Nathan Thomas @TakeN@dingdash.com
Breakfast show Presenter at Pure 247 Radio
Joined Jan 2021
Some photos from my recent walk through beautiful woodland in the thick of autumn. 🍁Most are HDR images, as it was quite dark beneath the trees, but very bright outside.
"Summer Forest Walk"
There's nothing quite like seeing the sun shining through the leaves of the trees above you, glistening as the branches sway in the breeze, casting spots of light on the lush green grass before you. I took this picture on a thoroughly relaxing walk that provided such an experience.
I composed the photograph to ensure the path featured prominently, yet the canopy and the sun also drew the eye to a certain extent.
The question is: do you prefer the original vibrant, colourful version, or the classic, nostalgic, monochrome version?
"Full Moon"
A stunning full moon from the other night. Incredibly, the moon was so bright that it was actually difficult to look at. And in order to photograph it and the surrounding environment from my window, I had to create a composite image. I took two photos for each final picture, one with the exposure set for the moon, and one with the exposure set for the foreground. I subsequently merged the two in post-editing.
For additional tweaks, I tried to make them look as similar to what I really saw as I could.
"Double-crossed"
Taken nearly a year ago, this picture stands out in my collection.
Walking along by a lake near our house, these large grass blades caught my eye. Illuminated from behind and crossing over one another, I thought they looked quite fascinating.
Here are some different versions of the photo that I've created, each a unique hue, and one monochrome.
Do let me know which is your favourite, or whether you think another hue might be interesting.
I was playing with my new diffuser tent recently. I began shooting these guys, with a chessboard as my setting, but then they started cleaning it! I just had to photograph them to show everyone. 😉
"Night Bloomer"
This is one picture from a photo session the other day. There are a variety of bushes in our front garden, each with a unique flower at differing times of the year. Just recently, these began blooming (though I have no idea what the bush is).
I set the exposure to make the flower itself stand out dramatically. During post editing I made the colour temperature especially cool and caused the flower stand out even more by darkening and slightly blurring the leaves around it.
"Road to Nowhere"
Roads can be such great subjects for a photo. There's something wonderfully mysterious about a path leading to an unknown destination.
This is from a walk just a week ago, which I went on with my family. When I went to edit the image, I soon knew I wanted to give it a foreboding, adventurous feel, with red as the primary colour. So, after substantial editing and a number of revisits, I finally finished it this afternoon. Hope you like it.
(I've posted 'before' and 'after' for comparison)
"Opened Up"
Just a simple picture of a small white flower taken on a walk a while ago. Which do you prefer? Is it the darker, cooler version, or the slightly brighter, warmer version? I can't decide myself.
"Lil' White Flower"
In many ways, this picture, in both appearance and backstory, is rather plain and uninspiring. The flower itself is exceedingly common in British grasslands, and I found this one in my back garden. However, because of, and in spite of, this, I rather like the photo. The colours aren't bold or dramatic, the picture doesn't pop, and the subject is quite ordinary. But that only accentuates the simple, unpretentious elegance of the little white flower.
"The Black Rose Bush"
This image is, intentionally, rather dramatic. For a short period this summer, there were large, vibrant flowers growing on a bush outside our house. This is one of those pictures. I waited for an overcast sky so that I would have soft shadows. The black bush was achieved post-edit, and helped convey the lonely beauty of the solitary flower.
"A Drop in the Ocean"
I was really pleased with this photo when I first took it about 6 months ago. There was a tiny drop of water on a pair of shorts, so I set up a light and pointed it at the drop. I tried different angles, but eventually decided that having the light directly behind the subject looked best, illuminating the drop and bringing out the texture of the fabric. I then positioned the drop as close to the centre of the frame as I could.
Nothing quite so well illustrates a forlorn, foreboding atmosphere as dark, ominous clouds. I was fortunate enough to see these splendidly textured clouds looming overhead near our house the other day.
I took this pair of photos while on a composition-scouting walk. Sauntering along an uninspiring overgrown path, I noticed a petal on the floor which, unlike the rest around it, had a distinct resemblance to a heart. So, I stopped, and, experimenting with a number of angles and positions for myself and the subject, took the images below. Thankfully, the clouds blocked the sun for a short while at the time, which gave me a nicely diffused light to work with.
Took this on a pleasant afternoon walk some time ago. Two branches framed the tracks nicely.
I was privileged to witness a spectacular sunset the other day. I used a relatively slow shutter speed to show that the rain was falling heavily.
I took this photo about a month ago. Relaxing in the garden, I noticed a bee in the grass. So, I decided to try to photograph it, keeping the sun to the front left of the bee for the best lighting. I followed it as it crawled along through the grass, trying not to have blades of grass in the way, and taking numerous pictures.
Sorting through the images of this bee, I nearly deleted this one, as there are a few blades and things in the foreground, partially hiding the subject. But, after a second look, I thought the grass in the foreground, slightly veiling the subject, gave it a beautiful mysterious, elegant look.
I photographed this blackbird as it stood on the fence just outside the window recently. Two particular blackbirds are frequent visitors to our garden. I just happened to have my camera handy when this one perched on the fence for a moment.
