White balance

I found some resources on the web that helped to explain this - and make it clear that the cameras settings are just an introduction. The originators of these diagrams retain their copyright.

This chart shows the colour temperatures and some of their equivalents.

These symbols match the pre-sets on my camera

The camera pre-sets are guesswork designed to save time - they are not exact.

I tend to adjust the WB a lot because I have noticed the difference that it can make. This collage, also from the web, shows some contrasts.

 

It is something I'd like to research and experiment with. Here are some shots showing the various white balance pre-settings on my camera and shot under artificial light at Fielden. The exposure is the same throughout.

AWB

Bright sun 











Shade

Overcast/cloud

 Tungsten lightbulb

 Florescent tube

 Flash

Custom (not set)

Kelvin/candlelight

Shutter speed/Movement and Flash - 2

I know some people who move a lot, so I set myself the challenge of freezing them.

 ISO 800, 17mm, 1/200, f2.8

 17mm, 1/100, f3.5

This turned out to be a bit technical - it was getting dark and I find it very hard to focus the camera in poor light.

ISO 200, 17mm, 1/250, f3.2

I tried the fill in flash but needed to adjust the exposure. I also learned that the maximum shutter speed with the flash is 1/250.

 Better...  ISO 100, 17mm, 1/250, f3.5

Not great - but finally everyone is airborne.

ISO 100, 17mm, 1/250, 3.5

Compared to this the panning shots were easy!

 ISO 1600, 17mm, 1/15, f8.0

 ISO 1250, 17mm, 1/20, f7.1

ISO 1250, 17mm, 1/15, f8.0

ISO 1250, 17mm, 1/13, 9.0













A big thanks to Sam, James and Lucy for their help with these photos.

Shutter speed/Movement - 1

Some motion blur shots from the city - with a bit of trainspotting...

I would really like some tips on the problem of contrast between bright sky and darker land....
ISO 100, 55mm, 0.3s, f22 with tripod

Network Rail wouldn't let me use a tripod on their station, so I had to get creative and find things to rest the camera on...
20mm, 3.2s, f22

 ..like the end of the escalator. With people moving away this is almost a motion frozen shot
35mm, 1/4, f8.0

 But the motion blur is much more fun.

17mm, 1sec, f22

 ISO 200, 17mm, 1s, f13

 ISO 100, 20mm, 1.6s, f22

 ISO 200, 28mm, 1.3s, f22

 ISO 200, 28mm, 1.3, f22

 ISO 400, 28mm, 1.3s, f22

The Built Environment - aperture and depth of field - Manchester

When I went to Manchester I decided to avoid preconceived ideas of what would work and just wandered about.

With foreground interest, the depth of field creates real contrasts in focus.
ISO 100, 1/1250, f2.8

 When subjects are more distant the differences can be very subtle.
This is the shot I like:
55mm, 1/100, f10











The same shot with the focus on the red brick building - the contrast is not obvious.
55mm, 1/1000, 2.8

 Another two shots that show very subtle differences, and not quite what I expected. 

ISO 100, 55mm, 1/2500, f2.8

 ISO 100, 55mm, 1/640, f7.1, and this shot with the tripod.

 55mm, 1/1000, f2.8
There is a lot happening in cities. I find the hard thing knowing what to leave out rather than what to include.

17mm, 1/640, f2.8

The Built Environment - aperture settings, RAW images and polarizer - Salford

Here are some of the images that we looked at for inspiration on this theme:
The Built Environment PDF

I headed to Salford in bright sunshine to practice using aperture to control the depth of field. Bright sun is one of my least favourite lights to work in - I find the contrasts very hard to balance. I took a circular polarizing filter and wanted to become more familiar with using this.

 This is the first time that I have shot in RAW. I set the camera to save a JPEG too and this meant that it automatically took a colour as well as a black and white shot, both at the same settings.

ISO 100 - 35mm, 1/50, f18

 I had a shot of the city in mind but realized that I needed a much longer lens to have a hope of getting it, along with very different light.

55mm, 1/50, f18

 55mm, 1/50, f18

 Something else I'm not too familiar with is using a tripod. Mine is heavy,  and can be fiddly to set up. It is a different way of working but one I want to try. I used it for these shots, but found it hard to get the view I wanted.

50mm, 1/50, f18

 I used the polarizing filter to see if it would improved the contrast...

In the end this was probably my best shot. I adjusted the exposure to compensate for the filter and the stopped down aperture helped to give the long depth of field.

55mm, 1/8, f22

Fay Godwin

I wanted to put a few images by Fay Godwin on the blog as I have been looking at her work a lot recently. I admire her work and her landscapes especially. She seems to be able to get the essence of the British landscape without ever resorting to cliches or the sort of chocolate box approach that you see so much of. They are always fresh and never obvious, with compositions that somehow involve you in the scene. And they are 'warts and all'.

A book 'Remains of Elmet' concentrates on the landscape of the West Riding and the South Pennines that is close to where I live. It is a favourite of mine, as is the countryside in that part of the country.

Here is a small selection of her landscape work - all images copyright Fay Godwin.