Bluebell Avenue
The Ancient Woods at Hinton Ampner
The Ancient Woods at Hinton Ampner
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May, 2014Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
Looking down one of the Beech Tree lined Avenues in the Ancient Bluebell woods on the estate surrounding Hinton Ampner, Hampshire, England.Time
This shot was taken about half-way through a 4 hour walk around the beautiful estate of the Hinton Ampner Country House. It was around midday on nice sunny spring day.Lighting
As we walked through the woods there were patches where the sunlight filtering through the trees lit up the Bluebells but this was the first "Avenue" where the Bluebells and the Beech trees were lit up in such a nice way.Equipment
The picture was taken with a Pentax-M 50mm F1.4 lens on my Pentax K3. I love this lens for the great colour rendering, shallow DOF and it's ease of use in low light. This picture was taken handheld at about F8 (I think).Inspiration
I wanted to capture the serenity of these wonderfully straight man-made avenues awash with the ancient Bluebells lit by the natural light filtered by the planted Beech trees. Getting low to the ground reduced the depth of the Bluebells but gave a better sense of the made-made avenue.Editing
I did mask the Bluebells and raise the exposure and saturation slightly to give them a bit of punch.In my camera bag
I always have one of my two great 300s, a Pentax-M* and a Tair 3C. The Tair is great for fast moving subjects and the Pentax for anything else. I normally have my Pentax-A 50mm F1.2 attached to the camera, it's an amazing all round lens. The other lens I always carry is a Pentax-A 24mm F2.8, it's super sharp and great for landscapes or for just wandering around a city centre. I love the Pentax As and Ms for the colours and sharpness. If I'm doing portraits I will always pack my Helios-40 a 60 year old 85mm F1.5 silver monster, wide open it does bokeh like no other lens I've seen. Obviously there's a Manfrotto tripod strapped to the bag. I have 67mm ND and Polarising filters with adapter rings for all my lenses, a Lenspen and, if it's cold, my lovely Sealskinz with the magnetic forefinger and thumb. The only auto-focus lens I carry is a Pentax-F 100mm macro (normally set to manual).Feedback
Look out for old M42 or M39 Russian and Japanese lenses, they represent fantastic value for money and all have their own characteristics. They can all be used on most modern DSLRs with the appropriate adapter. You can pick up a Pentax Takumar 50mm F1.4 for around £70, it's a brilliant lens and even at 50 years old it will outperform most modern lenses at 4 or 5 times the price. many of these old lenses give you unique colour and bokeh. Being completely manual they will also improve your skill and knowledge. I've taught my daughter exclusively with old manual lenses and she even amazes me with how quickly she gets the settings right for any shot. You'll be hearing about her in the coming years, I'm sure.
