Tired Out Tiger

The festival weekend was a lot of fun for everyone involved, for the people who stayed both days it was a very long weekend. Towards the end of the second day people were starting to get tired, and more people were sitting down to rest.

There was a short period of bright sunshine towards the end of the second day and I found myself using the flash gun a lot. I used the flash gun on this photo because I wanted the detail to be clear in all the shadow areas. Also I used a wide aperture to limit the depth of field to just the person lying down. I used point metering on his face to make sure that the exposure was correct, and didn't white out.

To edit the photo I increased the contrast and increased the shadows, to correct the exposure and make it more pleasing on the eye. I didn't change anything else because I liked how the photo was exposed. I didn't crop the photo because I like how it was composed.

Bex and I didn't get a chance to go out this weekend; so as we have still got lots of photos from the festival to upload for you.

Mat

Red Dancer

We still haven’t run out of photos from the festival weekend! This is a photo from one of the many stages; this stage was mainly dancers over the weekend. While we were at this stage we saw multiple dancing acts, this one was the last on the stage.

To freeze the dancers mid-action I needed to use a fast shutter speed, in this case I chose 1/250^th of a second. This was adequate to freeze the motion, and to recreate the atmosphere of being on stage with the dancers. As there wasn’t much light I had to use an ISO of 640, this allowed the use of the faster shutter speeds but unfortunately allowed some noise to be introduced into the shadows and dark areas.

While editing the photo I turned the highlights down to make sure the bright parts don’t white out. I also cropped the photo so there was less open ‘space’ above the dancer’s head. Cropping the photo also helps the composition, by making the dancer fill the majority of the frame. But also leaving enough in the rest of the frame to create the atmosphere of being on stage.

We still haven’t run out of photos from the festival and it looks like we won’t for quite a while yet. I hope we get another chance to do the photography at a festival soon, because it was a lot of fun and a good learning experience.

Also we've just gone past 4500 views! Thankyou to all our dedicated readers, I hope you enjoy viewing our blog as much as we enjoy running it.

Mat

Bursting Lights

I know I very recently added a similar photo to this but I had taken a lot of photos while in the tent with the flashing lights. I was debating which of the photos I should upload; this photo or the one I uploaded previously, in the end I gave up and decided to upload both of them.

This photo, I actually took before the previous one. I took this in the same manner as the other photo, with the camera in manual mode. I took this photo very quickly because the lights were changing very fast and I didn’t have much time to set up the camera in between shots. This photo had a shutter speed of 1/30 and an aperture of F5.6; I also preset the ISO to the maximum setting the camera had (ISO 1600).

When I edited the photo I Increased the contrast but also I turned the highlights down a bit. I did this to make the white more pure but also so the light didn’t white out. After this I cropped down the photo so the pattern was more into the upper right corner, I think this helps the composition because it looks like the light is bursting out of the corner into the frame. As I used a high ISO there wasn’t much I could do about the noise level, so I used the noise reduction tool to dampen the noise levels to a reasonable amount.

It’s the weekend again! Bex and I have been planning a wander for this weekend, so hopefully the weather will hold out and we can carry out our plans.

Mat

Prep- fest

This is yet another photo from my festival weekend! I may be over doing it slightly, but there are so many pictures that I want to upload, and this is one of them.

I took this on the Sunday, whilst waiting for the next band to come on stage. I noticed how all of the equipment for each band wasn’t put on the stage until just before they were due. This meant it was left piled up at the entrance for about 10 minutes before each set.

I liked how the tambourine was left on top of one of the drums; it made it look like it had been forgotten. I decided that it might make an interesting shot and I wasn’t disappointed! I took this picture in aperture priority, as I wanted the background to be blurred. I decided to under-expose the shot slightly to enhance the shadows.

I’m really pleased with how this photo turned out; especially as I thought it would be more of a snapshot.

Bex

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Light Effects

This is another photo from our trip to the festival last weekend. We had gone into a tent which was playing extremely loud music and had very creative light patterns being beamed onto the roof of the tent. The music wasn’t completely to my taste but the light patterns were very interesting to watch.

As we were inside there was very little light so I had to use a high ISO, also as the light levels were changing so quickly and randomly the light metre in the camera was getting very confused. To resolve this I put the camera into manual mode and set the aperture at F5.6 and adjusted the shutter speed until it got as close to the correct exposure as possible, then I would release the shutter. This gave really interesting effects, with the light patterns being blurred and crossing each other, but with the people being in relatively sharp focuses.

When it came to editing the photo I decided to increase the contrast and the brightness, but I also decreased the saturation to make the white look more pure. I didn’t crop the photo because I really liked how the photo was framed, because you can see the people in the foreground raving to the music and staring at the changing lights.

I really hope Bex and I get a chance to do some more event photography, it was so much fun and we had a great time.

Mat

Round- up

Unfortunately, the weekend didn’t last forever and all too soon I was forced back to reality! This is the first festival that Mat and I have done, and it was amazing!

On Saturday, I spent most of my time walking around the stands and the smaller stages to see what I could find. The atmosphere was incredibly lively, with the animal themed fancy dress well adopted by most! On Sunday, I spent a lot of time on the main stage photographing dance acts. Later in the afternoon, one of my favourite unsigned bands were playing. The lead singer is quite feminine and always has flowers wrapped around her microphone stand. Before the singer came on, smoke filled the stage and the lights shone in anticipation of her arrival, making a mysterious atmosphere.

I used a starburst filter whilst taking this photo, as it cut out some unnecessary light and made some interesting effects. I was really pleased with how well this picture turned out so didn’t do any editing. It was such a good feeling to be on stage for the first time (even if the crowd weren’t cheering for me!)  Please do let me know if anyone invents a time machine...

Bex

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Officials

We both took so many photos over the weekend, there are far too many to upload so we shall choose just the best to upload for you. This is one of the better ones that I took from behind the scenes at one of the many stages.

While Bex and I were waiting for the next act to get onto the stage; I decided to take a wander around the backstage area. While I was backstage I found two of the stewards planning how the next acts would be set up. They were deep in discussion so didn’t see me walking around taking photos, so I took one of them while they were deep in discussion. I was trying to get a snapshot of how busy and hectic, but at the same time organised and well run, the festival was.

To take the photo I used the flash gun, and with the camera in point metering and with an aperture of F9. I focused on the man’s face to ensure I got both of the stewards in focus, the flash gun helped to keep the skin tones warm and to lighten the shadows under the woman’s hat.

When I took the photo off the camera I decided that it didn’t need much editing. I only decided to crop the photo down and straighten it a bit. I cropped the photo to concentrate the attention onto the stewards and putting less focus onto the background. And I straightened the photo for obvious reasons, to ensure the vertical lines were truly vertical.

Because of all the rain we have had, we have had some local flooding. Bex and I thought it might make some interesting photos so if we have a chance we’re going to have a look tomorrow to see what we can find.

Mat

Final Dance

Today was, unfortunately, the last day of the festival. Bex and I once again where going around taking photos of all the events and of people generally enjoying themselves. This photo was taken at one of the indoor stages, a dance group had just started one of their routines and they invited the public to join them.

To capture the atmosphere of the dance I took the photo while they were mid-dance; I also used the flash gun to ensure that eyes were not in shadow and so I could freeze the dancer in the pose I wanted. The dancers were really enjoying themselves and I was trying to portray this in the photo that I was taking, I think I did this and captured the atmosphere of all the other people having a great time.

I didn’t edit the photo because the exposure was correct; and the photo portrayed the atmosphere of the dance, so I decided against cropping the photo down. Also because I used the flash gun I could set the white balance to daylight and not worry about needing to change the colour balance afterwards.

This weekend was a huge amount of fun, I’m so glad I went with Bex. We both had a great time and took lots of photos; so we should have plenty of photos to upload for you to see.

Mat 

Graffiti

Bex and I went to the festival today again. As part of the official photography team we had access all areas and had a lot of work to do. But don’t think that we had forgotten you, while we where on our way to one of the main stages we spotted this graffiti artist working on one of the designated walls. We both enjoyed watching him work, he would spray for a bit then stop and take a step back to look at what he had just done.

He had just started to spray again when I managed to take this photo of him. The photo froze him in time while he was starting the next section of the wall. I used the flash to pick out the details on his face and in the shadows, I left the flash gun in TTL Auto (Through The Lens Auto). This meant that I just had to concentrate on composing the photo within the frame. I really like the atmosphere of this photo; it shows how much the graffiti artist was concentrating on his artwork. All his concentration worked out because his artwork looked amazing when he had finished.

I didn’t edit the photo on the computer because it looked exactly how I wanted to when I took the photo. The camera precisely captured the atmosphere of the graffiti artist working away at his artwork.

We shall be returning to the festival again tomorrow for the final day. So we shall upload another photo. We have taken a great number of photos so far, and I’m sure we shall take even more tomorrow, so we will have lots of photos to upload in the next few weeks.

Mat

Fun of the Fayre

Today was the first day of the local festival that Mat and I are covering. Mat was busy this afternoon, so I was taking photos alone. The festival doesn’t officially open until tomorrow but was open to photographers and members of the press.

 As it was the day before, most people were in the midst of setting up their stalls as I was walking around the festival site. The site itself is divided into sections, with one of those sections being a children’s zone with decorated willow arches and sculptures (as seen in the foreground of the photo). A second attraction in the family friendly zone was the giant slide!

I was trying to capture the overall fun, bright and friendly atmosphere. To do this, I decided to walk to the bottom of the hill so I could capture both the willow arches and the giant slide.

Afterwards, I increased the cyan saturation and the contrast to make the scene brighter and to make the sky more vivid. I also sharpened the image slightly to make the details more prominent. I’m looking forward to the first full day of the festival with Mat tomorrow. An early night for all!

Bex

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Delicate

This is another picture from my afternoon of “house photography”. In other words, messing around with my new filters whilst seeking something to take pictures of around my house.

In this picture, I have used a close up filter in conjunction with my macro lens. I decided to use this to try to get closer to the flower in the hope of being able to see finer details that you would normally miss without zooming in and losing quality. I used the widest aperture possible to take this picture as I only wanted the tips of the foremost petals in focus.

 I tried to use a relatively low ISO to minimise the amount of noise in a shot, and a relatively fast shutter speed to allow me to use flash. I decided to use flash as I wanted the top few petals to be illuminated, creating more interesting shadows on the underside.

After, I edited the picture in Photoshop. I increased the contrast so the shadows and highlights on the petals became more defined. I then sharpened the image to make sure that the area I had focused on was prominent. I’m really pleased with this picture, considering I didn’t plan for it to be anything special. So far the close up filters are definitely my favourites! (no surprise there…). Mat and I will be covering a local festival this weekend, so make sure you check back!                        

Bex

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Moody Dandelions

This is another of my photos from Monday’s photography wander with Bex. This set of dying dandelions caught my eye when we were on our way back. I thought they could make an interesting composition if I took the photo with the right settings.

So to get the composition right, I took the photo with an aperture of around F6 to get an adequate depth of field. I also chose to use the low key gradation setting to make the dark parts of the background look blacker. By doing this it creates a dark and mysterious atmosphere to the photo, which I thought would make the composition more interesting.

When I uploaded the photo onto my computer I decided that it didn’t require any editing. I liked the overall effect of how the photo worked straight from the camera. The background is perfectly blurred with the low key effect creating the moody atmosphere I wanted.

Bex and I are planning to go for a wander into the nature reserve again tomorrow. I hope the weather holds so we can get a varied mix of photos.

Mat

A Bridge To Not So Far Away

Yesterday I went for a wander with Bex in our local nature reserve. This was before we had a chance to look at her new set of twenty eight filters! In the nature reserve there is a brook which flows all the way through. About half way down there is this small wooden bridge that crosses the brook.

I thought the bridge would make an interesting photo if I got the composition right. By only including half the bridge in the frame I thought it would make the composition more interesting. I used a high F-stop (F18) to add some depth to the photo and to keep as much of the bridge in focus. I didn’t use flash because the end of the bridge would white out, and the overall effect would be spoiled.

When I took the photo off the camera I decided to make the shadows darker and the increase reds. I darkened the shadows to create a moodier atmosphere to the photo. I increased the reds to bring out how the bridge looked in real life.

I’m really looking forward to trying out Bex’s new set of filters (if she will let me!). Maybe we might take a few on our next wander with us. We’re planning another photography walk in the next few days, so hopefully we shall have some more photos to upload for you.

Mat

A Gem of a Picture

I managed to find a huge set of twenty-eight different filters earlier this week, so Mat and I have spent most of this afternoon finding out what effects each filter created. We didn’t actually go out for the wander that we’d planned in the end, as they arrived when we were about to leave- we got a little distracted!

To test the filters we were using any items we could find within arms reach. One of the filters was a close up; this magnifies the zoom, and allows you to get closer to the subject. I used this in conjunction with a starburst filter to get the effect seen in this picture.

I used two of my bracelets with glass beads as I though they may reflect light well. I used ISO 800 to allow for the front beads, which were in shadow of the filters! The flash illuminated the beads at the back, and gave some interesting reflections. I used a wide aperture to get the shallowest depth of field possible.

I didn’t have to do any editing in Photoshop, as I was pleased with the initial image. For an experiment, I think it came out quite well - I can’t wait to use some filters on our next photography wander!!!

Bex

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Returned

Unfortunately Bex and I didn’t get a chance to out for a walk today, so I had another look through my computer. This is another photo from our trip to the local church, I wanted to upload it sooner but I had too many other photos I wanted to upload!

I took this photo from the roof of the tower; this is where I took the majority of my photos. I saw these gaps in the wall and I thought they would make an interesting photo. So I put the camera into aperture priority and used a medium aperture of F10 to ensure that all parts of the wall where in focus. I didn’t use flash because it would have ruined the effect I was aiming for, and it wasn’t needed.

When editing the photo I increased the overall brightness but I also turned down the highlights. This helps create the mood that I was aiming for, and it also makes the detail in the shadows easier to see. I decided against cropping the photo, I tried cropping it in various ways but I didn’t like how they looked so I left it as it was.

Mat

Dramatic Red

I wasn’t able to go for a photography wander today so I looked through my computer for some more inspiration. I was looking through the photos from a fairly recent trip to the local duck pond, and I stumbled across this photo of some lovely red flowers.

This was one of the first photos that I had taken on the walk, we had just started arrived at the duck ponds and where looking around for photo opportunities. We walked round a corner and this red flower ‘jumped’ out at me. It was late evening and the sun was creating some very dramatic light effects. The light was focused directly onto the flower with the surroundings in shadow; I really liked this effect as it creates a very moody atmosphere. As it was quite late I had to take the photo with the aperture wide open (F4), which created a shallow depth of field. Also I had to use quite a high ISO to counteract the low light levels; this unfortunately added quite a lot of noise into the photo.

When editing the photo I reduced the overall noise and sharpened the photo. I also increased the brightness, I did this to emphasise the mood created by the lighting. Overall the photo has come out very pleasing I think.

Bex and I have planned to go out tomorrow, so hopefully we shall have some new material to upload for you very soon.

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

Towering

This is another photograph from mine and Mat’s endeavours to the top of the bell tower. I feel as if I may be over playing the weekend’s excursion slightly, but I took a lot of pictures so I have at least a few that I’m proud of and this is one of them! This is one of the last pictures I took while “up on the roof” (if you excuse the musical reference), but one of my most individual.

It got quite sunny as the evening drew in, meaning a lot of pictures I tried to take ended up as silhouettes. In most cases this only made the picture unusable but this is the exception. I noticed how the smaller spires were lined up perfectly, yet the middle spire was much taller while still in line. I liked the effect this had, so decided to try and capture the lines in a photo. Because of the position on the roof, I had to take it on an angle. I actually think it works better being taken at an angle as it created more interest. I had to take the picture into the sun, which caused the foreground to partially blackout, the entire photo to go black and white plus a little lens flare. I used a fast shutter speed to try and capture the clouds, which in monochrome, gives the picture a moody effect.

I didn’t have to do any editing, as I was already pleased with it. I would call this a “happy accident” as due to the restrictions I faced, I was forced to take it in a different way and it turned out better than I imagined. I think the lens flare works incredibly well, and adds to the over all effect.

Bex

Roof Top

I still haven’t exhausted all the photos that I had taken from the church. Most of the best photos had been taken from the roof, this being one of them. Instead of taking the photo of the surrounding landscape, I decided to take the photo of the roof itself!

The roof was made up of different sections, and at the joins there were these raised sections. They were all symmetrical and I thought they would make an interesting photo. I used an aperture of F22 to make sure the whole scene was in sharp focus. To create an interesting composition I framed the photo so the join ran through the centre of the frame.

I edited the photo to make sure that it was vertical and I also increased the brightness. With this done, the photo looks much better I think. The ridge runs straight through the centre of the frame and is completely symmetrical.

I’m surprised how many of the photos that I took from the church are good enough for the blog. I would like to think my photography skills are slowly getting better with Bex’s help and a lot of practice.

Mat

Aisles

Once a year in my local area, there is an “Open Doors Day”. This is when local places of interest let the public access all areas for a single day. Among other places, Mat and I decided to go to a church on the outskirts of town. It’s well known for the bell tower, which is what was open!

I walked up to the roof of the bell tower with my camera; the views were stunning but looked more like snapshots than photography. When reviewing my photos in the evening, I saw this picture. It was taken just before I went up to the roof. I was waiting for my turn, so decided to go for a wander through the main building. As I got to one end of the church, I turned and saw the archways. I noticed how the pews acted as lead in lines, as well as pillars.

I had to wait for 10 minutes to get a shot without any people at the back of it. I had to use a high ISO in order to avoid using flash. This meant that I needed to edit my picture in the evening. I increased the contrast and saturation to make the picture seem brighter without losing the colour. Afterwards, I used the noise removal tool to make the picture look clearer.

I’m really pleased with it; it was definitely worth the wait! I think it’s one of those pictures that you don’t realise it’s potential until you’ve see it on a larger screen.

Bex
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Grave Yard

The church that we were visiting also had a small grave yard round the back. While walking through the grave yard, I spotted this row of Grave stones. I like how they lined up and point towards the wall surrounding the church.

I wanted all of the grave stones to be in focus so I used an aperture of around F16, this gave a good depth of field, but also allowing the wall to be put out of focus. I didn’t use the flash because there was plenty of light and it would have spoiled the effect I was aiming for. As I was taking the photo from under a tree, the light had a green tone to it; to combat this I turned down the green to cancel out the extra green.

When editing the photo I decided to turn the green down a bit more, because I wasn’t completely satisfied with the result straight from the camera. This had some side effects, so I decide to sharpen the photo I think the end effect has worked out well. I also cropped out the left side of the photo, because I think it improves the composition of the photo.

We both enjoyed visiting the church, we found it very interesting looking inside and out of the church. We plan on making another visit in the future because we didn’t take all the photos that we could have.

Mat 

A Church With A View

The church we visited yesterday had a tower that was also open to the public. Bex and I thought the rooftop would have some interesting photo opportunities so we climbed the stairs to the top (All 133 of them!). But when we got to the top, it was more than worth it!

In each corner of the tower there was a small spire, I thought if I took a photo peering through the gaps it would make an interesting composition. I used a narrow aperture so that both sides will be in focus. Also I waited for the clouds to move into a more interesting position to improve the composition.

Afterwards I straightened the photo, and increased the colour temperature. I increased the colour temperature to recreate the colours of the sand stone. I needed to straighten the photo, because I hadn’t quite taken the photo completely vertically.

We both took plenty of photos yesterday, so we still have plenty of picture to upload over the coming week.

Mat

Church Organ

Today, Bex and I managed to visit a local church; an event was on and they had opened up to the general public. We thought there would be some interesting photo opportunities, so we went along to see what it was like.

The church was beautiful inside, the architecture was stunning; the guides inside where very helpful and friendly. I saw the organ set up in the corner with the pews leading towards it; I thought it made an interesting composition with the pews acting as lead in lines towards the organ. I used a focal length of around 30mm, this makes the organ look like it’s along way in the distance, with pews leading in and getting smaller towards it. I had to use the highest ISO the camera has (ISO1600), because I didn’t want to use flash as it would have spoiled the effect. The only downside is the photo became very ‘noisy’.

When I edited the photo, I cropped t down to focus the attention on to the lead in to the organ; I also increased the colour temperature because the sand stone pillars were more orange in real life. As the photo was so noisy, I had to quite aggressively reduce it in photoshop, unfortunately this made the photo less sharp but I think its a good compromise.

The church was very interesting, and I learnt a lot about the architecture from the guides. We plan on going back again soon, because we saw many more photo oportunites, both inside and out of the church.

Mat

Writing On The Wall

I had a free afternoon today, so I decided to go for a photography wander in the centre of my local area. I found a small winding street that stretched past the back of a museum. As I followed the path I noticed that there were messages written on the walls, advertising the museum and some topics it covered inside.

I thought it looked dramatic because of the barbed wire and posts along the top of the wall. I used a wide aperture to blur the words as it got further away. This gave the effect of making the wall look endless. It was a cold and gloomy day, meaning that there was no detail in the background. I didn’t take the picture in black and white, but lost what little colour was in the sky, while the foreground was already monochrome. Before uploading I increased the contrast and sharpness of the image in Photoshop. This made the words stand out more.

I haven’t had a chance to go out for a long walk alone for a few weeks, and it was nice to be able to get into the town centre to do some more industrial photography. I think this picture works incredibly well, displaying the clear messages as intended, yet in a more dramatic way.

Bex

Watching Waves

I haven’t been able to go for a walk recently as I have had a lot going on. This is another picture from my visit to the monkey sanctuary. I took this picture on the way back from the sanctuary. On our route, there was a ferry crossing, with a small sandy area either side of the water.

As I was waiting to board, I discovered that an old-fashioned chain ferry covered the crossing. The chains had been rusted after several years use; along with the railings that had been exposed to the sea. It was getting late and the clouds were starting to roll in, which made the entire scene look quite dramatic. I decided to play up to this by under exposing slightly. Amazingly, I didn’t have to do any editing to this picture as I liked it as it was.

I love finding odd photos through boredom. I try to keep an eye out wherever I go, just in case I spot something!

Bex
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All In A Row

This is (yet) another photo from the country fayre I went to. I found this photo, and fortunately it had an artistic side to it. It shows one of my main interests quite well! I spent quite a long time just walking up and down all the vintage tractors looking at each one individually.

Instead of taking a photo of every tractor I took one of a whole row of them; I thought it might be a bit more arty. I used a narrow aperture (F16) to ensure that most of the scene was in focus. I actually focused on the Fordson Major (the blue tractor for the less knowledgeable), so this ensured that almost all of the tractors are in focus. There was plenty of sunshine about so I didn’t need to worry about the shutter speed.

The only editing I did to the photo was to crop down the top of the frame. I didn’t edit anything else because I was happy with how the photo had been exposed. And the overall effect was spot on what I wanted.

I hope I can find some time to go for a wander with Bex soon, because I’m starting to run out of photos to upload! We’ve got some wanders planned soon, so I’m sure we will have many more interesting photos to upload.

Mat

Monkey Business

Monkey Business

I was fortunate enough to visit a monkey sanctuary over the weekend, so as usual my camera came with me! One of my favourite attractions was the lemur walk. To get into this enclosure, you have to walk through two gates. Afterwards, you are in what seems to be an abandoned forest with a small shed in the middle.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, and upon first glance I couldn’t see anything. After waiting a few minutes I spotted a group of three lemurs walking up the path towards me. It was an amazing sight; they seemed so calm and relaxed in the presence of humans.

Two of the lemurs walked past me, jumped through the fence into the area with the small shed and started to eat. What really caught my eye was the symmetry in the picture. Both the lemurs’ tails were curled in the same way, exactly opposite of each other. Later, I increased the saturation and sharpened the image in Photoshop to make the black, white and red detailing on the lemurs more prominent.

I could’ve happily stayed in the lemur walk all day! It felt great to be able to get so close to the animals; they seemed so cheeky and I really enjoyed watching them play. I can’t wait to go on my next wander.

Bex
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The Lone Farrier

This is another photo from my trip to the Earls Barton country fayre. After I had looked round the vintage farm machinery I saw this mobile forge, I thought it would make an interesting candid photo.

I preset the camera; first I calculated the correct exposure using the inbuilt light metre, then I pre-focused the lens so I could take the photo quickly. When the farrier went to work on the horseshoe, he made the composition perfect, so I brought up the camera and took the photo.

As the photo was taken in quite a hurry the exposure I calculated wasn’t spot on, so when I was checking the photo I decreased the brightness, and increased the contrast a bit. This is the main advantage of having my negatives scanned onto a computer; I can edit them and repair any mistakes that I made when taking the photos.

I really enjoy candid photography, and I think I shall do some more when I’m out and about next. I enjoy using film SLRs, I love the grainy effect that the film gives the photos, I think it makes them more interesting. There’s another country fayre that is coming up soon, I’m hoping to give it a visit, if I do I shall be taking my trusty Pentax cameras with me.

Mat

Steam Traction

Last weekend while I was away, I went to the Earls Barton country fayre. While I was there I had decided to take my new camera out (Pentax P-30), I also decided to try out a new type of film: Kodak 200 colour plus.

While walking around there was a display of steam traction engines. I am very interested in vintage haulage and farming machinery, so I’m always the first around the traction engines, tractors and classic lorries. I’m amazed that I used just one film cartridge!

This traction engine was the first that I saw and I just thought it looked amazing! The bright red paint finish was very striking and eye-catching. When I saw the light on the front I could see an interesting photo opportunity forming. So I crouched down and used a large aperture to limit the depth of field. The P-30 has a depth of field preview so I could test to see if I could get the desired effect. I liked the effect I could see in the viewfinder, so I took the photo. When I got the film developed I could see the depth of field was spot on. I really like the effect of having just the light in sharp focus; it creates a really interesting composition.

I didn’t edit the photo because I like showing what film SLR’s are still capable of; I will always think they are as capable as brand new DSLRs like Bex’s Olympus. I took plenty of photos at the fayre and hopefully I shall be able to upload a few more. The new type of film works very well with quite a fine grain but I think Fujifilm just beats it (But with a small increase in price).

Mat

Falls

Bex and I didn’t get a chance to do any set-up shots today, but we did have some spare time while we were out. We had gone to the local nature reserve and just stopped to have some lunch. Afterwards we started to wander back home, when we past this small waterfall.

I’ve seen many photos of waterfalls with the water being blurred as it falls. I really like the effect of these photos and I wanted to have an attempt myself. So I put the camera into shutter priority, and slowed it right down to around 1/30^th of a second. At this speed the water becomes blurred but the surroundings are still very sharp.

While editing the photo I increased the brightness in the shadows, I did this because I thought the shadows looked quite dull and needed some light. I also cropped the photo; I decided to do this because I had included too much of the dam in the photo. Overall I am very pleased with the editing to this photo.

I’m glad that Bex and I had a chance to go out together. Hopefully soon we shall get a chance to do some set up shots.

Mat