Micro Blog: 30th October 2011 (Thoughts)
Nature photographers travel far and wide for the very best of subjects and in a many cases, for the best of light. This month's (October) cover was however the result of "working from home." Ok, not within close proximity to my main threat of a sunrise i.e the bed but within 15 mins cycling distance from home. Maybe I should first answer the question of why I choose to pedal. In an opinion not shared by many, a nature photographer should really be involved in the green movement and to avoid starting the engine is a good erm...start. I do not see how those nature photographers in their Porsche cayennes claim to be advocates of the movement. It may be a small step but every inch helps and I am proud to be at the very least, reducing my carbon footprint in this manner.
Back to this particular location near home that I first started visiting about 20 years ago when I knew how to ride a bicycle. By memorizing the route in the street directory, I made the maze of left and right turns and took myself to the immense grassland. With a circumference of about 3km, this grassland has over the years attracted kite flyers, plane enthusiasts, joggers and developers. Obviously the last group is the bane of nature photographers and I frowned and cursed under my breath when I saw the showrooms with a sign that stated something like "82 dwellings to be...!" It struck me pretty hard for I knew then that the concrete jungle will be in place of the shrubs and ferns.
From then on, it was my aim to make full use of any time during the weekends and spend it at this field. From macro to landscapes, this field was where I lugged a stills tripod (G2220 Gitzo Explorer and Arca Swiss B1) and a video tripod (Vinten Vision 6 and Gitzo 1410) with a full video and photo kit to and got some excellent macro footage. The droneflies and hoverflies were everywhere and I never had problems with a lack of subjects.
Sadly, the area where they were in abundance have now been paved with concrete and part of the forest's fringe has made way for the road as well. It may be true that I was in awe of how the huge trees from pre-war Singapore were downed and what was otherwise impenetrable mess of bushes, branches, etc were simple mowed down. In place came electric cables, lampposts and a giant canal. That said, I would rather not have to witness such destruction to the dwindling natural surroundings in Singapore.
The new road did affect me to the point where I gave up on the location. From April 2011 to Sept 2011, I did not give a thought about the location. Perhaps the fear of seeing scaffoldings and excavators was too much to handle and I wanted to avoid the sight of that. On the third Sunday of September, I woke up at half past five, earlier than usual and it was still pitch dark outside. A fleeting thought of getting onto the bike and heading to the field came all of a sudden and somehow, the fore-mentioned fear did not arrive to intercept the thought. Within half an hour, I was huffing and puffing up and down the slopes, with the Thinktank Skin set wrapped snugly around my waist and a Gitzo G2220 across the shoulder.
Reaching the familiar slope that slowly declines to reveal the field, my jaw dropped when what used to be the field slowly came into view. It was still the field! Nothing had changed! As a matter of fact, pockets of long weeds had popped up all over the vast piece of land and in the distance among the trees, a low lying thick layer of mist completed the dreamlike scene. With a broad smile on my face, the pedals were worked extra hard as I made my way onto the field. Braking randomly on a soil patch, I literally threw the bike on the ground. Laying the bags down and opening the legs of the tripod, I did a quick visual sweep of the grounds. The clouds were good and the light was starting to add some colour to them. With a new found adrenaline rush, I set up frantically and got the Lee Big Stopper on the 70-300 IS L. The Big Stopper allowed an ultra slow shutter speed that will allow the clouds to "flow" through the sky. The 70-300 IS L is a very sharp telephoto that I do not hesitate to bring out for serious shooting.
The first few shots were ruined as I was careless with my focusing. With the 70-300 IS L, the focus does not hold throughout the focal range and it is necessary to refocus when you adjust the focal length and that was what I missed out doing! Fortunately, the first few shots came out to be more snapshot like, with nothing captivating. As in all things good, the sweet moment was all gone too soon and the eastern sky was getting a little too high in contrast to shoot towards. In such situations, it is often useful to have a macro lens on standby and get closeup of insects still at rest from the cooler night. The low angled light will do the subject much good and the breeze is usually not up at this point of time so grab a few shots if possible. Of course, it does take a few mins to go from neutral density graduated filters to lining up a camera parallel to the plane of the subject. For the non-macro shooters, the latter is to maximize depth of field (dof) within the image. Dof plays a huge part in macro work and knowing whether you want a wider aperture or a small one is really one that boils down to experience and vision. Experience will allow you to get the setup where you want in the quickest time while vision will come in and aid in the decision making process of whether a shallow aperture or one with huge amounts of dof will make for a nicer image. If unsure, just bracket your apertures so you have a range of images to choose from back in the digital darkroom.
For macro work in locations that I get to on the battered Gary Fisher, a smaller macro lens such as the revered Voigtlander 125 SL is great. It is smaller than the Canon 180 macro but is optically amazing and does not lose that much in working distance. A 50mm macro will of course be the most compact decision but the wider angle of view of the background has turned me off it. That said, there have been occasions where I yearn for a wider angle background to show the habitat of the subject but that really is work for wider angle lenses in the focal length range of 16-20mm. Working in weedy grounds requires a further working distance than normal: I am not for tramping on plants and weeds to get close to one's subject and that is where the longer macro lenses come in useful.
Cold nights are a favourite of mine as that will mean a misty morning and it will be my aim to get an appealing composition with the moist cloud as a feature within the landscape. Of course, it is rare that an individual feature such as the morning mist can make an image but it is something I will try to experiment with. Who knows what I may come up with? A different lens, a mindset unlike other days and the willingness to think out of the box can all come together to churn up an image that would be unique (hopefully).
The weekly trips to the field has now resumed and reminded me of how working close to home can really have its benefits. So the next time you have the urge to earn some flying miles, grab the local map out and see what your surroundings can offer. It may not leave you in as much as awe as standing in front of Torres del Paine but you will definitely bring something different back home.