It feels so good to
get back to the photography, and I have been having some fun with it this week!
I’m trying to learn the art of long exposure photography; I’ve had a bit of a
rethink on my new photo story; I think I’ve figured out the whole ‘pack my pack’
conundrum... It’s been a good week. What say we start with...
Long Exposures
(I’ve spread
examples of my first attempts across the blog – what do you think?)
The first thing I
realised is that there are two different skill sets with long exposure
photography. Skill set number one is what I’m thinking of as the Craft of long exposure photography. This
involves selecting the right lens and the right filters and the right camera,
making sure you know
how to use each of these effectively for the shoot and
then applying those technical abilities to the production of the final
image(s). Now, if you’re in any way serious about your photography you already
have most of skill set number one down. You might need some advice on filters
or you might need to brush up on certain settings in your camera, but you pretty
much have the Craft of long exposure
photography down.
 |
| D3200, Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 - 16mm, 2.5 sec at f/8 |
Then there’s skill
set number two, which I think of as the Art
of long exposure photography. This one is trickier, even ignoring all that ‘art
is subjective blah blah blah...’ crap... that I usually go on about. Let me use
my experience so far to explain.
I’ve only gone out
expressly for the purpose of getting long exposure shots twice, and that was
yesterday and the day before. I have taken long(-ish) exposure shots before,
but I’ve never thoughtabout them in those terms. They were just shots that
needed long exposures, if you get what I mean. But for the last couple of days
I have been going out with the intention of doing some long exposures and I’m
slowly coming to realise that...
Epiphany! I’ve just
realised that long exposure photography is no different to any other form of
photography. You simply need to develop a different eye for it. By that I mean
you have to learn how to look at a scene with long exposures in mind, and
consider that scene in light of what you want to accomplish. Just like any
other form of photography, right? So I guess the Art of long exposure is learning how to see for long exposure photography.
Hmm... Writing this
little snippet really helped me figure that out... Groovy!
So thanks for lending me an ear, gang! It
helped!
I guess we can move
on to...
More on the New Photo Story
 |
| D3200, Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 - 16mm, 30 sec at f/8 |
Do you remember
what I said about my new project last week? How I was going to call it Heritage in Decline and it was going to
be about old abandoned buildings and equipment? And how it was going to ask
questions about history and such? Well, I’ve had a rethink. I kinda had to
because what I described last week just isn’t the way I like to work. I don’t
want to tell people what to think, I just want to encourage them to think. If
someone tells me what to think the only thing I think is – well, I can’t tell you what I think, but it isn’t very
nice and it’s about them! I also don’t want to interrogate people. I have never
wanted my photos to act in service to a question; I want my photos to inspire
questions. And if they don’t inspire the question I was thinking of when I took
the shot, good, whatever. I don’t care what you think, so long as you are
thinking.
But what does
all that mean?
It means I’m
changing it up a little. First I’m changing the title. Heritage in Decline is a little to accusatory for me. It suggests neglect,
a negative concept that might turn people off and, if I’m honest, I kinda do
care what people think. This is especially true when what they are thinking is “Who
does this little git think he is, criticising me?” So I was thinking of changing
it to Abandoned Spaces instead. It’s still open to interpretation, but it
becomes wholly about the topic without any implied responsibility.
It also means I’m
going back to my normal approach. I’m not going to ask questions, or suggest what
the audience should experience. Rather, I’m going to let the audience tell me what it is they are
experiencing, and what questions my photos raise, if any. I like it when people
think, and tell me what they think (BIG Hint, Hint ;-)).
And then there’s
the subject matter. My initial thought of roaming the back roads of Tasmania
looking for abandoned stuff to shoot is, well... kinda daft. It would make the
project more about fuel prices than photography! So instead I’m going to make
it about specific areas. Those ghost towns I mentioned last week, to be
precise. They should be really interesting subject matter. Take Pillinger, for
example.
According to my
super-secret contact Pillinger just doesn’t exist anymore. There’s nothing
there so there’s nothing to shoot. Think about that for a second; there is nothing to shoot! What more powerful
image can you conjure in your mind than a big old dollop of nothing where a port town used to be! Wow or what?!
Sorry. Geeked
out a bit there.
Moving Awkwardly
on...
More on the Hiking Gear
This ought to
be a quick one. You may recall I was having trouble fitting all my hiking and
photography gear into the packs I’ve got, mostly on account of my teenage-stupidity-itis.
The main problem being the inflatable mattress I’ll need if I want to actually
sleep while I’m camping. Well, I had brainwave! I’m packing a tarpaulin in my
tent bag with my tent, just in case I need a little extra weather shielding. It
gets the tarp out of the pack but still keeps it neatly stored. It occurred to
me that, if I buy or make a slightly bigger bag for my tent, I can probably
stash the rolled up mattress and accessories in it with the tent and the tarp
and everything. I’m thinking of making it myself so I can make it out of a
robust weatherproof material to keep my gear dry. Does anyone have any
recommendations on materials? Have you got another suggestion for a good bag or a good sleeping alternative? Your
knowledge and wisdom are appreciated.
 |
| D3200, Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 - 16mm, 110 sec at f/8 |
Now, I seem to
recall suggesting...
Maybe Some Other Stuff
Thinking about
the old vlogging gear some more and I found myself wondering about bridge
cameras. Could I use one of them to get some decent footage for an entertaining
vlog?
I’m thinking
about things like the Canon Powershot SX60 HS (left) or
the Panasonic FZ300 (right). Feature-wise
they really aren’t all that different to the other options I mentioned last
week, except the range of available lenses is a lot smaller, but I’m not
considering them for their features, or lack thereof. No, I’m considering them
because of the obvious price differences. The FZ300 offers 4k video at A$130 less than the G7 kit option (that’s without buying the preferred lens) while the Powershot SX60 is weighing in at nearly
half the price of the EOS M50 kit option
(again, without preferred lens).
The deciding factors will be image stabilisation for both the bridge cameras
and, with only 1080 compared to the Panasonic’s 4k, does the Canon have dual
pixel AF? If anyone knows the answer to that question I’d be grateful, because
I can’t find the answer anywhere (so far...).
So there it is
- that’s my week in photography. What do you think?
Have I solved
my hiking gear problem (theoretically)?
Which approach
to my new project would you go with, the initial plan or the revised plan? Why?
Does anyone
have any experience with either the Panasonic or Canon cameras mentioned above?
Talk to me,
folks, give me your views, your advice!
And don’t forget to
check out my portfolio at:
Or my other
stuff at:
And I am @BobCartPhoto on Twitter
No comments:
Post a Comment