paulbech

Tools and timber

A museum in an old mining town.

A museum in an old mining town.
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Aug, 2016

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165

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Awards

Zenith Award

Creative Winter Award

Curator's Selection

Top Shot Award 21

Member Selection Award

Absolute Masterpiece

+15

Outstanding Creativity

+12

Top Choice

Superb Composition

Peer Award

Top Ranks

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 30 rank

Top 20 rank week 2

Behind The Lens

Location

Coal Creek village is a historical re-creation of the days of coal mining in Korumburra in Victoria, Australia. There are several streets lined by houses, businesses and utilities, filled with artifacts used during the coal mining days. This particular building is that of a blacksmith and machining business. Various tools and machinery line the inside and the only lighting is what streams through some small windows and the open doors (a doorway large enough for a carriage to enter).

Time

This was taken on a weekday when there were fewer tourists, around late morning.

Lighting

The only lighting used and available here was natural lighting streaming through a small skylight, a window, and the open doors. Several exposures were taken to gather the range of tonal differences. The exposures were quite slow requiring a tripod.

Equipment

The camera used was an Olympus micro four thirds EP3 with a 12mm f2.8 lens. This was mounted on a solid tripod and cable release was used to reduce camera shake.

Inspiration

I was struck by the textures all combined in an almost monochromatic, sepia shot. Oiled metal tools on wood backdrop. Together they hark back to an era of industrialisation; of a manual society.

Editing

The dynamic range of this shot was extended using a technique call HDR (High Dynamic Range) where several different exposures are taken and then blended to capture detail in either the highlights or shadows which would normally be lost in a single shot. Auto bracketing of 5 shots at 2 thirds of a exposure difference was used, and the results combined in a program called Luminance HDR. HDR photos often have the colour and tones greatly exaggerated, saturating them with colour. My use of the technique is mostly to try and capture what the eye can see (the eye can view a wider dynamic range than the camera can capture).

In my camera bag

I like to travel light, but not give up on quality, so I use the micro four thirds platform. Specifically I currently have in my camera bag an Olympus OMD and several lenses: a 12mm f2.8, a 60mm f2.8 macro, and a sigma 19mm f2.8 and 30mm f2.8. I also carry an Olympus flash, and off camera shoe cord for hand holding the flash, particularly for macro work, a remote cable as well as a wireless cable release and various filters. A circular polarizing filter is rarely off my lens when outdoors, they can also increase the dynamic range of a photo in daylight conditions.

Feedback

In this shot there were objects in the foreground and background. To maintain focus it is necessary to use a small aperture. From memory the setting here was about f16. The exposure bracketing feature then results in several exposures from as long as about one second, and several slightly faster shots. A single handheld shot may have been possible but would not have captured the details in the shadows, so a tripod was necessary. Using a cable release also removes any possible movement of the camera that would occur by pressing the shutter button on the camera.

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paulbech

paulbech

Tools and timber

A museum in an old mining town.

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow paulbech

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