Right after crafting the myriad rules and tweaks for this project I hit the road in search of abandonment and rural scenery. I found it and filled a 24-exposure roll. Funnily enough when I looked at my image count it was 936 – so perfect! I shot until it showed 912. Easy-peasy. Without further ado, here are all the shots (good, bad and ugly) and my thoughts on what went well, what didn’t and how it could be fixed or prevented.
For this first try I chose the Expressive filter setting. It basically ups contrast, color and overall vibrancy. I went with ISO 400 and a neutral daylight WB. I didn’t note what aperture I used with the manual lenses, but it was f/8 or smaller during the brightest hours. Toward dusk I opened up a bit.
This first shot illustrates how varied a single roll of film could be – groups of pictures that have nothing to do with each other. Little bits of surprise treasure and good memories.
- Good – exposure and colors look decent, focus is where it needs to be
- Bad – white balance is wrong
- Fix – a warming filter would bring the white balance into line with an indoor photo using an outdoor setting
- Good – exposure and colors look decent
- Bad – doh! missed the focus completely
- Fix – judging by the rest of the shots, I just wasn’t paying attention on this one. Sloppy.
- Good – exposure and colors look decent, focus is where it needs to be
- Bad – tilting and it’s a little tight
- Fix – pay more attention to the grid lines against the trees, back up a few dozen feet/yards
- Good – exposure and colors look decent, focus is where it needs to be (on the houses, not the fg)
- Bad – still tilted, a little under-exposed
- Fix – pay more attention to the grid lines against the trees, bump exposure maybe 1/3 of a stop
- Good – colors look decent, focus is where it needs to be, horizon looks level!!
- Bad – busy composition, a tad over-exposed
- Fix – move over to the right, dial down exposure maybe 1/3 of a stop
Good – colors look decent, focus is where it needs to be, composition works better, horizon still level (woo hoo!)
Bad – still a bit over-exposed
Fix – dial down exposure 1/3 to 1/2 stop
- Good – colors look decent, focus is where it needs to be, composition so-so, building straight up
- Bad – a bit under-exposed
- Fix – bump up exposure 1/3 stop
- Good – exposure and colors look decent, focus is where it needs to be, angles look straight
- Bad – tilted, bah
- Fix – use grid lines more effectively
- Good – colors a bit washed out, focus is where it needs to be,
- Bad – a bit over-exposed
- Fix – dial down exposure 1/2 stop
- Good – exposure and colors look decent, focus is where it needs to be, the house is straight
- Bad – didn’t crop out that sign on the left edge
- Fix – be less in a hurry and make sure the composition is right
- Good – colors look decent, focus is where it needs to be, horizon is even straight
- Bad – a bit under-exposed, composition lacks flow
- Fix – bump exposure 1/3 to 1/2 stop, shift to the left along the fence line
- Good – exposure and colors look decent, focus is where it needs to be, composition works better
- Bad – tilted horizon
- Fix – use those grid lines better!!
- Good – colors look decent, focus is where it needs to be
- Bad – a bit over-exposed, don’t like the sliced tree on the right
- Fix – dial down exposure 1/3 to 1/2 stop, shift to the left or zoom to eliminate tree
- Good – focus is good
- Bad – a bit over-exposed and busy composition, not good isolation of the pump
- Fix – dial down exposure 1/3 to 1/2 stop, change position
- Good – focus is good, better isolation of the pump
- Bad – a bit over-exposed and busy composition, tilting again
- Fix – dial down exposure 1/2 stop, check those gridlines carefully
- Good – focus is good
- Bad – boring composition, underexposed
- Fix – should have gone into the field and upped the exposure 1/2 a stop
- Good – focus is good, nice composition with the three trees in a diagonal line
- Bad – overexposed, tilted again
- Fix – pay attention to gridlines and reduce exposure 1/2 a stop
- Good – focus is good
- Bad – overexposed, tilted again, sky has potential to blow out, composition a bit boring
- Fix – pay attention to gridlines and increase exposure 1/2 a stop, use graduated filter on sky if possible
- Good – focus is good, better composition
- Bad – overexposed, tilted again, sky has potential to blow out
- Fix – pay attention to gridlines and increase exposure 1/2 a stop, use graduated filter on sky if possible
- Good – focus is good, better composition
- Bad – overexposed, tilted again, sky has potential to blow out
- Fix – pay attention to gridlines and increase exposure 1/2 a stop, use graduated filter on sky if possible
- Good – focus is good
- Bad – under-exposed, tilted again, white balance too cool
- Fix – pay attention to gridlines and increase exposure 1/2 a stop, add a warming filter
- Good – focus is good, decent composition
- Bad – a touch over-exposed, tilted again,
- Fix – reduce exposure by 1/3 stop
- Good – focus is good, decent composition, white balance looks good for the time of day
- Bad – sky is a bit over-exposed
- Fix – use graduated filter for sky
- Good – focus is good, decent composition
- Bad – under-exposed, white balance too cool
- Fix – increase exposure by 1 stop, add warming filter
So basically I got one almost right out of 24. One that doesn’t need much fixing. The horizon isn’t as straight as it could be, but it isn’t too obvious off the bat.
One keeper. That’s pretty normal, although some of these could be fixed with a friendly lab tech. Primarily the exposure and the white balance issues. I may play with a few of the RAW files for some of these to see what I can do with the, but these are the unedited jpgs. Ta-da!
So I hereby present to myself the –
Want your own and to be featured on the blog? Send me a link to your photos and you’ll be famous. LOL.
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