Page 38 - Phonebox Magazine October 2016

Olney Camera Club
Buildings after Dark
by a couple of stops. Take a few test shots to nd the best setting.
Colour Balance
Pictures after dark often show a colour cast, and arti cial lighting can cause a yellow or orange tinge. Again a few test shots can be taken and adjustments made to the white balance setting. For instance: a change to “cloudy” will warm up shots and the “Tungsten” option will give a bluer tone.
Background
The night sky can add extra interest to night pictures. If possible wait until the sky has some cloud or there is a moon. Attention to this kind of detail will lift the picture.
If the sky is dark and uninteresting try to crop the picture to cut out as much of the sky as possible. Close cropping will also give the picture an edgier feel.
Forward Planning
Try to go out one night before you have a night trip planned and practice your techniques so that you are familiar with the camera settings and use of the tripod etc. This will make it easier to set up and take the best shots. Our picture this month is the winner in our recent print competition in the “After Dark” category. The picture is titled “Memorial Church, Berlin” by Michael Clark.
Our next meeting is on Wednesday 26th October at 8.00pm in The Olney Centre. It is a talk on “Local Myopia” by Chris Shepherd. All welcome. Call Gina for further information. Tel. 01234 711657
Olney Library
The appearance of a building changes significantly when illuminated at night, and even the most brutal concrete edi ces can
take on an almost luminous beauty. Night is a good time to take an unusual picture of a building. It is essential to have the correct exposure and colour balance, but apart from this all the usual rules for composition apply.
Composition
Remember the basics, when shooting upwards the building will appear to slope inwards. This can be corrected in any good editing programme. Choose your positioning carefully, move around and backwards and forwards to nd the ideal shot, and try different angles. Or try nding a new vantage point, the view from high up in another building will give a different aspect.
People can add an extra dimension, they can be in silhouette, or with longer exposure times the blur of their movement can add interest, but keep the exposure time below about 15 secs. or they may not be visible. Other architectural features such as shooting through the arches of a bridge can be used to focus the eye on a particular building.
A small aperture will give front to back sharpness and add a starburst effect to streetlights.
Exposure
After dark, because of the change in the light exposure times are longer and the colour of the light changes. In lower light situations a slower shutter speed is necessary and steps
must be taken to reduce camera shake. A tripod and a self-timer or a remote release will eliminate handshake, but if these are not available try to rest the camera on or against a wall, a lamppost or a similar solid object. A higher ISO will reduce the exposure time but there may be some “noise” in the pictures. It may be possible to lock up the mirror in your camera, and this will reduce blurring.
The camera’s meter can be fooled after dark as the preponderance of dark areas may cause it to overexpose the lighter or illuminated parts of the picture. This can be recti ed by using the exposure compensation settings in the camera to reduce the exposure
Hooked on Books
On Saturday 10th Hooked on Books club explored the work of author and illustrator Liz Pichon. ‘The Brilliant World of Tom Gates’ reading set the scene for a fun lled morning. The creative
club members came up with ‘Genius Ideas’ to complete oodles of banana doodles.....be warned as more may appear on other bananas! They also enjoyed and were ‘Absolutely Fantastic’ at Banagrams and ‘A Tiny Bit Lucky’ with Hangman. ‘Extra Special Treats’ enabled the children to award 1st place to the most embarrassing parents.....’Yes! No (Maybe.....)’! Thanks to all who attended, Karen and Lydia look forward to seeing you again on October 8th in Olney Library 11.30- 12.30hrs. For further details please email khenry. business@mail.com or visit Friends of the Library in Olney Facebook page.
38 Phonebox Magazine | October 2016