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WALKING IN THE NAUTICAL TWILIGHT!
LOL!!! >>> early morning walking on the day before the Winter Solstice – this was taken yesterday at 0715, and Google tells me that dawn in Bristol was at 0733 yesterday, Dec 21st. So this is apparently during what is known as Nautical Twilight, which is when the Sun is between 12 and 6 degrees below the horizon, i.e. not yet risen but still providing some brightness. This form of twilight is known as Nautical because the horizon and some stars are visible, so permitting navigation at sea on clear days. But there are no stars visible here, because the darkness above the horizon was a thick, dark rain cloud, which was about to empty its contents quite accurately onto The FATman!
SOMETHING FOR THE TECHIES …
Well, Nautical Twilight, we live and learn, but the real point of this photo are the technicalities – which I know will immediately send most of you glassy eyed and soporific. (Well, OK, good point, more glassy eyed and soporific …) But here is the TG-5 working almost flat out – the handheld exposure, using spot metering for the highlights, was 1/13th second at f 4.2; 6400 ISO; 74mm (equiv) focal length. There was nothing convenient to lean on in an attempt to steady the shot, so I had to rely on the camera’s built in stabilisation. The TG-5 will go up to 12,800 ISO but looking at the grain in this photo, after processing in Lightroom, the grain at 12,800 must be really something else >>> although that might not stop me using that ISO in the future!
I don’t think the picture is pin-sharp but, as always, that is not overly important to me. What is important to me is that this little camera has just about managed to cope with the conditions prevailing on this wet early morning, and that it has enabled me to produce a pretty accurate representation of the scene, of what it was like being there – the thin, wan light on the southeastern horizon, the dark cloud threatening rain, the silhouettes of the bare winter trees, and that single lit window – people up and about early, getting ready for a probably dull and wet, winter’s day in south Bristol.
You can enlarge this image in a separate window by clicking twice onto it – recommended.
BIG BOYS’ TOYS!
But I’m not a techie, far less, and >>> oh thank heavens!!! >>> not a Pixel Peeper either! Every week, Amateur Photographer magazine keeps me up with the latest advances in digital cameras, some of which I understand, some of which I don’t. But the bottom line is that I’m simply interested in cameras that do the business, that come up with the goods. My criteria are basic: I want a camera to be (reasonably) lightweight, compact and robust, with good ergonomics (i.e. feeling natural and intuitive to handle/use), and one that is capable of working in diverse light conditions – including (definitely without a tripod NB!) the murk pictured above.
Some people apparently want to be seen with cameras that look good, that perhaps are thought to add something to their image, but such feelings interest me not in the slightest – I just want a camera that does the job, and that doesn’t break my nearly 70 year old back!
One thing that attracts me about photography is that it enables me to be creative, to express my artistic side – relatively easily. Recently I read a book on oil painting, which is something I thought might be interesting, before quite quickly coming to the conclusion that I lack both the necessary skills (my drawings have always been truly terrible) and – equally importantly – the patience required. Far better to stick with my cameras!
Another thing that attracts me to photography is that it is a meeting of science and the arts, and that to be done successfully it needs a bit of both disciplines. Which of course leads to those more interested in the technology, and in my experience this is mainly a male thing – Big Boys’ Toys! Just how Politically Incorrect can I get??? The thing is, I have recurring eyewitness accounts of a photography group who go out to various locations to take pictures – when the women actually do take pictures whereas most of the men spend at least some of the time discussing the relative merits of their camera gear! Well, I do want to fit in, so maybe I should buy a powerful sports convertible with one of these overlarge, super noisy exhausts – mid-life crisis (a bit late, as it happens …) here I come!!!
AND SO TO THE BOTTOM LINE
And so to the bottom line, via a quote from Amateur Photographer’s Deputy Editor, Geoff Harris, last week:
I really do believe a major part of being a successful photographer is not only to become technically competent and to know your camera inside out, but also to be able to spot a unique opportunity in the first place. I guess that is what people mean when they talk about “developing your eye”, but this essential skill only comes about through experience.
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