Australian_Photography_-_March_2016_

AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM 81

Less light? Use a filter

According to Dayalan R. Pillay, the elaborately costumed girls were

promoting the Japanese Society and stood out in the moving crowd.

It looks like you wanted to achieve the effect where a stationary subject

or subjects is surrounded by blurred figures in motion. However, it

didn’t really work since those figures are not greatly blurred and the

main subjects are not prominent enough. You were doing the right

things by having a tripod, timer, smallish aperture and low ISO but the

main issue was that it wasn’t an ideal situation from the start – strong

midday light with mixed lighting (shadow and out of shadow). This

resulted in overexposure of everything not in shadow. Also, in that

sprawling untidy crowd the people obscuring your main subjects were

not very blurred. In daylight shooting, photographers often use a neutral

density filter to cut down the amount of light getting into the lens and

this consequently slows the shutter speed to allow the motion to blur.

SAIMA’S TIP: When you want to use slow shutter speeds to emphasise

movement, shutter priority or manual mode allow full control.

TITLE: Japanese Society recruitment

PHOTOGRAPHER: Dayalan R. Pillay

DETAILS: Sigma DP1 @ 28mm (equivalent), 1/15s @ f11, 50 ISO,

tripod, Automatic levels correction applied to RAW file.

AUSTRALIAN PHOTOGRAPHY MARCH 2016

What’s your focus?
Jasmine Brody took this photograph at Shady
Beach in Nhulunbuy, Northern territory.
She writes: “The original aim was at a whole
different direction, but as the sun set, an
interesting pattern of clouds appeared in the
opposite direction. I adjusted my position and
fixated on a rock, then decided for a shorter
long exposure to get the movement and
sense of time I base my style of photography
on. Before post-production, I had the task
of choosing one photo out of the 100 or so I
took. In post processing, I barely touched the
settings, and the temperature was adjusted
to compensate for the neutral density filter’s
colour cast. Referring to iPhone photos
I take as my camera is clicking, I adjusted
the colour balance for a more natural look,
rather than my usual slightly blue or purple
tinted photographs.”
It sounds as if you have your own
definite style and way of managing your
photography. However, I just want to point
out that handholding for one third of a
second is not advisable if you want your
subject matter to be sharp, and that lack of
sharpness is the main issue in this shot. While soft wand fuzzy water
may be attractive and show movement, a rock generally needs to be
clear and crisp to be interesting, and in this scene that foreground
rock is not sharp at all. You needed a faster shutter speed to get things
sharp or a tripod and remote and to focus on the rock. I also wonder
if you could have shot from another angle to exclude some of that
grungy seaweed on the left.

SAIMA’S TIP: There is a place for fifty-fifty compositions where

sky and sea share equal weight in an image, but it can also dilute the

impact of the stronger subject area.

TITLE: Shady Sunset

PHOTOGRAPHER: Jasmine Body

DETAILS: Nikon D90, 18-55mm lens @ 18mm, 1/3s @ f13, ISO 160.