Storm Desmond caused wide spread devastation all across Cumbria and the Lake District. Thirlmere was badly effected which knocked on to the surrounding areas such as Keswick and Grasmere as the main road between the north and south of the Lake District was closed. While this massively inconvenienced thousands of people and local business it also meant this part of Thirlmere itself was inaccessible from December 2015 to late Spring 2016. So today was my first Thirlmere Landscape Photography Shoot after Storm Desmond.
Now that the road is re-open I wanted to visit my favourite spot on Thirlmere and see for myself this fine location again. I visited Thirlmere many times in 2014 and 2015 and each time is well documented here on my blog. This however was my first visit with a Drone. The plan was to fly over Lewis Island and get a new perspective over the little Island my son named after himself having walked over to the Island last year. Click on the link to see that.
After flying around for a bit I managed to use my Canon gear for the first time this year too. The Sony A7Rii has been my go to camera since I got it given the smaller size and weight, however the lack of a decent tilt shift lens does mean my Canon 5DSR has its own unique place in my photographic tools. I must say handling the Canon 5DSR it is immediately obvious how well built and solid it is, yes it’s much larger and heavier than the Sony but it feels so strong and robust, the Sony feels more like a toy or a typical consumer product in comparison. The Sony isn’t bad it’s jus the Canon feels so much more, in every sense.
Using the Canon 5DSR is such a joy, it was October last year, 7 months since I have used it extensively during my Isle of Skye Trip and immediately I feel at home with all the controls, I haven’t once thought about the configuration of this camera and already I’m on autopilot setting up the ISO, aperture and the 24mm tilt shift lens. I guess 16 years of shooting with Canon is truly lodged in my brain.
While I didn’t intend this post to be about gear or equipment and settings, I find the subject a little tedious truth be told, these days you can make a stunning shot on an iPhone that will get more attention, promotion and reaction than with any high end professional camera, there is something quite nice about locking a camera down on a tripod, taking your time and composing a shot; manually focusing, tilting your lens, adjusting filters, checking everything and then capturing a scene. It’s certainly a part of the process I don’t mind at all. The Sony is equally capably of being used in this fashion, however the Sony is loaded with the latest technology which allows you to shoot handheld and at higher ISO easier and with very pleasing results, it’s articulating screen allows for obscure angles where I can hold the camera almost at floor level with the screen tilted up etc and the inbuilt stabilisation in the Sony allows handheld shots down to about 1/5th of a second if your steady which is unheard for me using the Canon.
When I originally bought the Sony I also had the Leica Q camera which in all honesty I miss dearly, more for its soul and simple minimalist design than technical ability. The problem with the Sony is it’s just too good. I wanted a small pocket sized camera that was more everyday and the Canon 5DSR, something I would take everywhere and use more. I do use it more however be warned if you’re a Canon fan, it is easily as capable as the 50 million pixel bigger rival and to be honest the sensor is way more flexible and advanced. The Canon requires some form of precision with exposure to avoid the limitations of dynamic range. Not that this is a huge problem. If you wish to make the most of such a big file that comes from that camera you have to be careful with the exposure and avoid clipping highlights and under exposing shadows. The Sony however seems to have such flexibility with the shadows and a much wider dynamic range. You don’t have to be as cautious and most shots you take can be rescued later in post production.
Having said that, there is something quite enjoyable for me about slowing everything down and checking everything prior to pressing the shutter. There’s something. Quite satisfying about a real mirror moving inside the camera with its quality engineered mechanical sound as opposed to an electronic equivalent as in the mirrorless Sony.
Both cameras have a place with my photography but tonight belonged to the Canon and with my 24mm tilt shift lens, polariser and 0.9 graduated neutral density filter there was more of a sense of creation and making something than simply pressing a button and beautifying in software. Here’s what I captured and it feels to me more like I made this image rather than I simply shot it.
Lower Man over Deer Garth How Island (Lewis Island) Thirlmere.
You can see more of my Landscapes from Thirlmere most of them made with my Canon gear here in my gallery.
