photos of bullrush in the nearby pond.
2 mins
2 mins
1/50s - Taken from the ground.
8 mins - I created a few photos like this one by moving and leaving the camera in different positions for about 1-2 mins…
4 mins - …it overlapped the bullrush in various positions, creating a ghosting effect.
4 mins
To my surprise this pathway which I’ve walked along many a time was a liiiiittle bit flooded - I’ve never seen it like this! It was a unique situation though, so I decided to take a few photos before turning back…
2 mins
1 min - To the left of the flooded path.
1/20s - On the final day I returned back to the waterfall from the first day before leaving…
2s - …and was pretty pleased with how this one turned out!
In typical fashion blue skies appeared on the last day!
So that rounds out this week in the Lakes. Despite putting up with the cold and some rain I did find the long exposure photography to be enjoyable and relaxing. It’s a different approach; slower and more thoughtful. You get to create images that you can’t see with your own eye, so there’s some anticipation in waiting for the final image to appear and satisfaction when you’ve captured something interesting. I look forward to trying it out some more!
Thanks for taking a look at this blog - I hope you enjoyed it! If you have any questions or comments then please leave a comment below.
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