Castle Hill: A Great Workshop cont...

Gradually the sky changed colours, from pale purple, pink, and yellow to what could be described as a firework of bold and warm colours: gold, bright orange and vibrant red, reflecting in the braids of the river. The bleak sky turned out to be glorious and sumptuous! What a treat! And a good way to learn, or relearn, the importance of graduated filters (and reversed GND).

On our return, we enjoyed a copious dinner and drinks, the conversations revolving around the experiences of the day. Then James projected a few images of his own, not only good ones but also some that in his opinion didn’t work. It was really interesting to discuss these photographs and realise which elements were missing or which ones were spoiling the image as a whole. Another good way to sharpen our photographic eye.

By the time we were back for breakfast, the rain had started. Good timing, as James had planned a post-processing session for the next two hours, a necessary step in the making of a monochrome image. A look at James’ workflow in Lightroom was followed by an interesting exploration of some essential functions of Nik Silver Efex Pro 2. Projected images of his computer screen illustrated the work being done while we were discussing the process and tricks.

On Sunday morning the weather prediction was for persistent rain. At 6.00 am, as we did not hear the splatter of the drops on the roof, some of us headed again to Castle Hill, in the hope of seeing a stunning sunrise. It was not to be, but this second wander around the site at least for myself was more fruitful than the first. Compared to the previous day, I felt a sense of ease among those big boulders, starting to notice things and calmly assess which lens would be appropriate for the type of shooting I wanted to do.

As is always the case, good things must come to an end, and so began the lugging of bags back to the cars. After a quick shared lunch and some tidying, we parted ways around noon.

This workshop undoubtedly had a positive outcome. We were reinforced in what we had forgotten or neglected to develop along our photographic journeys. Personally, I left the lodge armed with a fresh perspective and of course, a few tips that I cannot wait to put into practice.

Much applause to James whose enthusiasm, friendliness, knowledge and keenness to share were so much appreciated. And many thanks to Nicole efficient, welcoming, full of humour and smiles.