Location Photography
5.2 4.2
I wanted to experiment with water and capturing the reflections of light as Jim Jallop did in his livestock photo. As I was doing the process of altering shutter speed manually one photo at a time I was getting a lot of ghosting on the image post production .
As you can see on there three photo's there is a lot of movement between each shot, as I was altering settings manually also it was an overcast day and there was far less reflection on water than I wanted.
I wanted to experiment with water and capturing the reflections of light as Jim Jallop did in his livestock photo. As I was doing the process of altering shutter speed manually one photo at a time I was getting a lot of ghosting on the image post production .
As you can see on there three photo's there is a lot of movement between each shot, as I was altering settings manually also it was an overcast day and there was far less reflection on water than I wanted.
Realising this was not going to work, unless I could figure out a way of changing the settings without touching the camera in the process. I went back to researching HDR ,water and my camera settings. I found out if you set the auto exposure to the setting you want, ie. 2 up 2 down or 1 up 1 down and so on. Set the shoot mode to burst then set it to manual focus and spot metering.
Camera on tripod and we get the photos below.
Camera on tripod and we get the photos below.
4.1
f-stop f/7.1 Exposure time 1/100 sec. F-stop f/5.6 Exposure time 1/100 sec. F-stop/5.6 Exposure time 1/100 sec.
ISO speed ISO-100 Exposure bias -1 step. ISO speed ISO-200 Exposure bias +1 step. ISO speed ISO-100 Exposure bias 0 step.
Focal length 42 mm Max aperture 3.61328125 Focal length 42 mm Max aperture 3.61328125 Focal length 42 mm Max aperture 3.61328125 Metering mode: Spot, Flash mode No flash. Metering mode: Spot, Flash mode no flash . Metering mode: Stop, Flash mode no flash.
The sun was shining and reflecting on the water as i was hoping for. In contrast to last visit to location where it was overcast and the sun was unable to penetrate the foliage of the trees .
f-stop f/7.1 Exposure time 1/100 sec. F-stop f/5.6 Exposure time 1/100 sec. F-stop/5.6 Exposure time 1/100 sec.
ISO speed ISO-100 Exposure bias -1 step. ISO speed ISO-200 Exposure bias +1 step. ISO speed ISO-100 Exposure bias 0 step.
Focal length 42 mm Max aperture 3.61328125 Focal length 42 mm Max aperture 3.61328125 Focal length 42 mm Max aperture 3.61328125 Metering mode: Spot, Flash mode No flash. Metering mode: Spot, Flash mode no flash . Metering mode: Stop, Flash mode no flash.
The sun was shining and reflecting on the water as i was hoping for. In contrast to last visit to location where it was overcast and the sun was unable to penetrate the foliage of the trees .
The final image is much crisper with far less ghosting just a small amount at the top right of the image where the water was running much faster over some boulders. I do feel I have captured the movement of the water and the reflections of light that I planned on attempting to capture as it was a sunny day and the dappled sunlight hitting the water adds a good effect.
Combining the three images from single pictures to an HDR photo requires a program, at first I got a plug in called Photomatix for photoshop. This was free and very useful for learning how versatile HDR can be, from very subtle to in your face and dramatic. I try to find beauty in everything I see and HDR has made it possible for me to show others how my minds eye see's the world.
However the plug-in did leave unsightly watermarks all over your photo as it was a free add on. So in order for me to get a photo without the watermarks I purchased Photomatix Pro. This did slow my progress down as I had to learn a new stand alone program but as you can see below the water marks spoilt the photo.
However the plug-in did leave unsightly watermarks all over your photo as it was a free add on. So in order for me to get a photo without the watermarks I purchased Photomatix Pro. This did slow my progress down as I had to learn a new stand alone program but as you can see below the water marks spoilt the photo.
Problems along the way.
The location was flooded in places and i had to go through alot of thick brambles to find other ways under the viaduct to get the photos I wanted.
I was intending to visit this location more than the three times I did but I became ill from going there. There was a lot of stagnant water and an awful lot of rubbish under the viaduct which itself smelt of urine. Added to my camera kit from now on is alcohol wipes for camera and hand sanitizer for my hands.
Journey through the brambles.
3.1 4.2
Visiting site.
I visited the site on three actions at different times.
Fist day: 16:00
Overcast and drizzling and this made it hard to get the highlights that I needed for my HDR photo although it did give some good shadowing for the darker photos. But was unable to do any good water shots as there was no reflection and that is what I wanted to capture in my water photos.
2nd day 12:00
Sunny, no wind! Perfect! I was hoping to get my water photo and the plants/ trees around it, with no wind that means no movement on the foliage which i'm hoping will give me less ghosting and a crisper photo. Which it did, and it also give me all the dynamic range I needed to get good HDR photos.
Sunny, no wind! Perfect! I was hoping to get my water photo and the plants/ trees around it, with no wind that means no movement on the foliage which i'm hoping will give me less ghosting and a crisper photo. Which it did, and it also give me all the dynamic range I needed to get good HDR photos.
3rd day 18:00
This shoot did not work out quite as I intended. When I left for the shoot it was a little overcast however the sun did look like it was going to break through. I was wrong as later the weather changed quickly and became windy, cloudy and dark. I knew I was going to be unable to get much dynamic range from this lighting and the movement in the trees would lead to ghoting. I did find out that it made for some interesting photos.
Silhouette and good contrast would make for good conditions for a photoshoot.
This shoot did not work out quite as I intended. When I left for the shoot it was a little overcast however the sun did look like it was going to break through. I was wrong as later the weather changed quickly and became windy, cloudy and dark. I knew I was going to be unable to get much dynamic range from this lighting and the movement in the trees would lead to ghoting. I did find out that it made for some interesting photos.
Silhouette and good contrast would make for good conditions for a photoshoot.
The photos below are under and overexposed, not enough light or too much light got into the camera as the shutter speed was too fast or too slow.
A photograph is described as overexposed when it has a loss of highlight detail, "washed out" or known as "blown out" highlights. As you can see on the photo of the tree and in the tunnel too much light has got into the aperture and washed out the photo.
A photograph is described as underexposed when it has a loss of shadow detail, when important dark areas are "muddy" known as "blocked up shadows", As in the photo of the side of the viaduct and inside a tunnel, not enough light has got into the camera resulting in a loss of any detail in the darker areas .
A photograph is described as overexposed when it has a loss of highlight detail, "washed out" or known as "blown out" highlights. As you can see on the photo of the tree and in the tunnel too much light has got into the aperture and washed out the photo.
A photograph is described as underexposed when it has a loss of shadow detail, when important dark areas are "muddy" known as "blocked up shadows", As in the photo of the side of the viaduct and inside a tunnel, not enough light has got into the camera resulting in a loss of any detail in the darker areas .
5.2
Getting the balance between the highlights and the shadowing was very hard, there is a fine line between too much and not enough information getting into the camera. I have learned that a pre-shoot is always a good idea to figure out what conditions are needed to create the kind of image you are after. As with the water shoot I was unable to produce the image I wanted as there was insufficient light due to it being overcast. However on my second visit it was sunny and I was able to get the light I needed. I feel I have learnt a lot, being flexible with your ideas is a start, you don't always get the lighting you intended and have to change your idea/approach. Another thing i have learned is to be patient and think outside the box, ie: going to places no one else would, In my case its was nearly impossible to get under the viaduct and it was also full of rubbish and smelt of stagnant water.
Getting the balance between the highlights and the shadowing was very hard, there is a fine line between too much and not enough information getting into the camera. I have learned that a pre-shoot is always a good idea to figure out what conditions are needed to create the kind of image you are after. As with the water shoot I was unable to produce the image I wanted as there was insufficient light due to it being overcast. However on my second visit it was sunny and I was able to get the light I needed. I feel I have learnt a lot, being flexible with your ideas is a start, you don't always get the lighting you intended and have to change your idea/approach. Another thing i have learned is to be patient and think outside the box, ie: going to places no one else would, In my case its was nearly impossible to get under the viaduct and it was also full of rubbish and smelt of stagnant water.
I wanted to present my work with my 3 final pieces printed, two on A3 and one A1. I looked online and it come to far to much over £60 and I don't have that amount of money to justify spending that on college, when I have a family of 6 to keep.