Tuesday, November 30, 2010

My Trusty Pentax

I should try harder with film. I still have no idea how to process even the most basic BW film, but have decided to learn. It's too time consuming to keep bringing a single BW reel to a shop, wait a week, pay quite a bit and then take another public transport ride before I can see the fruits of my labour.

This photo was taken in Rome.

It's a wonderful city for street shots. There was a gathering of people watching a woman rush from a building to a large car and the photojournalists were out in force. I still do not know what it was all about, but I like this candid shot of a photographer who, having completed a good job of work, was totally aware of my trusty Pentax waving in his direction.

We're all in the same boat...

Candid Shot in Rome

Friday, November 12, 2010

Colour and RGB

Professionals know to look for websafe colours when they are making a site. I tend to continue, haphazard, to job along happily without worrying about how a fine blue may show up as lurid purple elsewhere.

Merttol have some good tips on the subject.

I probably should calibrate my monitor... but that, unfortunately, would just be more work...

Echium

Thursday, November 11, 2010

It's Obvious, Really

The grinding upward struggle to make work quicker, more efficient, finally stopped yesterday.

Just make screenshots.

I worked out that using the colour conversions feature in Irfanview repeatedly, following that by "auto adjust colours" led to some strange, if effective duotones.

However, when the final jpeg was saved, it was full of broken pixels and blotchy skies.

Just snap the chosen image with the Prt Sc button on the keyboard and paste into your favourite photo editor.

Obvious, really...

Architectural Details in Merrion Square

Monday, November 8, 2010

I Have Thought About How to Make Sharp Photos...

from a moving vehicle.



The main tip is to shoot in manual, setting the exposure to at least 1/350 seconds.

Any photo taken at less than f8 will be a bit soft, but can be sharpened, if needed.

Setting the ISO last, not first, ensures balanced exposure.
It may mean that the final photo may be a bit grainy, but that is better than a dizzy blur.

There is a useful explanation of the science involved on a site
"A Sibilant Intake of Breath".
It's called "Try f/8".

Oh... and I almost forgot... I always use a sturdy travel tripod to keep the camera steady.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Monotone

I have come to like Black and White photography so much I find that searching through the various groups on Flicr increasingly pleasant.