Steam Traction

Following on from my most recent post I thought I would upload another photo based on railways. I wanted to use a photo of a railway but with a bit of twist. So I thought I would look back through my computer to one of the many holidays that I’ve been to in Wales. On this particular holiday we paid a visit to one of the preserved railways, I wanted to give this photo a bit of a twist by making it look more vintage, a bit like an old style postcard.

The engine is a manor class loco as used by the Great Western Railway (GWR), just in case any wants to know! I used an aperture of F16 to ensure that as much of the photo is in focus, the camera then selected a shutter speed of a/125^th of a second and ISO 100 to complete the exposure. I composed the photo so that the engine was in the right third of the photo with the rest of the train extending through the photo to the left hand third.

To edit the photo I increased both the saturation and the colour temperature, this gives the photo an older appearance and makes it looks like an old fashioned post card. I like this effect; the photo looks exactly as I wanted it to when I came up with the idea. I didn’t change anything else as I was happy with everything else.

I’m very pleased with the effect I created with this photo, I like the character that old photos and old postcards have; and that was what I was trying to replicate with this photo.

Mat

Swan In The Sun

I took this photo on the recent wildlife photo shoot. I was quite impressed with how this photo came out, it is defiantly one of my favourite photos from the day. The sun was beaming down which made some very interesting exposure problems. The best way I thought to combat the exposure difficulties was by using my flash gun. I thought by using the flash gun it would help to lighten the shadow areas and to even the exposure.

I was using the camera in shutter priority with a shutter speed of 1/400^th of a second selected. I had also locked in an ISO of ISO400. As I was using the flash gun the camera selected an aperture of F13. I programmed the flash gun to over expose by three stops; so that it would give out the largest amount of power for the exposure. As I was using a shutter speed faster than the flash-sync’ speed of the camera I had to use the flash n the high speed sync’ mode. This mode sends out a rapid sequence of flashes so that at least one of the flashes happens while the shutter is open. The only downside of using the high speed sync’ function is that it uses the entire charge of the flash gun; so that only one photo can be taken at a time!

To edit the photo I increased the brightness a bit and lowered the highlights to ensure the highlights didn’t become clipped. I also cropped out some reeds that I had accidently included into the frame. After this I changed the white balance for a more accurate colour selection. I changed the white balance as the photo looked a bit too cool for my liking. I didn’t change anything else as I was happy with the rest of the photo.

I very much enjoyed my wildlife photography trip, I’m very pleased with the photos that I took. Hopefully both Bex and I will get a chance for some more photography this weekend.

Mat

Distant Travels

I was looking through my computer again for some inspiration when I came across this photo which I had taken a while ago on a trip out. I like it because it’s symmetrical and the rails pass under the bridge and off into the distance.

For this photo I used the camera in aperture priority with the aperture set at F4.2; because the large distance between me and the subject meant the aperture chosen makes little difference to the depth of field. The camera coupled this with a shutter speed of 1/480^th of a second.

I liked the effect I had created with this photo so I decided against editing it. The composition was spot on what I wanted, and the exposure had been calculated perfectly. I thought if I tried changing settings I would spoil it, so I decided to leave it.

I’m planning a wander this weekend, maybe down to the duckpond if I get a chance and if the weather is good. Otherwise maybe I should do another indoor photo shoot.

Mat

Funnels

Earlier today I went for a walk down to the canal, I haven’t been for quite a while so I thought I should go see what the canal looks like in the winter. The weather was more like the summer than a winter wonderland, but I still took some interesting photos.

I walked for much longer than I normally would and I arrived at a small mariner with plenty of moorings for the boats and a few workshops alongside the canal. As there where quite a few boats moored up I thought they would make an interesting composition. I just wanted to focus on the air inlet and the exhaust funnel on one of the canal boats. To do this I used my telephoto zoom lens at around 130mm and with an aperture of F4.5; this ensured that the depth of field was very small. The camera selected a shutter speed of 1/180^th of a second; this is fast enough for the focal length in use and removed the camera shake.

To edit the photo I increased the contrast and lowered the brightness a bit. I did this because the camera had slightly overexposed the photo. I also sharpened the photo because some of the details weren’t as sharp as I would have liked them to be. I didn’t crop the photo because I really like the composition that I had created.

I took quite a few photos at the canal today; this had to be my favourite one. If I find another one that I like then I shall upload it for you; otherwise I shall go out on a wander for some inspiration.

Mat

A Trip In The Past

Following on from my previous upload, I’ve managed to get away with uploading another photo from the railway trip. Instead of using one of the photos from the railway itself I thought I would upload something different.

While I was there a classic bus with a private tour turned up, they had all got onto the train by this point so only the bus was left. I thought it looked quite solitary and made an interesting composition. To enhance the composition I used an aperture of F16, this gives the maximum depth of field to ensure sharp focus from the front of the frame to the back. Also to make an interesting composition I used the rule of thirds; by placing the bus in the lower right of the frame it makes the composition much more interesting.

When I uploaded the photo onto my computer I cropped the photo down, I did this because I caught the edge of a zebra crossing in the bottom of the photo, by cropping this out it makes the photo look more authentic. Also I converted the photo into black and white; I did this to make the photo look like it came from the same time period as bus.

I won’t be uploading any more photos from my trip to the railway, these two where definitely my favourites. I’m planning on going out for a wander in the next few days so expect some newer photos to be appearing very soon.

Mat

Days Gone By

I managed to go out for a trip today so I decided to pay a visit to one of the local preserved railways. I’ve been before plenty of times, but it is very enjoyable and creates a lot of very interesting photo opportunities

.

For this photo I wanted to create a different composition by using a different perspective to normal. So instead of taking the photo from the platform I took the photo above the railway on the footbridge. This perspective allows for a lot more to be included in the frame. I focused the camera onto the cab of the engine and by using a narrow aperture of F16 I could have the whole frame in sharp focus. I had to use a higher ISO to normal (ISO 800) to account for the slower shutter speed. This introduced quite a lot of noise into the photo but not a distracting amount.

The only editing that I did to the photo was to increase the saturation; I did this because I felt the camera hadn’t reproduced the colours accurately enough. I didn’t change anything else because the camera had calculated the exposure correctly.

I really enjoyed my day at the railway and I took lots of photos, I’m only going to upload this one as it’s my favourite and the others aren’t up to the same standard. But I’m sure I will be visiting the railway again very soon, and if I do I shall upload some of the photos for you.

Mat

Old Inspiration

I haven’t had much of a chance to go out for any photography wanders recently so I had a look through my computer for some inspiration. I had to go all the way back to July to find this photo!

Bex and I had gone out for a wander in the local nature reserve, the weather was very nice and we were out for most of the day. I spotted this dead flower hiding away in a bush, it looked interesting so I took a photo of it. The first few photos I took the composition weren’t quite right, so I changed my position by about 90 degrees and took a few more photos. This is one of the latter photos that I took, and I think the composition worked very well. It just proves a small change can make a big difference!

I didn’t do much editing to the photo, I adjusted the exposure by a small amount, and I decreased the colour temperature by a small amount. By decreasing the colour temperature it makes the whites clearer and look much more pleasing.

When taking macro photos, making very small changes will have a very large effect to the end photo. So I always take my time when doing macro photography to make sure I get the desired effect.

Mat

Making Tracks

As a follow on from yesterday's upload I thought I should upload another railway photo that I managed to locate in the virtual world of my computer! I liked the way the steam hangs in the air as the train moves underneath it; I also like how the tracks in the foreground really emphasis the locomotive in the background. I really enjoy visiting preserved railways, does anybody else have an interest in the railways of yesteryear?

Mat