Slow Burn Image

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Having experimented with faster virtual filmspeeds and encountered 'digital grain' in the 800 ASA range, I'm actually glad I stayed with 200 ASA and played the camera-motion game at my shoot at the RAF Museum, Hendon, in December, 2006. This is their Lancaster bomber and shooting a black aeroplane in a huge building in which the lumens were never quite right for photography was a technical challenge, but the clarity and liquid-smoothness of the 5mp image were in fact worth it. I saw a photo taken at the Lancaster assembly line during WWII, an early colour negative, with a filmspeed so slow you could see the ghost-images of technicians who were walking through the frame. To my amazement, the same thing appeared in this shot: note the patron at far right. This tells you how long the exposure was. The camera was held solidly against a column to eliminate motion, then the chip simply did its thing with the exposure, rendering a very pleasing final result. Sharpness and colour were enhanced. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Classic Backlight with Foreground Illumination

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The long row of windows along one side of the first display hall at the RAF Museum, Hendon, in northern London, made for tricky lighting throughout, as the natural light of a drizzly, grey day vied with the artificial lighting inside. This shot of their immaculate Mustang was taken from the mezzanine gallery on the opposite side of the hall, shooting under the nose of their suspended lifesize mockup of the Eurofighter, and I was mildly amazed that everything balanced out properly. The exposure was comparatively long, the overcast afternoon completely burned out the windows, but, remarkably, the school kids at bottom right were moving little enough not to blur. The ring of lights under the plane have registered amazingly well, making this a delightful play of light and reflection. The camera was solidly supported on a handrail. Enhancements include sharpness, contrast and colour. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic, telephoto; December, 2006. Image by Mike.

Contrast and Exposure: An Exercise

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Back to our old friend, the B-17 at the RAF Museum, Hendon, in northern London. The lighting conditions were difficult enough, how would an adventurous photographer handle backlighting as well? The aircraft's belly was floodlit, the main pool of illumination striking between the landing gear, so this offered an interesting high contrast shot in which the gear was silhouetted against the flood. With a manual SLR it would be easy, simply light-meter the belly of the plane, then stand back, frame and shoot. But how to convince the automatic exposure system of the digital to do the same? It was basically a crosshairs situation: I balanced the camera against a vertical beam for stability in the low-ish light overall, and biased the centre of the frame just above the silhouetted landing gear so the system registered the light off the metal and it adjusted exposure to match. Bingo, wheel dark, belly bright! December 2006, Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

The Right Size for Flash

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Probably the one significant shortcoming of the Fuji FinePix S5600 is the limited power and range of its flash. Any more than eight feet back from a subject and you're in trouble, and as for snapping a group shot at a concert, be ready to do digital enhancement to bring up the mid-tones and generally brighten the pic. Therefore, when you're shooting something as large as an aircraft in conditions of low light, flash is essentially not an option. This is the Phantom FGR.2 in the RAF Museum, Hendon, on the north side of London, and I was frustrated by the conditions: in the cracks between light too low for my filmspeed and subject too big for the flash. (Change filmspeed, duhhh, but I was worried about 'digital grain' at the time and preferred to practice the art of holding the camera steady.) But detail closeups are another matter, and the cockpit was just the right size to floodlight with flash. Harsh contrast, of course, but the flash found the details of the grey and black instrument panels, and for those interested in the F-4 cockpit for its own sake, this is the right sort of picture to take. December 2006; image by Mike.

A Case for Filmspeed Adjustment...

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My UK trip in late 2006 was my first really major digital foray, at least with an up to date camera with sophisticated capabilities. I wasn't clear on many of the functions and had heard all sorts of conflicting stories about just how digital photography compared and contrasted with the physical age. Show me a Pentax K1000 and a roll of film, and I'll make it sit up and talk... "Virtual grain" was a concept I was worried about, and preferred to minimise motion than risk resolution damage, especially as I was looking to cram as many shots as possible onto my flashcards and was shooting at only 2mp to start with. This shot was taken at the RAF Museum, Hendon, in the northern suburbs of London, in early December '06. You might think that so many lights glaring off polished aluminium would make for ample illumination, but not so: with a filmspeed of 200 selected, to increase light gain but still stay safely in the fine-grain range, the camera was on the verge of motion problems all the time. I started using steadying supports -- beams, railings, anything. In this shot of the B-17G, the camera is on top of a post in the walkway fence -- see it snaking toward the POV at left? Don't even ask about flash, the FinePix S5600's flash wouldn't reach as far as the propellers. Of course, it turns out I could have raised the filmspeed by a factor of four before encountering virtual grain, but I didn't know that at the time... Photo by Mike, 2006.