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The extraordinary life cycle of the lion’s mane jellyfish

Lion's mane jellyfish, Cyanea capillata, underwater clearly showing tentacles trailing in many directions. Colin Munro Photography

Jellyfish, or sea jellies as they are now often called (clearly they are not fish) are amongst the most ancient of multi-organ animals.  Fossils of jellyfish (or scyphozoans, to give them their scientific name) are found only rarely as they contain no hard structures within their bodies, which are 95% water.  However, under the right conditions fossils of soft bodied creatures will form; current fossil evidence suggests they first evolved at least 500 million years ago.

Lion's mane jellyfish, Cyanea capillata, underwater clearly showing tentacles trailing in many directions. Colin Munro Photography

The lion’s mane jellyfish, Cyanea capillata, is the largest known species. The bell of individuals in colder northern waters can reach two metres across.

The lion’s mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata) common throughout the North Atlantic, epitomises this image of a large, slowly pulsing, gelatinous bell (or medusa) and long trailing tentacles that pack a powerful sting, but this is in fact only one stage of a complex life cycle.  Lion’s mane medusae begin to appear in April or May in the Northern Atlantic, but are quite tiny at that stage.  These jellies are voracious predators and grow rapidly through the summer.  By August the medusae are commonly one third to half a metre across, with trailing tentacles many metres long.  However there is considerable variability;  large specimens have been reported at over two metres across with tentacles up to 37 metres long, though these generally occur within the more northern parts  of their range.  As they grow large in late summer they will often drift, under the influence of wind and tides, in to sheltered bays where they may aggregate in large numbers. This is when sperm is release and egg fertilisation takes place.  In common with most scyphozoans (the taxonomic group to which jellyfish belong) the sexes are separate; lion’s mane jellies are either male or female.  Sperm is released from the mouth of male jellies and drifts in the current, some reaching female jellies, where the eggs are fertilised. Fertilised eggs are stored in the oral tentacles of the female, where thy develop in to tiny planulae larvae. Once fully developed the planulae larvae detach and, after drifting for a short time, settle on the seabed.  Here they metamorphose into a polyp, not dissimilar to tiny sea anemones or coral polyps (both of which are relatives of jellyfish).  These polyps then grow, taking on a layered appearance until they resemble a stack of wavy-edged pancakes.  Each one of these ‘pancake layers’ will then separate from the parent polyp, once again becoming free living and drifting with the currents.  The ‘pancakes’, more properly ephyra larvae, will grow throughout the summer into the giant lion’s mane jellies and the cycle is complete.  With a lifespan on only one year, during which they can grow to be as long (possibly even longer) than blue whale, lion’s mane jellies need to catch and consume considerable amount of prey.  Each trailing tentacle is packed full of vast numbers of stinging cells, known as nematocysts.  When touched these cells fire out a harpoon-like structure which pumps toxins in to the hapless victim (this is what causes the painful sting from jellyfish).  These toxins incapacitate the prey, which is then drawn up towards the mouth of the jellyfish.  A large lion’s mane may have over 1,000 tentacles trailing far behind them.  Many SCUBA divers in Scotland and Scandinavia have experienced the situation where, having completed their dive on a sunken wreck and returned to the buoy line they planned to ascent to the surface, only to look up and see numerous lion’s mane jellies strung out along the line.  As the current sweeps the jellies along so their tentacles catch on the buoy line, leaving the divers with the unpleasant prospect of ascending through thousands of jellyfish tentacles.

A diver warily watches a large lion's mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata) drift past. Isle of Arran, West Scotland.

A diver warily watches a large lion’s mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata) drift past. Isle of Arran, West Scotland.

Not every creature lives in fear of lion’s mane jellies however.  Leatherback turtles, the only species of marine turtle that can tolerate the cold waters these jellies inhabit, consume them with relish, apparently oblivious to the stinging tentacles.  Lion’s mane jellies can make up 80-100% of a leatherback’s diet.  When you consider that a full grown leatherback weighs up to 800kg and may consume up to its own weight in jellyfish daily (bear in mind jellyfish are 95% water) then that equates to pretty large numbers of jellyfish being eaten.

As summer wanes and autumn approaches the lion’s mane jellies begin to die.  This provides a feeding bonanza for many scavengers.  On the surface seabirds will peck away at the gelatinous bell, whilst those that sink are often torn to shreds by shore crabs (Carcinus meanus) and velvet swimming crabs (Necora puber).

Dying lion's mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata) that has sunk to the seabed being eaten by a velvet swimming crab (Necora puber).

Dying lion’s mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata) that has sunk to the seabed being eaten by a velvet swimming crab (Necora puber).

At the other end of the scale these deadly tentacles can provide refuge to some unlikely creatures.  Juvenile whiting (Gadus melangus) have long been known to swim underneath the bell of lion’s mane jellies, apparently unconcerned by the curtain of tentacles they weave between. In fact they have been observed to rush into the mane of tentacles when startled by predators.  A series of fascinating experiments by the Swedish zoologist Erik Dahl in the late 1950s showed that, compared to other fish species, juvenile whiting were able to adapt their movements such that even when surrounded by tentacles they rarely came in to contact with them.  Also, unlike other fish species, when they did brush against them it seemed to cause them little concern. Biopsies of the tissue of whiting where they had contacted tentacles showed that very few if any stinging nematocysts had fired into the fish’s body; this compared to hundreds per square millimetre for other fish species.  We still don’t understand the mechanism behind this protection. So does the lion’s mane get anything in return for the refuge afforded the young whiting?  Well another creature found on lion’s mane jellies is the tiny planktonic amphipod (a type of crustacean) Hyperia galba. Hyperia is, for the jellies, a rather irritating ectoparasite. It lives on the outside of the jellies’ bell, nibbling away at it.  Now whiting don’t appear to like the taste of lion’s mane jellies, instead they are rather partial to planktonic crustaceans; in particular (you’ve guessed this already) Hyperia galba.   It is these elegant little symbiotic collaborations that make nature so beautiful.

These, and many more of my images, can be found at colinmunroimages.com

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ISO setting on digital cameras, what exactly does it do?

ISO setting on digital cameras, what exactly does it do?

This is part of an occasional series looking at the basic controls on a camera. It’s here primarily to supplement, and as a taster for, my beginners photography classes and one-to-one sessions. Some of the controls on a camera are fairly intuitive. Zoom, for example, controls the focal length of the lens and so the degree of magnification of the image (we zoom in, or we zoom out). Shutter speed controls the…er…speed of the shutter; well accurately it controls the duration the shutter is open, and so the amount of light allowed to pass through the shutter and impinge on the sensor, which in turn directly influences how bright or dark the image is. But ISO? Knowling that the acronym stands for International Organisation for Standardation doesn’t help that much either, and yes, I know it should be IOS not ISO (there are reasons but truthfully that would simply be too much of a digression to go there now, ask me after class :)). So if we simply accept that the name, ISO, tells us nothing about what the control actually does – then what does the ISO control on a camera do? Essentially the ISO setting works rather like the amplifier on a radio or CD player; it varies the signal gain to produce a brighter (for higher iSO values) or darker (for lower ISO values) without any changes in the amount of light hitting the sensor. Typically ISO values range from 100 (low) to 3,200 or 6,400 (high) on some cameras. These numbers are derived from film; with film cameras the film had a set sensitivity to light. Film that responeded quickly was termed fast film; film that responded slowly …. you’ve guessed already ..slow film. The film’s sensitivity could not be changed, so once it was loaded into the camera the ISO value of that film was then dialled in using the camera ISO control, allowing the film’s sensitivity to be taken in to account when exposure was evaluated by the camera’s light meter (or it would be dialled in to the meter if a hand held light meter was used). The ISO sensitivity in a digital camera is created very differently to in a film camera, but the same numerical values are used and they approximate closely to the changes in sensitivity to light that occurred in film. Essentially, the steps between each ‘standard’ ISO value represents a doubling or a halving in senstivity, depending on whether one goes up or down. So ISO 200 is twice as sensitive as ISO 100; ISO 400 is twice as senstive as ISO 200, and so on. What does this mean in practical terms? Well, if a particular scene was correctly exposed at a shutter speed of 15th of a second at ISO 100, then (all other settings remaining unchanged) the same scene would still be correctly exposed at 30th of a second at ISO 200 (a shorter time the sensor is exposed to light, but a more sensitive ISO value) it would also be correctly exposed at 60th of a second at ISO 400. Okay, so what would the correct ISO setting be if the shutter speed was changed to 500th of a second?
Hopefully this explains how the ISO values influence image exposure, but why do we want this control? Well there are a few situations where it is useful but the fundamental one is that a higher ISO allows us to use faster shutter speeds. If we go back to my first example, a shutter speed of 15th of a second at ISO 100. A 15th of a second is very slow and likely to produce a blurred image, a) due to the slight shakiness in everyone’s hands and b) as people (or animals, cars etc.) move. By selecting a higher ISO value we can then change to a faster shutter speed where these problems will be greatly reduced (for the sake of simplicity I have not considered aperture values and have assumed they remain unchanged).

 

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Split image (above and below the surface) shots of swimmers

Over under shot of a girl in a blue patterned bikini swimming front crawl in an outdoor pool. The shot is half above and half below the waterline and uses a combination of monochrome, reduced colour saturation and selective colour. Image copyright Colin Munro Photography

I’ve been taking a few split image shots recently, where the image recorded is partly above and partly below the waters’ surface.  These are sometimes termed over under shots, sometimes half anfd half shots.

Over under shot of a girl in a blue patterned bikini swimming front crawl in an outdoor pool.  The shot is half above and half below the waterline and uses a combination of monochrome, reduced colour saturation and selective colour. Image copyright Colin Munro Photography

Over under shot of a girl in a blue patterned bikini swimming front crawl in an outdoor pool. The shot is half above and half below the waterline.

The technique can be quite challenging when working with fast moving subjects. To ensure crisp images the subject must be very close to the camera, in the above case the girl’s hand was around 10-20cm in front of the camera dome port at the time of the shot.

Over under shot of a girl in a blue patterned bikini swimming front crawl in an outdoor pool. Colin Munro Photography

Over under shot of a girl in a blue patterned bikini swimming front crawl in an outdoor pool.

Keeping the port clear of large water droplets often involves dipping the entire camera housing below the surface, then raising it at the last moment thus ensuring the image is recorded before droplets can form. Needless to say this normally involves a lot of luck and a LOT of takes to get the right image. However, when it works well the effect can be quite dramatic. I will be making this image, and some others, available as fine art prints.  They can be printed on a range of art media, canvas or 300gsm art paper, up to 24 inches across.  So if you are interested in a print for your studio, office, fitness centre or lounge, please get in touch with your requirements and I’ll get back to you with a quote.

You can contact me directly email me

More women and water images on my http://colinmunro.photoshelter.com site.
More split images (above and below) on my photoshelter site here.
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Dartmoor images Fine Art prints of Dartmoor

Skull and jawbone on a windswept moorland. Dartmoor, Devon. Colin Munro Photography

 

As Christmas draws near, why not give a photographic art of local landscapesas a gift? My Dartmoor images are available as art prints and cards. These can be purchased dierct from me (see below). As a long term Devon resident, and keen supporter of Devon Wildlife Trust and its work, 10% of all purchases made before Christmas will be donated to the Devon Wildlife Trust. All images on my website are watermarked.  This will NOT appear on the print.

I’ve been taking a few Dartmoor images recently. The moor always looks more interesting as the weather turns colder and the days shorter. This has resulted in a few nights camping out. Sometimes chasing the elusive sunrise that remains hidden behind a thick blanket of grey cloud; sometimes up to mid-thigh in freezing fast-flowing rivers. So I’ve decided to pull a few together, some old, some new. I try and steer clear of well worn styles and try to capture the feel and atmosphere of the moor, the bleak, harsh beauty and the wide open spaces. As ever, all my images are available to purchase as fine art prints, each printed to order to specific requirements. If you’d like to know more then email me here.

Lichen covered granite boulders of a dry stone wall. Dartmoor Devon. Colin Munro Photography. Fine Art prints

Image 1346. Lichen covered granite boulders of a dry stone wall. Dartmoor Devon.

The glow from a lantern inside a dome tent on a starry, moonlit night on Dartmoor.  Colin Munro Photography.

Image 1002. The glow from a lantern inside a dome tent on a starry, moonlit night on Dartmoor

Icicles and ice formations around a fast flowing stream on the steep-sided Teign Valley, Dartmoor, Devon.  Available as a fine art print. Colin Munro Photography. www.colinmunrophotography.com

Image 1054. Icicles and ice formations around a fast flowing stream on the steep-sided Teign Valley, Dartmoor, Devon.

Boulders and small waterfalls on the East Dart River, high on Dartmoor above Two Bridges. Dartmoor National Park. Fine Art prints for sale. Colin Munro Photography. www.colinmunrophotography.com

Image 1019. Boulders and small waterfalls on the East Dart River, high on Dartmoor above Two Bridges. Dartmoor National Park

Icicles form along the lip of a rocky overhang on the steep sides of the River Teign Valley, East Dartmoor, Dartmoor National Park,  Devon, England.  Fine art prints available. Colin Munro Photography. www.colinmunrophotography.com

Image 1057. Icicles form along the lip of a rocky overhang on the steep sides of the River Teign Valley, East Dartmoor, Dartmoor National Park.

The East Dart River tumbles through a boulder strewn valley, East Dartmoor.  An HDR image.  This image is available as a fine art print to purchase. Colin Munro Photography. www.colinmunrophotography.com

Image 1348. The East Dart River tumbles through a boulder strewn valley, East Dartmoor.

Icicles over a moorland stream, Dartmoor National Park, Devon, England. colin Munro photography

Image 791. Icicles over a moorland stream, Dartmoor National Park, Devon.

Icicles above a small waterfall on the South Teign River, Dartmoor, Devon, England. Colin Munro Photography. www.colinmunrophotography.com

Image 41. Icicles above a small waterfall on the South Teign River, Dartmoor.

Wind dried bones picked clean by ravens and foxes.  Dartmoor National Park. Colin Munro Photography. www.colinmunrophotography.com

Image 1349. Wind dried bones picked clean by ravens and foxes. Dartmoor National Park.

The boulder-strewn steep sided valley of the East Dart River above Two Bridges, Dartmoor National Park, Devon. Colin Munro Photography

Image 1020. The boulder-strewn steep sided valley of the East Dart River above Two Bridges, Dartmoor National Park, Devon

Boulders and small waterfalls on the East Dart River, high on Dartmoor above Two Bridges.  Dartmoor National Park Colin Munro Photography

Image 1021. Boulders and small waterfalls on the East Dart River, high on Dartmoor above Two Bridges. Dartmoor National Park.Fine Art Prints.

FINE ART PRINTS All of the above images can be puchased as Fine Art, archive quality prints on high grade paper or canvas.

Prints up to 10×15 inches (25x38cm) size are produced on Fuji Crystal Archive DP Professional Paper using the latest Fuji Frontier Digital Wet Photographic processing. This system produces rich, vibrant colours and has an archival life of up to 35 years, making ideal for producing long lasting prints. They are available in Pearl or Gloss finish.

8×12 inches (20x30cm) prints are available for only £22 per print.
10×15 inches (25x38cm) prints are available for only £32 per print.

If you are interested in purchasing one or more prints please call or email me stating the finish (pearl or gloss) and the size required. Currently I am happy to accept PayPal, bank transfer, cheque or cash on collection. Cheques will need to clear before delivery.
Please add £2.50 for postage and packaging to mainland UK, worldwide postage on request.

Larger prints, up to 62 inches (1075cm) across are available.
These can be printed on photo gloss or pearl paper, fine art rag paper or on canvas.
Block mounts and backlit
Again the prints can be supplied in block mounts or as a print for backlighting. Please contact me for details and prices.

HOW TO BUY. If you are interested in any of the above options please email or call me, 07926 478 199, stating the Image Number (given in caption), image size, finish (pearl or gloss) and number of images and how you would like to pay.  I will then reply confirming the amount.

Paypal: To pay for prints by simply log in to paypal and make the payment to colin (at) colinmunrophotography.com.
Bank transfer: To pay by bank transfer simply let me know in your email and I will include the account details in my response.
Cheque: To pay by cheque, let me know and I will include the postal address in my reply. Please note that you will need to allow extra time for cheques to clear on delivery times.
Confirmation:Once I receive payment I will email you confirming this. Prints should then be despatched within five working days.

More prints

You can search my blog for prints for sale by typing ‘Prints for sale’ in the seach box at the top, or simply by clicking this link.

Email me or telephone +44 (0)7926478199 for prices and delivery details.

More... See more of my Devon images fine art prints here

The wreck of an old wooden boat trapped in ice covered mudflats is silhouetted against an ominous sky. Exe Estuary near Turf Locks, Devon, UK. Fine Art Prints for sale. Colin Munro Photography. www.colinmunrophotography.com

Old wooden boat trapped in ice covered mudflats

More of my Dartmoor images are available on Photoshelter, where prints can be bought or images licensed click here
A selection of my images are available on Redbubble (Australia) as prints, posters and cards here

Sunrise over Cockwood Harbour at low tide, Exe Estuary, Devon.

Dawn over Cockwood Harbour on a frosty December morning.

Courses, Classes and Workshops. If you like my Dartmoor images you may be interested in my one day landscape photography courses for individuals and small groups autumn/winter 2012. These will be based around the Exe and Teign Estuaries and East Dartmoor. More info here.

Enfield Bullet 500cc at sunset. Prints for sale, Colin Munro Photography.

Enfield Bullet 500cc at sunset.

Photoshop is an essential part of my toolkit for successful landscape photographs, in the same way we used to dodge and burn prints when working with film.  If you would like to learn more about the potential of Photoshop to enhance your images why not sign up for one of my one to one (or small group) Photoshop sessions.  These are economical and targetted at exactly what you want to learn.  More info here.

A race against the rising water

A black swan frantically tries to save her nest and eggs as the river water rises following torrential rains. Colin Munro Photography

A black swan tends her eggs in the nest she has constructed along the banks of the River Exe. Colin Munro Photography

A black swan tends her eggs in the nest she has constructed along the banks of the River Exe.


A black swan frantically tries to save her nest and eggs as the river water rises following torrential  rains. Colin Munro Photography

A black swan frantically tries to save her nest and eggs as the river water rises following torrential rains.

The human cost of the wettest summer in 100 years, lost income and damaged property, has been highin the Southwest.  The cost to wildlife has also been high.  The mute swans that gather on the River Exe in the centre of Exeter have failed to raise a single clutch this year.  At the end of September, an Austalian Black Swan (Cygnus atratus) attracted considerable interest as she tried to brood a small clutch of eggs along the riverbank.  The weather was warm, and drier than it had been for most of the summer.  perhaps she might be lucky.  However Sunday and Monday the 23rd and 24th were to test her to the limit.  Around 2am on the morning of the 23rd the rain becan to fall and the wind started to howl.  For more than 30 hours it rained, and as it rained the river rose.  By the early hours of the 24th she was already frantic, trying desperately to shore up her nest.  By 10am the nest was still there, but floating.  Although probably exhausted she moved incessantly, plucking reed blades of the bottom, trying vainly to build up her nest.  The eggs were still same, but became submerged when she sat on the nest.  She was engaged in a desperate race to raise the nest before the eggs lost too much heat. A black swan frantically tries to save her nest and eggs as the river water rises following torrential  rains. Colin Munro Photography

The black swan tries to move her eggs out of the water pooling in the centre of her nest as the river rises.

Although the rains had now stopped, at least temporarily, millions of gallons were still flowing down the river from high ground and so the river was continuing to rise. Passerby stopped to watch, and throw her bread, which is probably all she had time to eat since she had laid her eggs. No-one knew whether the eggs were fertile. She was the only black swan on the river all summer; tagging along at a safe distance with the larger mute swans that congregated along the quayside. But hybrids between mute and black swans were believed to have occurred in captivity. So it was just possible. And although the odds seemed against her, it was still possible her eggs main survive the flood.
This story will me expanded soon – and the whole story of the black swan and her nest will be told.
All images can be licenses from my Photoshelter website here Search black+swan

About Me

About Me
Colin Munro Dartmoor Devon in tent before dawn mid-winter

Feeling very motivated. Making coffee still in my sleeping bag, about and hour before dawn, Dartmoor, mid-winter.

I thought it about time I put a bit about me on my website, who I am, what I do, what I’ve done that’s fit to print and what motivates me…why I do it. So here goes.

My twin passions are the marine environment and photography. I’ve been a diver for a long time. I started out a thousand years or so back as an army diver in the British army, however after far too long grovelling around in freezing cold black water in the middle of the night I finally accepted that this wasn’t going to bring me the lifestyle that watching every episode of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau had led me to expect. So at 19 I ended up in Africa, Mombasa to be precise, more by accident than design. I spent a couple of seasons there working on the wreck of the Santo Antonio de Tanna a 17th Century Portuguese shipwreck, then a short spell as a ship’s diver on an ocean going salvage tug, but what Kenya did mostly was rekindle my passion for wildlife and wild places.

Colin Munro Svalbard expedition

I’ve always loved wild places. Spitzbergen, Svalbard. Wonder why I’ve a bad back now?

Returning to the UK and to university I eventually ended up with a masters degree – they were obviously keen to get rid of me – and so began a 20-odd year career participating in and running biological diving surveys. My photography career has grown in parallel to my marine biological work. Initially because pictures were required to illustrate reports and well…someone had to take them. My first camera was not a land camera but an underwater one, an ancient Nikonos III. Almost completely mechanical and fully manual, I spent many hours lost in concentration under an old wooden pier, gradually improving my skills through trial and error. Mostly error actually. The skills learned there did serve me well though. With no automation, no light meter and no automatic flash control you were forced to learn the fundamental laws of light and optics and the interaction with water. The turbid waters of the Clyde Estuary were not very forgiving, so one had to pay attention to these laws if you wanted to get any usable images at all out of a 36 exposure film roll.

Currently I am based in Exeter, south Devon, England, living on a rather old wooden trawler converted to sail (a ‘work in progress’). I split my time between photography, running workshops and lecturing and marine environmental survey. That is when not head down in the bilges of my boat cursing, effecting some repair, or escaping on to Dartmoor.

Colin Munro painting Maria

An old wooden boat is rather like the Forth Road Bridge. Painting and repairs never end.

Nowadays, where Photoshop is not just a software package but a verb, ‘he/she’s been Photoshopped‘, the concept that ‘the camera never lies‘ is one few of us still believe. But images are still powerful, and they still have the ability to change things. In a World now flooded with images it is unlikely a single image will ever have the same power to change the course of events as Nick Ut’s picture of Phan Thi Kim Phuc. Nevertheless we live in a image-based World and images can still change public perception and attitude to social and environmental issues in a way that dry, dusty reports never will. So for me taking pictures is, of course, about creating beautiful images, and it’s about the satisfaction of creating technically difficult or hard to get images; but the greatest satisfaction comes from creating images that inform or change peoples attitudes however slightly.

You can find me on Google+ , Facebook and LinkedIn.  Most of my stock photography images are available at http://colinmunro.photoshelter.com.  This can also be searched directly from my main website www.colinmunrophotography.com where you will also be able to buy fine art prints of my work and find information on photography training courses I run.
Back to my main website

African migrants, the unseen deaths.

African migrants, the unseen deaths.

Late on Friday the 13th of January this year the cruise liner Costa Concordia hit rocks near the island of Giglio, off the west coast of Italy. At the time of writing the confirmed death toll had risen to 17, with a further 21 still missing. This was an undoubted tragedy for all directly involved and their loved ones. It has reverberated around the World; the tiny island of Giglio has been overrun by correspondents and camera crew from CNN, ABC, BBC, Al Jazeera and just about every other major broadcaster and news media company; our television screens, radios and internet news has been flooded with images of the stricken ship and the survivors. It is an event that very few in the western world will be unaware of. Yet on the other side of the Mediterranean, off North Africa, a greater tragedy has been steadily unfolding, one that receives very little publicity.

In 2011, according to the UN Refugee Agency, at least 1500 people died or disappeared trying to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa to a new life in Europe. This included 25 who died of asphyxiation due to being crammed in to a tiny, unventilated engine room. The boat, a mere 15 metres long, was carrying 271 refugees. This happened in August last year; anyone remember it making news headlines? Fifteen are believed to have drowned already in the first month of 2012, attempting to cross from Libya. The Mediterranean can be a forbidding place to be in a small vessel in the middle of winter. It takes no small measure of courage and probably an even larger measure of desperation to set off in an open wooden boat of dubious seaworthiness to cross hundred miles of sea to a destination you know little about. The wind will often rise suddenly off the coast of Libya; a mirror smooth sea will transform into a confusion of whitecaps in a couple of hours. The vessel that appeared large and robust in harbour now appears small and flimsy in such conditions. The fear that mounting seas in an open boat generates is a visceral thing, even when one is used to spending time at sea. In darkness, in winter, in what for most would be their first time at sea, the feeling of panic would be hard to control.

These small fishing boats carry no lifejackets, no flares, no radios, no lights. They are not guided by GPS; the ones I have been on do not even carry a compass. when we do hear of refugees drowning whilst heading for Southern Europe it is generally no more than a brief, factual snippet in the news. No camera crews are despatched, no interviews with survivors that are picked up. The mainstream media collectively determines it is probably of little interest to most of us, so we learn little about it from them, and thus it remains of little interest to us. A drip, drip of people dying trying to reach here, of which we are largely oblivious.

About four years ago I was working in Libya when one such, migrant-carrying, fishing boat capsized. It was a small boat, desperately overladen with people, many of whom probably could not swim. In any event it is unlikley the ability to swim would have saved them. The boat was still filled with fishing gear, monofilament line and attached hooks, most likely stashed loose in the middle of the boat. As the boat overturned in rough seas during the night, people, lines and hooks were tossed in to the black water. One can only guess at the horror as terrified men, women and children thrashed wildy in the darkness, only to become ensnared by fishing line and to have unseen fish hooks bite in to their flesh. Jerking like dancing marionettes tethered by unseen nylon strings. But not dancing. Drowning.

The next morning arrived warm, bright and perfectly calm. We were motoring out off sabratah port early when we spotted the first bodies. The bloated corpses bound in fishing line continued to wash ashore and be picked up by the authorities for several days. I don’t know the final count but certainly more than thirty. There were no known survivors. The tragedy made not a ripple in the western media. Local people were desperately sad, but sanguine. This was not the first such event they had known, it certainly would not be the last. Those dying are not Libyans, they come primarily from sub-saharan Africa: Senegal, the Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the horn of Africa, Ethiopia and Somalia. Thus this was not the start of their bid for a new life but the final stage of a journey that probably began many months, possibly several years before.

The problem is far from unique to Libya; probably most deaths of migrants from Africa occur making the crossing from West Africa to the Canary Islands. Nor is it just an African problem, the poor are moving worldwide. Thousands are believed to have perished in the Arizona desert, crossing from Mexico. Figures are sketchy, but the US Border Patrol estimates just under 2000 deaths between 1998 and 2004. In the first six months of 2010 the office of Pima County Medical Examiner Dr. Bruce Parks (Arizona) received the bodes of 134 illegal migrants found in the desert.

We have a huge problem in this country regarding our perception of migration, illegal or otherwise. In the month (January just passed) when eighteen mostly Somali bodies, including women and children, washed up on the Libyan coastline (Libyian Coatsguard data, cited by UNHCR), the Daily Mail headline (12th Jan, 2012) was Average migrant worker earns more a year in the UK than British born , subtitled Childless couples from beyond Europe enjoy better standard of living than British. No mention was made in the article about hardship, poverty or deaths.

Update: At the start of this article I stated that fifteen irregular (as they are termed) immigrants had already drowned this year leaving Libya. More details. On Wednesday 25th January fifteen bodies, twelve women, two men and a baby girl, washed up on the shores of Libya, near Misrata. They boat they were on is believed to have been carrying between 50-55 immigrants. There are no reports of any survivors. All were beleived to be Somali refugees. (UNHCR, Migrants at Sea/AFP).

How and why: creating a customised Copyright Logo in Photoshop

How and why: creating a customised Copyright Logo in Photoshop

A clear but unobtrusive logo helps identify the image as yours.

Why add a copyright logo?
Posting images online is a great way to get your images seen but (there’s always a but) it does leave you open to image theft and unauthorised use. While there are various tricks around – disabling right-clicking, placing images in Flash displays etc., if someone knows what they are doing and are prepared to put a tiny bit of effort ito it they can lift your image. For a photographer it is not always desirable anyway to prevent people doing this; potential buyers may want to store a copy of some images to browse later or as a reminder. In this way photographs can be like business cards, and we don’t ask for those back as we leave the conference hall do we? But like any form of advertising we want the (potential) client to remember where the image came and, most importantly, who it belongs to. Now this can (and should) be done adding to the image metadata, however this is not immediately obvious and must be actively searched for (it can also be stripped out, unintentionally or otherwise, by some programmes). A simply logo has the advantage that it is immediately obvious so is like branding – the more your image is shared around the more people associate it with your name and or website.
What should it include?
There is more than one way to do so, this just happens to be my preferred way. Thekey information I want included are 1. my name; 2. clear identification of my copyright 3. a quickway the viewer can locate me, and 4. a quick way for the viewer to find more of my images. This obviously has to be done as succinctly as possible, no-one wants to look at an image covered in screeds of text. 1 and 2 are easy to combine as (C) Colin Munro Photography; it helps in my case that my business name includes my own name so there is no confusion as to exactly where the copyright lies and no need to repeat both seperately. With 3 and 4 I could include both my email and website, but as my email is very clearly displayed on my website I chose to keep things compact and just go with my website.
Ok, so to creating a logo.
These instructions apply to Photoshop, however the workflow is similar in other editing packages. You have you final image, resized for the web and suitably sharpened. Decide on the colour you want the text to be (generally white or black) and set this as the foreground colour using the set foreground and background colours icon in the toolbar. Click on the Horizontal Type Tool. The icon is a capital T, located in the toolbar. This will change the horizontal toolbar at the top of the window to change and display font, font size, formattint etc. Select the approximate font size you’d like (you may have to experiment here). Clicking on the type tool will also create a new layer (visible in the layers sidebar) which will be the active layer in which text will be created. Then simply position the cursor approximately where you’d like the text to start and begin typing. Once your text is all typed out it may not be ideally positioned, or it may appear slightly too large or too small. To rectify this click on the ‘move’ tool (the cross with arrowheads at all four compass points). This will make the text a selection which can be be moved, shrunk or expanded using the cursor. However if you do re-size you will need to apply the transformation (by clicking again on the move tool and then selecting ‘apply transformation’ in the pop-up box) before you can complete other tasks. Sometimes you may not want your copyright logo too prominent; one way to change this is to reduce the opacity, making is partially transparent. This can be done using the opacity slider in the layers dialogue sidebar. Once your text is suitably sized, positioned and has the right level of opacity, your final task is to flatten the image, merging your text with the underlying picture. Simply click on the layers tab; right at the bottom of the drop-down menu you will see ‘flatten image’. Select this, save and your image is ready to upload. Of course we can automate this process by creating batch processing actions in Photoshop, but that’s for another blog. For those based in Exeter, Devon, I am currently running Digital Photography classes later this month and will also be running Photoshop classes subject to demand.

 

The advantages of winter photography

The advantages of winter photography

A friend of mine recently complained that she wished winter would hurry up and end so she could get out and start taking photographs again. No, no! I contradicted, winter is a fantastic time for taking photographs; all those heavy, brooding skies, the low sun, those stormy seas and frost-coated landscapes. It’s true I’ve never been a fan bright sunny scenes; give me grey, moody, atmospheric vistas any day. A sun high in the sky rarely makes for great photographs, even in summer landscapes generally appear more interesting shortly after dawn or close to sunset when the sun is low.

Sunrise over Cockwood Harbour at low tide, Exe Estuary, Devon.

Dawn over Cockwood Harbour on a frosty December morning.

In winter the sun follows a lower arc across the sky, thus a greater proportion of the available daylight produces what is, in my view, a more interesting light. A corollary of this is that the sun rises later and sets earlier, thus one does not have to drag oneself out of bed at five in the morning, or hang around until almost 10pm, to get those sunrise and sunset shots. It is true that some wildlife shots become trickier when one has to work with slower shutter speeds and wider apertures, and sometimes one has to rely on a tripod, not exactly condusive to high mobility for stalking some flighty subject. However, on the flip side, many animals become markedly less wary in winter, when hunger overrides normal timidity.

Heavy rain clouds above Teignmouth Pier, Teignmouth, Devon, England, UK.

A long exposure shot of Teignmouth Pier on a winter’s afternoon. Teignmouth, Devon.

I have always been fond of long exposure shots of moving water, producing beautiful soft, fluid and slightly surreal effects on waterfalls or waves on the beach. This does require low light levels entering the camera though, and in summer (even at minimum apertures) one must either stack neutral density filters in front of the lens, or get up really early or wait really late to get those shots around dawn or dusk. In winter it is so much easier, light levels are much lower anyway and as the sun rises and sets at a more acute angle to the horizon so the period of gloomy light lasts that much longer. This can be crucial if you are rushing between spots to try and find the best angle for you ‘money shot’. So dig out the winter boots and woolly hat and make the most of these chilly and gloomy landscapes. If nothing else it’s such a great excuse to eat lots of chocolate and warm up in a pub afterwards.

Moorland streams on Christmas Day – how to do things the hard way.

Moorland streams on Christmas Day – how to do things the hard way.
A small stream Dunsford Wood, Teign Valley, Devon, England.  This is a long exposure images taken to produce a fluid, surreal look to the flowing river. Colin Munro Photography

A small stream Dunsford Wood, Teign Valley, Devon, England.

Like all photographers I am sometimes asked how I created certain images, and how difficult getting certain pictures were. The answer in most cases is ‘not that difficult provided you’ve planned it and are well prepared’. But sometimes I just make things difficult for myself.

The above picture is a long exposure, 30 seconds in this case, used to blur movement (in the above picture the flowing water) producing a milky, fluid and slightly surreal look to the flowing stream. Obviously the amount of light hitting the camera sensor has to be limited to compensate for such a long exposure. Stopping down to a very small aperture helps but will only get you so far, rarely all the way to 30 seconds exposure. Stacking neutral density filters in front of the lens is one way, but a simpler way (especially this time of year when days are short) is to shoot at dusk, when light levels are naturally low and long shutter speeds are not merely desirable but also necessary.

Late Christmas Day I made a snap decision to get out on to Dartmoor, go for a walk and get some nice images. I left in a rush, trying to multi-task ineffectively as usual. The moor was not inspiring – low grey cloud and steady drizzle do not make for great pictures, so I turned around and reluctantly headed home. Light was fading fast when I found this little stream in the steep, wooded valley of the River Teign. I pulled over and decided to try and get some shots. This was where my rushing and lack of preparation came home to roost. I realised I had left my walking boots by the entrance to my boat and had only the city shoes I was wearing with me. Worse still, upon opening my tripod case (not checked before I left) I discovered that somehow the tripod head had snapped in two (I’ll be writing to Manfrotto shortly). Luckily I also had a small, six inch, tabletop tripod with me, but that meant actually getting in to the stream and perching it on top of boulders if I were obtain any useable shots. By the time I found a suitable spot along the stream it was about 4:15pm and getting gloomier by the minute. A quick scan around confirmed that there were no suitable boulders at the edge of the stream on which to mount the tripod; there was no alternative, shoes and socks had to come off and I had to wade out in to the middle of the stream. Thirty minutes later I stumbled to the side. The light had well and truly gone, so it was time to pack up. I had by then also lost all feeling below the ankles. It was not until i started driving home again that feeling began to return to my feet, doing so in painful waves as flow returned to constricted blood vessels. I had ample time to reflect on the stupidity of my lack of planning. My first actions the following day were to buy a spare tripod and place wellingtons and thick socks on the boot of my car in readiness. Hopefully that is at least one mistake I won’t repeat. Meanwhile I have now place some of these images in my art images of Devon Landscapes Gallery. This can be viewed (and prints purchased) here. Hopefully it was worth the effort. Colin