Abandoned - Natural Light (write up)

As the weather turned for the worst during the project, I thought I could use it to my advantage for the “natural light” side of the brief.
A couple of friends and I took a random drive to Croft Hill which is situated in Leicester, my hometown (therefore I had no planning for this shoot as it was entirely spontaneous, along with the weather). It’s a well-known hill for sledging when it’s snowing, and the view is absolutely beautiful – though, at the bottom of the hill is a large, derelict quarry, which on an average day looks ghastly. However, as it snowed the deserted quarry looked completely breath taking. Luckily, the time worked to our advantage and as it stopped snowing whilst I was shooting, the sun also started to set. As the sun went down, I took photos of my friends on the top of the hill with the sun setting behind them, painting beautiful silhouette figures. The natural light of the sun going down brings a warm feeling to the cold exterior of the snowy location. I kept the ISO low again to begin with whilst the sun was high, then raised it slightly as the sun was setting as I didn’t want to ruin the scene with my in-built flash. These select photos are possibly my favourite photos from my portfolio, as I think the contrast of the snow with the sun set works exquisitely.
To mix up the section, I’ve also added a couple of photos that I took whilst I was in Cornwall. I go Cornwall regularly due to relatives, whilst also taking summers there working. Again whilst the sun was setting, I shot a couple of photos of a quiet, deserted beach in Holywell Bay. With not a soul in sight, I had the entire beach to work with creating some similar silhouette images like my Croft Hill snow photos. With two rocks planted in the middle of the sea, the sun was setting behind them creating a silhouette figure. I think the photos are relevant to the brief being “natural light”, and the almost abandoned beach fits equally well. I really enjoy silhouettes and playing with natural light, along with aperture. They’re my most favoured and well skilled techniques, and I use them regularly shooting. I find composition is essential for light within photography and it’s a must to know the dos and donts.