There is something about B/W picture …

Works great for portraits

There is something mystical about people and B/W picture. I have taken good colour portraits but I have always managed to convert them to B/W either in the camera OR in GIMP. Take example of the following picture

Model: NIKON D700 ISO: 220 Exposure: 1/80 sec Aperture: 5.6 Focal Length: 120mm Flash Used: No

It was shot as a trial picture for white balance purpose and the picture came out “too blue” but I kept it instead of immediately deleting it. I converted this to B/W in picasa and applied some sharpness and voila, it was turned out to be a great picture. The background is stained glass fireplace screen which adds a bit of detail.

Model: NIKON D700 ISO: 280 Exposure: 1/80 sec Aperture: 5.6 Focal Length: 120mm Flash Used: No

I have started enjoying GIMP. Though I am firm believer in taking the shot as you want to be first time (and that is why I still shoot in jpg instead of raw format), I still try various experiments in some image processing software to get some different perspective from the picture. In this particular one, I tried to “smudge” away the background (the same stained glass fireplace screen) and the effect has turned out to be stunning. So much so that my son (who is the subject in the picture) wanted me to blow this up on a canvass (another £50 down to the printing company ..)

Model: NIKON D700 ISO: 6400 Exposure: 1/30 sec Aperture: 5.3 Focal Length: 66mm Flash Used: No

This was one of the earlier picture when I was still getting hang of the new camera. The picture was slightly overexposed (as well as the lighting was poor – as you can see from the autoISO setting) so the picture was immediately converted to B/W where it turned out good. The picture is sharp and clear and it was the first canvas I have blown and now it adores the wall on the side of the stair case leading to first floor of my home.

Overall, I am quite pleased with the new camera and waiting for the spring for some great pictures.

New Camera and All that Jazz

After a long wait, finally I have a good camera in my hand

When I was in Budapest in 1995-96, I bought my first good camera (Nikon F50 with 35-80 AF f/4-5.6 lens). It was an ordinary entry level SLR but at that time it was a big purchase for me. I had fantastic results from that SLR and I used it for a long time. Then the films changed to Digital and I got involved with lots of other things that photography took a back seat. And eventually I ended up not lugging the F50 around and instead succumbed to the convenience for compact digital. For last few years, I was itching to get a good Digital SLR and try my hands at photography once again. Finally this Christmas I managed to get my hands on a Nikon D700 with 24-120 AF-S f/3.5-5.6 G VR lens. It did cost a bomb but I am quite pleased with my research and purchase. I am still going through various settings and reading a fat instruction manual provided. But attached is one of the first pictures with some wild colour settings.

Autumn leaf stuck to garden patio door.

Some more to come once I can get my head around the new camera.