Time
Autumn in the Saco Valley, White Mountains, New Hampshire, USA
I spent all afternoon in this spot, using the crisp, low-angled light of October to investigate all the photographic options. Often I’m waiting for the sun to drop near to the horizon, but here in mid-afternoon in the New England Fall the light was perfect. By the time the sun was setting, the trees on the bank were throwing long shadows over the water. There’s a perfect time for every shot, knowing when that is likely to be is what it’s all about.
• Fuji GX617, 105mm lens
“The period immediately before and after sunset and sunrise is happy hour”
A photographer’s life is dominated by the need to be in the right place for dawn and dusk. The period immediately before and after sunset and sunrise is happy hour, when the natural light goes through some wonderful transformations. Ninety per cent of my photography happens around these times. There are exceptions of course; the seasons and latitude have a huge bearing on my timetable. For example north of the Arctic Circle in summer the sun just bumps around the horizon all day, never setting, and never getting that high. The light can be fantastic all 24 hours, which presents something of a problem in knowing when to time an eyelid inspection. Up on Canada’s Ellesmere Island I was happily shooting away in slanting golden light at 2am. In complete contrast as I sit writing this book it’s 12 noon here on the Seychelles island of La Digue, a little parcel of tropical paradise slap bang in the middle of the Indian Ocean just south of the equator. The sun is vertically overhead, beating down with a tropical ferocity that sends even the most fanatical sun worshippers heading for the shade. Photographically it’s a hard, high-contrast, unflattering light. Here, between the hours of 9am and 5pm I wouldn’t dream of touching a camera. Conversely consider a winter’s day in the Scottish Highlands. The days are short and the sun never gets very high in the sky, so if the sun appears it’s quite feasible to be shooting all day. The key is the angle of the light, low, slanting rays sidelighting the world are what we like. But there are endless variations that a photographer’s eye needs to be tuned into.
ROUNT THE WORLD IN SEARCH OF LIGHT
4am Eype Point, Lyme Regis, Dorset, England
A full moon hangs over the Jurassic Coast casting a moon shadow of me by the tripod over the rocks. The faintest light is starting to seep through the sky from over Portland, making a photograph just possible with an ultra- long exposure of 15 minutes. The colour temperature of the ambient light gives the whole scene a blue tinge, eye automatically adjusts for it but the film does not. It’s so dark I barely see what I’m framing through the eyepiece, but the lights twinkling in the distance at least give me something to focus on.
• Nikon F5, 17–35mm lens
5.30am Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada
Another coastline on the other side of the Atlantic at dawn. The sun isn’t yet up but from its lair just below the horizon to the east it’s bottom lighting the clouds, sending streaks of pink and mauve through the sky. There’s no direct sunlight yet but the diffuse glow is starting to give the faintest touch of soft, low-contrast directional light on the landscape. It’s another long exposure, and I’m checking and adjusting the timing constantly as the light levels increase.
• Fuji GX617, 90mm lens
6.30am: Torres del Paine National Park, Patagonia, Chile
The sun pops over the horizon and the first direct rays of gold paint the highest peaks of the Torres del Paine. The clouds clinging to the massif are lit up in the fiery light and it’s one of those moments I know will stay with me for the rest of my days. I work methodically, double-checking the exposure, filtration, focus and framing. We’ve come a long, long way and camped out in howling winds for a week for this … what a reward.
• Fuji GX617, 180mm lens
9am: Tarn Hows, Cumbria, England
On an autumn day in Cumbria the clouds part and the sun splashes patches of light across the Lake District, making the russet tones glow beneath the heavy brooding sky. As usual with this corner of the British Isles, it has been an exercise in patience, waiting for the light. The clouds close in again and the scene is but a memory. I could have a long wait until the next opportunity.
• Canon EOS-1Ds MKII, 24–70mm lens
10am: Location searching
The sun is high in the sky and the light has lost all its subtle appeal, so it’s time to get out location searching – finding and planning the next few days’ shoots, by foot, cycle, car or boat, whatever it takes. Sometimes it’s as easy as going for a pleasant stroll, other times it’s a toil involving many miles. Well, no one ever said it was easy.
2pm: Siesta
Those dawn rises catch up with you sooner or later.
5pm: Dunguaire Castle, Co Galway, Ireland
The sun is dropping fast over the west coast. I’m crouching by the tripod trying to get the definitive angle on the castle when a slice of light pierces the stormy clouds rolling off the ocean. I’d been eyeing the swan with her cygnets for some time, hoping against hope that she’d stay in situ long enough to provide foreground interest.
• Nikon F5, 20–35mm lens
6.30pm: Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA
The last weak sun of the day is sidelighting the canyon, picking out the relief and textures of the gaping chasm. The light is fading fast but it has a certain soft quality. Just as I’m checking my exposure a tourist appears at my elbow, wanting to tell me all about every camera he’s ever owned. This is one of the hazards of the job, particularly in well-known spots like this. I nudge him to his fate over the rim of the precipice. Of course I’m joking, but I did strongly consider it.
• Fuji GX617, 105mm lens
8pm: The Twelve Apostles, Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia
The sun has sunk below the western horizon and the sky is streaked with pinky-orange in a carbon copy in reverse of the Nova Scotia dawn, only this time I’ve got the silvery crescent of the moon on tonight’s menu. Far down on the beach a posse of penguins waddle ashore. What a beautiful evening on the tip of this beguiling continent. Just one point I’d like to mention to my Aussie friends; those stacks, the Apostles? Someone can’t count.
• Canon EOS-1Ds MKII, 24–70mm lens
9pm: Piazza del Nettuno, Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
It’s getting dark now and the lights around the piazza are coming on. There’s still just enough light in the sky to balance perfectly with the artificial lighting. There’s a period of about 10–15 minutes when the balance is perfect for night shots: leave it too late and the sky will go black. To my mind the shadow of the statue on the right makes the shot. I get some friends to be creative blurs in the left corner of the frame and we’re away.
• Canon EOS-1Ds MKII, 24mm shift lens