Driving through the rain I crossed one of the drains and saw it was higher than the normal full level, so I stopped to take a snap or two. This set me off to see where else might make for some useful drainage type pictures. Almost an hour later, after not much luck but a look at some trees felled by the gales, I turned up at the chicken shack just as judging had ended. This was where my time out in the cold hampered me. My lens immediately misted up! Swapping to one from my bag made no difference as they were just as cold. Don't tell anyone, but I used my handkerchief to wipe the front elements...
This show was a bit different to the one I visited in November. There was a large table of eggs. It was tempting to do a Martin Parr, irresistible really, but I think I still managed to do the close ups in my own way.
At a show like this it is difficult to avoid recalling all the other sets of photographs you have seen of British country shows over the years. A catalogue of characters and 'surreal' juxtapositions. Or a straightforward series of scenes with nothing much going on as you'd find in Lancashire Life or similar. I like photographing the birds. They have repressive looks, and make interesting shapes. Focusing on them behind bars is problematic. I found myself overriding the autofocus much of the time - and doping a pretty good job of it too.
I was struggling to autofocus with the 50mm though. It's never been the same since it took a fall a few years ago. It's not had much use in the meantime as I found myself shooting wider more often, and when it was used focussing speed wasn't an issue. Yesterday it was. The focus would stick, and as there's no manual override (a switch has to be switched) I had a few nicely framed, but well out of focus, shots. Typically, when I took two shots of a scene the less than perfectly framed one would be pin sharp and the well composed one would be soft! For display in screen sized slide shows minor softness can be ignored, but for printing out it's not good enough. A shame because I really liked one of the images. However, that one and another gave me new ideas for making poultry pictures.
 |
| Not quite sharp. |
It can get repetitious making pictures of chickens in show cages. There are only so many angles you can use. It might be possible to put together a small collection of them though as there is a variety of birds. Trying to see the fleeting moments that make for compelling pictures is harder than might be imagined and my hat goes off to those who can do it on a regular basis. I suspect that has a lot to do with being in places more frequently, and for longer, than most of us manage. Just like catching big fish has as much to do with time on the water as it does with angling skill.
How did the compact fare? The flippy screen was, as I knew it would be, great for low level shots. The close up facility likewise for close ups. The lens was fast enough to keep the ISO down in the low light. Handling and operation is far more intuitive than the Fuji. I miss the touch screen of my now departed Panasonic, not to mention the manual zoom ring of the Fuji, and the EVF is a bit small although it does show the actual framing and once focused most of the info disappears from the screen making focusing and recomposing a better experience. The only, expected, drawback is the inevitable increased depth of field. Although that might not be such a drawback as working at wide apertures on full frame can reduce depth of field so much as to make some shots nigh on impossible. Swings and roundabouts, and choosing the right tool for the job I suppose.
I only shot JPEGs on the compact as my ancient version of Lightroom won't recognise the RAW files, but they seem quite malleable and I like the colours. Maybe that's because it's a Nikon like my DSLRs. There is a mix from both compact and full frame in this post and in the (overlong) slideshow/gallery here. ;-)
I wonder if this has cleared that blockage or if it's time to revisit something else?
No comments:
Post a Comment