Photowalk 66 - Snow!

I wasn't planning on going out shooting today, but hey, if you look out of the window and see a nice blanket of now, it's got to be done!

I took my usual route, the sky was almost a blanket of grey, but I got some OK snaps.

D98 HMS York Type 42 Destroyer Taking On Supplies At Priddys Hard

I can't resist a resonably close photo of a Destroyer, and for some reason (probably the low tide), HMS York wasn't moored in the normal place when she was taking on ammunition. This meant that I could get a fairly clear view, so I set up my tripod, included the little boat for foreground interest and shot a HDR.

Rear Face of Fort Brockhurst, View Towards Keep

Another HDR, this time hand-held. To get 6 exposures, I used auto-bracketing on my Fujifilm S5700 S700, overexposed by a stop and a half, took the three frames, then under-exposed by a stop and a half, and took three more.

Photomatix handled the Tone-Mapping, with a slight curves adjustment in Photoshop.

Fort Brockhurst Moat Walk, Snow

As I was wandering around the Fort I was looking for angles that I hadn't shot before, so I climbed up onto the Redan (earthworks in front of the Fort) to get a view back down and along the moat.

My trusty Cokin A Grad filter got a run out today - just look out for the shots where the sky looks a bit darker near the top. I would normally use my Polarizer, but on overcast days that doesn't work. I've got mixed feelings about using the Grad - sometimes it looks ok, but I think I prefer just plain white skies.

This one's turned out a bit grey, so I'll give it another go soon.

Monks Walk View Towards Fareham

Having snow makes exposure a little tricky, the camera automatically wants to darken the scene, so the snow can get a bit grey, so I dialled in some over-exposure with Exposure Compensation to brighten it all up a bit.

Snow Covered Branches, Monks Walk

Not sure what these are, and I think I've over-cooked the colour in post, so it deserves a second go.

What was cool about this shot was that I had to use manual focussing on my S5700 S700, which to be honest I'd avoided in the past, but it was easy and worked well. OK, maybe not so well because it is a little soft, but I'll definitely not be afraid to use it in the future.

Fort Brockhurst Central Ramparts

I like the reflections, but not the foreground bushes.

Fort Brockhurst Central Caponier

Now, if it just stays really cold a little bit longer, the moat might freeze over, and with snow on the Fort, that'll be a really nice photo....

Thanks for looking,

Cheers, Rob.

Comments

[Victor]

Hi Rob,

That was a photowalk well worth it!

I love the manual focus on the fuji, tricky to start with, but definately helps out where the AF just won't cut it. You may find you can extend focusing further, especially when using close-up, macro, wide angle or tele-convertors. Or even the standard telephoto mode, ie zoomed all the way out. Great for those shallow DOF shots!

Grads - love 'em or hate 'em. (I personally avoid that 'Top Gear' look.)
They seem like a god-send to start with, then you realise some of the associated problems. (Fake looking for one.)

Six exposure HDR's too! Something I've been doing for a while now with the Fuji. It's auto-bracketing feature is great for the price, but it does help to squeeze that little bit more.
Gives HDR software and algorithmns much more to 'bite' into and any noise is reduced significantly. (Always handy with a smaller sensor.)

Great pictures and I really enjoyed reading what you have been up to for taking the shots.

As much as I dream about getting a Sony Alpha, my loyalty has become even greater with just what can be really squeezed out of this fantastic little camera!

All the best,

Victor

[Rob_Nunn]

Hi Victor,

You're right about the Fuji - you can just get so much out of it, and when you think about the kit you'd have to lug around to get a comparable focal reach, from macro to telephoto, it's really an amazing little camera.

Have you tried using manual focus at longer focal lengths and found that it's sharper than the AF? I know that when I zoom all the way I'm sometimes disappointed with the results, and just put it down to the lens or camera shake.

Cheers, Rob.

[Victor]

Camera shake is obviously more of a problem at full telephoto, but I tend to use the tripod for that. As for the AF, it just doesn't seem to lock on at full telephoto, (or very poorly), regardless of the AF mode.
Manual focus is definately the trick to use here.
One of those things you discover trying to get the most from your camera, rather than give up and 'upgrading'.

[Rob_Nunn]

Good stuff! I'll try that next time I'm out.

Ha, good point about discovering what you can do with your camera - in fact I've just began to fire up my old Kodak 2 megapixel Point and Shoot, so I can always have a digital camera in my pocket.

Cheers, Rob.

[Victor]

Fantastic stuff! I've seen some excellent imagery taken with simple mobile phone cameras.
If you gave a childs painting set to an artist they would produce a masterpiece, the rest of us would moan and not even make an attempt.
Shall have to keep my eye out for your Kodak pics.
(Does make you contemplate the Canon G's though!)

All the Best,

Victor

[shade]

always in good composition and sharp photo mr rob, i love grad filter expecially on cloudy sky, when sky looks white everywhere, and polarizer wont help at all, and i use it for my protection lens, it produce better metering (or maybe i just dont understand how to metering corectly).but smetime it make a weird picture too. and mr victor sugestion, nice idea, i never happy with 10x zoom on fuji even with tripod, is still not sharp, maybe because miss AF.

[Rob_Nunn]

Hi Shade,

Thanks for the comments, you're right about the 10x zoom - I've started to practice focussing manually at that focal length, but it's a bit tricky!

Cheers, Rob.