Shootout
Reader 2
Nigel Barnesaving prepared for
every eventuality
by bringing
Wellington boots
and waterproof
trousers with him, Nigel was
able to really immerse himself
in the essence of Lumsdale
Falls. Setting up his camera and
tripod and shooting at various
levels of the waterfall, Nigel
eventually found a great
composition when he stepped
carefully into the water.
“I’d taken a number of shots
from a slightly different position,
but when I moved I noticed a
lone leaf on a large rock,” Nigel
explains. “I thought having this
leaf prominent on the rock and
foregrounding the waterfall
would make an interesting
composition. It wasn’t easy
to check exactly how I was
framing it, though: I was
practically sitting in the water.”
To ensure that the resulting
image had depth, Nigel used an
aperture of f/8, plus a variable
ND filter to smooth out theextremes of contrast. As
pleasant as it was to have
some warming sunshine while
standing around on a cold day,
the resulting shadows and
highlights would require
some adjustment later.Expert opinionProving that it’s often advisable
to suffer for your art, Nigel’s
incursion into the water has
paid dividends. With sunlight
striking the water perfectly,the foreground spray adds
some energy, in contrast to the
water falling gracefully in the
middle of the image. The leaf’s
texture and the wetness of the
rocks neatly counterpoints
the sheen of the water.H
Fixed or Auto ISO?
The sunny conditions did offer some
opportunities, though. Nigel thought
that the hard shadow of a tree falling
onto the ruined mill buildings was
worthy of a shot. To get a consistent
resolution for editing his captures, he
shot at a fixed ISO setting (ISO 200),
rather than allowing the camera to
set variable values under Auto ISO.Camera Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II
Lens M.Zuiko 14-150mm f/4-5.6 II at 14mm
Exposure 1/4 sec at f/8, ISO 200http://www.digitalcameraworld.com MARCH 2020 DIGITAL CAMERA^95
Shootout