The beautiful heading image was taken by Stan Davies in Norway. He's written about it and the mechanics of good travel photography - here's his words:
CITY SHADOWS by
Stan Davies
This image breaks all the rules!!! Yet it is one of my favourite street shots, taken in Oslo, early morning.
Walking into the sun I was taken by the long shadows from the pedestrians, wondering how I could record this - knowing if I shot straight into the sun there would be no detail and the scene would be overexposed. By moving under the awning, the direct sun was blocked, I was able to compose the image, and wait for the pedestrians to cast their long shadows. The shops lining the street automatically lead the eye through the image and the diminishing size of the pedestrians is fascinating.
Leica Q,
28mm f:1.7 lens, ISO 400, 28mm focal length,
f;5.6 at 1/320 sec, aperture priority.
STAN'S LENS TIPS
If you want to be like a professional then you need to invest in a good quality wide-angle lens. There are several ways to go about this; buy a camera with a fixed lens such as the
Leica Q, which is a 28mm, f:1.7 full-frame camera, a prime lens of between 18-35mm, or a zoom lens with a range anywhere from 18mm to 90mm. The f-stop should be f:2.8 or lower - these are the more expensive lenses but are invaluable when it comes to low light situations such as inside cathedrals or old ruins.
If you want to keep your kit light and to have more scope, I would recommend a top-end zoom.
Great, eh? You can get more good info and travel photo help from Stan when he conducts photo-safaris here in WA as well as elsewhere. Ask at the CE front desk to see what he's up to and talk to him when he's in the shop - you'll find that he really loves photography.
Stan's next courses are available here;
Landscape Feb 17
Travel Feb 19
