Worcester Cathedral, tripods and good enough

click photo to enlarge
I've photographed in churches for forty years or so. I began with an SLR, a rangefinder camera, a variety of films and a tripod. Today I'm shooting with a couple of DSLRs, a compact camera and I rarely use a tripod. What liberation the higher ISOs and image stabilisation of today's cameras have conferred on the photographer! Not only are you less burdened by the weight of a tripod, you get in people's way much less. Moreover, in locations such as the cathedral shown in today's photograph, you don't get someone asking if your photographs are for commercial purposes.

In the minds of many the equation "tripod = professional photography" still exists. And, while it's true that many people who actively and purposely seek to produce saleable pictures do use a tripod to get the sharpest image and the required depth of field, there are many instances where that goal can be achieved with a hand-held shot. However, the interior of a cathedral during the late afternoon of a dark day at the end of November isn't one of them. To get a sharp shot with a decent depth of field a tripod is a great help. But, if, as here, you are looking for a "good enough" image, then a wide aperture, a higher ISO and image stabilisation can produce the goods. What appealed to me about this shot was the contrast between the areas of dark and light, and the different colours that the incandescent, fluorescent, LED and natural lighting added to the scene.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Sony RX100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 10.4mm (28mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/30
ISO: 640
Exposure Compensation:  0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Portrait photography assignment

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In this blog I've always stressed my enjoyment of the fact that I can photograph what I want, when I want and how I want. In other words, that I am an enthusiast and not a professional photographer. However, I am not blind to the fact that the imperative of getting a good shot because you must, can be a strong driver in achieving high standards.

The other day, as I picked up my DSLR and lenses and set off on a portraiture assignment, I had an inkling (though only a tiny one) of what it might be like to work as a pro. I was on my way to secure some images to accompany a magazine article. What made this assignation somewhat different from that of the average professional was that it was for a small, not-for-profit, community magazine. Moreover, the subjects, despite their rather glamorous sounding names of Miss Hunny, Miss Nimbus and Miss Lemon, weren't models, starlets, celebrities or even, thank heavens, civic worthies; they were three hens. Rather fetching hens with striking plumage, but hens nonetheless. My task was to photograph each of the "ladies" so that their portraits could accompany a magazine article by their owner. It was entitled, "Tales from Cluckingham Palace", this being the very grand and delightfully silly name of their hen house.

There are predictable problems when it comes to photographing hens. The first is that they don't respond well to instruction; in fact, they don't respond at all. Then there's the heads that rarely stop jerking backwards and forwards. In fact, even when the body is still the head moves! And finally there is their size - small - and the type of abode in which they live - muddy - with "deposits" liberally scattered about in the environment in which you have to crouch with your camera. However, like a true pro I went about my task determinedly, fired off a dozen or so shots, and was pleased that I was using a relatively high megapixel count camera so that I could crop out the intruding tail feathers, wire netting, wooden ramp etc. I went away confident that I'd got what I needed for the article. Miss Nimbus is for me, the best of this avian bunch photographically speaking, so I'll only inflict her on you as evidence of my travails and my success.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Canon 5DMk2
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 282mm
F No: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/320
ISO: 800
Exposure Compensation:  -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Bells, baubles and glitter balls

click photo to enlarge
I'd hate to be a professional photographer. The idea of taking photographs to order would, I am sure, remove all pleasure for me from the act of photography. In fact I revel in the ability to point my camera at whatever I like, whenever I like, and compose pictures just as I like. My photography is entirely selfish.

However, now and then I do take photographs to order though not for money. I once shot a wedding for a couple who couldn't afford a pro. I've photographed events for people as a favour, and I've done some portraiture on the same basis. My wife likes us to send birthday cards that feature one of my photographs, but I generally select these from my stock of existing shots. And, she likes our Christmas card to have one of my photographs on it too. But, selecting something appropriate for this purpose is much harder. It's on the run up to Christmas that I experience a hint of the external pressure to perform that I would resent were I a full-time photographer. The fact is, a few snow scenes and appropriate stained glass windows excepted, my photographic output doesn't usually include many shots that sit easily on the front of a Christmas card. This year's card was, once again, a stained glass window; rather a  nice one as it happens, featuring "The Flight into Egypt". It was only when we had produced and distributed the card that I came across the photograph above, a shot that I took in early December as I sat waiting for a meal. The centrepiece on our table was a basket with lots of metallic bells, baubles and small glitter balls in a variety of colours. When I filled the frame with the subject I quite liked what I saw, and I'm rather glad that I unearthed it from my pile of rejects. Maybe it will do for next year's card and save me the anguish of the frantic search for a suitably festive subject as 2014 comes to its end. Merry Christmas!

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Sony RX100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 10.4mm (28mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/30 sec
ISO: 640
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On