Long exposure workshop

[Bett]

Hi Steve last minute change of plan so I will not be able to make it today the weather doesn’t look too good anyway, regards Bett

[Sarahrs]

Running late but I'm ahead of the train as it's not left Victoria yet.

[Tina]

Hi Steve
Thank you for organising a super day, and for your help and tuition.
I've learnt a lot and enjoyed the company.
Hope you enjoy the rest of your day and evening event.
Once again many thanks.
Tina

[davidb]

Agree with Tina entirely. You could have controlled the weather better [LOL]

[davidb]

Some of my shots from the trip

In all cases I used auto-exposure and (where appropriate) a 10x ND filter:
1: 13sec @ f/18 ISO 200
2: 1/40sec @ f/18 ISO 200 - Both Tina and Sarah lining up a shots
3: 1/50sec @ f/18 ISO 200 - l to r - Sarah, Ron, Steve, Rebecca, Tina (I don't know where Graham got too!)

[davidb]

… and three more

4: 30sec @ f/22 ISO 200 - The Phantom Photographer
5: 30sec @ f/16 ISO 200 - Lesson for the day - don't do your photography on a rainy day!
6: 1/80sec @ f/16 ISO 200 - An idea of the conditions today

[Iggy]

Hi David and All,
You might be surprised to see the derelict West Pier image winning the recent Wikimedia photography competition!

Wikimedia photography competition winners capture UK monuments
Fay Watson November 1, 2017

Wikimedia photography competition winner.jpg (53.24 KiB) Viewed 4841 times

Derelict West Pier on Brighton seafront - First Prize. Credit: Matthew Hoser

TAGS:landscape photography
Wikimedia has just announced the winners of the Wiki Loves Monuments UK photography competition.

Matthew Hoser beat over 14,000 photographs to take this year’s top UK prize of £250 for his photograph of the derelict West Pier on Brighton’s seafront.

http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/latest/photo-news/wikimedia-112313

Iggy

[gcluer]

Thanks for organising Steve.

Graham C

[Steve B]

I'm glad everyone enjoyed the day. In the end, although there was some light rain for 30mins we were very lucky with the weather and there was a particularly high tide for Brighton.

Sea salt degrades filters so rinse them briefly under warm tap water and dry with a lint-free cloth, or any cloth that won't leave its material on the filter.

A few post-processing tips that I have learnt over the couple of years I have been doing this:

1. The filter may produce a blue cast on your images - easily fixed by adjusting the white balance
2. I find the images tend to work best in black and white, but this is personal preference
3. Don't overdo the whites on the sea, aim for subtle tones and nothing too contrasty. It's all about mood
4. Work your sky. Unless you used a grad filter it may look washed out. Apply a gradient, boost contrast and add a little clarity
5. Apply a subtle gradient to top and bottom to draw the eye towards your subject. Make it subtle enough so the uninitiated can't see it. Consider a subtle vignette
6. A tip to remove the horizon line, which is simple to pull off but involves a little more work. Make your sky and sea similar in tone. Use the colour picker to make the sky your foreground and the sea your background. Draw a rectangular selection box overlapping the horizon so it covers a little sky and sea. Use the foreground to background gradient tool to draw a line between sky and sea. Use the opacity slider to suggest the hint of a horizon according to taste. You will need to mask out any of your subject that overlaps the horizon (or compose with this in mind next time)
7. Prints perhaps are more successful than DPIs, but again watch your whites

I saw some very promising shots on the backs of cameras so look forward to seeing your images in future CCC competitions...

Steve

[Ronald Barker]

Dear All
Thank you for a brilliant day, all went well until I decided to go and have a coffee and got to the top of the beech and tripped up stepping on to the path, down I went smashed the filters on my camera but they protected the lens (a good argument for filters). Just to top it off some people rushed over to help me when I herd someone say "lets help the poor old fellow up" That did a lot for me. Sorry Graham for your filter I will sort it out.
After all that I did learn a bit about long exposure.

Ron