For those few who come here often you’ll know that a couple of weeks ago I had my first ever Instameet in Lacock. I did manage to get couple of shots but there was one that I missed and it’s bugged me.
The Tithe Barn sits in the middle of the village looking out to the street. The detail around the barn door from the inside is beautiful and I wanted to catch someone walking by framed by the door. The problem was that I didn’t have a tripod so had to shoot hand held and for me to get detail on the inside of the barn I needed to shoot with such a high ISO which blew out the outside or a slow shutter speed which introduced camera shake making the subject blurred and the photo unusable.
I knew there was a solution and I thought long and hard (Yep, I am that sad) and a couple of days ago I managed to put my thoughts into practice…
Armed with my tripod and a plethora of ideas I set up my camera in the same place in the barn, looking at the door, waiting for my unsuspecting subject to poke their head or walk unsuspectingly by the door. My exposure settings were for the outside only, fast enough shutter speed to freeze the frame and exposed correctly.
Once I had that shot it was time to get the detail of the inside of the barn, ISO100 same F stop and focus but an exposure of a second. Ok, the doorway was blown in this shot but that didn’t matter because… Photoshop!
A combination of both shots and some layer masks / brushes later and Bob’s yer uncle and Fanny’s yer auntie!
So, to cut a long story short, if you need to composite to get the shot then do it!
Oh, and the Black and white / colour edit is down to a poll on Instagram… Now, that is fun!
Oh look… A panorama, that didn’t take very long did it!
As you can see I’m really working on my soon to be (really) here exhibition…
Has anyone got 2p?
I don’t own enough Thermos flasks to be a train nerd. I just have an empty bank account indicative to a camera nerd but even I realise that this picture is missing a Steaming Scotsman (I think that’s the term) chuffing around this bend at full tilt. Unfortunately, I think I’m about 50 years too late. Best I can probably do is the 16:39 Warminster to Salisbury… Doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.
And I can genuinely say that I’m going to miss it… A bit. Now, I’ll admit that February’s been a bit of a dull one but on the whole, this winter has been amazing (apart for the lack of snow but, hey, you can’t have everything), from misty crisp mornings to stormy rolling skies it’s had pretty much everything… Apart from the snow… 
But now, the Daffs are in full swing, the trees are starting to bud and I’ve been neglecting my camera… So Spring… Bring it on! ;o)
Mostly sheep with a bit of cow…
“I could do that!” Thought the tree, out loud…
Well, I can safely say I am well out of my comfort zone, 12 months plus of muscle memory reaching for the zoom ring twitching every time I pick up the camera. A DoF so shallow that a knats eye would be sharp but his arse would be bokeh’d to buggery! And all of my shots were shite, all of them… Apart from this one. My son, Reece, just off to Cadets. f/1.8, 1/125th sec ISO3200….. Hats off to my D3300, at that ISO I would expect the noise to be phenomenal but it’s not that bad, if anything it’s added softness to the background bokeh.
Focal Thingy 