thoughts | Jenny Cameron

Experiment with Haida Circular Polariser on Animal fur.

Since Covid-19 hit the UK in March this year and not being able to travel the same I’ve been thoroughly enjoying more animal portrait photography.

However, I’m constantly faced with issues of blown-out highlights on the animal’s fur. It recently occurred to me that it may be possible to utilise my landscape photography skills with the use of a circular polariser. For some unknown reason its something I’ve never thought about and instantly heightened my curiosity. It was now time to put my theory into practice.

To see the results take a peek at this video where I use the Haida M10 “drop-in” Circular Polariser.

Screen captures of raw files (straight-out-of-camera) for demonstration purposes with/without filter & final edit in Lightroom Classic.

Showing blown out highlights & weak histogram without a filter

Histogram showing much more detail with the filter on & same camera settings as with no filter.

Final edit in Lightroom Classic.

Techy info

Both images using Canon 5d mark iv, Canon 70-200mm F2.8 (ii) lens @70mm, ISO100, F4.5, 1/350.

To conclude-

For a more in-depth review & explanation of the Haida M10 “drop-in” CPL please take a look here . Also a video demonstration of me using the filter in the Haida M10 filter holder, watch here how easy it is..

All Haida filters are assembled in their own optical workshop located in the beautiful Port City of Ningbo, China. To view their official website please click here or alternately view their Facebook Page here.

I hope you found this useful & enjoyable?
If you would like to see more of my work;
YouPic Facebook, Viewbug, Instagram.

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Earth Wind & Fire book by Jenny Cameron

The waiting game is over, Im bursting with excitement & super pleased. My first exclusive landscape photography book published & I couldn’t be prouder.

Stunning hard-back coffee table style book with 106 pages including my fine art landscape photos, story telling of hardships, overcoming obstacles & how art can guide you over the bumpy road.

All books are digitally signed by me & soon to be available for download on Apple books.

Previously I offered to the first 50 pre-ordered copies a personalised hand inscription/signed by me. This offer has now ended today & not available.

If you would like to purchase a book please contact me either by e-mail @ jennycameron121@gmail.com or alternatively via Facebook Messenger.

YouPic review 2020 by Jenny Cameron

Are you tired of all the usual social media platforms? Does it feel like climbing Mount Everest when all you want is to create beautiful images?

I very much have a love hate relationship with social media & often find it mentally exhausting, although on the flip side if I stay away I have a fear of missing out. Certain sites such as Facebook & ViewBug I do very well on but others such as Instagram & 500px are polar opposites. Recently I’ve discovered this whole welcoming community at YouPic it no longer feels a chore, no crazy emotions, for once I’m actually enjoying the experience & quite frankly a breath of fresh air. There’s a real sense of community spirit- interaction/discussions with fellow photographers rather than worthless one word comments usually from folks feeding their own egos for personal gain. It feels more organic, like you’re talking to another human rather than a robot. Most importantly for me as I’m not the most technically minded to say the least, the layout is user friendly & very clean interface.

I stumbled across YouPic several years ago, if my memory recalls someone invited me through Facebook. I joined the site but didn’t really put much time into it & quite honestly forgot about it. February this year an online article grabbed my attention which brought me back to the site. First thing I noticed was the community, everyone so friendly like they welcome newbies with open arms, none of the “if you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours” like some sites I won’t mention but we all know who I mean? Genuine interaction between everyone whether beginners or advanced professionals with no judgement whatsoever in all genres including those who aren’t necessarily in the spotlights of Instagram, Facebook, & such like. And here I’ve been ever since, posting regularly, thoroughly enjoying the experience, feels like my new home, it’s opened up a whole new world & already made some lovely friends.

This platform is like no other I’ve seen, there’s so much content I’m not sure where to begin. Let me show you some screen shots from my YouPic account.

Showcase your photos in high resolution- Go ahead you pixel peepers, zoom right in those deep dark shadows & enjoy the satisfying detail.

Academy- Explore the interactive courses available in all genres of photography including video tutorials & interviews.

Famous names- I was happily surprised to see a few famous names on YouPic including Steve McCurry, David Yarrow, Joel Meyerowitz & Adam Hinton.

Albums & Collections- For those of you nerds who love nothing more than organisation. Create your very own portfolio. See image below.

Shop- Sell your prints in the shop. YouPic allows you to keep all the rights to your work. “You” decided what price “you” want & get to keep any profits as YouPic has a zero % commission rate. Click here

Create a website- Using the YouPic website builder, including one custom domain name for your site or add your own. A choice of different themes to chose from. If you enjoy writing, create a blog post. Also connect your social media channels.

Workshops– Advertise your workshop or find one you may like to attend.

Statistics- View your personal statistics enabling you to watch your growth & abilities. You even have a personal score for your best photos. Don’t worry this is for your eyes only, nobody else will be able to see it.

Awards- YouPic award your achievements for different things such as popular photos-award require you having 500 shares. You can see in below image my awards so far.

Sharing is caring- Share other peoples photos, discussion, gain followers, follow others, receive daily stars from the inspiration flow personally chosen by the YouPic team & community, in other words real human beings not robots. Receive and give detailed feedback based on composition, technical quality, creativity and content as seen below. By the way, I believe this is one great way of learning too!

Support each other – Learn which photos resonate with others. What you think may be your worst work is inspirational to others & vice versa.

Exif data– Show or hide the choice is all yours.

Advertising- No adverts.

Apps & Plug-ins- YouPic App for Android on Google Play and iOS at the Apple store . Enabling you to show your work wherever you go.

For the ultimate viewing experience, see your photos on the big screen in high resolution there is now a YouPic App available for Apple TV.

Lightroom Plugin– Download available connecting YouPic with Lightroom, making it possible to upload directly from Adobe Lightroom to your YouPic account. For more in depth information click here.

Subscriptions- There are four subscription levels; Free, Enthusiast, Premium & Pro. View here to see which suits you best or simply stay with the free subscription like I did to start with where you can post one photo a day, interact & feel the love from the site.

To conclude- I find YouPic very easy to use, friendly/ inspirational community & best of all a great high resolution viewing platform. It’s free to create an account here & start connecting with others, so what are you waiting for?

I hope you found this blog post useful & enjoyable?

If you would like to see more of my work;

YouPic Facebook, Viewbug, Instagram, My website

The lone tree at Llyn Padarn

This image named “Elemental” was taken last November in the Snowdonia National Park, Wales.

A picture can speak a thousand words, here’s what it says to me.

Over the years I’ve visited Snowdonia national park many times mainly from my hiking & climbing days with my Husband but also my Grandmother’s family are Welsh. As a child we used to get the train from Lancaster to Crewe where we changed to Prestatyn. The family lived in a small village called Dyserth in North Wales which happens to be famous for an impressive waterfall where the family lived at the top of over a hundred years ago but sadly got washed away in floods. My Grandmother & I always stayed at Auntie Ivy’s house then the rest of the local family would come to visit. I always remember the Welsh language being spoken by Uncle Len who happened to be a great local artist but also a bit eccentric. The female family members used to tell him to speak English as it was rude in front of the guests which never failed to amuse me.

What happened behind the camera

Having to share my personal space with others, something I prefer not, although the photographers I met were extremely friendly. One photographer with a lovely Sony A7R iv made me laugh when I really shouldn’t have, you know when you get the giggles at the wrong time? He was saying “how typical that the water was so rippled when he’s seen many images on social media of this location with silky smooth water, how annoying it’s never like that for him”. I looked at another photographer I’d been chatting to, we couldn’t keep our faces straight. We politely explained it’s down to long exposure.

Zen moment

“Make your heart like a lake with a calm, still surface and great depths of kindness.” – Lao Tzu.

Techy stuff

I cant really share my exif data as this image was;

Focus stacked for ultimate sharpness.
Focal blend of foreground, mountains & sky for my visual impact.
Exposure blended for the overall look I wanted to achieve.

Haida Filter M10 round drop in ND 3.0 (10 stop) to smooth the water & clouds.

Post processed in Adobe Creative Cloud & Topaz DeNoise AI

If you would like to see more of my work; Facebook, Viewbug, Instagram & YouPic

Haida filter video tutorial Featured

Haida Filter tutorial from my home in the Scottish Highlands during the COVID-19 lock-down. Sharing my thoughts about filters.

Please note; If using any of the 100mm x 100mm (square) ND filters in M10 filter holder and you don’t wish to use any of the round “drop-in” filters, you must use the M10 “drop-in” light barrier which is simple and easy to use the sealing ring to prevent any light leakage (also provided in the kit).

Haida M10 filter holder system including light- barrier

“As a landscape photographer I have learnt how invaluable a great filter system is to my arsenal of tools. It’s something you can buy a bit at a time to build up your collection, but choosing the correct brand is the tricky part. Thankfully for you I’ve made the mistakes and now ready to share my thoughts from the past twelve months of using the Haida M10 filter holder system for the 100mm filter series. Such a genius method and design.”

Included in the Haida M10 filter holder kit

Filter holder, Circular Polariser, light-barrier, one adapter ring which can be purchased to fit most popular lenses in sizes 49, 52, 55, 58, 62, 67, 72, 77 and 82mm. Housed in a smart black eco-leather zipped storage case, with a handy carabiner attached to the top which can be neatly clipped onto your tripod or belt for ease of access, internally lined with a lovely grey velvety fabric with a net pocket for storage, including a handy screwdriver, extra pair of filter holder slots and gaskets to provide a third slot on the front of the Holder ) which I’ve left on permanently).

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Constructed from aviation grade aluminium and PC materials for super strength and is lighter in weight than its predecessor. Its genius design makes it exceptionally user-friendly, with super fast set up, and effortless to change and remove filters. Simply clip the M10 filter holder onto the M10 adapter ring by using the red push-and-release (spring clip) locking lever (see video & photos below). The innovative design gives a very secure and solid connection, and at the same time the ability to rotate 360 degrees. The non-slip spongued coating on the bottom of the filter holder provides a good grip whilst rotating which I think is a nice touch.

It’s designed to take up to three filters ( 100 x 100mm or 100 x 150mm @ 2mm thickness, compatible with other brands at the same size ) on the front of the holder if you wish to stack, and one filter slot at the rear closest to your camera lens where the new round “drop in” M10 filters are used. Boasting a choice of neutral density filters ( 3, 6, 10 and 15 stops), circular polariser (included in the kit), clear-night (light pollution filter), graduated neutral density filters ( 3 and 4 stops) and ND + CPL ( 3 and 6 stops). But only using one at a time which is the only downside if you like using several ND/s and a CPL together. If you don’t wish to use any of the round “drop- in” filters, you must use the M10 “drop in” light barrier (see photo below) which is a simple and easy to use sealing ring to prevent any light leakage (also provided in the M10 filter holder kit).

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Optional extra filter storage case

During 2019 Haida also released a very useful filter case for their M10 filter series or other branded filters of the same dimensions; either 100x100mm &/or 100x150mm. Holding up to nine filters including Haida M10 filter holder, adapter ring, cleaning cloth & memory cards. This has been with me on my adventures for every shoot, Id truly be lost without it. If you’d like to see more about this case please take a look at my test review showing photos & video here.

All Haida filters are assembled in their own optical workshop located in the beautiful Port City of Ningbo, China. If you’d like to visit their website &/or Facebook .

I hope this provides you some useful information. Please feel free to ask me any questions.

If you would like to see more of my work;
500px, Facebook, Viewbug, Instagram

Glencoe collection

Clansman

Bidean nam bian

Wanderlust

Greetings

Kingshouse

Sona

Euphoria

Spirit

Phoenix

Truly

Eternity

Social Anxiety & how the Hebrides helped me.

A conversation with my inner self about my recent photography adventures and how I needed to disconnect with the world.

Being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018 aged 44 hit me very hard, it’s left me battered and bruised physically and mentally. Id go as far to say the mental scars have been the most diﬃcult. It wasn’t until after my radiotherapy that I was able to go on holiday. It’s taken the whole of 2019 to build up my strength to travel, visit my fav wild areas. My hair has started growing back after losing my long locks from the red devil himself AKA doxorubicin (a chemotherapy ingredient). Still very conscious about my hair, preferring to wear a hat if I can get away with it. Hair envy is deﬃnatly a thing!
Didn’t matter what I looked like on the outside or what my Husband assured me, it was all about how I felt on the inside, almost like what I felt on the inside is what I looked like on the outside if that makes sense?

We planned an extended road trip from our home in the far north of Scotland to the southern tip of England in the county of Cornwall. Spent an enjoyable week in the Snowdonia National Park in Wales. Mountains will always be part of me the world over, however it was too busy from what I’m use to. Having to share my personal space with others, something I prefer not, although the photographers I met were extremely friendly and I enjoyed the bannter. One photographer with a lovely Sony A7R iv made me laugh when I really shouldn’t have, you know when you get the giggles at the wrong time? He was saying “how typical that the water was so rippled when he’s seen many images on social media of this location with silky smooth water, how annoying it’s never like that for him”. I looked at another photographer I’d been chatting to, we couldn’t keep our faces straight. We politely explained it’s down to long exposure.

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We’d planned on visiting south Wales, Devon and Cornwall for photography and meeting friends/family. However, only made it to middle England, hundreds of miles from Cornwall. The busier the traﬃc and population increased my anxiety matched it. I was feeling lost, didn’t recognise myself, felt a freak, afraid, stressed, claustrophobic, panic, the need to escape and runaway. Everyone was staring at me or at least in my head. Really needed the “hell outta this place”. But what about my friends and family I was suppose to visit? Something I’ve been looking forward to. How could I do a runner, how rude? I reminisce on the past twenty months, the biggest lesson was “do what makes you happy “. That was it, decision made, returning north. I felt the need to cut myself off from the world for a while. I craved the feeling of being lost in the landscape being so far away from it all that nothing else matters, not a care in the world, no worries or stress. A place to reﬂect my own thoughts. This crazy world we all live in gets too noisy, we need
time out just being quiet, calm your senses.

Image taken on Isle of Arran Ferry looking back at Ardrossan (mainland). Camera – Samsung Galaxy S9 +

Caught the night ferry to Brodick on the lovely Isle of Arran off the west coast of Scotland. I was actually able to lower my shoulders and breathe. We toured the island for a few days but still didn’t feel myself and quite guarded. It was time to move on, caught another ferry to a different part of mainland Scotland on the Kintyre peninsula. From there we travelled north to my beloved Glencoe. Now, I was really starting to relax, the weather gods were on my side and such a great time of year having the place virtually to ourselves. Glen Etive in all its magniﬁcent glory, stags roaming down the middle of the road. From there we headed further north through the mountains of Kintail to the Isle of Skye. The weather did not disappoint, managed to get a few milky ways, such amazing compositions and sky quality. I know this island like the back of my hand, having spent the past thirty years visiting at least once a year. However, I felt the need to take it one step further.

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Ok, so what happens next? Yup another ferry, almost 2 hrs west to a group of islands called the Outer Hebrides. As soon as the ferry set sail from Uig I felt the darkness within vacate. One thing which hit me on arrival was the amazing huge sky. No interruptions, miles and miles of beautiful warm coloured skies. Instead of feeling dark I would go chase some light which gave me mental freedom and a sense of calmness. A place I could truly get a away from society, off the beaten tracks. Literally pressing the pause button and breathe for a few minutes, it will never fail to ﬁll your heart. Wandering on the white powder beaches with my looney dogs racing in and out of the cold aquamarine sea. Island life set me free, allowed me to feel the wind in my hair, gave me time to reconnect with nature, almost like I became part of the landscape itself, emotions straight from the heart. The weather is bracing which gave me good reason to wear my hat and I didn’t look out of place. It felt raw, real, free spirited and extremely inspiring from the land, sky and sea. Free as a bird, I was now starting to channel my personal feelings through my camera, either mobile phone or DSLR. Island life is slow, takes a few days to adjust and learn to love this new lifestyle. One of the reasons you can’t help but fall in love with these new lands. People have time for each other, driving along the locals will wave to you, be sure to wave back. This year I’ve spent eight weeks in the Outer Hebrides, it’s been my absolute sanctuary and a huge role in my recovery.

Other days were spent watching waves crashing over my camera, was an endless job of shoot and wipe…Great fun though and certainly put my Haida ﬁlters through their paces which never failed to let me down with the ultra thin nano pro coating it was very easy to wipe. Having spent time on several Caribbean islands often twice a year in a different life many years ago where I escaped the madness from my crazy mixed up life, where I would go to rebalance.. I found the Hebrides very similar emotions from the beaches and lifestyle.. Freedom to be whoever you want, not a care in the world, feeling the sea breeze on your face providing the ability to mentally set you free. Not being judged, no stares or looking you up and down as if judging what designer label your wearing or rather not. How well groomed you look. No makeup, simply me being me.The sea washed over the sand leaving it all pristine and clean, like it did for my unbalanced head and emotions.. Cleaned my soul and black thoughts. I was falling in love with this wild corner of Scotland with its energetic seascapes and remote mountains. Literally making me feel alive. Sat in the sea with camera and tripod in December doesn’t sound too appealing but I have to tell you how empowering it feels. Photography is an extremely powerful tool to heal and express yourself. Open your eyes. Discover the solitude and silence it brings, nature will soothe your soul. Don’t make any plans, go with the ﬂow and let the universe lead you as more times out of ten plans never work out. Immerse yourself in the beauty of the moment.

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All images taken with Samsung Galaxy 9 plus.

If you would like to see more of my work;
500px, Facebook, Viewbug, Instagram

Hebridean headspace Featured

Born and raised on the west coast of England but never felt that inner something with seascapes the way mountains affected me.

However…the coastlines of the Hebrides have such a special type of light, it’s very different to mainland, almost purer, more magical with extra sparkles. The skyscapes alone are enough to make an exceptional composition of their own in a hauntingly beautiful manner.

Makes you feel like it’s got you snuggled up in the most ﬂuffy goose down jacket in the coldest of winter. My eyes are peeled, constantly searching for pockets of light, unusual compositions, wildlife focal points, shapes/patterns. The diversity with its hidden coves, brooding skies, windswept moorland, pristine beaches, textures of the machir where orchids are known to grow, narrow twisty turvy roads and interesting mountains, such a feast for the eyes and a way to ﬁne tune my compositional skills.

Highland cows, sheep and wild ponies roam the beaches and roads. Walks become slower the longer you stay. I’ve done all the tourist trap locations and now prefer to ﬁnd my own hidden gems for more heart warming feelings.

When your photographing the same locations and even compositions as everyone else it can soon become unsatisfying and boring. Whereas when I ﬁnd my own beauty spots I can put more emotion into the ﬁnal image, inviting the viewer right into the moment along me. Post processing is more enjoyable as you ﬁnd yourself with more creative licence which is something I do enjoy.

My images helped guide me. Life can be tough with many rocks in the road often leading to a bumpy ride. So, if your feeling gloom and down beat go chase some light, free yourself from the daily grime. Let your emotions rule your actions, don’t follow the rules, make them up yourself, listen to your heart.

Don’t follow the crowds, be who you are.. Be different, unique, your own person, don’t worry what others may think of you. Express your emotions, don’t be afraid of looking like a fool. You’ll probably ﬁnd that most people will admire any faults as it proves your only human, we aren’t perfect.

If you would like to see more of my work;
500px, Facebook, Viewbug, Instagram