Trying to replicate Todd Hido at Narooma
Todd Hido is an American photographer who is known for his moody and bleak landscapes. They are often shot at night, or in low light, with blurring on the lens to simulate rain or mist. His first project was externally photographing houses at night, often making them appear isolated, with light from a room showing the interior but no people. His method was to drive around in his car and take a photograph of the houses that he found. More recently, he completed a project titled Bright Black World, which looked at the landscapes of Northern Europe and beyond, in his trademark, dark and moody style. One of the images he created was of a breakwater with a street light providing light to the scene. The image resonated with me and inspired me to create similar photographs at Narooma on the south coast of New South Wales. These are not the style of photographs that I would normally take but something about Hido’s image motivated me to try. While Hido generally captures his images with a standard shutter speed, I decided to use a long exposure.
My first attempt did not produce many images that I was happy with. I think because I left my photography until too late in the evening to start, so there was not much ambient light in the sky. I tried several locations, including at the wharf on the north side of the inlet where the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, the police and marine rescue, tie up their boats. This area was lit by a convenient street lamp and the long exposure created a smoothing effect of the ripples on the water. I also tried the western side of Narooma Bridge, where the lights marking the channel under the bridge produced a nice a reflection on the water.
For the next attempt I set up before dusk on the northern breakwater at the entrance to Wagonga Inlet and experimented with a few shots. I was waiting for the navigation lights to come on, once sunset had happened. Once the green light was lit on the northern arm I took a few serious shots. I framed the photograph with the horizon at about two thirds up the image, and the breakwater leading around to the navigation light. I thought that the shot was moody and the hard rocks of the breakwater contrasted nicely with the smoothed out waves on the sea. For the next shot, I walked further along the breakwater to focus on the navigation light. I placed the horizon halfway up the image and the navigation light on the vertical centre.
The final shot was well after sunset and there was little discernible light in the sky left from the sun. I had to open my aperture up by a stop to get the right exposure. For this shot, I framed it with the southern breakwater, and looking past the red navigation light to Montague Island in the distance. The red navigation light and the white of Montague Island’s lighthouse beam created a relationship between the two locations, almost like they were signalling each other. I think those two lights, and their associated land masses helped create a unity in the photograph. There was also a texture in the water that contrasted and balanced the texture in the clouds. I was pleased with the result of the final image.
I hope that you enjoy the photographs below.
Where the official boats tie up of a night
Canon EOS R5 Mk II with a Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8L IS USM [ISO 100, 46mm, f/11 and 30 secs])
Western side of Narooma Bridge at night
Canon EOS R5 Mk II with a Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8L IS USM [ISO 100, 70mm, f/11 and 30 secs])
Northern breakwater at the entrance to Wagonga Inlet
Canon EOS R5 Mk II with a Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8L IS USM [ISO 100, 50mm, f/22 and 30 secs])
Navigation light on the northern breakwater at the entrance to Wagonga Inlet
Canon EOS R5 Mk II with a Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8L IS USM [ISO 100, 50mm, f/22 and 30 secs])
Looking past the southern breakwater at Wagonga Inlet to Montague Island
Canon EOS R5 Mk II with a Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8L IS USM [ISO 100, 50mm, f/16 and 30 secs])
I enjoyed taking these images and using a style that I would not have thought about otherwise. I was happy with the results and I am thinking how I might incorporate this type of image into future projects. Thank you for reading this post and I hoped that you enjoyed the photographs.
If you want to see more of Todd Hido’s work he has a website at http://www.toddhido.com (please be aware that some of his portraits are nudes)
If you are interested about a more technical discussion on what I was attempting to achieve I have posted some thoughts under resources.
