Callum Morse

Callum Morse-

Callum Morse is a local surf and seascape photographer from Cornwall who I have always been inspired by. His most common and effective technique is using a slow shutter speed and the movement of the camera to create this unsure effect. He takes various surf related images but i am going to focus on his slow shutter seascape images as shown above.

Callum Morse creates a very smooth texture across the frame through his use of long exposure which blurs the seascape horizontally. The pictorial space of this images is deep as they include a foreground, mid ground and background, this creates depth in the image and shows more of a landscape. The main anchor of the image is the foreground where the wave is the darkest as it draws the eye instantly. There is no sense of scale so It is tricky to see the true size of the waves, however the gradual disappearance of the waves behind gives a sense of size. He uses a digital camera to capture good quality images and to e able to adjust the manual settings easily to change the shutter speed and ISO and aperture depending on the lighting.  In these images he demonstraights the use of line, this is shown through the motion blur of the waves horizontally across the image. A wide tonal range has been used in these images as there is a broad range of dark tones at the peak of the wave, mid-tones and highlights as the wave is breaking and in-between sets. This creates depth and a 3D effect as the waves almost looks as if they are coming out the image. The colour scheme used is very complementary as he uses various tones of blues contrasting against the oranges and pinks from the sunset- the warm tones of the sky contrast against the cool tones of the sea. Callum shoots at sunrise and sunset to get the distinct warm oranges and pinks off the sky against the looming sea. A broad colour pallet has been used and editing also looks as if it's been used to enhance the colours. The was the orange complements the blue really inspires me and is something I would like to incorporate into my work. The images portray a very calming atmosphere from the colours used and the no harsh shapes or object creating a very dream like image. These images show a perspective of the waves that the human eye doesn't actually see and captures that very effectively. My emotional response to this work is very calming due to the slow gradient of colours however also energetic because of the atmosphere of large waves rolling through the bay. I am looking to try and create similar images as my theme is surf and skate culture however I think capturing seascapes like this would give a better variety of images in my project. I feel very inspired by this images and would like to incorporate this style into my work as it captures seascapes in a unique way which would add to my personal investigation.