Express & Star

Enjoying the spring landscapes

Through the winter I struggled with poor light and even had a few photographs that were ‘noisy’.

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Sandwell ValleyBridge

Noise is those little spots often white or purple that appear at the higher ISO settings. Now, though, we have great light and can enjoy walking in the country and getting amazing pictures. But all that green can be a little boring so watch out for things that will break up the sea of green such as walkers, cyclists and horse riders. The spring is a great season for landscape photography as the days get longer and the evenings get lighter.

Sandwell ValleyBridge

May Day

It was May-day yesterday and so I went a ride down Sandwell Valley. We are lucky in the Black Country to have so many parks and nature reserves to practice our landscape photography. This is the bridge where the river Tame crosses Wigmore Lane before entering the darkness of the Newton Road bridge. Try shots like this that are close up and show patterns. This time it is the pattern of the brick work but the bark of a tree also makes a shot more interesting.

Sandwell Valley Bridleway

The bridleway

This is the bridleway and I actually raised the ISO to 400 because it was so cloudy. It was also cold but worth making the effort to go for a walk. I think the cyclists in this shot add a lot of interest.

Sandwell Valley Bridlewayzoomed in

Is zooming in better or worse? I prefer more sky in the shot. But this is still an interesting shot.

Sandwell ValleyHedgerow and Path

Spring landscapes

I like this shot. I focused on the trees and the bluebells in the hedgerow while the path gives us a lot of depth and perspective. When you’re trying to shoot spring landscapes look for perspective and depth.

Gentleman walking his dog

Passers by

Passers-by include dog walkers, cyclists and horse riders and they can all add some interest and colour to a landscape shot. You will usually shoot with a narrow aperture but a wide aperture to put the passer-by in sharp focus makes for an interesting shot too. I think I shot this at about f/8 because it was quite cloudy.

Ducks at Sandwell Valley

Ducks

These ducks are hard to spot and the ducklings are almost camouflaged. I took these shots with spot focusing and a wide open aperture. You have to be patient and wait for just the right shot.

Hyde’s Pool in Wednesbury

Hydes Pool

On the way home from Sandwell Valley I stopped at Hyde’s Pool in Wednesbury where I photographed the ducks and took a few more landscape shots.

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