gloucester Archives - Cape Ann Photo Tours

Winter Landscape Photography

February 11, 2021 by Kirk

red barn in snow — A red barn sits on the shore of a cove in Gloucester Ma during a recent snow storm. Fuji X-T3, XF 50-140 @ 94.5 mm

Landscape photography during the winter months can be very rewarding if correct pre-cautions are taken. Make sure you dress warm, plan your photo shoot, and make sure your gear is protected. If you follow these three simple rules you will make out just fine. The only caveat is the weather and what it can throw at you. Recently I went out on an excursion in a light snowfall knowing that the weather would not be a problem and that my gear was protected. With my Fujifilm X-T3, X-H1 and all the lenses I was using all weather resistant I knew that there would be no issues with water.

The first location I have photographed before but not in the snow. It used to be a boat house but is now a private residence. It has always been a wonderful red color and it stands out against falling snow. I made several different images of it but the one above is the one I wanted. The image was made at 1/50s to catch the movement of the snow. This is always a good idea to show a little movement with snow unless your goal is to make the snowflakes smaller and to create a different feel to the image.

Lens choice is also a critical factor when shooting in the snow or any kind of adverse weather. A wide angle lens will not show any compression of the snow at all an unless it is snowing heavily with large flakes it will be hard to show the snow in action. The image below was made with a 24mm equivalent lens and you can see that the snow is less visible.

My next location for this shoot was to go over to East Gloucester at the head of the harbor and shoot some fishing and lobster boats with a very long lens to compress the snow even more. I also shortened the shutter speed to between 1/125 and 1/200 to stop the snowflakes instead of a longer shutter speed which shows motion. I wanted a more painterly look to them.

Fishing vessel Princess Laura — The stern trawler Princess Laura waiting out the storm. Fuji X-H1, XF 100-400 @372.6 mm

I love this shot of this fishing boat as the snow is compressed enough that it looks like it’s really snowing hard and the gray of the sky and snow is in stark contrast to the boat, it’s super structure, the pilings and lights of the pier. The 100-400 really did it’s job in this instance. Next I was looking for a Christmas card shot for a client for next year and was looking for lobster boats in the snow. Again the 100-400 was the best choice.

Lobster boats in the snow — Lobster boats sit idle during a light snow storm in Gloucester, MA. Fuji X-H1, XF 100-400 @218.7 mm

Another shot I love that shows the snowflakes stopped in action giving this image and almost painterly look. The compression with this focal length is outstanding and really pulls the scene together for me.

So go out in the snow keeping these suggestions in mind, Bring the right gear, stay warm and enjoy! Check out the video below on my Youtube channel.

Using Vintage lenses on Mirrorless Cameras

June 1, 2020 by Kirk

Using vintage lenses that were manufactured many years ago has always fascinated me! For photo geeks it’s intriguing but for most people they just care about the image. So recently I went out to test a lens that was made in 1958 the Leica 35mm f3.5 LTM (thread mount) Summaron. I was given this lens when I was 15 years old along with the external viewfinder. A few years ago I had the lens cleaned of fungus and started using it on my Leica M-P 240. The unfortunate thing is that the thread mount to bayonet mount I have on it is for a 90mm not a 35 so the wrong frame lines come up in the viewfinder. I am sending mine to Tamarkin Camera in Chicago in return for a 35mm one. It will be fun to be able to see the frame lines correctly for once.

This lens has a very nice vignette to it as you can see in the image above. It’s like a piece of jewelry all cleaned up. What a gem! I was curious to see how the color would be an I was pleasantly surprised at the images I got.

Dinghy's — Dinghy’s at the Gloucester Maritime Center

The black and white conversions were outstanding as well meaning that the contrast was top notch. I found very little wrong with the results they were outstanding.

Finding compositions over at the Maritime Center is a breeze as they are everywhere. I just loved poking around the old hulls etc. The combination of this little lens and camera brought me back to the old days of shooting with my Leica M3 with this lens. I can’t wait to shoot some film with that combination later on this summer it should be fun. Below is a video I did on this little project.

Mistakes can be Frustrating – Pay attention to detail!

November 5, 2019 by Kirk

A couple of weeks ago I gave two women a morning tour in Rockport and Gloucester. We were able to come up with some outstanding images and at least two I’m really proud of. I can also say that both participants also made some outstanding images. Truly a great tour. All that being said – I am very frustrated at an image we waited 30 minutes for. The tide was on it’s way in and was not quite filling the tidal pools like we wanted. So we waited! I had my composition set but ready to move if the water did not pan out like I thought it would. No worries we were ready! Then it happened – a couple of rogue waves came in and almost got us but did just what we were looking for. I was very excited for everyone as the water finally did what we wanted it to do. I did not see the glaring error until I got home and processed the images from the day.

Waves filling tides pools on the back shore of Gloucester, MA — Waves along the back shore in Gloucester fill tidal pools in the rocks.

Everything was on target, the soft swirls in the bubbles, water flowing nicely over the rocks, everything is pin sharp – just beautiful! And then I saw it, the Twin Lights of Thacher’s Island are not centered in between the two rocks at the top of the frame. Yikes how could I miss that! Well – by not paying attention to detail is how. I was concentrating so much on the foreground I ignored where the two lighthouses were. I remember thinking about it but they were so small on the LCD I did not see where they were. Uggggh! Lesson learned, make sure all your elements are in the right place. I should have been a couple of feet to my right and both lighthouses would have been totally visible.