(2018-11-27) Dear Reader
I have been out and about these past 3 weeks or so trying to get one last photo to complete a set of 10 photos in the “Thin Line” series. Winter arrived and has now temporarily departed. The winter photos have a very different feel.
There was a time when my skiing was improving. My consolation when I fell was, if I am not falling, I’m not learning. Photographically I have been falling. One lesson is to use bracketing more often. Currently my new default setting is to take 5 photos bracketed on either side of the adjusted exposure in .7 increments. Adjusted exposure is the exposure I set after considering colour and brightness.
The first photo is the outcome of my third drive to a specific location. After finally getting something that worked, I realized that the structure was different than the other “Thin Line” members. I remain one photo short of the ten.
The fourth photo illustrates the idea that photography is also about a way of seeing. The road behind is the consistently busy TCH (Trans-Canada Highway). The answer to the unspoken question is yes, that is how I remember the light.
So where does that leave you the viewer. Well, it is like this. Here is a disjointed set of images captured while on a quest for a number 10.
Cheers, Sean
I sometimes bracket, using 3 photos with the exposure difference usually about a stop on either side. Sometime more or less depending on the light or the subject. I don’t think I’ve ever tried to do 5, since I’m often doing it handheld, and more shots is more ways to screw it up. My main reasoning on this is that I don’t know how Lightroom or Photomatix combines the images, and if necessary I could go back to one of the three images to re-tweak it, then combine it again. Even then, the final image can be further tweaked using various tools.
As for the learning, it seems to go in spurts. I’ve got a couple thoughts in mind to try, but they seem to escape me whenever I’m actually carrying the camera. The other people participating in the photowalk in the library produced some images that fascinated me. I’m always interested in what other people see in a scene, that I might not be seeing.