Water wonderlands

Phil Cooke meticulously plans his waterthemed landscape shoots in a bid to capture lighting conditions inspired by paintings

The window of opportunity must have lasted for only 30 seconds – but the gamble had certainly paid off

MISSION: Plan for the best light and use it to capture beautiful water-themed landscapes PHOTOGRAPHER: Phil Cooke LOCATION: Fife, Scotland KIT USED: Nikon D800, Nikon D300, Nikon AF-S 16-35mm f/4g ED VR, 24-70mm f/2.8e ED VR, 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6g ED VR, LEE Filters WEBSITE: www.philcookeimages.com INSTAGRAM: @phil_cooke_images

Itook up photography by accident about 15 years ago. I was looking for a new hobby and a friend happened to invite me to a local camera club and I absolutely loved it. I’ve tried various genres of photography, however my love of the great outdoors always brings me back to landscapes.

I was part of the Scotland team that won the FIAP (Fédération Internationale de l’art Photographique) World Cup at the 34th Monochrome Print Biennial in 2018 (our theme was trees in winter) and am honoured to be in the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain’s Hall of Fame.

I’ve had my Nikon D800 and D300 for a few years now but have invested in new lenses rather than new camera bodies. I believe that the camera is only as good as the quality of lens it has on it – especially when it comes to landscape photography. I also use neutral density (ND) and graduated ND filters in the field to achieve the exposures I require in-camera.

Advance planning is key when it comes to photographing light on water. I planned the seascape image of St Monans sunrise a whole year in advance [1]. To create the sidelight, crucial to the depth and shadows of the composition, I needed the sun to rise from the southeast. In that particular location this only occurs in January and early February. I also needed a spring tide to coincide with the sunrise too. A spring tide is formed when the earth, sun and moon are all lined up in a row. It happens every two weeks, during a new moon or full moon and affects the tides on earth.

I used a LEE Filters Little Stopper and a LEE 0.6 ND soft grad to achieve a shutter speed of 25 secs. While you do need a

little bit of luck when it comes to the weather, planning gives you a much better chance of success. As they say, the more you work, the more luck you have.

My images of Kenmore [2] and Loch Tay [3] in the grip of winter were taken on the same day. After heavy overnight snowfall I left my home at the early hour of 4am and travelled to Kenmore, Perthshire. The temperature was reading -15ºc as I followed a snow plough along the icy roads. Adorned in winter woollies and with spare camera batteries tucked into my thermals (since they’re less effective in cold weather), I headed out into the winter wonderland. A carpet of freezing fog and soft lighting covered the scene. I overexposed both images slightly, just so that I could get the snow looking pure white and not a dull grey.

Life’s a beach

My image of St Fergus Beach was taken just north of Peterhead, Aberdeenshire [4]. I remember there were nasty gale-force winds that morning and I was on my knees with my tripod buried into the sand to stop it getting blown over. The clouds were racing across the sky, but I wanted to capture the water just how I like it. I managed to achieve a shutter speed of 1/4 sec by using a LEE 0.6 ND filter and a LEE 0.6 ND soft grad for the sky.

In Glencoe, the conditions famously change by the minute. I stopped at Loch Achtriochtan and, although it was raining, I noticed a potential gap in the weather coming from the west. I walked to the edge of the loch and framed my composition. I could see it was getting brighter so I quickly attached a LEE polarizer and a LEE 0.6 ND soft grad for the sky. It was as though someone had flicked a switch as the scene suddenly lit up for me and the wind dropped [5].

I took a few photographs, but by the third shot the conditions had changed to wind and rain once more. The window of opportunity must have lasted for only 30 seconds – but the gamble had certainly paid off.

[1] This incredible sunrise wasn’t captured by accident – it was an entire year in the making...

[3] Below: Phil overexposed this beautifully snowy landscape to avoid capturing a dull, grey image.

[2] Above: ‘Kenmore in the grip of winter’ won the Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year’s Four Seasons Award – Winter.

[4] Phil braved gale-force conditions to capture this brooding image of the Aberdeenshire coast.

[5] A short break in otherwise adverse weather conditions is sometimes all that is needed to capture a stunning shot.