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| Hollybush Spout - just getting the hang of the slow exposure here |
I've been banging on for ages now about my misgivings with switching from film to digital photography, so on this trip I was really torn.
On a long hike (about 8km, not huge but long enough) - I didn't want to be bogged down with loads of gear, so my Minolta Dynax 9, although perfect for the journey - couldn't come with me. It's a mammoth amount of weight to carry.
I had a nice little travel Manfrotto Compact Action tripod which was perfect. It's the lightest I own and fits snugly into my rucksack.
Instead, I went for my trusty shoot-from-the-hip Minolta Dynax 60 (it's super light!), my Sony a77ii digital SLR and quite a large selection of lenses including a super-wide and a wide angle Sigma lens. Retrospectively, I probably didn't need both. I ended up using my 12-24mm nearly all of the time.
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| Quite a few of these pictures were achieved without the use of a tripod |
So I was set! The difficulty with places like these though, and you will see it if you go - is that on such a busy walk (it's very popular), you're very nearly always in someone's way when you stop to set up for a photo.
I in fact, didn't find anywhere to stop where I wasn't in anyone's way - until nearly halfway round the walk (it's a circuit) that I found the space to put my tripod up.
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| Thornton Force was another great place to stop - had a fabulous time playing with both film and digital here |
So adjusting my ND filter and faffing about with my tripod (which, TBH - probably should have practiced using before arriving here) became very tricky. All of a sudden I found myself reserving the use of my precious camera film and shooting willy nilly, utilizing the Sony A77ii's automatic long exposure settings.
I now feel like a big chicken. The Thornton Force waterfall, above - had great space. And I'd had plenty of other waterfalls where I'd had time to practice the long exposure settings on the digital camera. So by the time I got here, I felt like I was in a good place to start putting exposures on my Ektar 100 film which I'd purchased specifically for this trip.
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| It was very freeing to not need the use of my tripod |
I took so few, in fact - that I'm now stuck with half a roll of Ektar 100 still in my camera.
Having read the exposure from my Sony, I was simply copying the settings on my film camera to achieve what I'm hoping are very successful photos. In truth, I have no idea. And now won't until I find another set of green things or landscapes, on which to use up the rest of my film.
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| Snow Falls - my favourite of all the shots. Again, no tripod. |
My favourite shot was taken leaning my camera on the edge of the bridge we happenned to be crossing. I only had a minute or two to stop before I would have started holing up the other walkers, but by this point I'd become the laziest ever - and had just the Sony on the go.
What I really felt I was missing though, was my The Pod, which, like a total numpty I'd left at home.
Short of space and on the go, It's a great alternative if you don't have room for putting up a tripod. I could have used it all day.
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| This was just a trickle - one of my fella's favourites of all of my shots |
My overall opinion is that the Sony a77ii's long exposure setting is pretty darn lazy. You do need to have some knowledge of how to use your polariser and ND filters before you go at it though, so I don't feel like a total dummy.
Take a beanbag tripod with you - it does need a certain amount of stability. But the ability to preview how your exposure will look, means that swapping over to manual settings becomes incredibly psychic.
Yes, I have a bit of colour distortion from the long stops I was using. I don't mind it, I think they're pretty moody. But please please please don't give up on film completely. It would break my heart!
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