I have recently started taking some shots using film, but am still learning about the development process, but I have found that when I do take my digital camera out now I am taking about half as many shots as previously.  It would also appear that I am starting to think about my photos a little more.  Today I decided to go out to try and capture the Winter light.  I had been thinking about getting up early and catching the sunrise, but that would mean going out in the cold and scraping the ice off the car!

I set off towards the Northamptonshire countryside and, as usual saw lots of photo opportunities.  Unfortunately what I didn’t see was somewhere to stop the car!  I therefore made a stop in Preston Capes, the second village I came to.  This is somewhere I have driven through, but never stopped in, mainly due to the aforementioned lack of somewhere to put the car.  Today I was in luck and quickly abandoned the car on the main street and made my way to the church, partly in the hope that I could get some views of the countryside as well as pictures of the church.

I saw this picture and, although it wasn’t the one I set out to get, it came out in the camera exactly as I had hoped when I pressed the shutter.  Well, almost, what I didn’t notice until I put the image into Lightroom was the transmitter showing behind one of the trees and, I am ashamed to admit it, I am tempted to try and clone it out should I wish to enter any competition.

However,  the light, the shadows, the rolling landscape, are just as I wanted in the photo.  This was taken with my 50mm lens, ISO200, f/9.0, 1/320secs.

Although the lake was in a fairly urban location, I was struck by the fact there were still plenty of flowers around and, apart from the noise (and litter), it could have been almost anywhere.  I therefore wanted to take a photo that showed the flowers in the context of the busiest motorway junction in the country (urban flowers feature quite a lot in my 300 photos).  I took a few photos from the grassy bank, showing the poppies with the motorway behind, using both my wide angle lens and my compact camera to try and get them all in.  When asked to see some of the photos by the tutor his first comment was – look at your foreground – and he was right (see photo at the bottom of the page).  This is one of my continuing problems – I focus on the idea and getting the subject sharp that I rely on cropping to deal with anything else, but it does not make for a good photo.  Then, suddenly a lightbulb came on and I saw the photo in my head – use my 50mm lens, get down close to the poppies to make them the subject (rather than the poppies and the motorway) with the motorway just about recognisable in the background to give some context (there is even a truck whizzing by).  We were about to leave the area, so I had to run all the way round the lake, take the photo and run all the way back – and I managed to scrape the skin off my elbow in the process whilst trying to get in close to the poppies.

I am not sure whether this is the photo that he had in mind, or whether using the 50mm lens was the right thing to do (ISO200, 1/320mm, f/6.3), or whether the background should be sharper, but I think the photo was worth it and am quite pleased with the outcome as it was close to the image in my head and a vast improvement on the original concept.

The snow does have a tendency to dampen the sound, but, it may have been that everyone was out shopping or it may have been the snow, but there were very few people about.  This is epitomized by the empty seat, covered in snow.

I also like the texture on the bark of the tree and the fact that it is leaning into the picture as is the smaller tree whereas the seat is leaning backwards.

It also feels quite lonely, as if it is waiting for something to happen – people to pass by or sit down, the snow to thaw, or Spring to come and bring new life?

The wide aperture on the lens also makes the tree stand out a little from the scrubby area behind, which I think is also enhanced by including a bit of the sky.  (I took another picture without the sky and one with a smaller aperture, but this one seemed better.)

Settings on the camera equipped with 50mm lens were ISO100 1/125secs at f/4.0.

However, when I zoomed in on the tree on the left I was struck by how sharp it was and how much detail had been captured (although it is not entirely obvious from this crop).

Whilst I like this group of trees I have since decided that I do not like the crop – I think that it is unbalanced, all of the trees are in the centre, but there is nothing to hold the picture in.  In the original picture there were more trees to the left and I think that helped with the balance.

I have included more of the picture in the shot at the bottom.  This is an improvement in terms of balance, but because the field slopes to the right, and there are no strong features on the right I think the photo is falling out of the frame.  What do you think?

Camera settings 1/200secs, f/8.0, ISO100, 50mm focal length using my EOS 400D.

I think that this conveys how cold it was and how desolate it can be, although this tree is right on the edge of a housing estate!

I don’t have much else to say about this photo, but it was taken with my 50mm lens, ISO200, 1/200secs at f/13.

In the first instance I have broken the usual rule and have put the main focus of the photo in the centre.  Also, the border between the fields and the trees breaks across the centre of the air shaft (which links down to the canal below).

However, the idea I was looking for was to have three points in the picture which then form a triangle which I have achieved using the two fence posts and the air shaft.

What I liked about the photo on the day was the fluffiness of the clouds which made the sky more interesting.  What I didn’t notice but what I like now is the way that gap in the posts leads the eye into the picture and the post that had fallen over in the foreground.

The photo was taken with my EOS 400D kit lens at 72mm ISO200, 1/100secs at f/22 (handheld of course).

However, what hadn’t been apparent was that the poppies were in the middle of the field, and nowhere near the bits I could get to.  This is the best shot I could get without trampling the farmer’s crops – not really the thing to do.

I decided to make the best of it – the idea was to concentrate on the lonely poppy in the foreground and try to get the blurred poppies in the background to provide a context and a contrast – a single poppy against a mass of poppies.

Things to be improved – many – the most obvious is the seed head in front of the poppy – a pair of shears would have been an ideal addition to my photography kit.  I also think a few more poppies in the foreground would have helped, as would a better sky, it was mainly a sunny day with a blue sky and fluffy clouds, except for the time during which I was taking photos.  Also, more poppies in the background would have been better – or maybe edge to edge poppies – as I was initially hoping for.

In order to actually get anything in shot I had to use my macro lens, ISO200, 1/160secs at f/11.

This has the required elements, a main subject in the foreground and so background interest with the trees in the background.  The shot would have been better if I had taken it earlier, as the light on the tree was much better, but, there were a load of photographers in the way all taking the same photo.

Would it be better with a more interesting sky?  Possibly, but the sky was bland for most of the day, and it does allow the tree to be the main focus, so, I am quite happy with the result overall, and I do like the minimalist pallet – there is nothing there really other than shades of green.

Any complaints?  I do think the lighting is a little flat, and wonder if the effect is a little bland.  But, it does what a landscape photo should and gives a feel for the place, it was quiet, peaceful, in the middle of nowhere and a little bit hazy.

This photo was taken with my compact camera, ISO80, 1/500 secs, f/4.0, 6mm.

Lights in the Mist

When I set out for work in the snow the other morning I saw the mist and thought about the great photo opportunities.  Unfortunately I was on my way to work and only had my Ixus and not my EOS and tripod.  I tried a few photos on the old railway track (hoping the snow would help), but the light levels were a little poor, after all it was a misty morning in January, and camera shake ensued.  I then took this shot looking back through the industrial estate; the car headlights fortunately provided enough light for a semi-decent shot.

I removed all colour from the shot (apart from yellow and orange) using Lightroom, but other than that it is pretty much as it was taken.

I like the feeling of emptiness and stillness that I get from this shot.  Although there is obviously a car moving through, I can almost hear the silence that snow brings (can you hear silence?  I am not sure?).

For those interested it was ISO200, 5.8mm, f/2.8, 1/15 secs.

Daventry in the Frost

I thought that as it was the end of the year I would choose the photo that I had taken in 2009 of which I was most proud.  This was a tricky decision as I think that my photography has improved during the past year, particularly my macro photography, and it was difficult not to choose one of my many photos of bees into which I had put a fair amount of time and effort.  However, I have chosen this shot which I took back in January last year during a walk around the Country Park after a hoar frost.

The reason I have chosen the picture is because it is different to my usual pictures, and I think, for once, I have managed to capture on the camera the mood of the scene that I saw.  It was also an unplanned picture, I have no idea who the bloke in the field is (that is my usual title for this shot).  I also have this printed out and mounted on an A3 scale and will hopefully get it framed and put on the wall at some point.

I converted the picture into Black & White in Lightroom and cropped it slightly.  I have been told that the grass in the foreground is distracting and would be marked down by a judge in a competition, but I disagree, and, it is my picture and my blog, so it is my opinion that counts.  The photo was taken (handheld) with my EOS 400D fitted with the Canon 70-300 IS lens, ISO 200, at 90mm, f/10, 1/100 secs.