Some (N)Ice Winter Compositions

Saturday saw us in one of the local gorges looking for compositions in the snow again. In today's blog I go into a lot of detail concerning the thought processes and relevant settings behind each of the images and was pleasantly surprised just how much is going on - a lot of it is second nature. Hope you enjoy.

Beeches and Birches I || Olympus 18 mm, f/8, 1/60 s, ISO 800 

This was essentially an instinct shot - we were walking up the path above the gorge towards the Purschlinghaus - an excellent excursion on another occasion or at another time - and this scene manifested on our right just before a bridge. I made a note of it at the time because I thought it had potential and got this snapshot off. What caught my attention were the silver birch trunks, beech saplings and the stream behind - that you can't really see here. The tones were just so harmonious that they were screaming to be taken. Even though this was an instinct shot and the better composition had to be worked a little (see below), I'm quite happy with this as a stand alone image. Normally I try to stick to the camera's native ISO of 200, but I set it on auto today as it was quite overcast. One of the downsides to higher ISOs, particularly on smaller sensor cameras like mine, is that the image can become unappealingly noisy or grainy. I wasn't too concerned about this happening in the snow, however, as this would mask a lot of that problem.

There's a 2005 German folk song that goes something like this:

"Ob er aber über Oberammergau Oder aber über Unter-ammergau Oder aber überhaupt nicht kommt. Des ist net g'wiss"

- freely translated: "it's uncertain whether he'll come via Oberammergau or Unterammergau, or whether he'll come at all". It does loose something in translation though. What remains is the fact that Oberammergau and Unterammergau both have their own unique charm. Oberammergau, home to the world-famous Passion Play celebrating the end of the 17th century plague by retelling the story of the Passion of Christ, is quintessentially Bavarian but very touristic. It's less well known cousin, Unterammergau, is just 5 km down the road but still very much worth a visit, not least of which for a trip to the Schleifmühlklamm - the whetstone mill gorge. In other times the eponymous restaurant is also worth a visit, though for obvious reasons it's presently closed.

Smaller and less well known that, say, the Partnach or Höhlental gorges in nearby Garmisch, the Schleifmühlklamm is still very much worth a visit and has two or three waterfalls that are a photographer's delight. We'd recently equipped ourselves with ice spikes for our hiking boots and I was also keen to try out my newly acquired Vallarret photography gloves. They're regular winter gloves with removable tips for the index fingers and thumbs allowing camera operation in cold weather. Not cheap, but definitely effective.

Our new Grivel spikes || Olympus 

I want to spend a bit of time in today's post talking about photographic decisions and reasons for certain compositions. The above photo is a great place to start, even though it's pretty much a "B-roll" shot - it was a spontaneous candid and the camera was still in exposure bracketing mode. I knew wanted a slower shutter speed for this shot but also knew that I didn't have time to change to shutter priority mode, select a lower shutter speed, frame up and shoot, so it was literally a grab shot. I had three exposures, 2 EV apart. I could easily have chosen the first shot, though the movement wouldn't have been quite as pronounced. Instead I've gone for the slower, high exposure shot, giving motion blur as well as isolating the element that I want the viewer to be looking at - in this case the spikes. It helps that they're yellow and there are two pairs of them. Normally the eyes drift to light objects in a scene, but this is trumped by contrast. If the whole scene is bright, then the eyes drift to something else, in this case the bright spikes.

The sign at the bottom of the gorge stated explicitly no admittance due to the icy conditions, though the sign turned out to be a little superfluous in light of recent snowfalls. I would definitely not recommend hiking through the gorge in the winter without some sort of grip-enhancer however. There are places that would be impassable if it were icy.

The Stream || Olympus

As we were walking my eye was caught by this slash of stream showing through the snow. Because it had been very cold, ice had formed over parts of the water which had then become covered in snow. This short section of exposed stream caught my eye because it was discrete - closed at both ends - and isolated. The almost parallel lines of the banks, the fact that the whole section was open and not interrupted and the branches giving a bit of texture contrast meant that I couldn't pass this shot up. It's a hand-held HDR - otherwise the water would just have been a black gash or the snow a white gunk. It's got abstract quality, but the branches and leaves anchor it in reality.

Having been here a number of times over the years I knew which spots I wanted to visit in the gorge, but my eyes were open for new compositions as well. Winter changes the landscape as I've mentioned before. Things that work in the summer might not in the winter, messy scenes might suddenly work under a blanket of snow, some vantage points might not be accessible any more and, well, ICE!

Frozen Falls || Olympus 14 mm, f/16, 1/4 s, ISO 200

This is the first easily accessible waterfall - you have to branch right off the path to get to this point. I tried a couple of angles for this shot; there was a snow covered stone standing proud of the water that disturbed me and so I tried a lower angle, but that made the pool at the bottom too thin, so I went for the original composition and stamped the stone out in post. There are a couple of things I really like about this composition; the snow focusses the attention on the main actors, whereas in the summer there is a lot more rock competing for the eye. Also, the rock that does remain provides a nice set of lines pointing to the action. The green of the water and the orange-brown of the rock complement each other nicely and obviously I've chosen a longer exposure to emphasise the motion of the water. The low aperture was partly in order to achieve the desired shutter speed, partly to increase the depth of field. I focused on the rock next to the waterfall. Although it wouldn't ruin the shot if the foreground snowbank wasn't pin sharp, I wanted all the rock and the forest beyond to be in focus. The waterfall was as good as 1/3 of the way into the scene as I could find, plus at 14 mm AND m43, depth of field wasn't going to be an issue here.

Compositionally I could have cropped down to just the waterfall, but I wanted to include some of the environment. There's even a bit of sky at the top of the image, normally a no-no when photographing waterfalls, but a bit more white doesn't disturb the flow. I also tried an HDR version of this shot, but in the end was happy with the dynamic range I was able to winkle out of this single exposure.

Snow Family || Olympus 21 mm, f/8, 1/60 s, ISO1000

My daughter got bored waiting for me to take the previous shot and so made herself a little snowman family.

The next waterfall is tricky, particularly in the winter because the narrow path opposite traverses a steep slope. Finding a good vantage point for the waterfall where I could set up the tripod stably was not easy. Fortunately I wasn't disturbed as I was taking these shots - had I been so I would have had to lift up the tripod out of the way and then set up the shot again.

Upper Falls I: HDR || Olympus 14 mm, f/5.6, 2 s, ISO 200

Upper Falls II || Olympus 14 mm, f/7.1, 2 s, ISO 200

This one's tricky. I ended up taking two images, one landscape, which I cropped to 1:1 and made an HDR image of (top), the other a single exposure in portrait format. Both have things I like about them. In the top image, for example, I really like the rock face and the way the viewer's attention is drawn to the water coming out of a cave almost. In the second shot I like the addition of the green fir trees, the inclusion of the bridge and the symmetry afforded by the waterfall and the gap above it. However, the second image isn't sharp. The snow was soft and I think I must have disturbed the tripod a little.

The climb out of the gorge takes you up a steep path up a series of steps and bridges like the one above. In icy conditions, this would be the impossible bit without spikes. There's a hand rail for assurance for the most exposed parts, but in the snow this was more of a knee rail. The path then comes out on the forest track that doubles as a sledging run in the winter, a trail that we've used a couple of times and is great fun.

Leaving the Gorge || Olympus 17 mm, f/10, 1/13 s, ISO 1600

I've deliberately left this - and many of the other images here - high key, with most of the tones in the light half of the spectrum rather than spread over the whole tonal range from dark as this best reflects the bright scenery in the snow. I love the pale browns and greens with the frosted edges.

Four Friends || Olympus 66 mm, f/10, 1/80 s, ISO 1600

Another instinct shot. I was focussing on the fairy-tale hut in the winter forest and these four sledge enthusiasts passed through, so I grabbed this shot without really checking the camera settings. Not a great deal to say about it. The original was wider, affording a glimpse of the surrounding hilltops, but during processing I thought it might be more intimate to compact it down. Ideally I'd have included a bit more space below the bottom sledge, but, like I say, it was a grab-shot.

Following the path upwards, it was just a question of keeping the eyes open for further images.

Repetitions || Olympus 100 mm, f/4, 1/200 s, ISO 640

What struck me here was the series of repetitive elements. Tessellation is a powerful structural part of images, whether perfect as with man-made structures or natural with imperfections such as here. I had to get in close to isolate this set of branches, hence the focal length of 100 mm - the longest I can go with my 12-100 mm Zuiko lens.

Family Fun || Olympus 13 mm, f/7.1, 1/60 s, ISO 400

The backdrop is what caught my eye here, the various trees in the snow going from the firs behind the people through the brown birches and firs at the top. The family group added a human touch to an otherwise cold scene, accentuated by the bright colours of their clothes.

And then we had to turn home. I was itching to have a second go at the birches and beeches scene as I was sure that there was a strong composition to be had if only I could find the right angle. I wanted to catch the orange of the beech leaves as well as the stream behind, but from most angles I could either have one or the other. Getting closer to the trees let me have more view of the stream, but the thing that had grabbed my attention, insisting that I had a second go at the scene, was the combination of the leaves and the stream. It was a question of getting it all aligned perfectly for a really strong image.

Beeches and Birches II || Olympus 34 mm, f/16, 1/25 s, ISO 1600

This was the third attempt at the scene after I noticed an intrusive stump that you'll see to the left of the very first image. Here I've put more of the stream in the scene - this was what had caught my eye through the leaves due to the similarity in colour. Another consideration here was whether or not to include the base of the trees - something that I'd done in the first shot but not here as I'd gone closer to the trees. Hence the low aperture again. I was focussing on the trees and didn't want to lose depth of field at the log weir at the back. 

Beeches and Birches III || Olympus 35 mm, f/16, 1/30 s, ISO 1600

This was my final image though. Bottoms of trees included and a clear line of the stream leading through the image to the back. An added bonus is the holes in the snow showing the layers of snow nicely. The image has more space with the view through the trees, though perhaps with a bit too much negative space bottom left. What do you think?

I've surprised myself at how much thought goes into each photo in the field. Much of it has become second nature so I don't really think about it - it's almost instinct, but it's definitely interesting to go through the process and analyse what considerations were driving each individual shot. Anyway, I hope you enjoy them and call back next time.

Feedback on the First Workshops

"Apparently, if you try to cram two years of learning into 4-6 hour 1-2-1 workshop, the participants can find it a bit too much. Who knew?"

The Old Gypsum Mill || Olympus f/5.6, 1/125 s, ISO 1250 

I’ve now run my first two workshops for volunteer guinea-pigs recruited from among my local friends on the understanding that they would give me in-depth feedback on the sessions in lieu of payment. We had two great afternoons, one hiking in the local mountains in less than perfect weather and one shooting flowers in a friend’s back garden. We had several “aha” moments as they learned things about their cameras that they didn’t know before and both have got some great shots out of the sessions. But what did I learn?

Over the last 18 months I’ve invested a lot of time in my photographic education. I’ve read books, I’ve watched a ton of videos and online courses on photography and post-processing and I’ve endeavoured to put a lot of it into practice in the field. I think that most people would agree with me when I say that I’ve come a long way photographically in that time. I’ve almost completely changed my approach to photographing and my philosophy of photography. A lot of things are now obvious that would have been a complete mystery to me even two years ago. I was an idiot to think that I could convey the significant parts of that learning in a single session, but that’s what I set out to do. Twice. In my defence, the second session was probably much better structured than the first. But I need to trim it down much further, or at least give the students more time to take each aspect of the teaching on board before progressing to the next.

Let’s take a look at the two sessions and try to assess what works and what doesn’t and look at how to build this into planning future workshops.

In the Pöllat River || Olympus f/11, 2 s, ISO 200

Session 1: In The Pöllat Gorge

The first session was held at one of my favourite local spots – the Pöllat gorge below the fabulous Neuschwanstein castle near Füssen. My student, a friend from the Munich choir that I sing with, had previously been a teacher – a huge plus for me, as this was someone who had first-hand experience of teaching methods and knew what he was talking about when it came to feedback. We’d had a chance to chat a little about photography on the way down in the car and I’d already sounded him out concerning what he wanted to learn.

The fun part about this session was that Andrew had a relatively clear idea of the images he wanted to get, but wasn’t always clear on how to achieve those images technically. This was definitely something I could help with.

Parking the car at the Tegelberg car park (much cheaper than parking in Hohenschwangau at the bottom of the castle), we trekked along the base of the mountain, the clouds lingering in the trees above us. Excellent opportunity for composition questions 1 and 2: (1) What catches your attention, and (2) what aspect of the subject do you want to emphasise or caricature? (thanks Joshua Cripps!)

Moody, Misty Forest || Olympus f/5, 1/200 s, ISO 500

Arriving at the bottom of the Pöllat gorge, I was dismayed to see that the gorgeous wooden mill race had been very badly damaged in the recent storms. I sincerely hope that they repair it using the original wood, since this has always been a complete eye-catcher and really strong element for photos here. As it was, the heavy flow was just gushing out of the broken end of the trellis into a mess of tree branches. Such a shame.

After we'd walked around the bottom of the gorge for a bit, scouting compositions, we went a few meters downstream where it was a little quieter so that we could chat about how to emphasise the water movement, leading into a discussion of long exposures and tripods. I'd established in advance that Andrew would be using the Nikon 18-55 mm kit lens and managed to source a cheap step-up ring of the right diameter so that he could use my filter system to create a series of shots with different exposures.

Shooting in the Pöllat || Huawei P30 Pro

Having had a good long session at the bottom of the gorge, we walked up through the shady forest, looking for other compositions. There are some nice shots to be had of the falls as well as some nice intimate forest landscapes - what my father calls my signature shots. The moss was particularly appealing 

Moss Micro Landscape || Olympus f/4, 1/8 s, ISO 200

At this point, I forgot a bit that I was supposed to be leading a workshop and got side-tracked by taking my own images - wrong of me I know, but too easy to do in the circumstances. In future, I'm really going to have to put my own shots in the background, unless they're to make a teaching point.

Carrying on up to the path between Neuschwanstein and the Marienbrücke, we were rewarded by a moody view over Hohenschwangau with the sun breaking through the clouds. An impossible shot for Andrew's camera, but no match for modern exposure bracketing. Once again, I was putting my own photos first. But come on, who would have said no to this:

God-Rays over Hohenschwangau || Olympus Exposure Bracketing

After waiting a while in vain to see whether the weather would provide us with anything better, we headed on up to the Marienbrücke, the bridge overlooking Neuschwanstein, to see whether the light would allow us to catch any useful shots. Andrew took quite a few from the bridge and we toyed with the concept of including some foreground in a shot in order to establish a bit of 3-dimensionality to the scene.

It was quite late by the time we got back to the car and we were both starving, so we looked for a suitable hostelry. Waiting for food, I had a chance to go through my workshop cheat-sheets with him. In my mind I had planned to shoot and then go over the theory in the hope that he would be more receptive to the concepts - a teaching style that we often use at work. In reality, it would have been helpful to look at them beforehand and then try to put some of it into practice in the field.

Session 2: A Munich Garden

For the second session I visited my friend in her garden in Munich. Because one of her primary photographic interests was flowers and because they have a beautiful flower garden, this really worked out nicely. The weather was definitely playing ball this time as well, which really helped. It had rained just before I got there, but we had a great 4 h in the garden in lovely late afternoon light, shooting anything and everything in sight.

This time we were able to sit down before we started and look at some of the concepts that help me focus on what makes a good photo. I was delighted that my friend was able to make the intuitive jumps from the things I was pointing out (more here) to compositional consequences. Once we'd got some of the basics out of the way, we were able to knuckle down to the two issues that she had highlighted approaching the workshop; exposure and focus.

Reach for the Sky || Olympus f/8, 1/250 s, ISO 200

After explaining the various ways in which cameras measure exposure and the shortcomings of assuming that everything is 50% grey, we looked around for potential examples. She has a beautiful honeysuckle growing up the side of the garage. Against the sky, most cameras will underexpose the subject to avoid an overly-bright image, leaving the subject quite dull. Exposure compensation to the rescue (once we'd found out how to in the manual).

Essence of Hydrangea || Olympus f/8, 1/40 s, ISO 200

Looking back, we should have spent a little while at least concentrating on exposure, but I was so excited with the progress that I was all for moving swiftly on to the next issue; focus. Once we figured out how to give her back the control over what the camera was focusing on we even got a chance to look at the concept of depth of field before switching over to her macro lens and fiddling about with focus magnification in a foreign camera system.

Old Wooden Chair || Olympus f/8

All in all we had a great afternoon/evening working through various technical and compositional aspects before I was gently told to stop - I'd passed on enough information and time was required to process and practice.

Lessons Learned

What Went Well

Let's start with what went well:

• The second workshop was much better structured than the first, working through the teaching materials and having a chance to put it all into practice.
• Knowing both locations well before the shoots was essential. Even then there were surprises, like the demolished mill race at the Pöllat gorge.
• Both locations were good and had some 'gimme' images where you couldn't really go wrong, whether Schloss Neuschwanstein or my friends gorgeous garden.
• Having a few toys to hand to play with worked well, such as the ND filters for the gorge and my tiny fish-eye lens as a demonstration of how aperture works.
• Getting the students to fill out a self-assessment form (below) well in advance of the workshop so that I could prepare a session to fit their individual needs worked really well.
• The handouts I had prepared turned out to be really good teaching aids.
• After the first workshop we sat down and went through a handful of the best images, looking at technique and possible tips. The offer is still out on the second workshop, but, life!

Challenges

• One of the time-consuming aspects of both workshops was becoming familiar with other peoples’ cameras. After 18 months with my Olympus I can operate it pretty much blindfolded. Previously I’d been using a Panasonic bridge camera and so had at least a working knowledge of the menu structure. My students had Nikon and Cannon cameras respectively and finding functions in the various menus took time. If students aren’t familiar with their cameras, it’s essential that they bring the manual with them. It was also challenging switching between a mirrorless camera with all of the associated ease of use and the more flighty DSLRs.
• The weather and, more importantly, the light during the first workshop was extremely challenging. But that’s life sometimes.
• It’s important to establish ahead of time which lenses your students are bringing to the workshop. I’m used to the flexibility of being able to choose between ultra-wide angle, long telephoto and everything in between. Students aren’t always going to be able to bring that variety to the workshop and the location needs to be planned accordingly.

What Didn’t Go So Well

• Looking back, although the first workshop was fun, setting out without covering at least the basic theory was a mistake. I was all gung-ho for the location and thought I could explain as we went. I couldn’t.
• After the first few shots, I also assumed that the student was doing ok and didn’t need as much help or feedback. In future I’ll have to be more proactive in checking in with them.

Looking Forward

Looking forward, I think I will have to offer either one or the other; either a photo safari or a photography workshop. It’s much easier to concentrate on teaching skills in a calmer environment with few distractions, where we can sit down, talk about the principles and then put them into action.

On the other hand, once someone has mastered the basics, it will still be fun to head out to the hills to look at how to put those skills into practice.

Fairy-Tale Neuschwanstein || Olympus f/4.5, 1/8 s, ISO 800

My Questionnaires

I've created two questionnaires, one to give me a feel for the student's needs, one for them to give me feedback on the workshop so that I can continue to improve as an instructor. I'll reproduce them here for anyone wanting to use and adapt. I've created these using Google docs, and the answers flow directly into a table. I'm a huge fan of Google docs as they allow me to access the information on the go using a variety of platforms.

Student Assessment Form

I ask a lot about my students because I really want to understand their needs and offer a tailor-made session. It also helps them to assess where they are and think a bit about the issues involved. I also ask them either in advance of - or during the session how they would define a "good" photo. Although a straightforward question, it really helps focus on the issues.

Student Feedback Form

Feeback is critical to the process of becoming a better instructor - which is a huge part of the process for me. Here's my Student Feedback Form

Into the Blue: Gorge Excursion

Breitach Detail // f16, 1/2 s, ISO 200

QUICK SUMMARY

Best Conditions	Winter for the icicles, early summer for snow-melt
Challenges	Tripod inadvisable due to narrow walkways / avoid midday sun in summer / check opening times (link below)
Parking	€2 at Gasthaus Breitachklamm
Where to Stop	Gasthaus Breitachklamm (traditional German food) or Waldhaus (rustic; approx. 40 min up from the top of the gorge, follow the river)
Links	Breitachklamm

Our first winter excursion to the Breitach Gorge [Google Maps] was in 2012. We'd had a snap freeze in February and the car thermometer was showing about - 20°C on the way down. There was snow on the fields all the way from home. We'd set off early enough that we saw a fox on his morning return commute back to his den. It was so cold that I had to keep my camera under my jacket to preserve the battery and could only take my gloves off to shoot for a few seconds at a time. It was so cold that there was ice on the stones of the river bed with the water flowing over it. I'm told that the water has to be about -10°C for this to happen.

The Breitach anno 2012 during a cold snap

This year it was only just below freezing at home, so I was expecting about -5°C inside the gorge. I wasn't sure how much ice we'd be seeing. I certainly wasn't expecting the ice curtains we'd seen 8 years before. But this time I had a secret weapon with me: my Olympus EM-1 Mk II has 6-stop image stabilisation on board, 7 when it's synchronised with the Zuiko 12-100 mm f4 telephoto. It really is difficult to believe, but I can get pin-sharp 2 s hand-held exposures using this combo and I've read reports of people claiming the same for 7 s exposures. And I don't have the steadiest of hands.

Black/Blue/Grey // f5.6, 1/2 s, ISO 200

So, winter conditions and the possibility of multi second sharp pictures: bring it on! Normally, using a tripod in the narrow gorge, especially in the middle of the day at the weekend would have been extremely antisocial towards the other visitors and so heavy IBIS (in body image stabilisation) is the best way to get those juicy silky flowing water shots.

There was no snow on the ground this time, but there was still a significant frost on the ground as we entered the gorge and we were soon rewarded with out first icicle pipe-organs.

Icicles in the Gorge // f8, 1/8 s, ISO 1600

Gorges are funny things, they're never the same twice, I learned this the hard way the first time I walked through the Partnach gorge in Garmisch. Towards the end there was a waterfall with a wonderful rainbow. There were too many people standing around and so I thought I'd catch it on the way back. Coming out into the sunshine at the end, we sat down to a comfortable lunch on the river bank. Forty-five minutes later we headed back. To my dismay, in that time the sun had moved completely and the rainbow was nowhere to be seen (duh!). Walking back through a gorge is always worth it though, because there are always angles that you missed the first time round. The Breitach was no exception and as we made our way back down, we were met with the sun shining down through a gap in the rocks above.

Hole in the Roof // f5.6, 0.8 s, ISO 1600

Towards the end of the gorge, there's a mossy waterfall falling down the southern bank of the Breitach. There's a reason why I love the Zuiko f4 12-100 mm (24-200 mm FF equivalent) and why probably more than 95% of my photos are shot with this lens. Apart from the optical quality, weatherproofing and image stabilisation and a closest focal distance of 12 cm, the 12-100 mm range is perfect for most of what I want to catch. Unless I'm going for wildlife or need my ultra-wide Panasonic Leica 8-18 mm (also a lens with exceptional IQ), it lets me take the bigger picture or zoom in here to a detail of a waterfall across the narrow valley. 

Frozen Christmas Trees // f22, 1 s, ISO 160

Not an ideal perspective on this shot (tricky without a rope and harness in this case), I thought this showcased the water colour and flow nicely. I also enjoyed the opportunity for an unconventional crop. Most of my images end up at a 5:4 or 16:9 crop, but a 1:1 can also be powerful. Micro 4/3rds cameras have a native crop of 4:3.

Gorge Detail // f9, 1/2 s, ISO 200

Sometimes, a human figure in the scene puts everything into perspective like here. Many of the icicles were at least as long as Sharon.

Enough Icicles for You? || f8, 1/2 s, ISO 1600