Andrew Marr

[andrewmarr]

Reflection for 2016 and plans for 2017

2016 is quickly coming to an end and I wanted to create a different type of video where I share some of my thoughts as I look back on the year. Generally, I find summer more challenging for landscape photography. The light is harsher, there is much less cloud and I’m less inspired to go out on photography trips. Conditions here in Perth over the last few weeks have been particularly challenging, with strong winds that have made capturing images difficult. But this challenge provides opportunities to explore other avenues of creativity. That and look what turned up just before Christmas... This channel is a relatively new channel, I uploaded my first video roughly 6 months ago. It when I took a trip down to the South coast and decided I wanted to capture the experience on video. So I took what equipment I already had that could capture video (basically my iPhone and an old GoPro 3) and just started filming. At that stage I wasn’t even sure I was going to share it with anyone or upload it to Youtube. So in 25 weeks, I’ve done 22 videos, exactly half of those have been in the Perth area, with the other half in regional locations around the south-west of Western Australia. I’ve already started to plan more trips for next year including one overseas - more about that later! As of filming this, I’ve had over 130,000 views in the six months and as of yesterday just reached 5000 subscribers. Much of the success of this channel can be attributed to the huge support I get from you guys , I just can’t thank you enough for all the likes, comments and of course subscribing! A special mention to all those who has shared my videos through various social media channels, like Facebook, Redit and photography websites. It undoubtably helps me reach a wider audience. If you’d like to be notified when I upload my next landscape photography adventure, please subscribe to my YouTube channel.

[andrewmarr]

Two trips for a Sunset at Burns Beach

While consistent bright blue skies without a cloud in sight, might sound like the perfect day, it’s ideal conditions for landscape or seascape photography. A little cloud creates interest in the sky and helps make for a better image. After weeks of nothing but blues skies, finally some thin cloud started rolling in. So I didn’t hesitate and grabbed my gear and headed out to Burns Beach to capture a stunning long exposure seascape.

Once I arrived on the beach, I found the conditions were not ideal. The seas were rough and the wind was surprisingly strong. I did all I could to protect the front of the lens from the sea spray being wiped up by the crashing waves and wind gusts. Even though I was prepared with cleaning cloths I just wasn’t able to keep the lens glass clean. Unfortunately when I arrived home and went through the images I had taken, I discovered that everyone of them had water droplet marks on them.

While a little disappointed, I saw the opportunity to take a trip down to Beach Burns again the following day the see if I could capture another seascape image.

When I strived the second day, the immediately noticed the conditions were better then the previous day. The sea was calmer, the wind wasn’t as strong, and there wasn’t nearly as much spray being blown around, this was hopefully going to make things a little easier.

After find a position along the beach, I set up my tripod and pushed the leg into the sand so the tripod wouldn’t move. This created a stable base for my camera. On the 17-35mm lens I mounted a polariser (to cut through the glare coming off the wet rocks and water surface), I also added a 0.6 ND hard graduated filter to reduce the light in the sky. With this set up, I had an f-stop of 13 and a shutter speed of 1/2 second.

I found a simple composition, a small waterfall created by the sea water falling between two rocks. The waves were cycling through in different sizes so I not only needed to watch for the right wave, I was also need to time when I took the shot to ensure the water falling over the rocks had some definitions and there was some water in front of the rocks moving towards the camera.

After a couple of attempts which resulted a too much water with no definition, I reduced the exposure by increasing the shutter speed to 1/4 second.

If you’d like to be notified when I upload my next landscape photography adventure, please subscribe to my YouTube channel.

[andrewmarr]

Mid-day Landscape with Little Stopper at Noble Falls

The forecast was clouding with rain showers. This meant the light during the day was going to be dispersed, which is perfect conditions for long exposures in the middle of the day. So I thought I’d take a drive out to Noble Falls, near Gidgegannup along the Toodyay Road.

The trip out was great and conditions were fantastic when I arrive, but that’s when the weather started  to deteriorate. I managed to get out for a quick explore before the sky opened and the rain bucketed down. Although the showers were heavy, they didn’t last long, so there was plenty of the opportunity to look around and find an interesting composition. Even though it has rained last in the year the rivers around Perth are starting to dry up. The was still water running through the falls but much less than on previous occasions when I’ve been to this location.

Eventually the clouds parted and the rain stopped. My first composition was on the south side of the bank with a series of small waterfalls creating a leading line guiding the viewers eye from the right to the middle of the scene. I attached the Lee landscape polariser to my nikon 17-35mm lens to cut out the glare of the wet rocks and the surface of the water. I added the Lee Little Stopper to reduce the light as it was the middle of the day. The Little Stopper reduce the light so I could increase my exposure to at least one to two seconds.

An exposure of 1-2 seconds allowed me to capture the moving water as it fell over the rocks and at the same time still maintain some detail (to avoid the milky effect).

I was interrupted a few more time by the rain, however I was successful at setting up at a few more locations before I packed up and went home to have a look at the image I had captured.

If you’d like to be notified when I upload my next landscape photography adventure, please subscribe to my YouTube channel.

[andrewmarr]

Colourful Sunset at Burns Beach

During the day I didn’t think much of the sky, so I wasn’t planning on doing any landscape photography. In fact I thought it was going to be a good afternoon to sort out some of my older images that I hadn’t got round to archiving yet.

With about 2.5 hours before sunset the sky started to fill with this thin pattern of cloud. I could miss this opportunity so I quickly grabbed my camera and drove down to the coast to see if I could capture a seascape sunset.

Just as I arrived in the carpark, I noticed that the clouds were already changing. Darker cloud were starting to building and it looked like they extended all the way out to the horizon. My fear was that the clouds were going to block the majority of the light as the sun set and my seascape scene was going to been covered in a dark grey sky.

Not only did I think the light was going to be dull, the but wind had started to pick and I was going to have to endure the cool 15 degree even in just a T-shirt as I had forgotten my jumper. Despite all this I figured I was down here so I would continue with my plans (or lack of plans) and explore the beach (Burns Beach) for an interesting seascape composition.

My composition included a rock shelf that I was hoping to capture with a wave of water cascading over it. I also was hope to time the shot well enough to also capture the sea water sweep around the front of the rock to create some foreground interest.

Moments after I had set up my camera, the sun poked through the clouds just minutes before it set. The timing was perfect. I attached my polariser to the front of the 24-70mm lens to cut down the glare from the wet send and rocks and a 0.6 hard ND graduated filter to decrease the light sightly in the sky. I grab a series of shots changing my shutter speed as the light decreased. The colour and light were sensational.

Before I left a changed locations to capture a different style of image with a longer exposure creating a misty feel to the water which went well with the dark gloomy sky which now had colours of blacks and dark oranges.

If you’d like to be notified when I upload my next landscape photography adventure, please subscribe to my YouTube channel.

[andrewmarr]

It’s early November and we are still lucky enough to have water running through the rivers in the hills of Perth, unheard of this time of year. I’m not complaining. In fact I’m doing to opposite and taking advantage of this unique event and took a trip out to Bells Rapids at the foot of the Perth hills.

After only a 40 minute drive and a short walk, I was at the bridge and could see the water running. As I wasn’t familiar with the location, I arrived early to give myself plenty of time to explore the place and discover possible compositions for landscape images. While the temperature was warm, there weren’t any clouds in the sky, so the light was harsh. I really wasn’t going to take any images until the sun had set, or had at least gone behind the hills.

The warm weather meant I was accompanied by plenty of flies. I explored both sides of the river and and eventually settled on three potential positions. With the cloudless sky providing glare off the surface of the water, I needed my polariser. My the time I started shooting, there no no need for any graduated filters. So I took the 17-35mm and set up for my first shot.

I played around with the settings, to ensure I have an exposure of 1 second or more. An exposure of this length of time mean the foam and flowing water would create patterns around the rocks, yet still provide some definition in the water.

After grabbing the first two images, it was a quick dash back over to the other side of the river to capture my final image in rapidly fading light. By the time I setup, my exposure was up to 8-10 seconds. This length exposure produced an image with softer water.

If you’d like to be notified when I upload my next landscape photography adventure, please subscribe to my YouTube channel.

[andrewmarr]

With cloud rolling in from the south, I decided mid afternoon to take a quick trip up to Lesmurdie to see if there was still water running at Lesmurdie Falls and also see if I could capture an image with the afternoon light. The Lesmurdie National Park is a popular location for families, hikers and, as I discovered, dog walkers. There has been times that I’ve been to the Falls the place has been packed but this time I pretty much had the place to myself.

It’s only a thirty minute drive from the centre of Perth. Once parked, it’s just a short 150m walk to the foot of the Falls. It was encouraging to see the water still flowing down Lesmurdie Brook as it was a good indication that waterfall was still flowing. When I reached the falls, I wasn’t disappointed. I took my time to explore the place first before finally setting up my camera in a location where the water was flowing over the rocks towards the camera, creating leading lines that would guide the viewers eye to the focal point of the image, the Falls themselves.

Finding a satisfying composition was challenging as the water flowed from the Falls in an usual direction, to the right, around a large granite rock. It was difficult to find a position that allow me to capture the entire scene. Eventually, I moved further down the brook, away from the Falls and focussed in a rows of smaller waterfalls for my foreground interest. I was then able to capture the rest of the water flowing over the rocks as the mid-ground portion of the image, while still including the Falls in the top of the image. I then improved the composition once again by getting lower to the ground, or in this case the water, which made the water trickling of the shelf of rocks in the foreground even more interesting.

I finished off the day with a final image even further back on small mound of dirt that provide a slight vantage point to the scene. As the light was changing through out the late afternoon, I used a combination of polarizers to take the glare of the wet rocks, the graduated ND filter to reduce the light in the highlights of the image and my Lee Little Stopper to reduce the light across the whole image so I could extend the exposure, which in turn softened the water.

If you’d like to be notified when I upload my next landscape photography adventure, please subscribe to my YouTube channel.

[andrewmarr]

YouTube Collaboration Challenge with Ben Fewtrell

As a bit of fun, Ben Fewtrell and I decided to collaborate for this week’s vlog. Ben’s a Youtube creator from Sydney so we thought we’d have an east coast, west coast landscape photography challenge. The challenge was to shoot the sunrise or sunset of the same day. As we are both from Australia, we thought we’d add an extra challenge into the mix with making sure the landscape had an ozzie theme or element.

With the best of intentions, I was up earlier and drove out to a location where there were ruins from an old settlers quarters. I’d only just sent up when the clouds came quickly over and the heavens opened up. All I could do was pack up and take my wet camera gear and myself home to dry out.

Undeterred by the set backs of the morning’s events and the wet weather, I ventured out to North Beach in the afternoon to see if I could capture a coastal seascape with a surfer as an Australian element in my image.

The weather unfortunately turned from bad to worst. Down on the beach the wind was unrelenting. Each time I removed my lens cap it was getting hit by the rain or spray from the sea waves. With dark clouds approaching, and no Australian element in sight, I pressed ahead and captured a few seascape images of the beach, rocks and breaking waves in a variety of compositions.

I enjoyed collaborating on this video with Ben Fewtrell. Please make sure you check out how Ben went with the challenge over on his channel.

Check out Ben’s Channel here - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIhEUxf2D78C6ROfXpQXAwQ

If you’d like to be notified when I upload my next landscape photography adventure, please subscribe to my YouTube channel.

[andrewmarr]

Searching for a Composition at Burns Beach

We said goodbye to winter over six weeks ago, but we haven’t yet had a day over 25…until today! We had storm the previous few days and another forecast for the next day so I had to grab my chance  now. I headed down to my favourite local beach called Burns Beach and explored a rocks (and seaweed) for an interesting composition.

I’d arrived way before the sun was to set so I had plenty of time to explore and setup. This is an important tip for landscape photography, give yourself plenty of time so you don’t feel rushed. Time wasn’t the issue, finding a clean area of the beach with an engaging composition was a challenge. I persisted and finally discovered a small pool of water leading the eye out to the ocean.

The clouds were providing a thin layer of the ocean but luckily there was going to be a small opportunity for the sunlight to break through and light up the clouds moments before the sun was to set.

With camera poised, filters mounted (0.9 Hard ND Grad) and settings configured, I waited for just the right moment to hit the trigger. The first image I took captured the clouds flooded in glorious warm light. The second image I took was a little more challenging are the sun dipped behind the clouds quickly and left a clouds and foreground dark with a bright layer of sky splitting the two. The only way forward was to take off the 0.9 grad and take multiple exposures and then merge them in Photoshop.

If you’d like to be notified when I upload my next landscape photography adventure, please subscribe to my YouTube channel.

[andrewmarr]

Experimenting with ND Filters for a B&W City Skyline

The last couple of days have seen some terrible weather, with howling winds, lashing rain and record low temperatures for this time of the year. When I woke up the wind had died down and the rain had stopped. It was still cold and the overcast, but as a landscape photographer I was going to let that stop me from going out and taking photos.

It was early so I headed off in the city of Perth and see if I could find a cityscape that could look interesting in these conditions. With a thick blanket of cloud still handing around, the light was dull making all the colours unsaturated. These are usually great conditions for Black and White images.

I found myself a location on the foreshore of the Swan River in South Perth, looking out across to the City skyline of Perth. This was a great opportunity the experiment with some of the Neutral Density filters I had, specifically the Lee Little Stopper (6 stop) and Lee Big Stopper (10 stop).

So I take a series of shots of the same composition to demonstrate the effect these ND filters have on the sky and the water. I also double the filter up to have a total of 16 stops see the results.

Finally, I walk-though how I edited one of the images to demonstrate how I deal with colours cast and enhance the image to create a moody black and white city skyline.

If you’d like to be notified when I upload my next landscape photography adventure, please subscribe to my YouTube channel.

[andrewmarr]

Hunt for the Nannup Falls

It was an early start, not to catch the sunrise, but we had a 3 hour drive ahead of us the get down to Nannup. You see a mate of mine, Beau and I had heard of some 'secret' waterfalls near the town of Nannup, south of Perth. We had seen photos of these beautiful waterfalls overlooking a pine forest, however their exact location was not being revealed by those who had photographed them. So with a general idea of where we might find these falls, we headed down to see if we could discover them for ourselves.

The weather was looking good when we left Perth, but it quickly became overcast as we drove further south. We searched a few of the locations we had identified on Google maps that were likely places where the falls could be but we didn’t have any luck. We decided that perhaps the best plan was to explore the only advertised falls in the area called Beyonderup Falls. We even struggled to find them and in the end needed to ask a local to point us in the right direction.

Recent rain meant that there was plenty of water running, however it also made it difficult to climb up what turned out to be a steep incline to the top of the brook. Eventually we arrived at a point where the scene looked interesting and we started to identify some compositions that had photographic potential.

With overcast conditions, all I needed was my polariser to remove some of the glare off the wet rocks. There was no need for any other filters, I simply used my aperture (f-stop) to reduce the amount of light which enabled me to adjust the shutter speed softening the water with a longer exposure.

The composition I chose was a more intimate scene of the brook. I positioned the camera quite close to the waterfall over the base cutting out most of the surrounding bush. My goal was to capture the different textures of the soft water and the framing river rocks.

We left Nannup, not finding the illusive waterfalls we set out to discover, but walked away with some images that reflected the peaceful afternoon we spent exploring. It was a fantastic and rewarding day, plus the location of Nannup Falls still remain as a mystery for us to solve another day.

If you’d like to be notified when I upload my next landscape photography adventure, please subscribe to my YouTube channel.

[andrewmarr]

Sunset over the cliffs at Albany Windfarm

The second half of our trip down to Albany was packed with visiting some of the breath-taking views around Albany including the Princess Royal Drive, a hike along the Vancouver Peninsula and a climb up Bald Heads. To finish the afternoon, we checked out the Albany Wind farm and took a walk around the Sandpatch Cliffs west of Albany.

As the sun set, the light broke through the clouds and hit the cliffs lighting up the sea mist as it rolled over the scene. I took the opportunity to grab the camera and set up for a shot to capture the stunning scene.

Using the boardwalk as a leading line in the foreground and the wind turbines to balance the image in the mid-ground. The composition was complimented with the cliff edge, on the left of the image, leading the eye to the mist and the warm evening light in the top-left corner of the shot.

I captured the image just as the sun dipped below the horizon and the last of the light kissed the bottom of the clouds over head. As the light changed, I needed to continually monitor, assess and adjust my shutter speed to ensure I was getting enough light to get the detail in the foreground but at the same time not blow out the highlights in the sky.

With the light fading, I changed the orientation of the camera to capture a portrait composition of the scene, still with the boardwalk providing a leading line but this time making more of the turbines in the mid-ground. The decreasing light made for a more moody sky.

If you’d like to be notified when I upload my next landscape photography adventure, please subscribe to my YouTube channel.

[andrewmarr]

Chasing Light at Two Peoples Bay

A quick trip down to Albany for the weekend provided a great opportunity for me to go out to Two Peoples Bay for an early morning sunrise shoot. I discovered this location when I was out shooting at Little Beach (https://youtu.be/5FioFneBYRs) a few months ago. While I knew where it was, I really wasn't very familiar with the place, so took some time to explore the area and look for a composition. Even though I arrived 20-30 minutes before the forecasted time for the sunrise, I still wasn't able to find a composition by the time the sun rose above the horizon.

Still I was happy with the scene I found and used a combination of polarisers, ND filters and a little stopper to reduce the highlights in the sky and round the sun, which periodically appeared from behind the clouds. My composition was strong with a rock slab in the foreground providing a leading line to the sun in the distance. With a long exposure, the water was smoothed out enabling the rocks below the water to be seen with the aid of the polariser to cut down the glare on the surface of the water.

With an image captured on the camera, I was satisfied with the morning, but still had more of the area to explore. I set my camera up further around the coast and waited for the light. With the camera still in place, I walked up the top of the rocky headland to see what was further around the corner. I discovered this lovely scene where the sunlight was warming the rocky cliffs with moody storm clouds providing the perfect atmosphere in the background. The light was changing quickly as the clouds were moving fast. At one stage, I found myself wanted to be in two place at once for two different images. I decided to get back to my camera to capture an image where the sunlight rays were coming from behind the clouds and touching the surface of the ocean.

After successfully capturing this shot, the sun came out from behind the clouds. Grabbing my camera, tripod and camera bag, I hiked quickly up the rock to the cliffs which were now bathed in sunlight. I employed the little stopped to slow things down and used the edge of the cliff as a leading line into the dramatic scene.

In the end, it was a successful adventure as I walked away after experiencing a stunning morning with three images.

If you’d like to be notified when I upload my next landscape photography adventure, please subscribe to my YouTube channel.

[andrewmarr]

Post-Processing in Lightroom, Sunset at Watermans Bay

With the afternoon free and the weather looking pretty good, I thought I’d go down to Watermans Bay on the coast and shoot the sunset. Just a short walk from the carpark I came across this small bay with steps leading down to the water. The base of the steps were in a perfect position to set of the camera. In front of me was a collection of rocks that were covered with green sea moss. This was providing an interesting scene that had a moody feel.

Luckily I was there with plenty of time before the sun actually set, so I didn’t feel rushed. As the sun moved closer to the horizon, the warm orange light started to catch some of the cloud over head. I noticed some cloud close to the horizon and it started to look like the sunset I was hoping for was going to happen. There just before the sun was going to disappear, it shone through a small gap in the clouds.

I noticed the scene in front of me change as the sun sunk below the horizon and the light varied. For the next 45 minutes, I stayed in the same spot with the same composition. I simply changed my shutter speed to adapt to the changing light. I already had a 0.9 hard graduated ND filter on the camera to darken the sky. At one point however, I added a second graduated filter (0.6 this time) as the range of light from the sky to the rocks in the foreground could not be fully captured by the camera.

As the light faded, I increased my exposure until it was at 30 seconds. As I took my last shot, a larger than normal wave came through and disturbed the water around the rocks, creating a misty feel to the image. It was a great addition to an already moody setting.

In response to a few requests, record the approach I took to editing the first image shown in the video. As I walk through the edit, I point out some of the tips and tricks I use to help me enhance the image easily. I cover cropping, exposure, sharpening, lens correction, as well as a few other simple effects. I keep and natural look to the shot by slow building the image using the adjustments.

If you’d like to be notified when I upload my next landscape photography adventure, please subscribe to my YouTube channel.

[andrewmarr]

Finding an Interesting Composition at Burns Beach

I live north of Perth, not too far from the coast. My local beach is Burns Beach which provides lots of interest for photography with interesting rock formations and water patterns created by the waves. This beach is where I learnt many of the techniques and approaches I use to landscape and seascape photography.

I go back to Burns Beach and take you through how I find a composition, set up my camera and then wait and time taking a shot with the cycle of the waves to capture an interesting and engaging image. After exploring the beach, I settle of an enticing composition with a warn rock in the foreground covered with green sea moss and a shelf of rock behind it that with the right wave has a miniature waterfall like feature drawing the viewer into the image.

If you’d like to be notified when I upload my next landscape photography adventure, please subscribe to my YouTube channel.

[andrewmarr]

Margaret River

My intention was to find an image down at Prevelly Beach. Just as I arrived I witnessed the river (Margaret River) breaking through the sand bank into the sea. I explored the area, but soon realised that with the strong winds and water coming onto the beach from two directions, it was going to be challenging conditions in which to capture a landscape photo. Given there really wasn’t much interest on the beach that caught my eye, I decided to change plans and venture up the river towards Margaret River in an attempt to find a location that was more sheltered from the wind.

About halfway into town I found a road that took me down to the river. I explore this part of the river and I found some white water that showed potential however it was difficult to find an appealing composition. In fact much of the river in that section was difficult to access due to the trees and bush growing right up to the bank. As I explored further down the river I could hear some more rushing water. This time the waterfall was in a section where there was a clearing and presented a beautiful view of the cascading water.

If you’d like to be notified when I upload my next landscape photography adventure, please subscribe to my YouTube channel.

[andrewmarr]

Wyadup Bay

Despite the miserable weather conditions and no chance of a colourful sunrise, I took off early down to Wyadup Bay to explore an outcrop of rocks that I’d never explored before. After waiting for a slight break in the rain, I ventured out to seek an interesting composition with the rocks and crashing waves that might make for a compelling image.

I eventually come across a location where the water was pushing through a canal between the rocks and spilling over the rocks into the turquoise water below.  I grabbed my camera bag and climbed over the rocks to get as close to the water as I could and find the best position to capture an image.

Once I had set my camera up, it was a case of waiting for the right moment and timing the shot correctly to get the image I wanted.

If you’d like to be notified when I upload my next landscape photography adventure, please subscribe to my YouTube channel.

[andrewmarr]

While down in Albany, I took a trip out to Salmon Pools for some Landscape Photography.