Another wild camp

Garreg Las is a minor summit on Y Mynydd Du, with extensive areas of glaciated pavement and periglacial landforms, a geology map shows an interesting outcrop pattern of geology and faulting, The OS map shows some topographic relief, open access upland and the time of year with the azimuth of sunrise to the north of the Carmarthen Fans. All in all sufficient inspiration for a wild camp trip to explore the dusk/dawn potential with a reasonable forecast and good visibility.

A window into the Y Mynnyd Du geology and faulting @ British Geological Survey

Parking up and it was good to see an absence of litter and information boards installed, even the limekilns and quarries were receiving some TLC, part of the Calch project on the areas long history of Lime production. The walk in was warm and I ended up pitching the tent near a small 'peat' pool on the NE flank of Foel Fraith, the level mossy turf almost negated the benefit of an inflatable mat. With the tent pitched, myself foddered and watered, I made my way over to Garreg Las, to record the geology and see what unfolded for sunset.

Foundered glaciated pavement

The sandstone outcropping on Garreg Las, is classed as a quartz arenite, a hard, durable sandstone and its competence is indicated by the outcrop exposure. Large areas show evidence of being scoured and quarried by glacial ice and there is evidence for periglacial processes breaking up the pavement and movement of loose material downslope into lobes and sheets. In places the quartz sandstone has foundered, presumably where the underlying limestone has dissolved away. Erratics resting on the foundered rock point to collapse after deglaciation.

Weathered surface

The sandstone pavement on the western side, appears extensively weathered, there is an absence of fresh striae and chatter marks and intriguingly there are some sizeable weathering pits/pot holes, landforms I have also seen on bedrock in the hills of the Cairngorms and Norway. It is thought that the formation of weathering pits is an erosion phenomena associated with high wind and the scouring or abrasive action by loose rock/grains and water. Field studies in the Cairngorms revealed limited formation of weathering pits/pot holes in recently glaciated areas and deeper weathering pits were confined to relict surfaces. Cosmogenic radiation dating of the Cairngorm bedrock surfaces with weathering pits revealed an exposure age range of ~ 21,000 - 79,000 years for glaciated areas and ~50,000 - 250,000 years exposure age for unglaciated areas. The vertical joint/fracture surfaces also displayed 'cavernous' weathering on the west side of Garreg Las, whereas I didn't notice any weathering on vertical surfaces on the eastern side, features that suggest two episodes of pavement break up. To my eyes, the weathered appearance and presence of weathering pits does suggest that some surfaces on Garreg Las have been exposed for a long period of time, on the other hand, it may just be a less competent area of sandstone.

Weathering pit 

The summit of Garreg Las, Twyn swnd, is adorned with a pair of large bronze age cairns, Carnau'r garreg las, and visible on the skyline from a number of directions, mostly from higher ground/upland areas.

Carnau'r garreg las

I'd hoped for a view to the north for sunset, but haze reduced visibility and on the NW horizon a solid band of cloud was evident with streamers of cirrus clouds. I was also beginning to question my wisdom at leaving a tele zoom out of the bag. Considering the options I headed back downslope to an area on Cefn y Garreg Las where there were some larger erratics and an area of flowering bog cotton.

Weak sunlight and Incoming cloud at sunset

Returning to the tent, I reflected on my inability to find a composition on Garreg Las that convincingly illustrated a down faulted block of younger geology against older geology. I made a note that the geological faulting of Garreg Las, would probably be better photographed later in the year towards the winter solstice using the low angle of light to model the geology and from a viewpoint elsewhere on Y Mynydd Du. Still, there was the promise of dawn and a view of the Welsh Borderland Fault System to north.

Sunrise

A look out the tent in the gloaming of dawn revealed the depressing sight of clear skies overhead and to the south, with a band of cloud to the north and north east. The 3rd successive photography trip at dawn with clear blue sky overhead and the sun rising into cloud, deep sigh. So, twilight photography bite the dust for a start, sunrise seemed destined to follow suit and when the sun eventually cleared the cloud, any shadows would be an unappetising blue shade, the colour cast courtesy of the overhead clear sky, not the best as grey rock would really accentuate the 'blue' shade. I had a dark suspicion that the band of cloud responsible for masking sunset, was the very same cloud mass which would now obscure sunrise. Still there was some mist around in the valleys and pretty good visibility, which gave some hope.

100mm field of view of Welsh Borderland Fault System

Reaching the northern slope of Garreg Las and a look out to the NE horizon gave confirmation that there would be no warm side lighting at sunrise.  Things looked more positive to the North with colour in the clouds and valley mist highlighting the Welsh Borderland fault system. I now wished I'd packed a telephoto zoom, as 100mm was too wide on the vertical angle of view and needed a vertical crop to get the view sans foreground. The Welsh Borderland fault system delineates a terrane boundary separating the Cymru and Wrekin terranes, stretching from Pembrokeshire to Shropshire.

Desired crop

On up into the boulder field and with neutral coloured rock, I really would have liked the warm light of sunrise and cloud overhead. Instead it was matter of trying to find a view that showed the extent of the periglacial breakup and mass movement of debris downslope and keep enough warm light rock to offset the blue shade.

A powder blue sky and harsh summer light, meant my inspiration dried up shortly afterwards and it was a case of recording some geology outcrops on the way back to the tent and the journey back home reflecting on events.

Fine art landscape photography and landscape photography

A visit to the website www.luminous-landscape.com and a featured article was "The Very Old Debate About Image Manipulation" by Ignacio Palacios https://luminous-landscape.com/the-very-old-debate-of-image-manipulation/  I'd never heard of the author, but the article had an accompanying bio which stated "he has focused on photographing landscapes and using digital imaging techniques to produce more creative and fine art work" so, with my interest piqued,  I read on. There was a revealing video of the creation of a fine art landscape image, and credit must be given to Palacios for revealing what can be achieved using photoshops tools. Indeed, Palacios appears to upload a number of videos revealing his digital manipulation of photographs, borrowed skies, paste in weather, aurora, radically altered lighting, extreme colour saturation, perspective change, changing the shape of mountains, cloning out of extraneous objects, severe cropping etc No manipulation apparently is off limits and as fine art landscape photography goes, it shows how a creative vision can embrace digital post processing and manipulate a photograph to change reality to suit the digital artists vision. But then, I've never expected a fine art landscape image to be an honest representation of what was seen through the camera view finder.

Given the demonstration of digital art in the video, I was expecting Palacios, to then write about the creative opportunities of digital manipulation in fine art landscape photography.  Sadly, Palacios presented his view on how digital manipulation is an essential technique to underpin landscape photography. WTF?

Reading the rest of the article, there were fallacious arguments, a counter view of image manipulation, pointing out of inconvenient truths, anecdotal evidence, purists views, wikipedia sourced historical info ...  Unsurprisingly the article avoided using the words 'image integrity, honesty, fake, fraudulent ...'

Reference was made to other articles he has published and googling his name revealed

https://iso.500px.com/the-very-old-debate-of-image-manipulation/
https://iso.500px.com/step-by-step-how-i-captured-post-processed-my-very-popular-image-of-torres-del-paine/

The 500px website appears to be a photo sharing website for showcasing and promotion of digitally manipulated images by creative photographers, so any positive article on image manipulation would be like throwing catnip to cats.

More insightful was Palacios' description of his personal style on his website http://www.iptravelphotography.com.au/about.php

"I am a perfectionist and I always strive to get the perfect shot. I aim for strong compositions, great subjects and light to capture the reality of a place. I try to stay for a long time at a location to develop a personal affinity with the place and the people and to have time to explore it in depth. I hope that people who see my work can feel the place as if they were there."
And
'The equipment that I use provides superb image quality and allows me to make further improvements during digital processing.'
And finally
'When I photograph landscapes, my approach is the opposite from portrait photography. While the subject and the composition are important, light quality comes first. This means using a tripod, a medium format camera, a lot of planning and a bit of luck. 

 Landscape photography is as much a state of mind as a technical skill. Patience and dedication are as important as the right camera, lenses and tripod.'

Having watched the videos detailing the digital manipulation of his photographs, I can't decide if his statement '... further improvements during digital processing'  isn't a tad disingenuous, but then there are many digital image manipulators masquerading as landscape photographers, who make no reference to post processing.

If only Palacios, spent less time digitally manipulating images and instead practise what he preaches  in the field, he might just have an epiphany that the integrity of the image actually underpins the craft of landscape photography.

Wild camping - two bites at the cherry

The met office and mountain weather information service respective forecasts converged to deliver the prospect of potentially a decent sunset AND following sunrise AND I was free of work commitments = wild camping trip. With the sun rising and setting near to the maximum azimuth of summer solstice, a north facing view would offer the best prospect.  The Carneddau in Snowdonia were long overdue a visit, but as so often, 24hrs out the weather forecast changed and not for the better. The plan was revised to further south in Wales, Fforest Fawr and the northern escarpment of Y Mynydd Du, with its scarp and suite of glacial and periglacial landforms. It's an area I know fairly well and a location although well photographed, hasn't quite yet made it onto the UK's landscape portfolio bucket list. Despite some valiant efforts, I've failed miserably to get a respectable sunset/sunrise image of the view and geomorphology.

The weight of the wild camping pack made for slow going up a very modest gradient across the moorland, giving me plenty of time to reflect on; my physical conditioning was sub prime; the ascent of the Carneddau would have been an interesting experience; George Monbiot's observations on the environmental destruction by sheep is pretty much on the money; the flowering bog cotton clearly demarcated areas of degrading peat and when stringers of cirrus cloud started streaming across the sky, I'll confess to wondering why I bother. I did stumble upon a delightful camping spot, a raised fairly level pitch on moss covered ground, a nearby stream and a pitch with a wonderful backdrop, things were looking up. With the tent pitched, dinner cooked and heartily eaten, it was time for a wander.

With wanderlust in overdrive a gulley was ascended on Fan Brycheiniog to see if there was anything of floral interest and on ledges inaccessible to sheep, there was a surprising diversity of flora, most of it past its photograph 'best by date' or inaccessible, a cushion of mossy saxifrage was the highlight.

The main viewpoint for sunset was the escarpment of Bannau Sir Gaer with its suite of geomorphological landforms and exposures of sedimentary geology. With a viewpoint found, there was plenty of time until sunset to stand back and contemplate Deep Time. The youngest features visible are the alluvial fans at the foot of gulleys and vivid active debris flows that scar the hill slopes, some geomorphologists speculate that the active debris flows have been initiated due to a change of grazing regime to predominantly sheep grazing around 1600AD. The next suite of landforms are the talus cones formed from freeze thaw weathering of mudstones/shales and undermining of overlying  sandstones'siltstones, and represent periglacial weathering at the end of the last Ice Age, with minor accumulations in the holocene. The scarp foot landforms and the cirque enclosing Llyn y Fan Fach indicate possible permanent snow beds and the presence of glacial ice of the late Devensian stadial. Though there are landforms that appear 'fresh' in appearance and other landforms with an older, less defined features, possibly demarcating landforms formed either side of an interstadial between the Older and Younger Dryas stadials. There's also some intriguing overprinting of landforms, that indicates an event chronology; alluvial fans 'gulleying' and burying the talus deposits; talus deposits infilling depressions and overriding scarp foot landforms and some of the scarp foot ramparts show successive crests or ridges implying retreat/advance of glacial ice/snow patches. Then it's into Deep Time proper, with a gap of some 280-300 million years to the end of the Variscan orogeny and the folding of bedrock into the South Wales syncline. Back another 70 million years to the end of the Devonian, conglomerates were uncomformably deposited onto a strata of the Lower Devonian. The lower Red Devonian sediments originated from a vast mountain chain eroding to the north. A few miles to the north, in the Myddfai Steep Belt, Silurian strata is almost vertical in attitude and striking SW to NE it represent an expression of the Caledonian orogeny and what is now believed to be a terrane boundary, that pushes the geological history back into Proterozoic.

With sun always setting into a blanket of cloud it was a case of making the most of the last rays of warm light for an image.

On the walk back to the tent some thought was given to what the Cirrus clouds heralded for dawn.

The resident Sky Lark population woke me before the alarm sounded about 03.00hrs, with the tent being buffeted and an ominous 'booming' noise to the west, suggested the weather wasn't going to play ball. A look outside and the NE horizon seemed promising, alas Y Mynydd Du was blanketed in hill fog, sigh. Plan A was abandoned and other options considered with a cunning photography plan B of an image of flowering bog cotton at sunrise formulated.

Eroding peat hags reveal a land surface that is probably representative of its appearance at the end of the last Ice age, when this area would have been tundra.

The weather then deteriorated rapidly and a damp hill fog blanketed everything, which made for an interesting bit of compass work to find the tent again.

The weather seemed set in, so I 'rested my eyes' for a while and opened them to find the hill fog lifting and cloud breaking up, the best of the light was long gone, but the tent pitch deserved a record shot before breaking camp and heading home.

5DS R update - preorder angst

I received an email from Clifton Cameras, it read :

Dear Mr Tainton. 

 We have been advised by Canon UK that initial allocation of the new 5DS R bodies is poor throughout the UK, but they have assured us they are working hard to provide cameras as quickly as they possibly can.  As soon as we receive further updates, we will of course be in contact and assist you in any way we can. 

Should you have any questions or concerns in the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact us. 

Thank you and kind regards, 

 XXXX XXXXX - Online Sales Manager 

Surprising news, as I was expecting a pre launch demonstration day, with a chance to get my hands on a demo 5DS R and make some images for comparison purposes with the 1Ds3.

The 5DS and 5DS R cameras have shipped and are in the hands of some customers, reviews are starting to feed through. Most insightful is a blog article from Lensrentals (http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2015/06/canon-5ds-teardown) which tears down a 5DS and comments on various aspects of the camera design, build and images of the tear down stages. My eyebrows raised a tad reading the following passage

'I should probably mention weather sealing because many of you are fascinated by it. Canon presents the 5Ds and 5D sr as studio cameras and the weather sealing clearly isn't as robust as that we saw in the 7D Mk II, but it's still pretty good, particularly around the doors. You can see foamed sealing around the memory card door in an earlier image. There's similar sealing around the battery door on both sides. We didn't see any rubber gaskets around the top assembly, rear assembly, etc.'

Based on the accompanying teardown images, to my eyes the weather sealing was indeed pretty good for coping with the demands of an indoor studio camera, but it appeared pretty lame for anything outdoors and damp. So, digging out the UK Press literature when it was announced, the launch literature stated

‘… utilise Canon’s iconic design DNA–a highly durable body constructed from high-grade magnesium alloy to provide weather resilient shooting – ideal for landscape photographers who are dedicated to getting the perfect shot, whatever the weather.’

From what I've seen on the Lensrentals tear down,  I would be pretty stupid to use the camera if it rains or there's hill fog or mist about, which effectively puts the 5DS R into the 'chocolate fireguard' category of useful objects for my landscape photography needs.

EDIT - Canon's definition of 'weather resilient shooting', 'whatever the weather' is 3 mins of rainfall up to an intensity of 10mm/hr

'The bodies of the EOS 5DS and EOS 5DS R are made from a combination of the same durable materials as the EOS 5D Mark III – a steel base plate and a magnesium alloy body shell. These three cameras are also weather-sealed to protect against dust and moisture in harsh environments. Body panels interlock, rather than just join, and all seams buttons and dials are protected with rubber sealing. The weather protection provided by this design is high enough to endure exposure to rain of up to 10mm of rain per hour for a duration of up to approximately three minutes.'

  http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/education/technical/inside_the_eos_5ds_and_eos_5ds_r.do

Landscape lens odyssey Part II - Optical design for 24mm focal length and a look at zooms

The second post in a series looking at how I arrived at a stable of lenses for my landscape photography as a Canon 1Ds3 owner and dedicated tripod user. 

A key lens in the landscapers kit is a wide angle, unhappily the challenge of designing a wide angle lens is much greater than the 50mm focal length. The reason comes down to lens optical aberrations and phenomena that become even more problematic as the angles of incident light become steeper for marginal and oblique rays of light gathered which are exacerbated by the wider angles of view. The following optical aberrations are influenced by the angle of view - coma, field curvature, astigmatism, distortion and chromatic aberration, some of the aberrations have a power law relationship, which means that as the angle of view doubles the distortion increases by a factor of eight.  Some optical aberrations are influenced by the aperture size - spherical aberrations and coma. Spherical aberrations have a power law relationship so doubling the aperture e.g from f4 to f2.8 increases the influence by a factor of 8, alternatively it is easier to design an f4 lens than an f2.8 lens as the influence of spherical aberrations are reduced by a factor of 8.

It is fair to state that in the L lens line up Canon has the 24mm focal length pretty well covered and there's also a number of lenses that been upgraded to deliver improved optical performance across the image. The italic text in the optical design description is taken from Canon's marketing literature and the year of release in brackets. I've included the F1.4 fast WA as that is where the optical designers face the most challenges and coincidentally where some of the best marketing information on optical design resides.

24mm f1.4 II IS L (2008-)
Optical design : 13 lens elements in 10 groups. 'It features two high-precision, large-diameter aspherical lenses for sharpness across the sensor, even in peripheral areas of full-frame sensors. Lens elements have a newly-designed anti-reflective SWC (Sub Wavelength Coating) that departs from conventional coatings by using an extremely fine structure that minimizes ghosting and flaring across the lens surface, regardless of the angle with which light enters or exits. It also features two UD lens elements to minimize chromatic aberrations,'
Angle of view horizontal, vertical, diagonal - 74, 53, 84
Weight : 0.65 Kg
Dimensions : 93.5 mm in diameter and 86.9 mm long.
Focus - auto/manual
Retail price ~ £1,700

24mm f1.4 L (1991-2008)

24mm f3.5 TS II L (2009-)
Optical design : 16 lens elements in 11 groups. '.. includes high-precision asphercial front element keeps distortion, common in wide angle lenses, to an absolute minimum, even at the edges of the frame, also feature multiple (3 no off) UD elements to reduce chromatic aberration.' and 'Designed with UD glass to minimize and compensate for chromatic aberrations and a specially coated aspherical element for the highest possible glare-free image quality ..'
Angle of view horizontal, vertical, diagonal - 74, 53, 84
Weight : 0.78 Kg
Dimensions : 88.5 mm in diameter and 106.9 mm long.
Focus - manual
Retail price ~ £1,450

24mm f3.5 TS L (1991-2009)

Zooms covering the 24mm focal length

11-24mm f4 L (2015 -)
Optical design : 16 lens elements in 11 groups. 'Its new optical design features Super UD and UD lenses that correct chromatic aberration. Four aspheric lens elements help to minimize distortion from the center of the image to the periphery and throughout the zoom range. A Subwavelength Coating (SWC) and Air Sphere Coating (ASC) significantly reduce flare and ghosting.'
11mm Angle of view horizontal, vertical, diagonal ~ 117,  95, 126
24mm Angle of view horizontal, vertical, diagonal - 74, 53, 84
Weight : 1.18 Kg
Dimensions : 108 mm in diameter and 132 mm long.
Focus - auto/manual
Retail price ~ £2,800

24-70mm f2.8 II L (2012-)
Optical design : 18 lens elements in 13 groups. 'With a redesigned optical system that includes two Ultra-low Dispersion (UD) and one Super UD aspheric elements to minimise chromatic aberration and colour blurring, the lens delivers consistently sharp, high-contrast images. Each lens element also features Canon’s optimised Super Spectra coatings to reduce ghosting and flare and ensure excellent colour balance. Additionally, a fluorine coating minimises the amount of dust, dirt and fingerprints that adhere to the front and rear of the lens, helping to maintain superior image quality.'
24mm Angle of view horizontal, vertical, diagonal - 74, 53, 84
70mm Angle of view horizontal, vertical, diagonal ~  29, 19, 35
Weight : 0.805 Kg
Dimensions : 88.5 mm in diameter and 113 mm long.
Focus - auto/manual
Retail price ~ £1,400

24-70mm f2.8  L (2002-2012)

24-70mm f4 IS L (2012-)
Optical design : 16 lens elements in 12 groups. '... includes three types of aspherical lens elements (ground, replicated and glass moulded). Two UD lens elements virtually eliminate chromatic aberration, while Super Spectra lens coatings suppress flare and ghosting.'
24mm Angle of view horizontal, vertical, diagonal ~ 74, 53, 84
70mm Angle of view horizontal, vertical, diagonal ~  29, 19, 35
Weight : 0.6 Kg
Dimensions : 83.4 mm in diameter and 93 mm long.
Focus - auto/manual
Retail price ~ £700

16-35mm f2.8 II L (2007-)
Optical design : 16 lens elements in 12 groups, 'completely redesigned the optics on the EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM to deliver higher contrast levels and improved resolving power. To ensure corner-to-corner sharpness and contrast throughout the focal range, the lens includes three types of aspherical lens elements (ground, replicated and glass moulded). Two UD lens elements virtually eliminate chromatic aberration, while Super Spectra lens coatings suppress flare and ghosting.'
16 mm Angle of view horizontal, vertical, diagonal ~ 98, 74, 108
35 mm Angle of view horizontal, vertical, diagonal - 54, 38, 63
Weight : 0.64 Kg
Dimensions : 88.5 mm in diameter and 111.6 mm long.
Focus - auto/manual
Retail price ~ £1,150

16-35mm f2.8 L (2001-2007)

16-35mm f4 IS L (2014-)
Optical design : 16 lens elements in 12 groups. '... includes two Ultra-low Dispersion (UD) elements to minimise chromatic aberration and eliminate colour blurring. Super Spectra Coatings reduce ghosting and flare, while fluorine coatings on the front and rear elements prevent dust and water drops sticking to each element.'
16 mm Angle of view horizontal, vertical, diagonal ~ 98, 74, 108
35 mm Angle of view horizontal, vertical, diagonal - 54, 38, 63
Weight : 0.615 Kg
Dimensions : 82.6 mm in diameter and 112.8 mm long.
Focus - auto/manual
Retail price ~ £740

24-105 f4 IS L (2005-)

Optical design : 18 lens elements in 13 groups. 'Constructed with one Super-UD glass element and three aspherical lenses, this lens minimizes chromatic aberration and distortion. The result is excellent picture quality, even at wide apertures.'
24mm Angle of view horizontal, vertical, diagonal - 74, 53, 84
105 mm Angle of view horizontal, vertical, diagonal ~ 19,  13, 23
Weight : 0.67 Kg
Dimensions : 83.5 mm in diameter and 107 mm long.
Focus - auto/manual
Retail price ~ £700

17-40 f4 L (2003-)

Add caption

Optical design : 12 lens elements in 9 groups. 'Superior optics are assured by the use of three Aspherical lens elements, in addition to a Super UD (Ultra-low Dispersion) glass element. Optical coatings are optimized for use with digital cameras.'
17 mm Angle of view horizontal, vertical, diagonal ~ 93,  70, 104
40 mm Angle of view horizontal, vertical, diagonal ~ 49, 34, 57
Weight : 0.475 Kg
Dimensions : 83.5 mm in diameter and 96.8 mm long.
Focus - auto/manual
Retail price ~ £550

Now it also happens that Sigma are releasing lenses that cover the 24mm focal length in the EF mount too and some might allege that they've released lenses that target Canon's older lenses.

Sigma 24mm f1.4 (2015-)

Optical design : 15 elements in 11 groups  'One of the elements required to achieve high rendering performance is the correction of chromatic aberration. Particularly, for axial chromatic aberration that is hard to correct even during image processing, the lens development stage was vital in ensuring minimized distortion. The SIGMA 24mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art incorporates FLD ("F" Low Dispersion)* glass and SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass elements to minimize chromatic aberration of magnification which is mainly visible around the edge of the image. Moreover the power layout ensures the correction of axial chromatic aberration. Without any color blur, it achieves high image quality throughout the entire focusing range, thus achieving sharp and high contrast image rendering.'
It is not possible to compensate for distortion that is often observed with wide-angle lenses just by changing the aperture value. Therefore, the lens development stage was vital in ensuring minimized distortion. The SIGMA 24mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art adjusted the incidence angle of the light source from the surface of the first lens and positioned each aspherical glass element to optimize the power layout at respective positions. This has helped it succeed in minimizing distortion throughout the entire image.
Weight : 0.665 Kg
Dimensions : 85 mm in diameter and 90.2 mm long.
Focus - auto/manual
SRP - £799.99
Retail price ~ £700

Sigma 24-105mm f4 OS A (2013- )

Optical design : 19 elements in 14 groups 'For those standard lenses with a high zoom ratio, they tend to show astigmatic aberration, field curvature, distortions and color aberration. In order to compensate for these, various types of high-performance lenses, such as FLD, SLD and glass-molded aspheric lenses including double-sided aspheric lens, have been included into the optical system. In addition, it suppresses chromatic aberration very effectively at telephoto-end, and achieves superior image quality throughout the zoom range. This lens overcomes low peripheral brightness that is common for those lenses with similar specifications. Also, the wide filter size 82mm is contributing for superior optical performance.'
'Flare and ghosting were thoroughly measured and monitored from an early stage in the lenses development to establish an optical design which is resistant to strong incidental light such as backlight. The Super Multi-Layer Coating reduces flare and ghosting and provides sharp and high contrast images even in backlit conditions. Attaching the matched petal type hood, which is supplied, will provide extra protection from flare and ghosting.'
'This is a lens that represents the concept of our “Art” line, and it meets the highest standard of our quality test. For those standard lenses with a high zoom ratio, they tend to show astigmatic aberration, field curvature, distortions and color aberration. In order to compensate for these, various types of high-performance lenses, such as FLD, SLD and glass-molded aspheric lenses including double-sided aspheric lens, have been included into the optical system. In addition, it suppresses chromatic aberration very effectively at telephoto-end, and achieves superior image quality throughout the zoom range. This lens overcomes low peripheral brightness that is common for those lenses with similar specifications. Also, the wide filter size 82mm is contributing for superior optical performance.'
24mm Angle of view horizontal, vertical, diagonal - 74, 53, 84
105 mm Angle of view horizontal, vertical, diagonal ~ 19,  13, 23
Weight : 0.885 Kg
Dimensions : 88.6 mm in diameter and 109.4 mm long.
Focus - auto/manual
SRP ~ £849.99
Retail price ~ £680


Aside from a multitude of lens reviews and test measurement data, there's plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that each lens upgrade and new lenses introduced have raised the bar of optical  performance, the lens descriptions and diagrams, show the investment by Canon in their L lenses and Sigma in their Art lenses, in design and manufacturing. The take home lesson would be that optical performance has been achieved with the use of more aspheric and exotic glass elements, surface coatings and an increased number of lens elements and groups to deliver improved optical performance.

My knowledge of optical theory is at a rudimentary level, but reading optical discussions and the 50mm focal length is considered an optimal focal length to design lenses with a large aperture, small dimensions and optical excellence for the 35mm format.  In Part 1 of this series the Zeiss Otus 55/1.4 physical dimensions were listed and people who appear to know about optical matters speculated that Zeiss's designers had achieved world class optical excellence wide open by increasing the dimensions beyond the minimally required optical relationships incurring a weight and size penalty. The consensus of informed opinion was that Zeiss increased the size to keep the lens at a realistic price point for the intended market and demand. Comparing old/new EF mount lenses a case could be made for increased physical sizes in the newer lenses.

So for a landscape photographer wanting to invest in an EF mount lens covering the 24mm focal length there appears to be number of candidate lenses currently in the market.

Early start

A simple question for a landscape photography exam.

Question : If sunrise is at 04.50 hrs and it takes 55 mins to travel by car, what time does the alarm clock need to be set for?

Answer :  Working back from sunrise, allow; 30 mins to find some inspiration; 30 mins walk in head torch; 5 mins to get suited and booted; 10 mins for wildlife encounters on the car journey; 25 mins for 2 cups of coffee, morning ablutions and regain full consciousness and 10 mins snooze = 02.05 hrs

Dawn

In actual fact the wildlife was far more arresting with headlights revealing the need to brake for Deer, Fox cubs and twice stops made for hedgehogs that curled up and needed to be carefully shoed out of the road to the safety of the verge. It did occur to me that if BBC broadcast Springwatch live at dawn there'd be a lot more interesting fauna seen.

It's been a few years since conditions presented the opportunity to revisit this location for dawn, the late flowering of Mossy Saxifrage with sunrise to the NE.  The last visit was met with rain, this visit revealed an extensive bank of low cloud/fog over the Herefordshire/Worcestershire border exactly where the sun would rise, sigh. A clear  sky overhead, meant a less than optimal twilight illumination. Also hill fog was ominously covering the visible hill summits to the north and depressingly a surprisingly brisk and chilly NW'ly wind was vortexing down from the hill above. The wind has been a notable feature of late spring/early summer 2015 on the western side of the UK and sadly it has impacted on trips and subject matter, a pity really as the air clarity has been excellent.

Warm light

The prospect of flowers illuminated by first light, bit the dust. A less than convincing image of another view was made, that tried to minimise any foreground elements that could be affected by the wind, whilst waiting for light levels to rise as the sun cleared the cloud. Sometimes there are just too many compromises made prior to a composition.

Sheltered Mossy Saxifrage

It is frustrating when events don't meet expectations, doubly so when the location has so much interest for the flora and geomorphology, but the wind strength meant that isolated cushions of flowers needed to be sought out in the lee of trees, boulder lobes or sheltered hollows in the block field debris. In hindsight,  maybe I should have gone with an image in a low light, long exposure, of a blurred flower carpet? Maybe next year?

Mossy Saxifrage

Landscape lens odyssey part I - The benefits of stopping down the aperture

The first post in a series looking at how I arrived at a stable of lenses for my landscape photography as a Canon 1Ds3 owner and dedicated tripod user. 

There is a valid observation that photographers obsess over lens quality, viewing images at the pixel level and ultimately losing sight of the important factors that actually make a compelling photograph. Which is not to denigrate examining an image at pixel level, it can provide feedback on technique, information on the lens character and effect of atmospherics on capturing fine detail. How relevant pixel peeping is on a monitor when images are viewed by the public via a display, book or ideally a print,  I'm not so certain, given the effect of Jpeg compression, ink nozzle diameter and bleed.  Nonetheless, there is compelling evidence on gear forums, where web sized comparisons are posted of images with exif data stripped, from assorted high quality primes, kit zooms etc and the cognoscenti are asked to identify the mystery lenses.  When images are made with wide open apertures there's an impressive hit rate on identifying lenses, when lens apertures are stopped down embarrassment has resulted.  Simply put, many lens optical aberrations and phenomena become more problematic as the physical size of the aperture gets larger and angles of incident light become steeper for marginal and oblique rays of light gathered by the lens.

Optical designers can correct or minimise optical aberrations and phenomena through a combination and selection of optical glass, lens elements, physical size, coatings, tolerances, build etc A comparison of two contemporary lens designs is a perfect illustration of the trade offs in weight, size and cost, to achieve a high level of optical performance wide open.


Zeiss Otus 55mm F1.4 marketed as The best standard lens in the world 
Optical design : 12 lens elements in 10 groups, of which 6 lens elements are made of special glass with anomalous partial dispersion and 1 aspheric lens element.
Weight : 1 Kg
Dimensions : 92.4 mm in diameter and 127.3 mm long without caps.
Focus - manual
Retail price ~ £3,000

Zeiss Otus 55mm f1.4 @ Zeiss

Zeiss Planar T 50mm F1.4 marketed as Reveal the true character
Optical design : 7 lens elements in 6 groups
Weight : 0.38 Kg
Dimensions : 71.3 mm in diameter and 48 mm long without caps.
Focus - manual
Retail price ~ £560

By Tamasflex (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

There is a revealing test online of comparison images made with the Otus and Planar, taken at a series of apertures with a 36mp full frame Nikon DSLR. Scrutiny of full sized Jpegs, revealed to my subjective eyes, that at wide apertures the Otus demonstrates its high optical performance convincingly, whilst the nature of the optical aberrations in the Planar give it distinctive 'drawing style' or 'look'.  Stopped down to F8 and F11 the Planar's optical performance is very respectable in comparison to the Otus.  As the aperture reduces in size i.e is stopped down, the angles of incident light become shallower for marginal and oblique rays of light gathered by the lens and many optical aberrations cease to be an issue.  It emphasises that when considering a lens, landscape photographers need to consider the respective optical performance of a lens when it is stopped down against size, weight, build and price.

Landscape aesthetics and philosophy

One upside of sharing digs with humanities students was the window into a different outlook on the world from an engineering students, where ‘Laws’ and ‘First principles’ frame the subjects.  There would be idealistic and ‘lively’ discussions on the brain and human perception of the world, nature vs nurture, what is reality, the great artists creative works etc. The 'conversations' on right and left brain characteristics were less polarising as everyone seemed to some extent, to have both right and left brain characteristic traits. The perception of order and disorder was one area where everyone could find common ground, usually in a visual context, music was invariably too polarising and the sciences too complicated. The works of Rothko, Dali, Turner, Pollock, DaVinci, Picasso, Hepworth, Lascaux cave paintings, aboriginal art, architecture et al, were appropriated for argument heated discussions. Which essentially boiled down to subjectivity, everyone has their own visual preferences, some artist's are definitely 'marmite', others 'vanilla', none garnered universal approbation. Principle reasons for liking/disliking an artwork was the degree of visual complexity, balance and subject. This was in the time before Wiki or Google, so books and papers were used to reinforce/undermine an opinion or stance, it is surprising how far someone will go to, to passionately defend an artwork. There were also the insights into art history; the value of patronage in raising a profile and gaining wider recognition; artists whose work was feted postmortem and artists whose work was denigrated postmortem; the influence of the establishment, curriculum, teachers and acolytes; the critics, envy, jealousies and egos of artists; the differing art schools movements and not least being in the right place at the right time. On reflection the history of landscape photography is reminiscent of the history of art.

Horizontal layers of moor, trees, hills and sky

Years later I was left to reflect again on visual perception, when a presentation of isometric drawings and elevation plans of a proposed facility met with blank incomprehension from some end users. Back to the drawing board, or in this case an easel, artistic renderings were produced to illustrate the proposed facility, which allowed the end users to critique and buy into the project, which they did. I was left to reflect on how peoples perception of images differ. 

Glacial scouring and erratics

A few years ago I raised the issue of left and right brain characteristics commenting on an article in an online Landscape photography magazine, the context of my comment was that some photographers have a visual stylistic compositional template that is applied to their landscape compositions. The response was a deafening silence and I was left to ponder if my comments were too gauche for the sensibilities of the readership or if I had just inadvertently offended a large section of the community.  

Gneiss terrain 

This 'visual stylistic compositional template' I was referring to, minimises the elements in an image to reduce visual complexity and impose a compositional order on the scene. A prime examples is the layering of distinct horizontal elements in an image i.e  field, hedgerow, sky; salt flat, mountain range, sky; sand, sea, sky; river, moorland, hillside; moorland, distant hills and sky. Low relief landscapes lend themselves to these compositions and lenses can exploit this flattening and layering through their field of view and perspective. Oftentimes there is a single anchor point or element included in the composition be it a boulder, grass tussock, driftwood, tree, lighthouse, tower, building, sign, pier, ice berg, standing stone, jetty etc juxtaposing against horizontal layers and according to art critics 'invites the viewer to look more closely and ask questions of the photographers intent'.  Given the endless compositional potential, there are many landscape photographers who devote themselves exclusively to making images that fall within the aforementioned remit. The resulting images are visually clean, a high degree of order and easy on the eye, what's not to like?  

Interlocking spurs

Well framing the discussion from an alternative viewpoint that has a preference to more visually complex images; there are an endless number of images invariably marketed as fine art with very little interesting content; bland scenery and subject matter; compositionally cliched; soulless; the juxtaposition of a boulder, grass tussock, driftwood, tree, lighthouse, tower, building, sign, pier, ice berg, standing stone, jetty etc is so contrived and according to art critics 'invites the viewer to look more closely and examine the image to see what has been cloned out'. What's there not to dislike? 

Visually complex terrain, weather and lighting

I recollect when starting out on my journey in landscape photography reading articles listing the 'Greatest landscape photographers'  or bestowing the rather grand accolade of 'Master of landscape photography' and feeling perplexed as many of the said Greatest or Master landscape photographers images, whilst demonstrating great technique, understanding of light etc in my subjective opinion, the images held very little subject interest and were devoid of inspiration.  I was drawn to more visually complex terrain, to make images that convey the landscape complexity and visually impart my curiosity on geology and the environment. Which to a certain degree underpins my landscape photography aesthetic and philosophy.

Note - the images in this post were made on a trip to Senja, Norway. September 2014.