Layering for Effect - (and) February Drakensberg Experience

I've been slack of late with the blog writing, trying to to catch up on things like paid work (someone has to do it) and workshops. At any rate the end of February was also the second workshop in the Drakensberg with the African Impact photographers. Apart from one dud morning where the clouds hung so low that we were unable to shoot the dawn we had absolutely splendid shooting weather. Of course the low lying cloud lent itself to macro work with dew laden grasses and flowers, so even that wasn't a problem.

It seemed the workshop was something of a 'layering workshop' this time round, so here are a few example images with a brief explanation as to the rationale behind them.

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Natural Light

I have to admit I have been a huge fan and convert to location lighting and the 'strobism' movement for the past few years. This sometimes means that I end up using lights simply because I can, not because I need to. This isn't a good thing. In particular I am a avid reader of Joe McNally's writings and really admire his work. Similarly David Hobby's insights into the use of flash on location have been mind-opening. Then there's Don Giannati's who seems to seamlessly introduce artificial light in a way that it should always have been there.

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Self-promotion

Last month I mentioned toward the end of an article entitled ‘The Future of the Profession’ that, “If you are good at what you do, communicate effectively with your clients and advertise your services sufficiently, work will come to you.” The phrase ‘advertise your services sufficiently’ raised an interesting point regarding the murky territory of self-promotion and what I see as a necessary evil in the modern industry of image creation (At the end of this article is also a response to last month’s article written by Denis Hocking). Self-promotion tends to leave a slightly distasteful odour. It conjures up dreadful images of telemarketers and self-promoting television narcissists. Yuck. Done more subtly and with a modicum of humility though, it can be a tentative step into the world of professional photography.

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First Drakensberg Workshop of 2013

Dooley flats on the second morning of the workshop  A combined 0.3 and 0.6 ND grad held in front of the lens helped control contrast between sky and grass (I say held as I realized with dismay that my Lee filter holder had gone for an inadvertent swim the previous day.

I've just come off the first workshop of the year in the Drakensberg, which, to my mind, was a resounding success. We had a passionate group of photographers who joined myself and Paul Greenway (of 3PPhotography) at Royal Natal National Park in the northern reachs of the Drakensberg uKhahlamba Mountains. As ever, the weather threatened to dampen the weekend, but ultimately smiled on our little group. 

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