City space

Olympus E-M5 with Olympus 75mm lens

Comments 🔗

2013-03-21 | The Heavyweight says

An unusual image. How did you find this place? You know I’m not a fan of b&w, but here it complements the photographed scenery. I wonder, is there a way on Flickr how to see the camera settings of a shot? I can only find the EXIF data option, and that doesn’t show any of the settings I’m interested in it seems?

2013-03-21 | Spike says

If you click on the camera settings in Flickr it will take you to a page showing all the EXIF details. Anything else you need, just ask! The original was mainly B&W apart from the red satellite dishes; I think it looks best with no colour, a little bit Blade Runner! If you walk between Siam Paragon and Central World on the overpass, you look down on it. Underneath the dome there are shops. It’s an amazing space, so much going on; looks good at 100% so you can see all the bits.

2013-03-21 | The Heavyweight says

Probably a good place for a smaller camera ;-) I’m in general curious about settings someone used for the pics, as I think they can teach me how certain effects were achieved, or which tradeoffs the photographer accepted in order to achieve a goal in another area. I hope to learn from that. Thanks for pointing me to that page, I had never clicked on those settings - there’s really everything there I could dream of.

Do you use a lens hood? I was told it is essential for the clarity of an image (I had asked about using a UV filter, and got the recommendation to use the lens hood. Being a non-native speaker, at first I had thought someone was trying to take the mickey out of me, as I interpreted ’lens hood’ as the hood which is part of older camera bags, and actually closes the bag :-) ). If that is true, then I would think this is particularly true in conditions like in Bangkok - is it, in your experience?

2013-03-21 | The Heavyweight says

I forgot to add another question, apologies: I wonder why you chose f4. Was there a purpose behind it (I see you had aperture priority) like creating a very moderately reduced sharpness in the distance, or maybe another reason? Please understand me right, I’m not saying the sharpness is reduced, I really just want to learn.

I’ve been walking around in these places too, btw, and in the Pratunam alleys, or even in the market buildings. But always with people who wanted their pictures taken, I never really had a chance to linger and ponder the athmosphere of the place. But I’m also pretty sure that there is a wealth of interesting things to be seen and photographed in there.

That said, I’m also a bit on the short side, which further reduces my chances of getting a good shot in those places ;-)

2013-03-22 | Spike says

No problem being short, just fold out the screen on the E-M5 and point it downwards and then hold the camera above your head and…. oops sorry, I forgot, you got the Nikon…. I actually used F7.1, which is good setting on M43 to maximise both depth of field and IQ. I wanted as much in focus as possible, everything in the image is interesting. But at 75mm the focus does go off towards the back of the shot (I focused on the first air vent thingie). I used the 75mm lens because I wanted to telescope the look of the image and only have the contents of the alley in the field of view. Unfortunately it was mid-day and the sun was reflecting hard off the metal roof and blowing out highlights. So I used the highlight warning indicator on the E-M5 and then dialed in negative exposure compensation until most of the highlight warnings were gone. This left the shadow areas pretty dark (but not blown), so I used the shadows slider in Lightroom to lighten up the dark areas. I also dialed back the highlights and white to even things up a bit. Compositionally, I originally intended shooting straight down the middle, but that looked a bit boring and I lost much of the detail in the side areas; so I moved to one side so that all the wires etc would be more visible. I think it might look quite good printed large; but I will probably never get round to it. I always use a hood, helps cut down flare and also protects the lens. I also use a filter, just a clear glass protection filter if I can get it, or else a very good quality UV. I like to protect my investment. Oh, and everywhere is a good place for a smaller camera; especially mid-day in Bangkok in March :-)

2013-03-22 | The Heavyweight says

Hey, I can fold out the screen of the Nikon (requires a bit of force, strangely), I just cannot get it back in properly afterwards! ;-) But I never use the screen. Didn’t get used to it with the compacts (I just pointed them and shot, never recognized anything much on those screens) and with the Nikon, I’m happy to have the viewfinder back. I know, I should go with the times instead of becoming a dinosaur…

Thank you very much for taking the time to explain your considerations. I find it utterly interesting to follow your considerations and preparations you make. It shows me how far I am from knowing my camera, and also which aspects I have to focus on more. I would make pretty much comparable considerations WRT the composition, but in terms of using the camera’s features, I’m still miles away from what you are doing. I think I have to learn to spend more time preparing a shot; I always feel I’m in a hurry and cannot lean back mentally to consider the settings options.

I think you pretty much optimized the shot already in the camera. I also find the visual imperfection in terms of dynamics (probably emphasized by the b/w?) is what makes the shot special. And although your lens is probably excellent beyond doubt, I feel a bit that shots like this one to an extent prove my theory that it is not necessarily the optical perfection of a lens that would make a shot good, but it is the characteristic which must be right for the mood you are trying to create in the shot. You created a bit of imperfection there through the b/w, and it made the shot more interesting, it now being a tad too dark in the dark areas. Also the highlights, without your explanation I would have been unable to understand, but they are somehow more mellow than expected, also an imperfection, but give the shot a very specific mood, and makes it special.

Could you have done the same (regarding the highlights) in LR only? Or was it essential to have this done at shooting time?

I’m a great fan of UV filters btw, and never used the lens hood. With the compacts, I could just use my hand to add some shadow to the lens opening. Not so with the Nikon anymore, of course. Unless I would glue a plate or something to my hand to make it bigger ;-) Right now I’m not using the UV filter, to see how that affects the colours but like you, I worry about the lens protection, and personally I also feel they reduce fogginess. But I’ll put on the lens hood from now on. Although with that on it’ll get tight in my camera bag.

2013-03-22 | Spike says

The camera was evaluating exposure across the whole frame and if I had not dialed in some under compensation, it is possible that some of the highlights on the roof would have totally blown out and I would have lost some details in the metalwork; there was a massive amount of reflection. The E-M5 sensor is very forgiving if you want to pull back shadows so I wasn’t worried about the dark areas. I find having the potential blown highlights and shadows displayed in the viewfinder is enormously useful, so I can correct exposure before I take the shot. Here’s the original if you want to take a look: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26325010@N02/8579988122/

2013-03-22 | The Heavyweight says

Thanks for the link. The D600 also has a highlights warning feature, but since I never use the display… Maybe when I get to know the camera better and am able to make adjustments more quickly, I will be more flexible and use these features more. I should probably put these things on the custom function buttons.

After seeing the original image, I have to say you’ve really made it a lot more interesting than what it looks like in reality. Good work!

2013-03-22 | Spike says

Thank you kind sir. Being able to see what the image is going to look like, including highlighting blown highlights and shadows, in the viewfinder is definitely a plus for mirrorless cameras. But of course we lose the purity of the optical view.

2013-03-22 | The Heavyweight says

I wish my viewfinder would have this feature too. On a display, I simply never see all the details, maybe partly due to my somewhat dwindling eyesight (old age). The displays I’ve seen so far were never large and bright enough for me to see all relevant scenery details on a sunny day. Well, I’ll try the Nikon’s display in the next weeks, maybe it’s more usable than the ones I’ve seen so far.