It’s #TravelTuesday and I, Dave Williams, am here reporting to you live and direct from the Lofoten Islands, Norway. This week I’m preparing for the arrival of none other than Russell Preston Brown from Adobe so be sure to keep an eye on what we get up to on my Instagram. I’m hoping Russell brings some good weather with him because for the past few days, and in the forecast for the next few days ahead, the weather has been pretty radical.
The photo above is far from anything pretty but I chose it to show you just one thing (and then one other.)
Firstly, forget the sky. This sky absolutely sucks and everything has mulched into one splodge of nothingness. Yes, that’s the technical term. Avert your eyes to the water. The first point is this: – bad weather makes good photos. The crazy motion in the ocean (excuse the rhyme – I’d say it was intentional but it wasn’t…) is amazing for taking what I call a ‘fast slow shutter shot.’ This is a fraction of a second timed just right when the water is moving, swelling, splashing, causing all kinds of mayhem. We have the splash close to the camera and the silky reveal of the rocks as the water level drops, and a rather more dramatic splash behind it. Here’s the thing though – we have a painterly water surface. Look at this: –
Check out that water. It’s the awesome result of fast moving water during a storm, slammed together with a fast slow shutter shot. That’s my second point. It’s a technique that can produce amazing results when the conditions are right. Give it a go yourself with this simple recipe: –
- Put your camera on a tripod
- Close your aperture
- Use a shutter speed faster than one second but slower than 1/3 of a second
That’s it! It’s that easy. Let me know how you get on!
Much love
Dave
