Inspired by the Scotsman (IWC not newspaper)

Took loads of photos today.
First, some cows in a field
Later, a couple of swans in a pond below some huge pylons.
Then plenty of Scamp too, as is always the case when I can no longer find inspiration.

As it had ben such a sunny afternoon I expected to get a pleasing sunset so went home for my gear and returned to the swans. I figured the white swans in fading red light dwarfed below the pylons might make a good shot. Unfortunately the cloud was by then much denser and no sky visible beyond.

I set up the camera on tripod anyway and waited patiently in case anything changed. Scamp found his stick from earlier in the day and patiently sat beside it for 45 minutes. Nothing changed, but rather than give up and go home I turned my attention to the fast flowing clouds and wondered if a long exposure might look good with the pylon filling the frame but obviously showing the sky behind.

The camera said 6 seconds was as long as I could leave the shutter open. I tried that but wasn't enamoured by the image. Then I remembered I had bought some ND filters last week and they were sitting, as yet unused, in my kit bag.

Filter on and Hey Presto a 30 second shutter was still under just nicely underexposed. An interesting result if not to everybodys taste (the Mrs said it was creepy).

I have made some minor tweaks in PP but theres not a lot to differentiate what you see from the file that popped out of the camera.

So lessons from todays experiment

1) Take a torch - once it is dark you will struggle to change physical things like filters or find things in your bag
2) Set up the camera and tripod in plenty of time before it actually gets dark
3) choose your spot and stick to it. Wandering around in the dark with tripod mounted camera is a recipe for tripping up and landing in a cowpat or puddle.
4) choose a spot that allows you to use the 360 degrees of the tripod, ie not right against a stock fence. That will go some way to allowing you to photograph other views and partly eliminate the need for moving
5) Take a remote shutter release - manual only gives you up to 30 seconds and holding onto the shutter button with your finger will transmit your heartbeats to the camera and spoil the image
6) remember it will be pitch black dark when you finish up so dont spook yourself when walking back up the treelined lonning to the 'safety' of the streetlights

I didnt make all of those mistakes, just a couple, honest.

Have fun with your camera and have a great weekend