1/350s | f/13 | ISO100 | 16mm | Tripod

The Duke of Lancaster is a passenger ship that operated in Europe from 1956 to 1979 and is currently beached near Mostyn Docks, on the River Dee, north-east Wales. The ship now looks derelict and its future is uncertain.

I originally took three bracketed shots and created a High Dynamic Range (HDR) image (this can be seen here). It was quite popular on Flick and received many favourable comments but I have to admit that I am not a great fan of HDR imagery and it didn’t really give me any great pride.

I have now re-processed the ‘middle’ bracketed shot with Lightroom 4. It is obviously not as ‘in your face’ as the HDR version but I think it is better for it and a more relaxing image as a result.

Some of you may remember watching Lord Litchfield or David Bailey as they took their iconic photographs. The cost of film in their large format cameras was just too much to waste and so they always took a pre-shot using a polaroid instant camera – just to make sure that the shot ‘worked’ before committing to using their precious film.

In a similar manner, even though a digital shot is ‘free’, setting up a tripod, choosing the right lens and picking the correct filters all takes valuable time that is wasted if the end result just doesn’t look right. Most of us now have an instant camera in our pockets all the time - our mobile phone.

Use it to take a pre-shot before even getting your ‘proper’ camera our of its bag. Strangely, seeing the scene on screen gives a far better impression of how the resulting image will look than viewing it through a viewfinder. Try it and see.

1/30s | f/16 | ISO100 | 10mm | Hand-held

The weather was certainly kind to us on our final morning in south Wales and so we called in to Newport beach, Pembrokshire.

1/45s | f/16 | ISO100 | 100mm | Hand-held

A parting shot - a candid shot of Mrs H and our two dogs.

1/30s | f/14 | ISO100 | 70mm | Tripod

On the way home from our recent trip to Abercastle we stopped at one of our favourite little beaches in Wales - at Newport in Pembrokeshire (just north of Fishguard). This reminded me of an image I took  back in 2008 when I had just converted to digital. We were again having a few days away and we visited the beach at dusk. I set my camera on the tripod to catch the sunset and then I noticed a kayaker heading for the shore. I was actually waiting for him to get out of the shot but then realised that he was actually MAKING the shot.

A few moments later I captured this shot as well, one I like to call “three men in a boat”.

 1/60s | f/13 | ISO800 | 300mm | Tripod

30s | f/16 | ISO100 | 18mm | Tripod

An interesting and unique feature of Carreg Cennen castle can be found by descending a small set of stone steps. A limestone cave created by a natural fissure in the bedrock stretches along the length of the castle. There are no lights and so a torch is essential. These can be hired from the castle’ cafe but I had taken a small head torch with me. Not only to see where I was going but also to help the camera’s auto-focus – which is inoperable in the dark - and to add extra detail to the image by shining it around the walls of the cave during the 30 second exposure.

There is just one way in and out of the cave and the passageway is also photogenic.

 2s | f/8 | ISO100 | 28mm | Tripod

1/60s | f/16 | ISO100 | 12mm| Tripod

On our way to Abercastle we stopped off at Carreg Cennen castle, near Llandeilo in Carmartheshire. Allegedly, the Castle came to be privately owned due to a legal discrepancy when the adjoining farm was bought from the Cawdor Estate in the early 1960′s and the land purchased included that on which the Castle stands. On realisation of their mistake the Cawdor Estate tried to buy the castle back for £100 – the offer was,  of course. refused.

High on a hill. the castle commands great views of the surrounding countryside.

1/180s | f/11 | ISO100 | 20mm | Hand-held | Fill-in flash

1s | f/16 | ISO100 | 20mm | Tripod

It was time for a few days away and so we chose one of our favourite destinations – South-West Wales. We found a lovely dog-friendly B&B, Garn Isaf, situated in the small harbour of Abercastle, Pembrokeshire.  Run by Anne, this was a fantastic base and certainly one that we will visit again  – and the huge breakfast was great fuel for the day.

At the end of day one, after dinner at a local hostelry, we returned to a beautiful sunset – a bit of a surprise after a period of cloud and rain. With the B&B literally a minutes walk from the sea I couldn’t resist grabbing the camera and tripod to capture the scene.

With Perfect Layers you can:

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The great news is that currently you can get this software FREE directly from onOne.

Just click the link here, fill in some contact details and you will receive an e-mail with the download link. Not only that, but you also get a free copy of Perfect Effects.

I’m not sure how long this offer will last but remember, you heard it here first.

On this occasion I was staying in Whitby, North Yorkshire (a regular trip over the past 12 months) and so took the famous 199 steps up towards Whitby Abbey. Just before the abbey is St. Mary’s Churchyard and I took a slight detour to check out the view from the clifftop. It was a November morning and the town was just awakening. I had my Lumix LX3 compact camera and Gorillapod with me so I attached it to the railings and took this shot.

 3.2s | f/8.0 | ISO100 | 6mm | Gorillapod

The other day, as I trawled though my list of hundreds of bookmarked sites, I revisited. I noticed that he had now added a blog. I perused down the entries but it was the one dated 6th December 2011 that caught my eye. He now has no camera, apparently having to sell it in order to live. Not only that but he had lost his health, family, girlfriend, friends and seemingly every other worldly possession apart from his dog. It was a sad read.

Until I got to the end. Somehow, he has convinced himself that if he had £8000 to spend on photography gear then everything would be alright. If you think that sending money to him is a good idea and will solve all his problems then there is a Paypal option on his blog. Me? – I’m not so sure.