SHOOTING STEPS
1 RESEARCH LOCATIONS
Almost all good photography is the product of meticulous planning, so do the ground work first. Visit likely woodlands and take a good walk around, noting promising spots and paying attention to the direction and travel of sunlight. The edge of woodlands is a good place to start.
2 CHOOSE YOUR SUBJECT
A wellexecuted creative technique will not turn a weak composition into a strong image. The subject of the main image, this mature pollarded small-leaved lime tree, towered above its neighbours, affording uninterrupted backlight and strong compositions from many angles.
3 FRAME YOUR SHOT
Mount the camera on a sturdy tripod and take time to frame a pleasing composition. Adjust the exposure settings with emphasis on achieving a shutter speed of around two seconds. A polarising filter was used to saturate the colours and add two stops of light to the exposure time.
4 GET EXPERIMENTAL!
Now that the shot is framed and the exposure is correct, it’s time to experiment. Start with a shutter speed of two seconds and grip the zoom ring on the camera lens. After you fire the shutter, zoom the lens in or out during the exposure. Repeat and review your results.
5 VARY YOUR TECHNIQUE
Experiment with longer or shorter shutter speeds, vary the degree of zoom and try starting the zoom halfway through the exposure. The effect of these variations will quickly become apparent and enable the predictive use of the techniques with practice.
6 KEEP EXPERIMENTING
Don’t be restricted by convention, and keep learning. Try rotating the camera during a long exposure to create a ‘time-tunnel’ effect – or why not combine with a zoom at the same time! Remember, it’s the photographer that is the limiting factor to creativity, not the camera.