CCC Forum

This is the second of my images shown at the Members' Evening on 17 July 2013. As there was general agreement that the inclusion of the table at the bottom of the image was not necessary, I have also included a new version with the image cropped to remove it. This second image also has a black border to help hold it in at the top in the absence of the top of the window frame, which was another of the comments made.





I included the table in the foreground partly as a discussion point, but I do feel that having it there does help give a greater feeling of depth. That said, I can also see that it acts as a distraction which is not helped by the light tone. I will be interested to know which of the two versions people prefer. Has anyone changed their opinion as a result of seeing the modified shot?

Someone mentioned that the camera must have been on a tripod to blur the movement in the background while keeping the foreground sharp. In fact, it was handheld and the lens has no image stabilisation. Moreover the camera is of the type which has to be held at arms' length to compose, which is supposed to be another factor in causing camera shake. In practice I have found that it is possible to handhold mirrorless cameras at quite low speeds and still get a sharp result; the movement of the mirror in DSLR cameras does seem to mitigate against shooting at lower shutter speeds.

EXIF data:

Panasonic DMC-GF1
Lumix G 20 (40 mm - 35 mm equivalent)
1/8 sec
f/2.2
ISO 400

Examining the image more closely, I can see that it is not entirely sharp, so as I am currently trialling Photoshop CC, I put it through the new Camera Shake Reduction filter to see if there was any improvement. There was, although it might not be apparent in the image included here. In a separate post on this thread I'll povide some 100% crops and will compare the effect of the filter with normal sharpening methods.

There is a back story to this image, which was taken at Victoria Station just over two years ago. It is one of a sequence of images showing the rubbish people leave on trains under the ironic title of "Left Luggage". While shooting, one of the platform staff challnged me and told me to stop. When asked to give a reason, he was repeatedly unable to explain and simply told me that I should "know why". Matters escalated and he then repeatedly tried to grab my camera. When I did not allow him to steal it, he blocked my exit through the ticket barriers. At that point I called the police.

Victoria Station is certainly a busy place, but most people visiting are obviously law abiding as quite shortly thereafter I was surrounded by two British Transport Police, five or six CSOs and a station master, in addition to the original member of staff. We eventually reached an amicable settlement and I was allowed to go, but the incident did delay me by an hour.

I was quite shaken by what had happened, so when I got home I removed the memory card from the camera but did not want to look at the images. The card has been left unused in the intervening period and it has only been in the last month or so that I have felt able to download my photos onto the computer.

One thing which I had not done beforehand was to check Southern Railway's policy about photography, which I later regretted when I looked up the regulations on their website. Imagine my surprise when I read the words "As a general rule members of the public are free to take photos of our trains and the stations we manage and are welcome to do so."! One of the reasons why I had not made any investigations was that I had previously taken photographs at other mainline stations without encountering problems from over zealous staff members, ignorant of their employer's terms and conditions. Such people who have no authority obviously prefer to make up their own rules, regardless of the rights and wrongs of their actions.

http://www.southernrailway.com/your-jou ... formation/

Victoria Station is owned by Network Rail as it is part of the railway infrastructure. At the time, if memory serves there was similar wording to Southern Railway about photography on their website, but this has changed to a simpler statement in the intervening period. It is still permitted, however.

http://www.networkrail.co.uk/aspx/777.aspx

Sorry I missed this post before Mike. Very interesting and the last version is my preference.

Thanks, Nina. Your reply also reminds me that I have not yet provided the 100% crops to show the effect of applying CSR. I'll do this when I get a moment.

On balance, I will probably go for the version without the table in the foreground as the depth is already apparent in the image. One reason for leaving the table in was to provide a talking point for the discussion, i.e. something obvious to help stimulate debate.