PERSPECTIVE
noun:
the art of representing three-dimensional objects on a two-dimensional surface so as to give the right impression of their height, width, depth, and position in relation to each other. “the theory and practice of perspective"
a particular attitude towards or way of regarding something; a point of view. “most history is written from the victor's perspective"
I’ve spent the past month ( between spells of very pants weather) working on images taken with ultra-wide lenses. In photography terms ultra-wide is defined as anything between 12mm and 16mm. It’s a style of photography that needs real care because over use in landscape photography has a detrimental effect on a view. It alters perspective.
There are, however, a number of benefits with these lenses. You can exaggerate a foreground feature in order to give it greater emphasis in a composition. This is especially useful when photographing waterfalls with a rocky stream bed or when capturing a flowering meadow with a range of mountains behind. They’re also perfect for astro photography although a very fast aperture prime will set you back well over a grand.
So I’m putting in the hours (weather permitting) to understand how best to use the perspective that an ultra-wide angle gives me. I follow a number of photographers who seem to nail this genre time after time. Me? Let’s just say I’m working at it but I’m happy with progress so far. I really like the variety it delivers and am confident it will bring an additional aspect to my landscape work but I’m trying to find a balance that achieves the “look” I want. Ultimately, I want to create better images that please me, but I also need my images to strike a chord with potential customers. A guy’s got to make a living after all !
I’ll be publishing a few of these images in the coming months so watch this space to give me a critique of my work !
It’s not all been fun this month. My drone decided it wanted to go to that great drone place in the sky (see what I did there?). With my usual impeccable timing, it didn’t happen until I’d paid to renew my drone operator’s licence for another year. The cost of a replacement drone isn’t justified at the moment as I don’t generate any income from my videos, but I’d planned to increase my output this year and then test the water with social media. Bit of Catch-22. I need a decent piece of kit with a good camera for stills and video and even second hand they can be very expensive, but the investment needs to be worthwhile. I must admit I was more than a bit naffed off, but I was very quickly given a sense of perspective.
Friends on social media recently told me of the passing of two colleagues who I had a very high regard for. Without exaggeration, they were two of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet and I had the privilege of working with both of them (albeit many years ago). When I think back to many wonderful people I knew in my previous career, they are among those whose memories make me smile. I believe you become a better person through spending time with special people such as these. They were both loved and respected in equal measure. R.I.P. Sam and Julie.
My own troubles with the drone were non-existent in comparison and got me thinking more rationally instead of consigning it to the rubbish bin. After looking at second hand models and deciding against it, I started looking for repair options. God bless YouTube for scaring me off even attempting to find the fault and then repair it. Most videos were around 40 minutes long and involved dismantling around 10 separate parts before testing the CPU. Replacement parts cost around £200 assuming you don’t do further damage with a poke and hope approach. Additionally, the global chip shortage (except if you live on Coronation Street) meant there were very few parts available in the UK. Some sketchy overseas sellers appear on a well known buy and sell website but that wasn’t for me. Having ruled out self help I needed to find someone who could do the repair for me. I posted a question on one of the South Wales photography groups and very quickly had a response from the owner of South Wales Drones. David told me he could solve the problem based on the information I was able to give him and as luck would have it, he was less than five miles from where I live. Within a week, I had a fully working drone, repaired for a very reasonable price and delivered back to me in person. David is extremely knowledgable in all things drone and video creation and I wouldn’t hesitate to ask for his help again. With my piloting skills I’m fairly sure I’ll need it ! David has an excellent website which can be used to arrange repairs, services etc but is also filled with bright shiny new kit at very competitive prices. Have a look: https://southwalesdrones.org
So there we have it. My take on what it means to me, but that’s just my perspective…..
STOP PRESS: It looks as though we may be over the worst of Storm Eunice here in South Wales as I write this, but I don’t want to speak too soon. We’re unscathed at the moment unlike some of the less fortunate souls who have suffered damage to their homes or are without electricity. I can’t remember a storm like it since the biblical event of 1987. I really want to say a big thank you to everyone who got in touch to wish us good luck and to make sure we were safe. You know who you are. I can’t thank you enough and will never forget your kindness