Ardnamurchan Point Lighthouse
Photo of the Day
Recent adventures to Scotland took me to the Ardnamurchan peninsula which features the most Westerly point in mainland Great Britain. Narrow, winding roads rise and fall over the stark, wavy landscape to reach Ardnamurchan point which features a picturesque lighthouse as seen below.
This shot required manoeuvring over a rough terrain full of tiny creeks, slippery stones, and tidal inlets as well as around sheep that looked unhappy to have me in their presence, but those rocks in the foreground along with the long exposure of the turbulent water gave this photo more texture and depth than I might have gotten from a more accessible location.
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Grand Canal Panorama
Photo of the Day
This classic view from the Rialto bridge is a favourite among visitors and locals alike. You can’t blame them – it’s one of the best places to witness Venice’s magic.
This has to be one of the most photographed spots in Venice, so it’s a challenge to come up with something different from every other photo that has been repeated in the same location. By making this a panorama, I know I haven’t exactly broken new ground, but it’s a least a little bit different from the norm.
The wider format allows for a greater sense of place. It includes more of the surrounding buildings and the paths teeming with pedestrians along both sides of the canal. Gondoliers moving across the waters add to the interest of the evening scene.
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Ethereal Venice
Photo of the Day
Walking in Venice sometimes feels like a dream. It’s such an otherworldly place it often doesn’t quite feel real. Today’s photo of the day was an experiment to try to capture some of that dreamy mood.
The strange blurring in this photo is the result of doing a long exposure in the middle of the day with the gondolas moving slightly in the foreground. Thanks to a brand new 10-stop neutral density filter
If you don’t know how a neutral density filter works, here’s the idea: essentially, you’re just putting some dark glass in front of your lens. That means that less light is reaching the sensor, so in order to get a properly-exposed image, more light will somehow have to be let into the camera. Usually, with an ND filter in place, that is achieved by lengthening the exposure time. So, with a 10-stop filter, you have to let in a lot more light and you get get exposures of one minute or more like this one.
What I like about this result is the mix of sharp subjects with the blurred. The long exposures turns the gondolas into ghost ships on top of a silky-smooth sea with clouds appearing to dart past in the sky, but the poles and buildings all remain completely sharp and solid.
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Darby Sawchuk is a Canadian-born photographer who currently resides in Manchester, England. He has travelled to over 40 countries and is always adding more to the list. He creates stock for multiple agencies and is available for assignments.
+44 0790 992 8932
