Ross Hoddinott
Ross Hoddinott broadens the horizons of our Apprentice on the windswept wilds of Dartmoor
Landscape photographer Ross teaches our Apprentice to adapt to the conditions on a landscape shoot in rugged Dartmoor.
Dartmoor’s dramatic landscape lends itself to the many legends and hauntings that occupy its granite-riddled moorland, imposing tors and ancient tombs. It’s famed as the setting for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Gothic masterpiece The Hound of the Baskervilles and is supposedly home to the beast of Dartmoor… This month’s pro and Apprentice were counting on foreboding clouds and theatrical smatterings of light to convey the national park’s menacing disposition, however. But when they arrived at the car park near Hound Tor at midday, the sun was shining and fluffy white clouds were the order of the day.
Julian is already an accomplished landscape photographer, but was looking to broaden his horizons. Observing how Ross would make the most of the less-than-ideal weather conditions was a keen point of interest for the IT
consultant: “I must admit, I tend to shoot at sunrise or sunset,” he told the pro.
Ross’s challenge would be to find a way to make each location interesting, and he wasn’t at all fazed. “I tell everybody I’m tutoring: Never be in the habit of doing one thing,” he explained. “There are times when you’re forced to adapt, so that’s what we’ll work at doing today.”
OFF THE BEATEN TRACK
Ross and Julian’s first stop on their photographic journey was Bowerman’s Nose, a large stack of granite, which local legend attributes to an unfortunate hunter who was turned to stone. It was a short walk from the car park, which unlike Hound Tor, was completely deserted.
“I thought we’d visit places that weren’t too busy, so we could safely practise social distancing,” said Ross. “Also, you don’t want people wandering into your frame.” Julian asked if Ross had any tips for shooting busy locations. “There’s not much you can do beyond picking your moments,” said the pro. “If a few people are constantly moving, a long enough exposure will blur them out. Otherwise, you either just have to wait or find another location.”
The pair settled on a viewpoint with rolling Devonshire countryside in the background and discussed the position of the stack. They both agreed that the shape of the rocks made it look like the subject was pointing left, so it would suit occupying the right portion of the frame.
Julian attached his Z 14-30mm f/4 S to his camera and began setting up his tripod. “Dartmoor’s quite a chaotic environment,” said Ross. “Our responsibility is to find some order by simplifying the scene. It’s tempting to go super wide, but then the rock stack would get smaller, and you’d draw more attention to the sky and foreground, which are less important.”
Julian’s solution was to frame Bowerman’s Nose in portrait orientation and at the telephoto end of his 14-30mm zoom lens, but he wasn’t happy. With few clouds overhead, the entire scene was bathed in direct sunlight and the pale blue sky’s washed-out appearance was complicating matters further.
Luckily, Julian was armed with a pouch of filters and Ross suggested that he use a polarizer to create a punchier sky. This had an immediate impact on the image, all they needed was better light.
“Even if the light is fantastic, I’ll still wait around on the off-chance it gets even better,” said Ross. The pair waited 40 minutes in the hope of decent lighting, and it eventually paid off.
Julian put his eye for a great landscape to good use, and activated the shutter just as the cloud cover cast a dark shadow over much of the background and a ray of light hit the stack. “That’s Super Shot #1,” said Ross, “the contrast between light and shadow has pulled Bowerman’s Nose from the background, creating plenty of depth. That’s a great shot.”
PHOTOGRAPHERS ON TOR
The next stop was Holwell Tor, favoured by photographers for its windswept lone tree. Ross and Julian arrived at 3pm and immediately set about finding a good angle. Ross suggested that Julian paid particular attention to the tree’s branches and whether or not they overlapped the surrounding rocks.
“You don’t want to lose the tree in its surroundings,” he said. “Later,
when you download the shots you may think, ‘I should have moved left or right,’ and there’s nothing you can do then.” Julian took the time to consider his position and settled on a 27mm focal length, allowing the tor and tree to dominate the frame.
The afternoon sun beat down onto the scene and, with no sign of relenting, Ross proposed that Julian try a black-and-white image. This would maximize the subjects’ many interesting textures and capitalize on the unavoidably high contrast.
Both photographers rarely shoot in black and white, but this was all about working with the hand the weather dealt.
“Working in black and white is very different to working with colour,” explained Ross, “I like to switch to the Monochrome profile, so I can actually see what my image will look like before taking the photo.” Julian entered his Z 7’s menu and selected Set Picture Control in the Photo Shooting Menu and then Monochrome.
Since Julian was shooting in Raw, the image captured would still retain all of the colour data, just in case he changed his mind later. “The profile is purely a visual aid. I’ll use Lightroom to convert images to black and white,” said Ross, “but if I shot black and white more, I’d probably use Silver Efex Pro.”
It can be tempting to dial in the narrowest aperture possible when shooting landscapes, but Ross told Julian to be mindful of diffraction. “I’d keep it between f/9 and f/14, and if you think you can get away with f/8, that’s even better,” he said.
The pair used autofocus, but zoomed into the scene to ensure it was sharp. This was where their Z 7s really came into their own; the EVF allowed them to review their images when the rear screen was obscured by reflections caused by the glaring sun.
With Super Shot #2 in the bag, Ross felt Holwell Tor still had more to give and Julian captured a full-colour shot in portrait orientation from a different viewpoint.
OPEN MINDED
The pair made their way to the final location ahead of time, so they were in no danger of missing the sunset. Brentor Church would be the subject for Super Shot #4 and with 360-degree views of the Devonshire countryside, Ross was hoping to snatch the penultimate Super Shot while they waited for the setting sun.
By 7.30pm Julian had noticed golden light was beginning to fall across the undulating expanse. Ross identified a patch of trees to the left of the frame, but since Julian didn’t have a long enough lens to hone in on them, finding a suitable subject was going to be a challenge.
“It’s such a wide-open landscape and the horizon is quite flat, so a normal shot won’t work here,” said Ross, “but we can overcome the lack of a prominent subject by shooting a panorama.”
Julian levelled out his tripod legs, so the horizon would stay straight as he panned. Ross explained that without any foreground he could get away with a slightly shallower depth of field. Julian settled on f/8 and focused a third of the way into the frame.
“Another good way to check your focus is to use Focus Peaking,” detailed Ross. Julian switched on Focus Peaking via Custom Settings Menu>shooting/display> Peaking Highlights>peaking Level and used the red overlay to ensure his focus point was set accordingly.
“Something to be mindful of is exposure and white balance,” said the pro. Julian used Manual mode so the exposure would remain consistent and prevented the white balance from changing by selecting a preset. He did use a polarizing filter though, as the effect remained more or less the same throughout the pan.
Julian mentioned that he would allow each frame to overlap slightly, when taking each shot, and Ross agreed. “I like to allow for around 30 per cent overlap between frames and always suggest shooting a little wider than you need to so you can refine the composition with a crop, if necessary.”
Super Shot #3 was captured close to 8pm and both photographers agreed they would have ordinarily continued shooting to capture longer shadows. But, with the day drawing to an end, it was high-time they focused their attention on the church.
FIELDS OF GOLD
The pair set up with the setting sun at roughly 90 degrees to their right. This meant the structure was bathed in gorgeous golden light, with long shadows sweeping across the foreground.
“There’s the temptation to shoot directly into the sun,” said Ross, “but when I’m shooting inland I always prefer to focus on the golden light. Granite, especially, can be boring without good lighting, so I think this is particularly true of Dartmoor.”
Unfortunately the once-promising cloud cover had dispersed. The pair voiced their displeasure and with little hope of any cloud returning, Ross suggested they focus
their attention on the foreground: “When there’s little cloud in the sky, don’t put any emphasis on it. In an ideal world, cloud cover would frame the top of the shot and lead the eye down towards the subject. But too much clear sky drags the viewer’s gaze up and off the image.”
Julian agreed that the foreground was much more interesting and noted that the shadows created plenty of depth. He now needed to ensure that both the foreground and church looked suitably sharp.
He asked Ross’s opinion on hyperfocal distance: “I don’t trust it anymore,” confessed the pro. “I think it focuses too close and with the high-resolution cameras we use today, you can see it doesn’t work.” He went on to explain that his go-to method was double the distance focusing: “Find the closest point in the landscape you want to be sharp and focus roughly double the distance into the frame. So, if a rock in the foreground is 1.5m away, you would focus at roughly 3m.”
Julian heeded the advice and once satisfied, dialled in an aperture of f/13. Although the sunset didn’t deliver the goods, the pair had certainly made the most of their situation. Super Shot #4 is sharp from foreground to background and focuses on stunning golden light, long shadows and the beautiful 12thcentury architecture.
While Ross and Julian steadily descended the tor, it was time to reflect on a challenging, but highly successful day of landscape photography.
JULIAN’S COMMENT I’ve been a little closed off to the idea of shooting during the day, much preferring the golden hours. My time on Dartmoor has proved that there are fantastic photographs to be captured at any time of day. Black-andwhite images are, again, something I have often avoided. It’s great to have more creative ideas at my disposal!
ROSS’S VERDICT
Julian is very technically able and has a good eye for composition, which made my life easy. When shooting landscapes during the day, you can’t rely on golden light or colourful skies for impact. You have to explore different approaches and work harder at producing compelling compositions. I think this Apprentice opened Julian’s eyes to shooting at different times of the day.