2017 Project 52 - 2nd Quarter by Geoff F

[Shadowman]

Post 77, nice series.

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the comments.

Regarding that building in the field. It looked like an old barn. Before the age of tractors etc, barns would be constructed in outlying areas of a farm to provide storage for hay and other animal feeds which were used during the winter. Most of the old barns around here also had storage on the lower floor for farm machinery and often a few areas where sick animals could be given a bit of shelter.

Barn storage gave more protection to winter hay than the traditional hay ricks which often suffered from rain and wind damage in exposed areas. There are a few similar buildings in the area.

Many farm buildings were destroyed by the American Army in 1944 when they were practising for D-Day on the nearby Slapton Sands. This area was completely taken over by the military. All the farmers and some entire villages were moved away.

Regarding Steven's question about using flash. I always set my camera with manual settings to suit the scene, but allowing for any limitations caused by flash use. Then adjust the flash output compensation as required. Full manual flash settings are an option but that can be a bit of a chore when frequently moving between different subjects. Once you get the hang of these settings it is usually simpler to just alter the flash compensation as required. In much the same way as you would use exposure compensation adjustment when shooting without flash.

The old style flash units had a fixed output so you had to keep varying the camera settings to suit each scene, which is why many people placed a layer of thin tissue paper over their flash heads or purchased flash reduction covers which fitted over the head. Modern 'self thinking' flash units will measure the ambient lighting and auto adjust their output. So now, you have more control over the flash level without having to mess about with these contraptions.

Sometimes, I use a Lastolite Micro Apollo cover over my flash because it gives a wider spread of light and helps to avoid any hard shadows but for most general use I find it is a bit cumbersome particularly when photographing insects in the wild among dense foliage etc. Also it seems to scare my subjects when they find a 12 x 8 ins white object moving towards them.

Some shiny insects are particularly troublesome to photograph and will give reflection areas even under shady conditions. If you see a reflective 'hot spot' area on your subject it will appear like that in the shot no matter what you do. Quite often, without flash, a small image of the photographer will appear on the surface of an insect.

So a careful balance between basic camera settings plus a controlled little bit of fill flash usually gives the best results.

[skitterbug]

Week 25 which means half the year gone already!

While recording insect life at a local reserve I wondered if I could manage some sort of landscape scene from the area; so these are my attempts.

Across the Marsh.






7D with Tamron 24-70 lens. F11 Iso 200 and a merge of 3 different exposures, hand held. Maybe a fraction less sky?

Power Across the Marsh. A different angle from the same shooting position. Definitely an experimental shot to see if I could get anything to work from this scene.



1/200 F11 Iso 200 and a merge of different adjustments from one Raw file.

Topsham Bridge. A different site the previous day. I was leaning out as far as I could over a low wall to avoid various unwanted items. Nothing is truly horizontal or vertical in this scene so I went with the camera rotation indicator in the viewfinder.



1/200 F11 Iso 400 and a merge of Raw conversions.

Across the Marsh is intriguing but I'd probably crop some of the foreground (grassy area) from it but it is just something I'd do. And I think I like this format rather than the square one you have further in your thread.

Power Across the Marsh doesn't do anything one way or the other for me other than it does show part of the electrical grid you have in this area.

Topsham Bridge is my favorite because I enjoy water scenes. This one makes me "itch" to explore! I'd have to agree, there is no good way to line things up so natural position is best in my opinion.

Tis a lovely country!

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the comments.

And now on to the 3rd Quarter, starting here

2017 Project 52 - 3rd Quarter by Geoff F