David Noton's Room With a View
Second Dusk
Another evening vigil. It’s been raining all afternoon, but now as the sun sets the heavens are parting just in time for some fireworks in the sky again. It’s too late for direct sun light on the landscape, but the last rays are reflecting off the bottom of the clouds and bouncing down into the landscape. Here I am prattling on about the light again. My friends take the piss out of me about it, but hey, if you’re a photographer you do become obsessed with it. The evening sky just gets better and better, and the composition with the river winding into the shot says it all. So I am shooting the same composition for the third time. Actually that’s not unusual, I reckon if a location is a good one its worth really working to extract the full potential. Time was I’d be always moving on in search of something better down the road; now I travel less and see more.
The sun is down behind the mountains just off to right of the frame. Again I’m going to have to merge two exposures here to keep detail in the landscape. Is that real? Am I cheating? You tell me. To my mind it’s a valid technique to handle a big contrast range and record what is there, but you may differ. Ideally I would like a camera with a dynamic range capable of recording it all in one frame. Now it is incredible what detail can be retrieved from the shadows and seemingly burnt out highlights of this camera’s RAW files, but the difference between the brightest part of the sky and the depths of the valley is just too much to record in one exposure. Hopefully in the future we’ll see cameras with ever increasing dynamic ranges being developed. That will ultimately be far more useful than trying to shoehorn ever more pixels into the sensor. Are you listening Canon, Nikon et al?
24-70mm lens @ 28mm, 0.5 sec, @ f11, ISO100, 0.9ND grad filter
As the sun retreats orangey/pink streaks spread through the sky, starting far in the eastern sky before migrating through the heavens towards the west as darkness gathers. How many times have I stood by the tripod watching this? The mind boggles, but it’s a ritual that is endlessly variable and uplifting. The orange in the western sky is turning to pink as I work the 1Ds mkIII. I’ve been using this camera for just over a year now, it’s a workhorse. It’s tough and solid; a pro’s camera. And the amount of detail the full frame 21 megapixel sensor delivers is phenomenal, it still makes me squeak. A year on this camera now has its usurpers as the king of DSLRs, but that’s not exactly causing me loss of sleep. You get the best camera available at the time, and then get on with the business of making the best photographs possible. It is just a tool, and there will always be a new camera release waiting in the wings. Time was I’d use a camera for years; my old Nikon F5s spent 9 years circling the globe with me. Now I reckon on a 3 year cycle, in about 18 months Canon will bring out the 1Ds mkIV and I will inevitably get it. Actually I’ve just acquired the 5D mkII; primarily for its video and high ISO capabilities. It will be interesting to see if it or the 1Ds mkIII becomes the back up body. Watch this space.
Darkness falls; more scrolling through RAW files after backing up to the M80 portable hard drive. It’s become an evening ritual. The film era seems a long, long time ago.
Second Dawn
24-70mm lens @ 35mm, 5.2 sec, @ f13, ISO100, 0.9ND grad filter
It’s the last photographic session of the trip. Unlike the previous dawn there’s mist sat in the valley, too much mist quite frankly. The mountains beyond are hidden, for now, but a wonderful dawn sky is evolving. The ambient light has a colour temperature well in excess of 10,000 K giving the scene a blue, cool feel. Yet again, I’ve the 24-70mm lens. Four sessions with the same vantage point and lens has produced some very different images. The mist wafts and briefly the tops of the Ampitheatre become visible. Expose. Wait. Watch. Expose. We need to be heading north soon, but for now I linger. Long days sat in front of the computer editing are my destiny now, for the next few weeks anyway. Then Bali, and Laos beckon. More dawn patrols. More tripod vigils. Stay tuned.
Biography
Born in England in 1957, David spent much of his youth travelling with his family between the UK, California and Canada. After leaving school David joined the Navy in search of further travels and adventures – and it was while sailing the seven seas that his interest in photography grew. After several years at sea he decided to pursue his passion for photography and returned to study in Gloucester, England. After leaving college in 1985 he began work as a freelance photographer specialising in landscape and other travel subjects, which over the last 25 years, have taken him to almost every corner of the globe.
David is now established and recognised as one of the UK’s leading landscape and travel photographers. His images sell all over the world – both as fine art photography and commercially in advertising and publishing. He has won international awards for: British Gas/ BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards in 1985,1989 & 1990 and also writes regularly about landscape and travel photography for a number of national and international magazines. David has worked for numerous clients including British Airways, Sainsbury’s, Geo, Toyota, Qantas, Sunday Times and the Telegraph. During the last twenty years he has also worked extensively for the National Trust covering much of the UK’s landscape and coastline, which has featured in many high profile publications and several highly acclaimed photographic exhibitions. Most notably:
‘New Vision’ Contemporary Art Photography – AOP Gallery
‘The Coast Exposed’ – Maritime Museum Greenwich and the Lowry
‘Climate Change – in Britain’s Back Yard!’ – London, Nottingham, Wales, Belfast, Bristol
“l’m still passionate about photography. All aspects fascinate me; from capturing the first light of day on a frosty landscape or making the most of a bustling market in Vietnam to portraying the dignity of a wrinkled face in China.”
David spends much of the year travelling with his wife Wendy. When not travelling they live in England, near Sherborne in Dorset.
All images in this article © David Noton
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