Unit 208 -Theme 1 -Tom Mackie ,Landscape photographer.

Tom Mackie has been a photographer nearly all of his working life . Tom has a degree in commercial photography and spent his first five years in Los Angeles working in industry and architecture , during this time Tom spent some time traveling the western states where he produced many panoramic photographs . This made Tom decide that commercial studio work was not for him . Realizing that landscape photography was what he now wanted to pursue Tom Mackie moved to the United Kingdom in 1985and continued with full time landscape photography . Tom worked with digital , panoramic and large format equipment, Toms use of light and bold colors is what he is best known for . Tom has won accolades from the British institute of professional photographers , Ilford awards and business calender awards .Tom Mackie has published two books - Tom Mackies landscape photography secrets and Digital SLR experts : Landscapes  ,this latest book is a collaboration with four other professional photographers . Tom Mackie has also written articles for photography magazines and lectures to other professional and holds workshops in UK and abroad .
                                                                        

My misty morning.

In Tom's shot he has good composition in a clear defined area, with shape and pattern in the trees , texture in the grass, contours in the mountain range and the rule of thirds applies horizontally .I like my shot ,the clarity of the detail in the mid-ground ,even the blurred barbed wire in the fore-ground and the softness of the morning mist. I knew if I went to this area at this time of year and the time of the morning I hoped I would achieve this . 

Mysterious.

In Tom's shot he has achieved color,shape and form ,texture in the leaves and the Fly Agaric  with good composition with the subject nestled in the fallen leaves . In my shot I needed to open the shutter a little more to let more light in or use a reflector. I chose this area for this image as it is well known for a wide range fungus .

Soft Sunset.

Tom's sunset has , tonal ranges of color ,the mist encourages more shape and lines in the  hills with the trees in the central view point and texture in the fields in the fore-ground . My shot needed more control in the settings with the shutter being closed a little more to allow a little less light entering the camera and a tripod. This shot was taken looking across the valley near Ashbourne.

In the photo Tom has taken there is more light ,shape and texture this makes the colors more vibrant in this shot. I took this shot trying to achieve the same as Tom's ,my image lacks light which would make the colors probably as vibrant ,so if I return back to shot this image again I would wait for the sun to reach it ,or shoot elsewhere to achieve .               

There is lots of either light or refection seen here in this shot with texture of the stone peering through the movement of  rushing water.

Tom's shot above has texture,lines and pattern in the grass  and color in the reflection of the water. The image above left hasn't quite the same effect if I had moved back a little and caught the grasses in the water.

 

I love the color ,shape and form in the leaves in this image.above.

I tried to recreate Tom's shot ,although tom has again more light in his photo the idea was there ,his shot also contains texture and form . Timing and sun light would have improved my shot.

Again Tom has texture in the leaf litter good composition and form , the colors are exact with a hint of extra light there is shape and lines in the fungus .

  When I went out to take my images I always had someone with me for heath and safety reasons I kept to paths or asked permission to enter on private land always watching footings and position of tripod.In my camera bag as well as my camera (finepix s5600 ), a lens cloth ,set of spare batteries ,extra empty xD cards, tripod , brolly  in-case of rain , lose change and a fully charged phone .