The long path

The long path

Fuji X-T1 with Fujinon 18-55mm F2.8 - F4

Fallen leaves

Fallen leaves

Fuji X-T1 with Fujinon 18-55mm F2.8-F4

What lies within

It's a fantastic time of year to capture moody, woodland images.

What lies within

Fuji X-T1 with Fujinon 18-55mm F2.8 - F4

Weybourne in Autumn

I've not been able to update the blog recently, having been very busy in the Saltmarsh and Samphire gallery of late. But I did find time to get out the other day with my camera kit, and head to Weybourne, on the North Norfolk Coast. It's a lovely place, with a wonderful pebble beach, and cliffs, (albeit small ones) as far as the eye can see. With a northerly wind producing impressive waves that crashed onto the beach at regular intervals, a fine spray kicking into the air, the place certainly had a wild feel to it, especially with the relentless procession of autumnal storms that kept passing through.    

Balancing the exposure between the sky and the sea, required a 2 stop hard grad. Using an ISO of 200, an aperture of F22, (I know, not ideal) resulted in a shutter speed of 1/10 sec, enough to show movement within the sea, which is what I was after. ISO 100 and aperture of F16 would have been possible, but on the Fuji X-T1, this would have meant no Raw file, which is something I will always try and capture if I can. Saying that, the Fuji's jpeg files are so damn good straight out the camera, this wouldn't have been a complete disaster. I was fortunate that the rainbow appeared when it did, as another storm scuttled across the leaden sky, and this for me compliments the image.

www.saltmarshandsamphire.co.uk  

Just Judy

A digital painting of the Pontoon area, at Wells-next-the-Sea, on the North Norfolk coast.

Just Judy

Sands of Wells

Sands of Wells

Fuji X-T1 with Fujinon 10-24mm F4 lens. Tripod and cable release. Lee 3 stop neutral density hard grad filter.

Under mottled skies

Taken on a trip to Weybourne on the North Norfolk Coast last year, I love the weathered look of the tractor and fishing boat.

Under mottled skies

Nikon D4 with Nikkor 24-70mm F2.8, tripod and trigger release.   

Moonraker

I finally managed to get some time to pop out with the camera last week. The weather was kind, warm and relatively still. I had spied this boat, Moonraker, on a previous walk, and thought it would make a lovely subject. The warm reddish tones of the wood were further enhanced by the setting sun, as was everything else along East Fleet. People were sitting on benches and out on their verandas with glasses of wine and bottles of champagne, drinking in the view.  

Moonraker

Fuji X-T1 with Fujinon 10-24mm F4 lens, tripod and cable release.

Sarah and Steve

It was back to Hull in a matter of days after the last wedding, to shoot Sarah and Steve's big day. I love taking detail and candid shots, and I share a few of these with you below.

 

Sarah

The bride, Sarah, ready for the ceremony at the church in Sutton upon Hull.

All ready

One of the young bridesmaids.

Here she comes

Capturing candid shots of the children is always one of the fun parts of the day.

Just arrived

The ceremony at St James' Church, Sutton upon Hull 

A cheeky look back by the bride Sarah, during the service at the church in Sutton upon Hull.

The bride Sarah.

The delicate and beautifully simple bouquet

Heart detail

Lovely detail at the wedding reception.

Bird cage design

Tired bridesmaid

Weddings can be very tiring for some!

Father and daughter

A lovely image of the bride and her father.

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Matt and Jenny

Very busy at the minute, with the gallery at Wells-next-the-Sea in full swing during the Summer holidays, and it being the height of the wedding season.

Just a small selection of images from Matt and Jenny's wedding, which took place in Hessle, Hull, at the end of July.
 

Arrival, and a big grin

Lovely candid shot of this little boy and his mum, as they arrive at the church.

Just married

The happy couple, Matt and Jenny leave the church after the ceremony.

Confetti

Lavender was used for confetti. The smell was lovely.

Vintage bus

A lovely vintage bus was used to take the guests to the hotel for the wedding breakfast and reception.

hand made bouquet

The bouquet was hand made by the bride Jenny, using old maps which had certain places on them, special to the couple. A wonderful idea.

Jenny

The bride Jenny.

Rob and Amanda

Amanda, ready for the ceremony

The wedding of Rob and Amanda took me to the lovely city of York, and the gorgeous wedding venue of Sandburn Hall. Here are just a few images, on what turned out to be a fantastic day for all involved.  

For this portrait of Amanda, I asked her to stand near the window for an image that was free from clutter. Overexposing the selected camera settings by 1 stop, I was able to create a bright, almost dreamy shot. A reflector was used to bounce some light back towards Amanda, and it can clearly be seen as a reflection in her eyes. Nikon D4 with Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8.

Gorgeous bouquet

I love bouquet shots like this, simple but effective. Shot with a Nikon D3s and Nikkor 24-70mm F2.8.

Just married

I tend to stand at the back of the ceremony room during the service. It can sometimes make for tricky lighting conditions, and this one was no different. So as not to let the camera decide what exposure it thinks I need, I tend to shoot this part of the day in manual mode. I wanted to over expose the image slightly, to create a dreamy effect, while the couple were kissing. Nikon D4 with Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8

The lovely couple

When I get the opportunity to spend time with the couple after the ceremony, everyone, including me, is a bit more relaxed. I tend to guide the couple to an area I would like to photograph them, and let the images 'just happen'. A long lens works well in these situations, as the couple feel as though they have space to breathe. Nikon D4 with Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8.

Amanda and the flower girls

I love shots like the one above. While Julian is taking formal shots, I will search out more candid moments. A quick shout of Amanda's name, has resulted in a completely natural, unposed photo. Nikon D4 with Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8

On East Fleet

On East Fleet

Taken using the Fuji X100, and converted into a digital painting, using Topaz Impression.

Available as a framed and mounted print, (total size 24''x12'')  from the Saltmarsh and Samphire gallery in Wells-next-the-Sea, priced £75.00.

www.saltmarshandsamphire.co.uk

Woodhall Spa 40's festival 2015

Just a quick post from me today. Last year I wandered down to the 40's festival, in my home town of Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire. I had a great time photographing the many characters and activities that could be seen throughout the weekend. I did a couple of blog posts on my time at the festival, which you can view here. Hopefully, they will give you a flavour of this fabulous event.

http://brettgardnerphotography.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/woodhall-spa-40s-festival.html
http://brettgardnerphotography.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/canon-av-1.html

You may also be interested in the official website for the festival, which can be found by clicking the link below.

http://woodhall-spa-40s-festival.com/

This time I went down with the intention of just soaking up the atmosphere, and not really bothering with taking many photographs. However, as always, I did keep a camera by my side, 'just in case', and I'm rather pleased that I did, as I took two images that I quite like.

The first is of a typical woodland scene from the event, where many re-enactors camp out in the woods for the weekend, dressed in full military costume. I love stumbling across such scenes like this, and try and take candid images where possible. The Fuji X-T1 is excellent in such situations, as you can adjust the exposure 'to taste', using the incredible EVF. The camera was coupled with my Fujinon 35mm F1.4, a cracking, sharp lens. 

Home Guard

The second image was taken on Sunday, when we were treated to a magnificent display from three of the BBMF's  fighter aircraft. Two Hurricanes and one Spitfire entertained the large crowd, which had been completely brought to a halt by the plane's low level antics. I had my trusty, old, Nikon D200 coupled with my Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8, and managed to fire off a couple of images as one of the Hurricanes banked in for another low pass. I would have preferred slightly more prop blur, but for a grab shot, I'm pretty pleased. I particularly love the way the light catches the Hurricane's right side. As I moved the camera up to my eye, I dialed in +1 stop of exposure compensation, otherwise the image would have been horribly underexposed, and the plane silhouetted. 

Hawker Hurricane PZ865 (MK IIc), 'The Last of the Many', from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight

The two day festival is a great day out for all the family, with much to see and do. Why not pop along next July, (dates to be confirmed) I'm sure it will be another fabulous event.

Sea Lavender

Sea Lavender

A study of sailing boat, 'Sea Lavender', during low tide, Wells-next-the-Sea, on the North Norfolk Coast. 

Fuji X-T1 with Fujinon 10-24mm F4 lens, tripod and cable release.

Little Gull

Little Gull

A lovely evening at the end of May, and as dusk settled along beach road at Wells-next-the-Sea, everything became calm, resulting in gorgeous reflections in the water. I've not seen the boat 'Little Gull' before, so it was great to capture this scene.

Fuji X-T1 with Fujinon 18-55mm F2.8-F4 lens.

Cley with Snapseed

Cley

A quick snap shot of the boats at Cley, on the North Norfolk coast, a vintage effect added with Snapseed. Just a little bit of fun!

Fuji X-T1 setup with Hitech sunset filter

Wells beach huts at sunset

I've made no secret to the fact that I've switched camera systems for my landscape work. I have always used Nikon equipment, and still do for wedding assignments, but for landscapes, I switched to the Fuji X-T1 over a year ago. I can now walk around with a much smaller and lighter setup, one that doesn't feel as though it's damaged my back at the end of the day. Trust me when I say 16 mega pixels is more than enough resolution for printing A2 and larger prints. Correct technique, as always is key, and when used to its full potential, the little Fuji's X-Trans sensor, is truly astonishing.

  

I have been asked many times in the gallery about my technique when capturing landscape images, so I thought I would share a little bit about how 'Wells beach huts at sunset' was captured.

First up, preparation. Knowing where the sun will rise and set will be key to capturing the shot you want. The photographer's Ephemeris, a map-centric sun and moon calculator will help you plan your shots, and there are apps available, both for Android and Apple devices.

I always carry with me, a tripod and cable release, an assortment of Lee filters, a wide angle and standard zoom lens, and of course my Fuji X-T1.

Knowing where the sun will set and the type of shot I'm after, I look around until I'm happy with a particular composition. Some times it helps to not pick up the camera at this point, as I find it can restrict the way I see things. Once happy with the composition, I will set up the tripod and compose the scene. It's important to remember that the sky is likely to be a great deal brighter than the foreground, and will need to be darkened with a filter to allow the camera to capture information within that area. Things haven't really changed a great deal since film photography, where you may take readings from several areas of the scene to work out what filtration you may need. But it's fair to say, it's certainly easier with digital. You can now take a shot, assess the image on the LCD and check for any exposure issues. I normally take a reading from the foreground, and then a reading from the brighter sky, and decide on which filter/s would be best to use. A 2 stop N.D. graduated filter was needed to control the sun, and still capture the correct exposure for the foreground. The only problem was that the brightest part of the image was near the horizon, where the sun was setting, not near the top of the image. A standard N.D Grad is usually darker at the top, getting lighter towards the middle of the filter. This would have caused the image to look unnaturally dark at the top of the image, with the sun still blowing out. The only answer in situations like this, is to use a sunset filter. This filter is darkest towards the middle, gradually getting lighter near the top. The bottom half remains clear, allowing for normal foreground exposure. Lee don't produce such a filter, but Hitech do. It's quite a specialist filter, (mine is a two stop grad), and seeing as I don't shoot towards the sun very often, one I rarely use. But on this occasion, it was the perfect choice. Getting the transition right was tricky, I had to turn the filter slightly, for it to control the sun and the sky above the beach huts. It took a couple of efforts to get it right, but once in place, it did the job perfectly. Setting the aperture on the Fujinon 10-24mm F4 to F13 to ensure front to back sharpness, a shutter speed of 1/10 sec, I was good to go. A cable release eliminated any camera shake, (no mirror lock-up needed on the Fuji) and I tripped the shutter. The histogram showed no clipping across the frame, and I was happy with the finished image. 

Hitech filter in place midway down the frame

One final note, and something I have found to be incredible with the Fuji cameras, is their jpeg capability. I always shoot raw. Weddings with the Nikons are always shot in raw, and I shoot raw with the Fujis as well. But I also shoot jpeg at the same time with the X-T1, and the jpeg straight out the camera is superb. So much so, this particular image was a jpeg with minimal tweaking, only adjusting contrast and levels, and a slight bit of distortion correction to the left hand side of the image.    

www.saltmarshandsamphire.co.uk

Brett 

     

Sarah and Matt

The wedding season is now in full swing, and I'm going to be very busy over the next couple of months, juggling wedding shoots, and preparing photographic prints for my gallery  www.saltmarshandsamphire.co.uk in Wells-next-the-Sea, on the North Norfolk coast.

My latest wedding shoot was at the beautiful Craigmar country house, deep in the Yorkshire Dales, where I was photographing Sarah and Matt's big day. A beautiful venue with lovely gardens, providing many delightful photo opportunities for me as a photographer. A quick scout around, revealed potentially two lovely places to capture intimate portraits of the bride and groom, but the weather forecast for the day was lousy. Heavy, driving rain and cold. However, the gods must have been looking down on us, as it remained fine all day, and the sun even popped it's head out during the wedding ceremony. 

The vows

The ceremony was an emotional affair, and it was nice that the weather was good enough for the ceremony to be held outside.

A moment alone

A moment alone, unposed. I had a split second to capture this image before I was spotted.

Just married

While Julian, the other photographer was setting up a shot, I caught this lovely embrace.

confetti

Lovely expressions during the confetti shot.

The Arch

This was one of the setup shots I had envisaged while looking around the grounds earlier in the day. The arch frames the couple beautifully, and the flowers add a lovely splash of colour. They were deep in conversation while embracing, and I called their names. The result is a natural pose. 

Love on the bridge

The second of the potential shots I had spied earlier in the day. The bridge was the perfect place for the couple to stand, and I simply asked for them to ignore me and spend a moment reflecting on their beautiful ceremony. Shooting through a lovely bank of blue Irises, injected some gorgeous colour into the image. 

The first dance

The first dance is always great fun, and sometimes a real challenge to capture. It was really dark in 'Cruck barn', at the Craven Arms, situated in Appletreewick. It was a case of trying to keep the mood and ambience of the place, whilst illuminating the couple and guests enough, so that they could be seen clearly. Luckily the walls of the barn were white, so firing the flash directly behind me onto the wall, resulted in light scattering throughout the room, lighting it enough to produce a lovely image. The movement in the dress is a nice touch, and the couples expressions are lovely. You can spy Julian to the right of the image, but because there were so many people in the shot, he goes almost unnoticed.   

I am so busy with the gallery in Norfolk, that Julian now runs the wedding site, although we both photograph the couples big day. We have been photographing weddings together since 2011, and I think we make a good team, having a deep understanding of what the other is doing. You can check out the wedding website by clicking the link. www.candgphotography.org    

Portraits of dad

Following on from my last post, where I share some black and white images taken on my Nikon FM3a, I thought I would post two more photographs, this time, portraits of my dad. They were taken at roughly the same time, in similar conditions, across two evenings. I wasn't really trying to do anything overly technical, just show the difference between a digital image, and a film image. The settings weren't the same on both cameras, a Nikon Fm3A and Fuji X-T1, but were close enough, I think, to be able to compare the results.

The X-T1 used a Fujinon 35mm F1.4, shot wide open at F1.4, ISO 200, (although ISO 400 would have produced an image pretty much as noise free). The Nikon used a Nikkor 50MM F1.8, shot at about F2.0, with Ilford HP5 Plus 400.

As you can see, and no real surprise really, the Fuji portrait is a great deal cleaner. The image was converted to black and white using Silver Efex pro, and levels adjusted to taste. What is rather astonishing about the Fujinon 35mm, is that it's razor sharp wide open, I think more so than any other lens I've shot with. Paired with the X-T1, it really is a powerful combination.

The Nikon film image, naturally, with a 400 ISO speed Ilford film, isn't quite as sharp, and is far more grainy than the Fuji. But that would be to miss the point as to why you would be shooting with film in the first place. The negative was scanned using my Plustek Opticfilm 8100 with Ilford HP5 Plus setting selected. It is interesting to note that the film image looks quite warm on default scanner settings. Of course, this can be altered to taste during scanner setup if preferred . What you soon come to realise when using film, is that it has a certain feel, it can evoke memory, allow the mind to wander, in a way that digital rarely does. It can create mood, elicit emotion, and used in the right situation, is still hard to beat.

Which do I prefer? Well, both really. As far as I'm concerned each has a place in my camera bag. 

Fuji X-T1 with Fujinon 35mm F1.4

Nikon FM3a with Nikkor 50mm F1.8

Nikon FM3a with Ilford Delta and HP5 plus film

You may remember sometime ago, I purchased a rather lovely Nikon FM3a... you can read about it here. http://brettgardnerphotography.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/ooh-you-little-beauty.html

At the time, I was a little bit scared to run a film through it, as the camera was brand new, and quite honestly, a thing of beauty. It sat there, on the shelf, with my other film cameras, which were all being used on a regular basis. I thought, 'this is stupid Brett', you've just got to bite the bullet and try it out.' So I loaded a film into it, Ilford Delta 400, and got shooting. 

As you would expect, it works like a dream. Tactile and solid, it's a pleasure to hold and shoot with, and it just gets on with the job. In the modern era, where digital cameras have dominated for some years, it's nice to see film starting to make a bit of a comeback, and the FM3a would make a great choice, if you are thinking of giving film a go. I use all my film cameras, not only for pleasure, but also for work. Either at a wedding, or to produce a moody black and white landscape print, film still has a place in my bag, and, I'm sure, it will continue to do so, long into the future.      

The beautiful Nikon FM3a

Controls

Scarborough view.  Ilford Delta 400

Staithe Street. Ilford Delta 400

Thornham.  Ilford Delta 400 

Shopping. Ilford Delta 400

Windmill near Burnham Overy Staithe. Ilford  Delta 400

Big head. Ilford HP5 Plus