jeudi 12 octobre 2006

A Picture Postcard scene... Autumn is here and the light is good Cycling back from town, late this afternoon, I passed fields of flowers... and had to stop for a while. Although there was a breeze it was gloriously warm for autumn. It had rained during the night, but as the old saying goes, "Rain before seven, sun at eleven!" And it was true... I've passed these colourful fields many times this summer... they're on either side of the road surrounding the village of Chaumussay which I pass through when I go shopping. Usually I ride into town in the early morning, and at this time of the year mists are common as my route takes me along the valley of the river Claise where there are few hills - I don't mind cycling up and down hills (it's good for my daily fitness routine), but loaded-up with a heavy box of groceries and a baguette tied onto the bike is a different matter! Diffused, cool early-morning light is beautiful... especially with black-and-white photography, but I find with colour there is less I can do with the image on the computer, whereas monochrome printing in the darkroom is much more creative for my way of thinking and doing things. However, I now know what the light is like at teatime in October here in France... warm and contrasty... and like a picture postcard scene as illustrated above. I had my Nikon D200, but had chosen a lens at random when I left home... an old manual focus 135mm f/2.8 Nikkor... which is more of a portrait lens than one for landscape photography! I often do this, and sometimes get caught out when the focal length of the lens I'm carrying is totally unsuited for what I've seen and want to capture. Still... it stops me getting "set" in my ways and playing safe all the time. As it happened, the 135mm lens was perfect for what I saw and wanted to capture. The longer than normal focal length (normal being 50mm for 35mm cameras - and yes, I know I was using a digital SLR where the magnification or crop factor makes a 50mm the equivalent of 75mm... and the 135mm becomes a 200mm) was perfect for "compressing" the elements of the scene... the foreground flowers and he ancient village church in the background. I made a total of 59 images in about five minutes... downloaded them to my Mac whilst a pot of coffee was brewing on the stove... and quickly chose three to illustrate tonight's weblog. The second image of these three was one of several "framed and cropped in the camera" details of the abundant flora... but all were very much the same... it was almost a case of wherever you pointed the camera you were sure to get an interesting (colourful!) image. Just as I was setting off on the final stretch of the journey I turned around and saw the third image... the same vibrant flowers but looking completely different against a dark backdrop of trees. Again the 135mm (OK, 200mm) lens was perfect for compressing the scene... isolating the subject from the background. And again I am realising that the major advantage of digital is that you see what you get immediately. If it isn't right you can take it again... if it is right you can move on and select another subject... without worrying about whether the framing and exposure at the previous scene was right. I'm finding that this "peace of mind" way of working is a less exciting and less challenging, but I do find it all more enjoyable and relaxing. What a change from all the years of hassle when I was a working pro! 8:25:16 PM    comment []