How low can you go? We go low on this woodland boardwalk. We also go black and white on this gray, very ungreen early spring day. To take the picture I used a Manfrotto tripod with the central pillar replaced upside down. The camera dangled upside down between the tripod legs, an inch or two off the ground. I used ISO 100, 1/10 sec, f/22; 18mm focal length. I used the timer to prevent vibration. I was using this low shutter speed because I was also taking pictures of a creek at this same park. (None of the water shots impressed me, so I have not posted any.) With this rig, I was not really able to compose directly. I just faced the camera in the general direction of a scene. The lens was as wide and the aperture as small as I could make them so that I’d have better odds of having something interesting within the depth of field. Every picture has an element of surprise this way! You are not sure what you have until after you take the picture and move the camera.
The camera was a Nikon D90. The lens was what I consider the best value Nikon wide angle lens, the Nikon 18-55mm AF-S DX VR. I converted to black and white in Aperture. The main conversion to black and white was using a preset, “Mono X by SEIM,” which I am learning to like. I did increase the definition slider and the sharpness slider to suit my taste. This park is nearby; if I get a chance, I might return to the same position for a seasonal comparison.
Related articles
