“Thefirstchallengetookplacein conditions
thatwereperfectforwalkingandwe
thoroughlyenjoyedourearlymorninghike,but
forphotographyit madethingsa littledifficult.
Thatsaid,Jonstilltooksomegreatimages
usingtechniqueshe’dneverusedbeforeand
combinedthisnewknowledgewithhisexisting
skills.Thefirstfewshotshetooklookedgood
withhiswide-anglelens,butaftertryingto
shootthemistacrossthevalleywequickly
realisedit wasmuchfartherthanfirst
anticipatedandhewouldhavereallyneeded
a 400mmlenstobetterisolatethescene.”CHALLENGE 1 Proverdict
4THE W I DE V IEW
With stunning views in every direction
and cloud creeping over Kinder Scout,
Jon put his new pano skills to the test.
Exposure: 1/100sec at f/13 (ISO 100)1 ) Jon uses James’s 70-200mm to get a tighter and tidier
composition. 2) Jon switched to his 55mm lens to capture a
wider panoramic image of cloud coming over Kinder Scout.
3) Jon get to grips with Sony’s extremely useful Auto
Exposure Bracketing feature while shooting HDR for the first
time. 4) HDR image processing is very easy to get wrong, but
Jon did a stellar job of processing his first image authentically.Januar y 2020 Digital SLR Photography 81
70-200mm lens. As soon as we switched
lenses he was able to achieve a much
tighter and cleaner composition.
Jon had never shot HDR before, so I
gave him a quick lesson of how to use
the amazing Auto Exposure Bracketing
feature on Sony cameras that’s arguably
the best out there. After a quick tutorial,
Jon absorbed everything and was able to
use the technique and feature throughout
the day whenever he needed to. Jon's first
attempt looked great, but it lacked the
scope we were enjoying so I suggested he
shoot a panorama of the scene, too.
At first, Jon began to compose with
the camera in landscape orientation,
so I suggested that he switch to portrait
because for panoramas this provides a taller
image that better allows for the cropping
that’s inevitably required during processing.
Additionally, it ultimately results in a much
higher resolution with a far greater amount
of detail. After a few successful frames, we
headed back to Mam Tor before crossing
the road and walking towards Lord’s Seat
where Jon shot a final panorama of Kinder
Scout before we drove to town to grab
some well-earned breakfast.4