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This blog is where I share stories behind the images, thoughts on the creative process, and insights into the gear and techniques I use.
Whether you're here for inspiration, curiosity, or connection, I hope you find something that resonates. Feel free to explore, comment, and come along for the journey.
An Alternative Vision
Its been a while since my last post and a lot has happened in terms of how I now approach photography. You have probably noticed that the name of my website has changed from 'Kevin Langan Landscape Photography' to 'Kevin Langan Photography'. You also probably noticed that the photographs that I have been taking recently are not primarily of landscapes, but of cityscapes, portraits, still life and abstract forms. The change in my photography came about during my trip to Asia last year, where I visited Shanghai and Beijing in China, and Taipei in Taiwan. For the first time since I started the website I began taking photographs of urban environments with the inclusion of people. Some of the photos were even pure portraits of people. My style of shooting also changed on this trip. Up until then the majority of my landscape photographs were shot using a tripod in a very calculated and controlled manner. In Asia a lot of my photographs were shot hand-held apart from some long exposures and the night photographs I took of buildings.
My most recent photographs have been mostly shot hand-held using a 50mm lens. I really enjoy using a prime lens to create images. I love its limitations and the fact that you have to use your legs to help frame the subject. The other reason I love it is because of it is a fast lens (f/1.4), allowing me to shoot my subject using a very shallow depth-of-filed if necessary. Most of my landscape work has been shoot at f/8 or above, where as my most recent work has been shoot at f/4 or below. Of course there are no fixed apertures for photography. Aperture settings are a tool the photographer uses to control the amount of perceived focus in a photo, and have a very direct impact in how the image is interpreted. For me, I love the way light and form gets abstracted using wide apertures. What may have been a banal image can get transformed into something magical using shallow focus.
I would like to digress here and talk a little about my influences. As an Fine Art student who mixed it up between painting and photography my influences were diverse to say the least. As a painter I would have been influenced by artists such as Richard Diebenkorn, Willem de Kooning, Hans Hofmann, Franz Kline, Mark Rothko, Robert Motherwell, Paul Klee, Edward Hopper and many more. For those of you who are unfamiliar with these name, most of these artists were abstract painters, apart from Hopper whose work was representational. As a photographer, again the list of influences is long and diverse. Photographers such as, Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Dorothea Lang, William Eggleston, Ernst Haas, Steve McCurry, Paul Seawright, Paul Graham, Nan Goldin to name but a few. Despite it being fourteen years since I left art school, all these influenced have remained and are starting once again to influence how I take photographs. I also have discovered new photographers that I like, such as Michael Kenna, Bruce Percy, Fred Herzog, Wynn Bullock and Saul Leiter.
To finish this rather long blog post, I would like to say that my photograph will continue to grow and develop, and to be honest I'm not entirely sure what direction it will go. All I do know is that I will continue to take photographs of things that interest me and i hope interest you as well.
Until next time, have a good one.
Kevin
Chinese Warior, Great Wall of China, Mutianyu
I came across this interesting character at the Great Wall of China in Mutianyu...As you can see he's dressed up as an ancient warrior protecting the wall from raiding Mongolian tribes! He make a living charging tourists, like myself a small fee to take his picture..I haggled him down from 10 Yuan (€1.20) to 5 yuan (60 cent)...Expensive racket this photography!
Trip to China - 2013
Just back from a trip China and Taiwan..This is the first image processed from the trip. It is an image of the impressive Pudong skyline in Shanghai, with it iconic Oriental Pearl Tower on the left...Lot more to come..keep tuned!
Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM Lens for Sale
Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM Lens for Sale
I have a used Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM Lens for sale. The lens was originally bought for a Canon 50D but since I have upgraded to a Canon 5D III this lens won't fit my new camera.
The lens is in excellent condition and has only been in use for two years. The image quality of the lens is excellent, it has fast focus at every focal length, it is easy to zoom, and it has a very useful zoom range for a variety of subjects, including landscape and portrait photography. It also has image stabilization which stabilizes the camera up to three stops.
The lens has a Hoya Pro 1 Digital UV filter attached since I bought the lens, so the front element is as good as the day I bought it. I will also throw in a Canon EW-73B lens hood, an accessory I bought to protects the lens against lens flare and accidental mishaps.
The price of the lens is €240.00
Retailing price: €589.99 - www.connscameras.ie
If interest contact me at: [email protected] Tel: 087 6722325
Christmas Exhibition at Tarbert Community Centre, County Kerry - Dec 8th - 6 to 10pm
I am having an exhibition/sale of work at Tarbert Community Centre in County Kerry this Saturday from 6 to 10pm. I will have a wide variety of prints for sale from my collection. Some of the work will be framed, while all the other work will be presented in cellophane wrapped mounted prints. Hope to see you there!
Inisheer: My Aran Island Adventure
Recently I took my first trip to the Aran Islands after visiting north Clare to photograph the Burren. Having decided on visiting Inisheer (Inis Oírr, meaning 'east island') the smallest of the three islands, I set sail aboard the 'Happy Hooker', a boat owned by the Garrihy family, who have been running trips to the Aran islands since 2000.
The landscape of Inisheer is the same as the Burren in County Clare. Karst limestone is the bedrock that forms the island. The limestone dates from the Visean period, formed as sediment in a tropical sea some 350 million years ago. Through later tectonic forces, this terrain was later raised above sea-level where it was sculpted by the elements including numerous ice ages. The island is roughly 3km by 3km wide, with small hills and intricate little valleys easily covered by bike or on foot. It has a population of 250 and is one of the strongest Gaeltacht areas in Ireland.
Inisheer Ruin
The Plassy
The Plassey was a steam trawler beached on the island in 1960. It was built in 1940 and named HMT Juliet in 1941. She was renamed Peterjon in 1947 and converted to a cargo vessel. In 1951 she was bought by the Limerick Steamship company and named the Plassey. On the 8 March 1960, she was caught in a severe storm while crossing Galway bay and ran aground on Finnis Rock, Inisheer. All eleven crew were rescued by locals, but the Plassey would never sail again after being washed ashore after a second storm hit the island several weeks later. If you are familiar with the television comedy series 'Father ted', you will get a glimpse of the Plassey wreck in the opening credits.
From my research I knew the wreck would be best photographed in the early morning light, with the sun illuminating the starboard side of the ship. As I arrived at the wreck I could see that conditions were perfect for photography. The sun had emerging from behing the clouds and it lit up the Plassey life a spotlight. I explored the wreck from every angle and made several exposures.
Inisheer Horse
Having photographed the Plassy for some time I set off again towards the lighthouse, stopping off on the way to take photos of sheep and horses encased in the majestic limestone walls that are ever-present on the island. Away from the shoreline the landscape of Inisheer is dominated by limestone. Every scrap of land is divided up into tiny plots of varying degrees of vegetation. What greenery there is has been hard earned over the years as generations of farmers mixed seaweed and sand on top of rocks to create fertile soil.
Sheep, Inisheer
O'Brien's Castle
After exploring the east side of the island I headed inland to visit O'Brien Castle, a 14th century castle that sits inside a prehistoric ring fort on the highest point on the island. During the Medieval period, the Aran Islands were strategic in controlling Galway Bay. From as early as the 13th century, there are records of payement's of large amounts of wine by Galway City to the O'Brien clan to keep the shipping route free from piracy.
Inisheer Currachs
Having explored O'Brien's Castle for some time, I headed towards the north shore, to the small but beautiful white sandy beach facing clear crystal turquoise water. The beach is used by locals to bathe and is a good place to launch a currach. The currach is a traditional Irish vessel constructed of a wooden frame, over which animal skin or hides were once stretched. Today currach's are covered in canvas or calico and painted with tar to make them waterproof.
As I made my way from the beach towards the pier I got the alluring waft of burgers in the air. As I approached the proprietor of the burger shack I was amazed to hear an American accent asking if ' I would I like ketchup with that'. I'm sorry I didn't pry into the circumstances why she ended up selling burgers on Inisheer, but on reflection I can see the attraction.
Inisheer Lighthouse
As I waited for my boat back to the mainland, I contemplated what it must have been like to live on the island in old days, when survival depended on the sea and what little produce the islanders could harvest from this soil starved land. It must have been a hard life, isolated in the middle of Galway Bay, subject to all manner of weather, dependent on their resourcefulness for life itself. The great writer J.M. Synge visited the Aran Islands in 1898 for the first time, and would return for five consecutive summers, collecting stories and folklore for his first serious work, "The Aran Islands". It is a reflection of the lives of the Islanders that will give you a great insight into life on the Island in the late 19th century and early 20th century, one that puts my speculation into perspective.
Long Exposure Calculator
Long Exposure Calculator
Download your free lang exposure calculator by clicking on the link below...Very handy in the field when you are using your ND filters to create those dreamy landscape images!
Iceland - A Photographers Dream
Recently I had the pleasure of visiting Iceland, a land that has intrigued me for a number of years now, with its volatile volcanoes and glacial-shaped landscape. Accompanied by two close friends, our trip to Iceland lasted ten days in all, covering over 3,500 km, on a journey that took across the south coast of Iceland. On the way we encountered huge waterfalls, beautiful snow capped mountains, powerful glaciers, iceberg filled lagoons, black sandy beaches, a myriad of birdlife, volcanoes, geyser's, and a landscape reminiscent of the moon.
Route 1, Iceland
Jökulsárlón and Surrounding Area
Having driven over five hours due east from Rykjavik, we landed at our accommodation for the first leg of our journey, Guesthouse Hali. Situated just ten minutes from a spectacular Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon, Guesthouse Hali proved to be an ideal location to base ourselves as we explored the lagoon and the surrounding area.
Jökulsárlón is a large glacial lagoon situated at the head of the Breiðamerkurjökull (jökull is glacier in Icelandic). Its very existence was caused by the receding glacier that once stretched to the ring road (Route 1), but now lies approximately 1.5 km away from the oceans edge. It is also the deepest lake in Iceland at 248 meters.
Jökulsárlón Glacial Lagoon
I'm sure the first sight of Jökulsárlón has the same effect on everyone else as I did on us. Catching a glimpse of the lagoon in our peripheral vision as we drove along Route 1, we instantly hit the brakes and pulled in off the road to gape, with mouths open at the surreal sight before our eyes. Never before have I come across a natural spectacle of such beauty, enormity and might. To top things off as soon as we arrived conditions for photography were perfect. With a spectacular snow capped mountain backdrop, low-lying clouds, and a surreal foreground full of huge floating pieces of ice, it was hard not to produce good photographs. Having stayed there for some time exploring the lagoon from a variety of angles, we eventually dragged ourselves away to check-in to our new digs before making a return later that night.
Jökulsá Beach
Over the three days we stayed in the area, I made four more visits to the lagoon to photograph the floating icebergs under different lighting conditions. Early morning and late evening gave the greatest rewards in terms of light, but also allowed me to experience the lagoon undisturbed, with little distraction apart from the odd Skua and seal.
I also spent some time on the beach at the outlet of the lagoon, photographing the broken pieces of icebergs washed up on the shore. The black sandy beach created a good contrast against the ice white of the icebergs. The dynamic there was a lot different from the lagoon area. There was a constant conveyor belt of ice coming from the lake, which was being battered by ocean waves as they makes its way out of the inlet. These large pieces of ice would eventually be washed up on shore and strewn all along the beach. There were a lot of seals in this area, waiting for fish as they entered and exited the lagoon. Seals have a stress free like there. With no predators around to eat them, they have easy pickings of the ample fish the lake.
Jökulsárlón is one place I don’t think I could ever grow tired of. It is a wild and wonderful place, full of natural beauty and dynamism. Luckily for us the time we spent there we were blessed with favorable weather conditions, which greatly added to our experience. Jökulsárlón had a profound affect on my travelling companions and me, and It is one place we won't forget in a hurry.
Skaftafell National Park
From our base near the glacial lagoon, we took a day trip to the ‘Skaftafell Ntaional Park’ to explore the Svartifoss waterfall, the Skaftafellsjökull glacier, and the surrounding area.
Svartifoss Waterfall Skaftafell
The Skaftafell National Park has many trails that can be taken to explore the surrounding landscape. Our first hike was to the ‘Svartifoss’ waterfall, a spectacular waterfall surrounded by hexagonal basalt columns. These hexagonal columns were formed inside a lava flow that cooled slowly giving rise to crystallization. The waterfall is well known in Iceland and is a popular destination for photographers and tourists alike. Having experienced the fall for some time, and having taken many photographs, we then hiked for a few kilometers to a high vantage point overlooking the Skaftafellsjökull glacier. The views from this vantage point were amazing, with a panoramic view of the glacial valley below and the impressive backdrop of the Hafrafell mountains in the distance.
Svínafellsjökull Glacier
Our Skaftafell adventure also took us to the edge of the Svínafellsjökull glacier, which is a short distance to the east of the Skaftafellsjökull glacier. A memorial plaque to two German men lost on the glacier greets you at the end of the dirt road leading to the glacier, a stark reminder of what can go in environments like this.
Vík and Surrounding Area
After three days based near Jökulsárlón we moved camp to a village called Vík about two hours west of Jökulsárlón. Situated on the southernmost part of Iceland, Vík is the largest settlement for some 70 km. Despite its small size (291 inhabitants) it is an important service center for inhabitants in the surrounding area and visitors alike.
Vík is a great base to explore the coast around Dyrhólaey and Reynisfjara. On our first night in Vík we drove to Dyrhólaey, a small peninsula 10k west of Vík to photograph the lighthouse, the large puffin colony, the impressive sea arch, and the dramatic views from on both sides of this impressive promontory.
Nesting Puffins, Dyrhólaey
Reynisfjara beach also had a lot to offer. Immediately offshore are sea stacks of Reynisdrangur projecting out of the sea like giant stalagmites. The cliffs along the beach feature stacks of basalt columns, caves and plenty of bird life. Puffins nest in these cliffs, and I had to duck a few time to avoid them hitting me as they made their way out to sea to fell their bellies.
Vestmannaeyjar
On our fifth day in Iceland we took a ferryboat to Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands), an archipelago off the south coast of Iceland. The islands are named after the Irish (Westmen) who were captured into slavery by the Norse Gaels. As the story goes, shortly after Ingölfur Arnarson arrived in Iceland, his brother Hjörleifur was murdrred by the Irish slaves he had brought with him. The Irish slaves then fled to Heimaey, but Ingolfur hunted them down and killed them all.
The area around Vestmannaeyjar is volcanically active, with two major eruptions in the 20th century. The eruption in 1963 created the new island of Surtsey, and the Eldfell eruption on Heimaey in 1973 created a 200m high mountain where a meadow had been, and the temporary evacuation of the towns 5000 inhabitants. Heimaey is the only inhabited island with a current population of 4,135, with most of the people living off fishing. It is densely populated with over four thousand people living on 13.4 km² of land.
Eldfell
Having spent the day on the island exploring the sights, Eldfell was the highlight for me. Not only the fact that a recent eruption had occurred here, but the landscape is totally surreal, with colours straight out of a science fiction movie.
Þórsmörk Glacial Valley
Pórsmörk or more commonly called Thórsmörk, named after the mighty pagan God Thor, is a natural oasis that lies behind the now fameous Eyjafjallajökul volcano which erupted in 2010 (the one that stopped all the air traffic).
Pórsmörk is only accessible by 4X4 on a dirt track, F249. To get to the land behind the glaciers you have to cross numerous un-bridged glacial streams, some of which are quiet deep and with strong currents. The valley itself is beautiful, with weird rock formations, ice-capped mountain on either side, and icy streams running all along the valley floor.
Having crossed many glacial streams we finally made it to our destination Basar, a very scenic area about 30 km inland from the ring road. From there we hiked up Mt Réttarfell, a 509m high mountain with fabulous views of the valley below as well as the surrounding mountains. The climb itself was a bit hairy in places, but the view from the summit was well worth the risk.
Mt Réttarfell, Pórsmörk
On the way back, the glacial streams we crossed earlier with ease, had grown in size due to the melt waters flowing from the surrounding mountains. Luckily for us they were passable with our Suzuki Grand Vitara, which proved to be a good mode of transport both on and off road. The glacial rivers of Pórsmörk can be a unpredictable and the fords change constantly as the day progresses.
Gullfoss and Geysir
The last leg of our journey took us to two of the most popular tourist attractions in the country, Gullfoss (Golden Falls), and Geysir (spouting hot spring), which form’s part of the Golden Circle including Pingvellir National Park.
Although these attractions are generally thronged with tourists, given their close proximity to Rykjavik, they are well worth the visit. Our first stop was at Geysir. Geysir, sometimes called 'The Great Geysir', was the first geysir known to modern Europeans, and the first to be described in a printed source. Despite its celebrity, Geysir eruptions are infrequent, relying on its neighbor Strokkur to put on a more frequent show for visitors. Watching these hot water explosions shoot up into the air is mesmerizing. One waits in excited anticipation for the next violent eruption of hot water, which can shoot up to 40m in the air.
Next up was the magnificent Gullfoss, Iceland’s most famous waterfall. Gullfoss is a double cascade, dropping 32 meters, kicking up a sheer wall of spray before thundering down a narrow ravine.
Gullfoss
Gullfoss is the largest most beautiful waterfall I had seen in Iceland, and believe me, there were many. This spectacular waterfall must be the most photographed natural phenomenon on the island, with good reason. Its scale, power, and beauty are enough to transfix one into a giddy state of excitement, as one searches for the best vantage points to view the falls. Despite how busy the place became while we were there, it didn't take from the experience. Every now and again us loner landscape photographers like to make contact with our own species, even if it is only for a short time.
In Conclusion
Iceland is a magical country. Its allure is obvious to anyone who has interest in the natural environment and is a Mecca for landscape photographers. The landscape is vast, varied, rugged, beautiful and alive. Every turn you make, there is a view more impressive than the last. Beautiful waterfall's are around every bend, huge ice-capped mountains dominate the skyline, volatile raging rivers crisscross the landscape, geyser's and hot springs bubble with energy, and the threat of a volcanic eruption is ever-present. Iceland is truly a land of fire and ice, a land that seem more alive than any I have visited.
My time in Iceland will remain long in the memory. Its had a profound effect on me, enough to make me want to return to capture more of what this wonderful country has to offer.
Two New Courses to improve your Photography
I have just launched two new courses for those of you interested in photography...The first course is designed for beginners who own a digital camera, whether its a compact camera or a DSLR, and would like to get more familiar with how it works. This course is designed to suit the clients needs, and is tailored entirely to suit them...The second course is a One-on-One Landscape Photography Workshop...The setting for the workshop is the beautiful Dingle Peninsula...I will take you to some of my favorite places on the peninsula, teaching you all I know about the practice of landscape photography..You will also receive instruction on how to post-process your photos in a private space at the beautiful Blacket Centre in Dún Chaoin...Click on the link below for more details...Just click on the "workshop" link at the top of the page to find out more.
Digital Sharpening Using Lightroom & Photoshop
Check out my latest tutorial on how I approach sharpening my images in Lightroom and Photoshop!
http://www.kevinlangan.ie/sharpening
