I've had a few attempts at getting this shot to work and it's still not there yet. All the components are in the right place - great red train, reflected in the still waters of the canal, handy blonde woman walking along the towpath, strong sunlight, deep shadows.The problem is lack of depth of field and too low a shutter speed. It's not too obvious in the small image shown here but in the original, the walker is just on the wrong side of the focus and the train is blurred.
Solutions? Well I could use a shorter focal length lens (this is at 135mm) but that would not give me the look I'm after. I could use a tripod which would allow me to stop the lens down a bit (from f7) and drop the shutter speed (currently 1/320th second); that would probably give me too much motion blur on the train, which is travelling at about 90 mph. I could increase the ISO setting ( it was at 160) and make the camera more sensitive but that would increase the noise.
So what is the answer? Well it's not an easy one but I think the solution is to move the earth a bit closer to the sun and get the light level up a bit. Obviously even with the temperature in Worcestershire today at an unlikely 31 centigrade, the sun is just not bright enough.
I'll write to NASA and see if they can give it a tug in the right direction.
(PS: I've just thought of another solution to the depth-of-field problem; I could have shouted at the woman to run and then perhaps she would have been in focus by the time the other end of the train (which is also red) came past. Why do I always think of these things too late? And would she have come back and given me a good slapping?)
According to Blogger this is my 250th post. When will this torment end?
8 comments:
Congratulations on your 250th Blog. You could have replaced the Virgin Train with a Midlands Mainline that go slower. Or you scould get yourself a decent digital camera tyhat speeds up the transfer to your blog and thence reduces the blur! Cheers, Dave
It looks quite satisfactory from here but how you tell the woman is handy is beyond me. Is she familiar to you?
Forget NASA: learn more PhotoShop!
I have an inkling that she would have loved the attention!
Thanks heaps for stopping by my blog :o)
What super photos you have. You really capture some of the quality architecture the UK has to offer :o)
You are your own worst nightmare and to critical of your own work...I didn't make that up I heard it once...if not relevant, oops!
I like it, it's nice and looks summery. How often does the train comes by, is it a suburbs link to the city or a long distance train?
Our winter temp today is 21 celcuis, how 'cool' is that!!
If you've had a "few attempts" at getting this shot, one might be led to believe that the handy blonde woman walks that route on a regular basis... careful, you might be mistaken for a stalker. It also sounds as if you might have enjoyed the "good slapping"... ;-)
With that said, I like the pic just the way it is.
Thanks, Dave, very constructive!!
Kilroy_60 - will be there shortly -great pictures on your blog, by the way
J Cosmo - perhaps fortuitous would have been a better word, but also longer. I have no knowledge of the lady shown.
Josephine - I'm not sure of that - some people are a bit suspicious of chaps hanging around on canal banks with big lenses.
Thank, Michelle, welcome.
To a fault, Hannelie. And it was a long distance train, about two an hour. I shall return, with or without the unknown woman.
Susan - it's a constant worry - I need to take a tame blonde with me.
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