I had become rather staid in my approach, often walking the same tired routes; riding the same well-worn paths on my mountain bike, expecting, nay, hoping something would come along for me to point a lens at. More often than not that never happened; I needed to start making things happen; I needed to regain control. So, I turned to the very thing that had been under my nose all the time: Adobe Photoshop.
I've used some incarnation of this software ever since I began the move towards digital imaging, eleven years ago, but very rarely for anything outside of primary adjustments to a basically already-finished picture. This is a shame, since the full versions of Photoshop offers so much. Of course, you still need the vision, but you are only limited by the extent of your imagination and a willingness to experiment and learn. Although these new techniques will go hand-in-hand with more traditional shooting, I am very much looking forward to the ride again.
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I visited a local park to scavenge for fallen leaves for this current project, but at this time of year there is very little colour left in them, but no matter as shapes alone would be enough for what I had in mind. I then found a suitable paving stone in my back garden; one that had a bit of texture and character, and set up my tripod for the shoot. With everything locked firmly down, and with the remote release in hand, I couldn't help but smile at the memory of using slow shutter speeds again. Such speeds were, at one time, considered 'fast' in my book - dictated by Fuji Velvia and small apertures - but I do so enjoy the more considered and genteel approach from time to time.
105mm f/2.8D EX Sigma macro lens. 1/5th second at f/11. ISO 160. Mirror lock-up. Tripod and remote release. Basic image manipulation as a RAW file.
© 2013
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