Your Canon Photos No. 41: 11th to 17th February 2024

On the way home, I took a picture of the 2 meter diameter clock from the inside of the station.

A close up shows the time to be close to 3:20 pm. You can see that the clock is obscured from the outside by the enormous metal structure that presumably is there to keep the rain off those waiting for trams or buses. Next time I have the opportunity, I will take the best shot I can that shows how little you can see of the clock outside. In fact, from where I was standing, any trains obscure the lower half of the clock also!

Interestingly, though I have never noticed this before, the time indicated was incorrect, as we can see from this snap looking along the platform:

This photo (out of camera jpeg) gives me a chance to show how I make an HDR image from a raw file in PhotoLab6. First of all I click on "perspective" and things are straightened. Then I get the highlights at the right level. (The camera slightly over exposes these, but I can bring them back into range.) Then I click on sliders for "midtones" and "shadows" to bring them out of the darkness.

Looking into the distance, the view akong the track is also transformed by this operation. From this (crop of out of camera jpeg):

to this (crop of my HDR version):

The process is less complicated than it sounds!

Of course, this was just a snap to record the actual time. Normally I take care to get the perspective correct, and will often use exposure compensation to avoid over-cooking the highlights. Then in PhotoLab I sometimes use a little noise reduction if the shadows have to be brought up a lot.

David

Thank you! That's very interesting. I actually perceive it as very smooth... but that's highly subjective as I know the scene and what was happening in terms of the sunlight etc. I would expect most lenses to produce something significantly harsher looking in that situation. There's also the possibility, that my processing enhanced the somewhat busy bokeh.

What do you think of this version (only colors slightly adjusted as I often shoot in fixed WB):

And here are some additional shots (a bit too dark perhaps, but deliberately with very minimal post processing to show the rendering as it is):

Is this an in-camera effect which can be added?

I like this one! Why would you shoot it at f/7.1 though? I would never consider that, when I'd zoom in like that. But perhaps that's just different world views... 😅

The water surface looks really nice in this one. Helps making the image feel balanced - very well done! I think slight adjustments of the POV can make a drastic difference in these kind of scenes.

Thank you! That's a tunnel. I was driving (don't tell the police), let the front of the camera rest on the dashboard and kept clicking a couple of times. This one was the nicest looking in my opinion, at least slightly cropped. The bokeh bubbles are caused by the lens (it's Triplet, meaning three lens elements only... the most basic design of the last century). The red, white and orange bubbles are lights, which are found in pretty much every tunnel here nowadays. I'm not sure why they were installed... perhaps to help behind-the-wheel-photographers like me to improve their composition? 😂

David,

Those are very nice. I just got my software today, so I could try a little more post processing for those types of situations. I'll look at your images and techniques more closely later. Usually, I don't take lots of landscapes (some, yes), but predominantly I like taking pictures of wildlife, people and events etc. So, I avoid deep shadows and highlights etc. when taking pictures, but they are very common around buildings.

Simplejoy,

Thanks. Yes...a change in the point of view can make a difference. I notice that a lot when taking pictures of flowers. All a person has to do, is move less than an inch, and the image can greatly change (particularly the background). With wildlife such as these, unfortunately the choice of which point of view to use is not a lot. I had to take these between bushes that were growing along the pond. Sometimes it's just a matter of getting anything of them. This is the closest I have ever gotten to these types of male and female ducks. From past experience in our area the Wood Ducks are easier to get close to. But the Wood Ducks often also "play hard to get". It just depends; sometimes they don't even let you see them by hiding behind branches.

Simplejoy,

Thanks for your explanation about the lights. I'm glad that you took them from the car. You'll have to find someone to drive you around, so you can take more as a passenger. I'm spoiled that way, so I can take lots of photos as a passenger. It's kind of stressful although, but a fun kind of stress. Sometimes I can roll the window down and sometimes it's just too cold. The stressful part of it, is that when we are moving so fast, it's hard to know when to push the shutter and things get in the way. So, the best thing to do then sometimes, is just to keep holding down the shutter (as you apparently had done) and then pick the very best ones on the computer later. Anyway...I'm happy that another person found the car a useful platform to take pictures. 😀 Taking pictures also from planes, trains and buses is fun too.

Of course, that would be great! Actually, I've done that quite a bit (taken shots from the passenger's seat) when I first started experimenting with photography around 15 years ago. My girlfriend (now my wife) would drive me around, we'd be listening to music, chatting and I would point the camera at stuff, experiment with the settings etc. and see if something interesting comes out. I've done quite a bit of ICM (camera movement) stuff at the time. Here's an example:

Light doesn‘t move in a straight line by simple.joy, on Flickr

I'm sure my wife would love to do that... but I can guarantee you, having two small kids doesn't make that easy... 😅 Perhaps when they're a little bit older, we'll get another chance to try... 👍

simplejoy,

The miniature effect...

It's one of the Creative Filter Modes on my camera. It sits next to the M, or Manual Mode on the Mode Dial, and looks like two overlapping circles.
Other Creative Filters include Fisheye, Grainy Black and White, HDR, etc.

If you've ever seen a picture of a guy in a crowd, and he is in focus, but everyone else in the crowd is blurred out, that is the Miniature effect.

As far as the pine needles at f/7.1, you're probably right. it probably would have been better if I had widened it to f/5.6. If I had taken the timei to think about it, I probably would have (although I hate 5.6). 5.6 is as low as I can go with the 18-135 lens I have at the telephoto end.

Hate's probably too strong a word. I strongly dislike 5.6. It's neither fish nor fowl. It doesn't have the shallow depth of field of a 1.8 or a 2.8, nor the sharpness of an f/8 or f/11. It just kind of wanders around out there in the nether regions.

Steve Thomas

Steve,

In days long gone by when ISO 64 film was all the rage and cameras (think Kodak Brownie) had a limited choice of stops, f/5.6 was the one selected on cloudy days, with f/8 saved for when the sun was shining (rarely where I come from). I still associate them in that way, and it still works for me with my Canon. I have had to rethink things with the Leica for some reason that I dont understand, as it seems to work better at larger apertures. But the fact that we can now get away with much higher ISO values and have a much wider range of shutter speeds means that f/5.6 is no longer to be saved for days when the weather is miserable.

The best way to discover how to use a particular setting, or lens, is to deliberately take photos with it all day and learn what works and what doesnt. I think we are living in the golden age of cameras as we know them: as far as most people are concerned they are being replaced by mobile phones, and manufacturers will find it harder to sell real cameras. It's a bit like manual transmission cars.

David

What software do you have, Digi?

David

Those do look very nice, the handshake one still has some "lines" out of focus branches in the bokeh balls/circles perhaps?? near the branches that make it (in my eyes) not rendering that smooth as I thought it would be

Thanks - I get what you mean... that's true of course! Still, those are cause by light shining through fir trees. I'm pretty sure you won't even be able to smooth that with a f/1.2 lens for what it's worth:

flic.kr/p/XiQk5s
flic.kr/p/28SC19r
flic.kr/p/Jasehg
flic.kr/p/UtQq2u
flic.kr/p/En59u2
(not my samples)

That being said I noticed there's some outlining at certain distances, which can indeed impact the smoothness perception, even in less challenging conditions, so perhaps I'm wrong in my perception that almost any lens would have those lines visible in the instance...

David,

I was trying to purchase an older DxO Lab version, but it is not available. I've contacted DxO Lab and the seller. So, I'm not having any luck at the moment. I may eventually just pay for the latest and greatest. DxO Lab has a free trial version too. So, that idea I had with cheap software is on hold, but eventually I want to get some better software. I like DxO Lab's products because there's no subscription and we can use the software on more than one computer with one activation code.

Steve,

Sometimes especially if I'm taking pictures of something like wildlife and I'm permitted with some time (and I think about it), I'll experiment with the different apertures. In your case, F7.1 is OK. Sometimes it is what it is, being that it was the best you thought about at the moment. If you could go back and re-take it with F5.6, what would it look like? Would then some of the pine needles and branches be out of focus or would all of them be in focus with a better looking background?

I find Photolab6 does what I need. One can learn its options gradually, as I have done. I often update every two years at an advantageous price by doing so at black Friday time. You have nothing to lose by getting the free trial. Once you buy PL, you have it „for ever“. They have frequent free updates.

David

I couldnt resist snapping this ad with my phone, on the wall of our local shopping mall yesterday.

David