High Time

High Time for a new Blog. Still very much in lockdown but the chance of a week away shortly in a log cabin in the woods. Looking forward to it immensely.

In the meantime after seeing a post in FB asking for opinions as to whether an image should be black and white or left as colour. I started to think about the subject. Most of the participants chose black and white and I wondered why.

As humans we see the world in colour. (we would be rather upset if we could only see in black and white). But as photographers we seem to think that an image is improved when converted to black and white. Generally that is what it is - a conversion. Not so many of us are using black and white film these days. So why did so many people feel that the black and white version was the better. Is it because the popular view is that a photographer is a good photographer when their images are in black and white or is it because black and white improves an image.

My opinion is - a poor image is not improved just by converting it to black and white. It is still a poor image. Some images, and I would say very few images, can look outstanding in black and white. But the image has to be able to stand alone as a good image and converting to black and white only enhances what is already there.

My personal preference is always colour even in poor weather conditions. What I miss with black and white is the subtle differences in colour created by light. I want the viewer to experience what I have seen and that is colour. In the end it all comes down to preference and I feel that should be personal preference and not what we think we should say.

What is your opinion?

As always just enjoy taking photos

Printing to File - Lightroom

Using Lightroom to print to file is a very simple way to ensure your facebook page or blog are pleasing to view. In Lightroom I like to create a triptych to portray a group of images. This way they are even sized and positioned on the page correctly.

In Lightroom go to the print option and choose print to fill-in the Print Job menu. Choose the setting of how many images in the group you want. In my case I choose 3 columns but you can choose as many as you wish. I then go up to the Image Settings and I choose zoom to fill. At this point you can move your image around in the blocks to position it how you want. Under layout I choose a small horizontal cell spacing of approximately .30cm. I just prefer a line in-between the images but you don’t have to. Set all other margins and sizes to zero and let Lightroom do the maths for you. When saving for social media file resolution of 100 ppl is more than enough.

Then print to file. Choose where you would like your image to be stored and it is ready to use on FB, Instagram, your blog or wherever.

Macro Photography

During these interesting times of lockdown it has been difficult to get out and about as much as I would have liked.  Sometimes the only option is the garden or the hedgerow on the walk.  So Macro it is then and I’m definitely no expert.

Macro photography is a testing art.  So what is macro photography? Is it close up photography?  Well yes and no

Macro photography is when the small object you are making an image of can be reproduced on your camera sensor at life size 1:1. Generally macro photography requires specific macro lenses. Sometime lenses will say they are a macro lens but cannot produce an image at 1:1 so these are more of a close up lens. 

So is it complicated – yes it is. But it is also so very rewarding when you get it right, which in my case is not that often.  

The point of macro photography is getting reasonably close to the subject to get that life size image. Once you start getting close to a subject you are restricting the amount of light that you get into the lens and that falls onto the subject. To counter this you will need a shallow depth of field. A shallow depth of field means that only a small area of the image is in focus and detail can and will be lost. In some instances this looks great a blurred background, muted colours, but the subject needs to be kept in sharp focus for it to really work.  I have no idea how many shots I have taken (and binned) that are not even close to what I thought I was focusing on. 

There are numerous articles on the internet that will get you started and feed your appetite. So whilst on your daily walks and in your garden don’t over look the everyday flowers and insect as they make great subjects to practice on. 

And as ever enjoy it, keep practicing and making mistakes

Star Burst and f16

Capturing starburst in photography is due to light diffraction. Diffraction is the slight bending of (light) waves around small obstacles and the spreading out of (light) waves pasing through or hitting a small opening. As light passes into your camera through a small opening, i.e. a small aperture at a low focal length, it bends around the edges of the blades and creates the “star” look. The number of rays from each starburst is related to the number of aperture blades in your lens.

The following two images were taken at different apertures. The first one is at f5.6. Nice but slightly wooly. The second one f 16, much more defined and crisp keeping the tails of the light in a nice ordered pattern.

It is another one of those like Marmite you either love it or you hate it.

But what every you do have fun trying it.

Hello, World!

In Camera Movement

In Camera Movement - Always a difficult one and for the purest amongst you a definite no no. But to me ICM has its place and can look stunning when carried out with care. I find some images look even better when using this technique than straight. It takes trial and error to get it looking good. It doesn’t work every time or in every subject mater. But it is worth giving it a go and enjoy your results

Snow Time

Royal Photographic Members Exhibition selection

On Saturday I attended the annual event held at Bridge of Allan for the Scottish Members exhibition selection. Each member takes four images and these are voted on to eventually end up with an exhibition of 40 members images. This then tours the region all the way from Shetland to the Scottish Borders. Great fun day. This is my image that was chosen.

Omarau Harbour. South Island New Zealand.

Although an extremely simple image. It took quite some time to capture. The day was incredible still and grey. The harbour wall was just about the only colour beside the turquoise sea. I was just about to leave not absolutely satisfied with what I had got when a wave caught the harbour wall. That was it. Back again reset my camera and wait until the next wave came. I think it was worth it.

Christine

New Website

I am so pleased to have finished my new website. Hopefully it is a lot clearer and easier to navigate. I have really enjoyed creating it, clearing out some of the old images and bringing in the new.

Would love your comments.