ISSUE # 10 * JANUARY 2014
www.northernlandscape.org
NORTHERN LANDSCAPE
HAVING COFFEE REMO SAVISAAR
THIS IS (HI)STORY! TURNING BACK THE DOODLEBUGS WITH NIGEL BANGERT
NORTHERN WINDS: AND NOW SCOTLAND? WHICH WAY TO GO? THE BIG CHALLENGE
PHOTOGRAPHY TUTORIAL #10 DIFFRACTION AND PHOTOGRAPHY FEATURED WORK
COVER
The End of a Beautiful Day by Remo Savisaar -14*C, Estonia, Europe
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FROM THE EDITOR Hello dear reader and welcome to the last issue of the Northern Landscape Magazine as you know it! It has been a long journey since I took over the group for about one year ago. Many things have changed, but many are still to come. While there may be many members of our community satisfied with the way things work, I am not, I want more! I could be here forever speaking about the reasons why but I can sum up all of them into only two: 1) Way too much work for too little time; 2) Way too little return in all perspectives: financial, fame (of the magazine), etc... Therefore, we need to make some changes in order to make things a bit more attractive and less painful, especially for me who is the one who runs things and has very little time on his hands... As a consequence, this is the last issue of the Northern Landscape Magazine as you have known it so far. That’s right, a recast is coming!
Editor Chief João Figueiredo
Test readers Charles Kosina, Alyson Kosina, Manon Boily
Graphic Artist João Figueiredo
Tutorial by João Figueiredo
Web site www.northernlandscape.org
E-mail contact info@northernlandscape.org
Featured artist Remo Savisaar
From now on we are not having any more weekly featured works on our magazine. Instead there will be a new challenge for all the featured works. It was madness as sometimes I was having more than 120 shots to showcase on the magazine, plus writing all the articles and tutorial... From now on, all the featured works are eligible for the NL Featured Work Challenge. Later on, the top-10 will be showcased at the magazine instead of the whole set of featured images (with more then a hundred works!!) during the month. The winner of the challenge will win a special feature at the magazine of course. There will also be another monthly challenge, and that one will be thematic. This means that there will be a theme on the challenge according to a specific theme, like for instance, seasons of the year, some specific country, some specific geographic feature, etc... Just like in the previous challenge, the top-10 will be featured in the magazine and the winner will get a special
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feature on it as well. So... does this mean that the BIG Challenge is over then? No!! The BIG Challenge will continue to be as it is, end of story! ;) Now that we are done on the challenges chapter... oh, wait... are we? Sort of... I will talk about another thing for now, but that will bring me back to the challenges later on. For some months ago I had this idea of making a printed magazine with all the winners (1st and 2nd places of every BIG Challenge during 12 months) and then sell it at the same time as giving copies of it to all the featured artists on it as some kind of extra prize. Unfortunately most of the people who were eligible to participate in this project did not like the idea of someone else making money with their works, despite that it is already happening not only via this community but as well via piracy websites and RedBubble. Furthermore, there would be an incredible amount of promotion... Unfortunately and up to this date, not more then 65% of the featured artists at the NL Magazine have even answered to my request which would only require a simple “yes” or “no”, which shows that their interest level in this project just might not be reasonable to say the least.
explained, I haven’t got the authorizations I wanted for it yet. 2) As said a “million times” so far, any generated income would be used in favour of the community: Paying the server for the website, giving “real” prizes to challenge winners, paying for promotion, etc... Do you think this is bad? It’s not about promoting me and my wallet, I am promoting you and your works – I don’t even submit work to the group any more... – you, the contributor would only win! 3) If you still think that I am just making up a scam to make money with your works, then you need to learn about three things: It’s been almost a whole year and I still haven’t been able to pick a single dollar from this; I am working for free to do all this!; Finally but not least, you need to know what crowd-funding is! For more info, visit this website about crowd-funding: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Crowdfunding. Welcome to the 21st century!
So, all these aspects made me come up to the conclusion that I will be making an annual challenge gathering all the BIG Challenge winners (1st and 2nd places). Why only BIG Challenge winners? Well, the BIG Challenge is the “root” of this group. It’s free subject and everyone on the community can participate. The BIG Challenge is to keep on being BIG. The name of this new challenge will be “The Polar Bear Challenge”. Why? Is there Due to this situation, I have also decided to a better symbol for the north of the planet change the community rules so that from then a Polar Bear? Besides, by creating this now on I get permission to use submitted “icon”, I hope to help awake consciousness works not only in the BIG Challenge and on about how important the Polar Bear is to the the NL Magazine, but as well in other projects Planet and how threatened it is. Yes, I do have as this one. environmental concerns as well... Call me a dreamer... Do you find this outrageous? What, me making money with your works? May I remind The prize for The Polar Bear Challenge will be you – or bring to your knowledge in case you a printed copy of a special edition of the NL do not know – that so far I still only made Magazine gathering all the winners of the BIG about 60USD with the commercial ads on Challenge of the year. Still haven’t decided if the NL website and that is still not enough for that will be only for the first place, or for the 3 Google to pay me. So, in the real world, I still first places. That will obviously depend on the haven’t seen a cent! As for the income gen- budget... that edition of the magazine will also erated with any eventual sale of a hard copy be available online on our website. of the NL Magazine or any other media with your featured works on it: So... due to all this, as said previously, the rules of the group have been adapted so that 1) That has not happened yet because as I can keep on developing this project and
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make it bigger than what it is! Growing outside of the box, thinking outside of the box, call it what you want, but I have a dream of making a world wide known and recognized magazine for photography and photographers promotion, from photographers to photographers. This is the way! Are you in or are you out?
Your host JoĂŁo Figueiredo
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INDEX 02 About the cover 03 From the editor & technical data 08 Northern winds - And now Scotland? Which way to go? 16 October features ~ Pure nature 48 NLM photo tutorial #10 - Diffraction and Photography 54 October features ~ Man touched 76 This is (hi)story! ~ Turning Back the Doodlebugs with Nigel Bangert 84 October features ~ Man made 102 The BIG Challenge ~ December 110 Having coffee with Remo Savisaar + his Featured works 120 Northern Landscape: Some facts 125 Back cover artist 126 Back cover 6 • Northern Landscape Magazine
THIS AMAZING MAGAZINE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY
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Norden winds
And now Scotland? Which way to go? We tend to think of the world that surround us as “allways the same”, but still it wasn’t that long ago that a country left the state that is nowadays the United Kingdom. In 2014, another country tries to do the same via a referendum. Is it that really possible? How would things work? In this debate article, I try to create exactly that: debate. In order to do that, I tried to pick up a neutral picture of things as they are. Feel free to join the debate!
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f you think that 2013 was a “hell of year”, 2014 will be the real deal! The new year is here for just a few days and it is already promising a lot, especially for Europe. 2014 is the year several EU countries will leave the Troika’s economical aid program proving once and for all who is right about the Euro crisis and deciding therefore the future of Europe for the next century, the world will start to feel the effects of the beginning of the end of FED’s economical incentives, European Parliament elections, a new EU budget rules until 2020, the UK keep on warming up a referendum about its permanency in the EU, among others... Still, probably the main happening of 2014 is that the unthinkable will happen: two peaceful and successful EU countries will have regional/national referendums about the independence of a part of their actual territory: Spain about Catalonia and the UK about Scotland.
A referendum on whether Scotland should be an independent country will take place on Thursday 18 September 2014. Following an agreement between the Scottish Government and HM Government, the Scottish Independence Referendum Bill, setting out the arrangements for this referendum, was put forward on 21 March 2013, passed by the Scottish Parliament on 14 November 2013 and received Royal Assent on 17 December 2013. The question to be asked in the referendum will be “Should Scotland be an independent country?” as recommended by the Electoral Commission. The principal issues in the referendum are the economic strength of Scotland, defence arrangements, continued relations with the rest of the UK, and membership of supranational organisations, particularly the European Union (EU) and NATO. But let’s go back to the start and ask the true questions here: Why should Scotland be
Scotland in the UK, Europe and world Northern Landscape Magazine • 9
independent and why doesn’t England (not the UK, but that is another debate...) want to let Scotland let go? First things first: For those who are more distracted, Scotland is already a country. This country is a part of the United Kingdom, which is a “country of countries” or a state with many countries inside of itself. If you prefer, we can say that the UK is a very old “EU”: A group of sovereign nations sharing the same leader, defence policy and corps and economy/currency. Scotland wasn’t always a part of the UK, there are records of an independent culture in what it is modern Scotland that date to 4000 year old. On the opposite to Wales and England, Scotland was never conquered by the Romans, leaving therefore a cultural difference between Scotland and the rest of Great Britain. As a response to the Roman threat, on the 6th century the Kingdom of the Picts was formed, later known as Alba or Scotland. By the end of the 13th century, the kingdom had assumed approximately its modern borders. During it’s long history, Scotland was independent and belonged to England, Great Britain and/or UK a few times. At last, in 1707 Scotland joined for good the Great Britain Kingdom whom later would become the UK. The second question was “why doesn’t England (not the UK) want to let Scotland let go?” The answers are obvious! Scotland is not only strategic from the military point of view but as well from the economic point of view. Not only is the trading activity between the rest of UK and Scotland 4 times bigger then between Scotland and the rest of EU, but the Scottish EEZ is quite big and rich in oil and natural gas. No need to explain much more, right? What is to happen to the whole UK and Europe then? There is a kind of perfect storm in what matters to uncertainty and political games for the next 10 years! What if the yes wins and the UK leaves EU? No matter if Scotland would remain an EU member or not, this means that freedom of move-
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ment of the Scots would be limited without passing through border control every time they would want to go the rest of the UK, which does not happen at the moment. Pretty much the same would be happening to all the imports/exports between the two states. All the Scottish goods destined for sale in the UK would have to apply for UK’s rules and standards as with time they would differ from EU’s. This would imply a price raise on Scottish products all over the UK, like if it would be USA or Brazil. If the yes would win, no matter what the UK would say to the EU, the referendum, would give Scottish people control over their natural resources which the “city” financial sector is so dependent on. London would have to pay what the Scots think those natural resources are worth, or just find another supplier. This would allow the Scots to have a direct influence on the UK external politics, like for instance right now Russia has on Ukraine’s or Belarus’s. Scotland would be also able to form other political alliances and follow strategies that differ from the UK’s which are famous for following USA’s. Only this would have a huge impact on the geopolitical map of Europe! Another really important question remains. If the yes wins, what will be of the modern day UK economy? If Scotland joins a currency union with the UK, some form of fiscal policy constraints could be imposed on the Scottish state. Banking experts have argued that being the “junior partner” in a currency arrangement could amount to “a loss of fiscal autonomy for Scotland”. Dr Angus Armstrong of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research has written that: “An independent Scotland is likely to find the implicit constraints on economic policy, especially fiscal policy, are even more restrictive than the explicit ones it faces as a full part of the UK.” Gavin McCrone, former chief economic adviser to the Scottish Office, has stated: “While I think it would be sensible for an independent Scotland to remain with sterling, at least initially, it might prove difficult
Scotland’s huge EEZ that is way bigger then the country itself and streches almost to Norway’s coast. Not only strategical due to the natural resources but as well due to military poin of view in the long run; and, to gain freedom to follow its own policies, it may be necessary for Scotland to have its own currency.” However, he warned that this could lead to Scottish banks relocating to the UK. Could an independent Scotland survive on its own? The Barnett formula has resulted in public spending being higher per head of population in Scotland than England, but Scotland also produces more tax revenue per head of population than the UK average, mainly due to the production of North Sea oil. Given the uncertain nature of an independence settlement, such as what portion of the UK’s public debt would be inherited, the credit rating and borrowing rates of an independent Scotland is also an issue. Despite
these deficits, the UK had, until late February 2013, retained the highest triple A rating, resulting in it having low costs of borrowing to finance its debts. Fitch, a principal credit rating agency, refused in October 2012 to offer an opinion on what rating Scotland would have. The agency explained that it could not yet give an accurate view because the state of Scottish finances would largely depend on the result of negotiations between the UK and Scotland dividing its assets and liabilities. As of 2013, Scotland has a lower rate of unemployment than the UK average and a lower fiscal deficit than the rest of the UK. Scotland performed better than the UK average in securing new Foreign Direct Investment between 2012–13, although not as well as Wales or Northern Ireland.
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The Scottish flag allong with two variants of what could the UK flag look like after a Scottish exit from the UK. The difference between the top flag and the bottom one is that in the top flag the only change is the abscence of the Scottish flag. The flag at the bottom not only has lost the Scottish flag but now it also has the Welsh flag. How about defence then? The Scottish Government currently advocates a £2.5 billion annual military budget in an independent Scotland. The SNP have argued that there has been a defence underspend in Scotland in the last decade and that independence would allow the Scottish Government to correct this, claiming that the total underspend was “at least £7.4 billion” between 2002 and 2012. The UK Government confirmed that seven Territorial Army bases in Scotland would be closed, the SNP stated that Scotland was suffering “disproportionate defence cuts.” The SNP’s plans for a separate Scottish military include 15,000 personnel and the restoration of historic Scottish regiments.
weapons remain? The SNP objects to having nuclear weapons on Scottish territory. Alex Salmond has stated that “it is inconceivable that an independent nation of 5,250,000 people would tolerate the continued presence of weapons of mass destruction on its soil.”, so the question is: Is the UK prepared to relocate/rearrange their nuclear weapon system?
These numbers might seem big, but once Scotland would become independent they would not need to go along the UK and USA in all their wars worldwide. Instead they could focus on their territory defence, which would mean a better use of the defence budget.
Could the new independent Scotland remain in the EU? Or NATO? How about UN membership? What would happen to the educational system in Scotland and all the Scottish people who study in the rest of the UK and the UK people who study in Scotland? What would happen to the industry that operates in the whole UK with the same ease as if a single country it would be? Would an independent Scotland give strength to the independence causes across Europe like Catalonia and Basque Country that are nowadays split between Spain and France? Or Corsage, Gibraltar, Karelia, Transnistria and so many others?
An important issue is raised though: what would happen to the UK nuclear weapon system that has some bases in Scotland? Would the Scots demand that the nuclear
There are so many questions to be answered when it comes to the birth of a new independent country. The truth is that the modern world is so complex that it is just not that
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simple. Move a straw and the whole continent if not the whole world will be sensible to it. Complex things such as natural resources, economy, finances, migration, immigration, defence, politics, quality of life, employment, culture and many others make such a subject become tremendously complicated to be decided overnight. No matter what, the days are counting and there is less then a year left to know what the Scottish people will decide. Many experts claim that the SNP doesn’t really want independence but instead just a good reason to negotiate with London more benefits to Scotland. Will they make it? Will this work? What if the no wins the referendum? What will be of SNP and their cause? Will this be the end or just the beginning? 2014 is promising to be a year full of events...
Useful links and sources: Scotland’s oil: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Scotland%27s_oil Scotland: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland Euro crisis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_sovereign_debt_crisis Referendum: http://www.scotreferendum.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_independence_referendum,_2014
PHOTOGRAPHY AND IMAGES FROM WIKIPEDIA, USED UNDER THE
FAIR USE TERMS
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Northern Landscape Magazine • 15
October fe pure lands
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eatures scape 116 FEATURES 31 DAYS
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in Flames by Remo Savisaar
Niagara Falls Makes It’s Own Weather by Georgia Mizuleva 18 • Northern Landscape Magazine
Sussex Sunset by John Thurgood
Isolated Rock: Black Beach at Dyrholaey, Iceland by thewaxmuseum
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Golden Light by Jeanie
Long Shadows in the Snow by Georgia Mizuleva
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Wild Birds: Puffin on a Cliff, Iceland by thewaxmuseum
Scalebar by Jeanie
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Rock at Fairy Glen by kernuak
Rydal Water by VoluntaryRanger 22 • Northern Landscape Magazine
Hellgill Force by Jeanie
Pavey Ark and Stickle Tarn by Kat Simmons
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Silent time by Remo Savisaar
King of the Hill by Keijo Savolainen 24 • Northern Landscape Magazine
Grasmere Panorama by VoluntaryRanger
Harris: South West Coast Beaches by Kasia-D
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Three Sisters by Evelina Kremsdorf
Serenity’s Shrine by Evelina Kremsdorf 26 • Northern Landscape Magazine
Frozen Tree, Northern Ireland by Ludwig Wagnernette Canada by Ron Finkel
Idyllic Country Estate by Wrayzo
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THE PARKWAY - ALBERTA by Raoul Madden
Go for the Summit - British Columbia by Yannik Hay 28 • Northern Landscape Magazine
Whinlatter Forest and Bassenthwaite Lake by VoluntaryRanger
Pine trees at sunset by Remo Savisaar
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Birches in Mist by Ian Mac
First Snow ~ North Saskatchewan River by Roxanne Persson
High Above the Lake by Kat Simmons
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River of December Gold by Ian Alex Blease
Winter Calm by Evelina Kremsdorf Northern Landscape Magazine • 31
Lagoon II by Pascal Deckarm
Occlude by John Dunbar 32 • Northern Landscape Magazine
Turquoise Ocean by Kasia-D
Misty Morning,Banton Dam,Kilsyth,Scotland by Jim Wilson
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Grasmere - The End Of Autumn by VoluntaryRanger
Rydal Water,The Lake District by VoluntaryRanger
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The Rihanna Tree, Singing by Wrayzo
Rivendell by Irina Chuckowree
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60N...Jewels in a Viking Sea by Larry Lingard/Davis
A Long Line of Canada Geese at Sunrise by Georgia Mizuleva 36 • Northern Landscape Magazine
The Fairy Pools. Glen Brittle. Isle of Skye. Scotland. by photosecosse /barbara jones
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Red tornado by LadyFi
Ben Hiant by derekbeattie
Bruarfoss by Roddy Atkinson 38 • Northern Landscape Magazine
Spring Swell (Mono) by Jeanie
In The Frosty Forests by Evelina Kremsdorf
Blaven, Reeds and Snow. Isle of Skye. Scotland. by photosecosse /barbara jones Northern Landscape Magazine • 39
The “Cauldron”. Glen Coe. North West Scotland. by photosecosse /barbara jones
West Burton Waterfalls (B&W) by Stephen Knowles 40 • Northern Landscape Magazine
Islay Dawn by Kasia-D
Fiskefjorden by Keijo Savolainen
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DOF on the Sognefjord (2) by Larry Lingard/Davis
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Hlaupstungafoss by Roddy Atkinson
Standing Watch over Land and Sea by Kathleen M. Daley
~ ante meridiem ~ by Keijo Savolainen Northern Landscape Magazine • 43
The End of a Beautiful Day by Remo Savisaar
Dreaming Of The Sognefjord ( 2 ) by Larry Lingard/Davis 44 • Northern Landscape Magazine
Elgol. Stormy Sunset. Isle of Skye. Scotland. by photosecosse /barbara jones
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NLM PHOTO T DIFFRACTION AND PHOTOGRAPHY One of the first things we learn in Photography 101 is how to achieve high “depth of field”. That is, objects close by and at a distance should be in focus. And the way to achieve a good depth of field is to decrease the aperture of the lens.
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TUTORIAL #10
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O
ne of the first things we learn in Photography 101 is how to achieve high “depth of field”. That is, objects close by and at a distance should be in focus. And the way to achieve a good depth of field is to decrease the aperture of the lens.
Fig 1 - Large Aperture, e.g. f/2.8
WHAT IT IS AND WHY DOES IT HAPPENS? I won’t go into why this is so, it’s all to do with “the circle of confusion” getting smaller as the aperture decreases. If you want to revise all this in detail go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_of_confusion As the aperture gets smaller, the amount of light reaching the sensor also decreases so that longer exposure times are needed. This would imply that to get almost infinite depth of field, an aperture the size of a tiny pinhole would do the trick with a very long exposure time. No such luck! As you decrease the aperture something else happens, and that is diffraction. What is diffraction? Diffraction is a phenomenon that occurs in all waves be they sound waves, water waves or electromagnetic waves, including light. Quoting from Wikepedia: “In classical physics, the diffraction phenomenon is described as the apparent bending of waves around small obstacles and the spreading out of waves past small openings”. What this means is that when light travels through our lens aperture, it does not continue in a straight line, but the rays grazing the iris diverge. In Fig. 1 the light rays passing through a large aperture. Most of the light that reaches the sensor is non diffracted. Now in the small aperture of Fig.2 the light rays grazing the iris are bent the same as in Fig 1, but they reperesent a much greater proportion of the light reaching the sensor.
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Small Aperture, e.g. f/22 The divergent rays travel slightly different distances, which is of the order of fractions of the wavelengths of the light. This results in interference which produces a diffraction pattern with peak light intensities where the amplitude of the light waves add, and less light where they cancel out. The interference pattern produced by the light rays, creates what is known as an “Airy Pattern” named after George Biddell Airy who investigated the phenomenon in 1834. So if you have a uniformly illuminated circular aperture there will be a bright disc known as the “Airy Disc” surrounded by a number of concentric bright rings. The brightness of these rings drops off rapidly as the diameter increases. A full description requires an understanding of quite advanced mathematics. Anyone who is really interested, can find more detailed explanations of this on the Internet such as: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airy_disk and www. cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/diffraction-photography.htm The latter of these has an interactive demonstration of how the aperture and pixel size will affect the size of the Airy disc. What this means is that a spot of light that
should cover only one pixel on our sensor will spread out over adjacent pixels as the aperture is reduced in size. This results in an effective reduction of the image resolution because of the overlap of light from adjacent pixels. We say that the image becomes “diffraction limited” when this overlap of the Airy discs starts to reduce the resolution or sharpness of the image.
IN A PRACTICAL SITUATION: So in practical terms, what are the limits to which we can reduce the aperture without diffraction blurring the image? The main factor is the size of the pixel. Let’s take two cameras, both with the same resolution, say 12 Megapixels. One camera has a “full frame” sensor, that is, the size of the traditional 35 mm film, and the other camera is a “compact” one with a sensor maybe one tenth the area of a full frame. The linear dimension of each pixel in the compact camera will be about one third of that in the full frame sensor. So if we have an Airy disc the size of a pixel in a full frame camera, it will not be a problem, but the same size Airy disc will cover a several pixels in the compact camera. Similarly, if we have two cameras with the same size sensor, but one camera has a greater pixel count, and hence smaller pixels, it will become diffraction limited at a larger aperture than the camera with a smaller pixel count. This is, of necessity, a simplified explanation. I haven’t gone into the structure of the sensors and how individual pixels for each primary colour are arranged. This affects the effective size of pixels and will determine at what point the camera becomes diffraction limited.
where your camera becomes diffraction limited. With a full frame sensor, this will be somewhere between f/16 and f/22, whereas with a compact camera, it may well be f/5.6 or wider.
CONCLUSION This does not mean that you should not use smaller apertures. The effect is not sudden but will result in a gradual loss of sharpness as you wind the f stop to a higher number. So how can we get a much higher depth of field? A recent approach is “focus stacking” where we take a number of different photos focusing the lens at different distances, and then use a clever computer program to combine them using just the sharp parts of each image. That may well be the subject of another article.
Fig 3 - Computer-generated image of an Airy disk. The gray scale intensities have been adjusted to enhance the brightness of the outer rings of the Airy pattern. (From Wikipedia article)
Use the calculator provided in the second link in the previous column to determine
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DIFFRACTION AND PHOTOGRAPHY
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Septembe man touch D
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er features hed 116 FEATURES 31 DAYS
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Othello Tunnels by Charles Kosina
Sun rays over Happisburgh by Avril Harris 56 • Northern Landscape Magazine
Aurora dances by Bodil Kristine Fagerthun
The Rihanna Tree Bangor by Wrayzo
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Reflected autumn hillside by Christian Filberg
Autumn colors by Christian Filberg
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Buttermere by VoluntaryRanger
Red church by Pascal Deckarm Northern Landscape Magazine • 59
Being on the Sandness Coast by Larry Lingard/Davis
Autumn scenery by Christian Filberg 60 • Northern Landscape Magazine
Lake Windermere by Ludwig Wagner
Scafell from Eskdale by VoluntaryRanger Northern Landscape Magazine • 61
Windmill by the Sea in Summer by Susan Wellington South Uist Landscape by Kasia-D
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Nab Scar II by VoluntaryRanger
60N... Heading Home from Scalloway by Larry Lingard/Davis
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Rydal Water by VoluntaryRanger
Lakeland by Kat Simmons
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Autumn in ‘The Lakes’ by Stephen Knowles
Red house by Pascal Deckarm Northern Landscape Magazine • 65
Patricia Lake and Pyramid Mountain, Jasper by Charles Kosina
“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas...” by Stephanie Owen 66 • Northern Landscape Magazine
Remembering a summer evening at the Baltic Sea by jchanders
Alone on an Island by PhotosByHealy
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House in the fjord by Keijo Savolainen
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December in the Canadian Rockies by Nancy Richard
Fisherman’s Shack by Nigel Bangert
Mary’s Shell by Jeanie Northern Landscape Magazine • 69
The Five Sisters of Kintail. North West Highlands of Scotland. by photosecosse /barbara jonesScotland. by photosecosse /barbara jones
Walking on the summer cliff by jchanders 70 • Northern Landscape Magazine
Icy sunset by Keijo Savolainen
Auroras by Ólafur Már Sigurðsson Northern Landscape Magazine • 71
Snow Covered Tree House by AnnDixon
Harris: Touring The Coast by Kasia-D 72 • Northern Landscape Magazine
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This is (h
TURNING BACK THE DOODLEBUGS IS THE STORY THAT NIGEL BANGERT BRINGS US OF IS (HI)STORY. ARE YOU READY FOR SOME ADVENTURE AND STRONG FEELIN 76 •THIS Northern Landscape Magazine
hi)story!
S IN THIS EDITION NGS? HOP ON!
Nigel Bangert has some stories of adventure, adrenaline and family about WW II!
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F
act: No Doodlebug was ever turned back. According to historians and experts in aviation it was not possible to turn back a Doodlebug.
This is a story about what a young boy saw on a beach at Dungeness during The Second World War and how he related it to his son years later when he was about the same age. He is not the only eye witness to have reported such an event, but whether true or not, the pilots of the RAF have been likened to Knights of the sky and the Spitfire to Excalibur. This story later inspired a photograph which turned into a journey spanning three generations of one family, all based around Dungeness in Kent, on the south coast of the UK. It all began in 1933, when Hitler came to power. It was also the year my dad was born. Britain entered The War on Sunday 3rd September 1939, when my dad was six years old. From September 7th 1940 Hitler began The Blitz, German for lightening. The Luftwaffe bombed London destroying or damaging over one million homes and killing over 20,000 civilians. Growing up in what had essentially become a battlefield was a large part of my dad’s childhood, with regular air raids and fighters strafing the streets with bullets every day events. Although never hit directly, his house was damaged by the bombing. As a child you probably accept this as a part of life, and in all the events my parents have told me about living in London at this time,
NIGEL BANGERT’S STUDIO as neither were evacuated, there was never any real feeling of fear, although at the time it must have been terrifying. It has all been from a survivors perspective, so it had the feeling of a story to a kid like me. On Tuesday 13th June 1944 at approximately 4am, those on special duties in The Royal Observer Corps at their post in Dymchurch, Kent, looking out for enemy aircraft,
A ‘SKETCH’ OF A DOODLEBUG BEING CHASED BY A RAF SPITFIRE 78 • Northern Landscape Magazine
DUNGENESS AND ITS BEACH. CLICK ON THE PHOTOGRAPH TO SEE MORE WORKS FROM THE SAME AREA reported a Cat One or an unidentified flying object heading towards London. Launched from the forests of The Pas-deCalais area of France, the first of Hitler’s ‘vergeltungswaffen’ or vengeance weapons was being tested. The V1 or Doodlebug, a pilotless bomb 25ft long with a wingspan of 16ft carrying 2,000 lbs of high explosive. Flying at about 2,000 feet at 300-450 mph it took 25 minutes to reach London. Powered by a primitive jet engine and kept on course by pre-set gyroscopes it fell from the sky after a small propeller on the front had finished a certain number of revolutions. It exploded in Grove Road E4, hitting a railway bridge which carried the Great Eastern Railway from Liverpool Street to Essex and East Anglia. A number of houses were destroyed and six people were killed. After this first attack fifty per day followed. ‘Doodlebug’ or ‘Bomb Alley’ was born, describing the corridor these first guided
missiles took across The Channel. This new threat was to become a test for the flying skills of the RAF, who were able to shoot the bombs out of the sky, but also devised a way of slip streaming them and flipping the wings with their own wing tip, knocking the gyroscope which kept level flight and tipping them into the sea. There are reports of them being turned back, which is what my dad described seeing while he was on holiday with his parents at Dungeness. He stood on the shingle beach looking out across The Channel at Bomb Alley and watched a Spitfire fly close to a Doodlebug and turn it around. Nearly thirty years later while on holiday with my parents, we stayed at Greatstone, just up the road from Dungeness, and on a walk one day across the same shingle beach, my dad described what he saw, pointing out towards the old Bomb Alley. It made the RAF sound legendary, almost mystical, to think that I now know the average age of a pilot was
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about twenty it really brings it into perspective. To even contemplate what they did is incredible, to actually carry it out was to look death in the face every time, when you think of the speeds involved and the margin for error. As a photographer I enjoy going to air shows and taking pictures of these Flying Legends, and since joining Redbubble I have become a member of the Solo Group who run a workshop where you produce a Masterpiece. A work that is the best you can produce so far with the knowledge and skills you have. This story came to mind and I wanted to make a composite image which in some way showed the drama of such an event over the beach at Dungeness. Having visited there several times before to take photos, I knew that I could get what looked like an aerial view of the beach by climbing to the top of The Old Lighthouse. This meant overcoming a fear of heights I have and keeping a steady hand to take some shots. I drove to Dungeness on an adventure with my kids, with the promise of steam trains, a nuclear power station and some really unique buildings on a shingle beach, they jumped at the idea of a day out by the sea. I climbed the 169 steps to the top of the lighthouse and clambered through a small opening onto the gantry which runs round the top by the lantern. Using a wide angle lens I took some pictures towards the area of Bomb Alley, knowing that Doodlebugs flew at low altitude and were not always on target due to them being affected by strong winds and errors in data input. I told my kids the story my dad told me, and we went for a ride on the train which ran past the bottom of the garden of the holiday home I used to stay in with my parents. The railway was there when my dad stayed with his parents too. Opened in July 1927, The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway is 13½ miles of miniature mainline. With steam and diesel trains it is used by residents to go
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to work and children to go to school as well as thousands of tourists every year. It was closed for some time during The War but my dad remembers it well. With the photos I took at Dungeness, a picture of a Doodlebug taken at Duxford Air Museum in Cambridgeshire and several air show images, I put together my image Turning Back the Doodlebugs using Photoshop CS3. I had to document my progress in a studio diary in Solo Group. It was great to bring together three generations of my family with a ride on a steam train. To tell my kids a story my dad told me when I was younger than them, passing down a living history of one of the most important events of the twentieth century, which they now learn about in school. In some small way pay homage to the iconic Spitfire designed by R.J. Mitchell as well as the crazy young pilots who flew them.
DOGFIGHT BY NIGEL BANGERT SHOWS THE RAF SPITFIRE AIRPLANES
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TURNING BACK THE DOODLEBUGS
PHOTOGRAPHY AND TEXT BY NIGEL BANGERT WANT TO SEND US A STORY ABOUT YOUR 82 • Northern Landscape Magazine
LOCAL
MAIL US TO: Northern Landscape Magazine • 83 INFO@NORTHERNLANDSCAPE.ORG STORIES?
October fe man made D
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eatures e 116 FEATURES 31 DAYS
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Copenhagen Wanderings (2) by Larry Lingard/Davis
Southwold Pier by Nigel Bangert 86 • Northern Landscape Magazine
Christmas in London by Ludwig Wagner
Broken reflection by Christian Filberg Northern Landscape Magazine • 87
People & Street 2 by BKSPicture
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Lost in thought by Arie Koene
Boats on the Baltic by Susan Wellington Northern Landscape Magazine • 89
.The MS Sagafjord (2) by Larry Lingard/Davis
Bruce Road 2 by Gary Chapple 90 • Northern Landscape Magazine
Conwy Walls by kalaryder
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Bergen Harbour -- Business As Usual by Larry Lingard/Davis
St. Canute’s Cathedral (1) by Larry Lingard/Davis
Stones of Stenness - 6 by kalaryder
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Bergen Harbour (4) by Larry Lingard/Davis
Leicester Square Christmas Fair by Ludwig Wagner Northern Landscape Magazine • 93
Bergen Harbour (1) by Larry Lingard/Davis
Viaduct at Reddish Vale Country Park by Avril Harris 94 • Northern Landscape Magazine
Garden of Scone Palace - Scotland by Arie Koene
Tivoli Gardens (1)~ ~Larry Lingard-Davis
Santa’s Spaceship? by Ludwig Wagner Northern Landscape Magazine • 95
At Christmas Time by Yannik Hay
Bergen Harbour -- Rain Gone, Sun Out .1 by Larry Lingard/ Davis 96 • Northern Landscape Magazine
Bergen Harbour -- The Morning Coolness by Larry Lingard/ Davis
ROOSTERS ON THE TYNE..N.E. UK. by margaret8 Northern Landscape Magazine • 97
Conway Castle - 8 by kalaryder
Enjoying the Ride (1) by Larry Lingard/Davis
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The Wonder of Christmas by Yannik Hay
The Lawnmarket by Kasia-D Northern Landscape Magazine • 99
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THE BIG CHALLEN
21 ENTRIES 65 VOTES 1 WINNER
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7 DAYS FOR VOTING
NGE ~ DECEMBER
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THE END OF A BEAUTIFUL DAY
THE RIHANNA TREE BANGOR 104 • Northern Landscape Magazine
REMO SAVISAAR
WRAYZO
16 VOTES
14 VOTES
The BIG top ten
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FROM THE FLÅM RAILWAY (2)
LARRY LINGARD/DAVIS
5 VOTES
NIAGARA FALLS MAKES IT’S OWN WEATHER GEORGIA MIZULEVA
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5 VOTES
AERIAL OF MOUNTAIN IN ALASKAN RANGE NEAR TALKEETNA, ALASKA MARGARET HYDE
HARRIS: SOUTH WEST COAST BEACHES
5 VOTES
KASIA-D VOTES• 107 Northern Landscape 5 Magazine
THE ILLICIT STILL
SNOW COVERED TREE HOUSE
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KERNUAK
ANNDIXON
5 VOTES
4 VOTES
SNOW PARK
DGSCOTLAND
3 VOTES
BEACH AND LITTLE ISLAND IN BRACEBRIDGE, ONTARIO, CANADA GERDA GRICE
3 VOTES
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REMO SAVISAAR
R
Featured artist
emo Savisaar is the first non Anglo-Saxon person/country resident winning a challenge in our community. That is a milestone and I am really glad for it, the spell was finally broken!
Remo is an award winning wildlife and nature photographer from Estonia. In other words, a professional photographer with little time on his hands but still we managed to get some time from him to drink some coffee and get to know him better. Well... metaphorically speaking of course! Though he lives just a few hours away from our headquarters and there are regular ferry and flight connections to Estonia, our budget is still not that nice that allow us interviewing our BIG Challenge winners personally. Maybe in a near future? Remo was the winner of our last BIG Challenge from 2013 which ended an era in our community (See the intro “from the editor on page 3 if you don’t know what I am talking about). He got a fantastic result of 8 votes getting tied with the second place. Later on at the tie breaker challenge Remo won again with the exact same amount of votes, which is fantastic! Congratulations! It was well fought and well deserved! Ladies & Gentleman, I give you Remo Savisaar:
# When did you start photographing?
I have always been fascinated by taking photos. Nine years ago I started taking photos of nature and year after year I got more attached to nature.
# What can you tell us about yourself?
I am a professional wildlife photographer, focusing mostly on birds, mammals and landscapes. In nature I like to concentrate on one specie at a time, to get to know it. I am also a wildlife guide and lead photo workshops, write articles, give lectures and talks. You can read longer bio about me from here: http://blog.moment.ee/autor#english
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INTERVIEW
Having coffee with Remo Savisaar + his Featured works Northern Landscape Magazine • 111
PINE TREES AT SUNSET
SILENT TIME 112 • Northern Landscape Magazine
# How does photography fit in your life? And where do you want to get with it?
Nature and photography is my hobby and my “work” – that is a big and important part of my life. I don’t like to dream aloud and it’s not only about the destination – I enjoy my journey. I have already achieved a lot more than I dreamt when I started.
# What photographic gear do you have?
Usual gear – Canon 1D X (bought just a month ago, so most of the photos are still taken with 1D III), 300mm f2.8 IS, 17-40mm f4, 50mm f1.4, 180mm f3.5L macro, 70-200 f2.8 II IS, teleconverters, Lee filter system etc.
# How does it feel to win our BIG CHALLENGE and have such a feature on our monthly magazine? It’s an honour :) Every acknowledgement feels good :)
# You are the first non Anglo-Saxon community member to win a challenge in our group. Does this mean anything to you? Do you think you can be some kind of ambassador to the other people? That came to me as a surprise!
# Tell us about the winning shot!
That day was perfect! When I woke up and looked out from the window I saw frosty trees! Temperature showed -14*Celcius (6.8 Fahrenheit). That ment I would be out all day, because I like extreme and unusual conditions . I ate quickly and drove like an hour to reach one wild and untouched place - Mother river. My aim was to look for wild animals – mink, otter, beaver. That day I walked about ten kilometers, but unfortunately I spotted just one mink. At least I was able to make few photos of mink, which I am very satified with. They show animal in that beautiful frosty habitat. Since frost is not a everyday view, I concetrated on taking different landscape photos. It was pure joy. I had to keep in mind to be very careful, walking on the edge of ice. Edge of the river’s bank is very steep there, which is not seen because of the high water level, but falling in means that water is like 2-6 meters deep and I will be in serious trouble! That kept me wary! I kept moving and looking for perfect spot and composition. Finally I found the view I was after. Everything came together. Then I just waited for sun to set. Light was getting better and better by every minute and when sun was just peeking at the horizon, tops of the frosty trees were painted red. That was very beautiful and surreal view! And thats the picture you see here!
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# Describe us how would your perfect photo be!
There are different elements that make one photo perfect. Sometimes it’s enough to get just few element right, but that’s rare occasion. What are the elements? 1. Moment/surprise/something rarely seen 2. Composition 3. Light 4. Right shutter speed 5. Foreground 6. Background 9. Angle 10. Interesting, simple, beautiful... the list goes on...
# Any other thought you want to put out there?
I would like to add that all my photos are unmanipulated. Like animals on my photos are also wild & free. I don’t clone out distracting objects or add elements to the photos. I try to get everything right just before hitting the shutter. If I don’t succeed, I will try harder next time! But no cloning, manipulating with colours, adding the sky textures or something like that. Most of my photos are full frames.
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IN FLAMES
IN THE HEART OF PRIMEVAL FOREST Northern Landscape Magazine • 115
GOLDEN BOG
AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD 116 • Northern Landscape Magazine
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WANT TO BE FEATURED?
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THE END OF A BEAUTIFUL DAY BY REMO SAVISAAR THE WINNER OF OUR BIG CHALLENGE ~ DECEMBER
DON’T LOSE OUR NEXT BIG CHALLENGE! Northern Landscape Magazine • 119
Northern La Some facts
Greenland and soccer: It
I
t started when the Football Association of Greenland arranged a friendly soccer match on their own against Tibet, without FIFA’s knowledge or authorization. The Greenlanders want to be able to play international games without being forced to depend on the Danish Football Association, just like Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales do within UK. Until 1979 Greenland was a part of Denmark, a colony with limited autonomy. In 1979 the Home Rule System was introduced meaning that all internal affairs were to be settled by the Home Rule Parliament and Government. Foreign policy, legal affairs and currency policy were still to be decided from Denmark. In 2009 Greenland manage to get even more autonomy but since the autonomy acquired in 1979 that Greenland has tried to develop more autonomy and ways to be accepted as
a nation equal to other nations. One of those ways is through sport, the modern battlefield The Greenlandic Federations of Taekwondo, badminton, handball, volleyball, biathlon and table-tennis have gained full membership of the International Federations but the two largest federations, ski and soccer, are still denied membership of the international federations. A little background on the relationship between Greenland and FIFA: In 1998 Greenland applied for membership in FIFA and was met by the administration of FIFA. They were requesting to be allowed to play friendly matches not to play in the World Cup. FIFA has a monopoly of football and it is not allowed for FIFA members to play matches against non-members. FIFA proposed Greenland to apply for allowance to play international matches through the Danish F.A. but sports in Greenland are independent and it would not be in accordance with the political situation to establish dependency on Danish organisations. It just wouldn’t make sense... In the fall of 2000 the administration of FIFA was very optimistic as to finding a solution for a restricted membership,
Greenland’s flag
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andscape -
t’s complicated...
A soccer match in Uummannaq giving them the possibility of playing international matches. But the football politicians in the last moment took this proposal off the agenda and never gave Greenland an answer explaining their reasons. Not having the right to play against FIFA members we were looking for ways to break the monopoly of FIFA. One of the ways were to play against Tibet. So this match was a way of showing that is was still possible to establish international matches outside FIFA-regulations.
The game we played against Tibet gave Greenlanders the possibility to expose the sport-political situation. The media showed a huge interest because of the macro-political implications but did not show much interest in discussing FIFA’s monopoly. One week after the Tibet-match Greenland played against the Sami Team witnessed by a few hundred spectators and a few reporters from Greenland and Lapland.
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These politic games get even more “interesting” when we consider that the Faroe Islands, another dependency of Denmark, is a member of FIFA and UEFA. But when it comes to Greenland (another dependency of Denmark), it is considered part of Denmark for the purposes of international football. Strange? Confusing? Sepp Blatter, FIFA’s president alleges that one of the strongest reasons for this is that the governing body, the Football Association of Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaanni Arsaattartut Kattuffiat), is not yet a member of FIFA because of an inability to grow grass for regulation grass pitches...
Greenland’s location on planet Earth
BASED ON GREENLAND FIGHTS FOR THE RIGHT TO PLAY INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL MATCHES AND
FOOTBALL IN GREENLAND
IMAGES FROM WIKIPEDIA USED UNDER THE FAIR USE TERMS 122 • Northern Landscape Magazine
W
WANT TO SEND US YOUR FACTS?
MAIL US TO: INFO@NORTHERNLANDSCAPE.ORG
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Back cover artist
I
an Wray aka Wrayzo manage to pull an amazing second place out of our last BIG Challenge of 2013. He joins now a restric club of photographers who have done this and let me remind you that so far, not as lot of people have manage to achieve this.
With an amazing shot of a lonely tree in Northern Ireland, not only he got a second place but as well he managed to take the challenge further by “forcing” Remo Savisaar to go for a Tie Breaker challenge after he got as many votes as him. Let’s see what does Wrayzo tells us about himself on his profile: I have really only taken up a fanatical interest in photography over the last three years, but have had a background in art and graphic design for as long as I wish to remember. A lot of my work will probably reflect this artistic bent, but I can only claim to be a keen amateur as I still have so much to learn about photography, so any comments or feedback regarding my work is welcome. I am currently using a Canon EOS 550D, and my best buy last year was a great Tripod.
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NORTHERN LANDSCAPE ISSUE # 10 * JANUARY 2014
www.northernlandscape.org
THE RIHANNA TREE BANGOR BY WRAYZO This tree made a brief appearance in the Rihanna video, We Found Love In A Hopeless Place! This image was captured early in January 2012. This lonely tree sits in the middle of a field, close to Bangor, County Down, N.Ireland. I had all the seasons that morning, and I was using my trusty Canon EOS 550D with the 18-55mm lens.
NORTHERN LANDSCAPE MAGAZINE - ISSUE #10 JANUARY 2014