Friday 21st March 2008

Most when they start taking photographs realise that getting the exposure correct is necessary, and likewise most soon realise that having images in focus is desirable, but getting the colours accurate is quite often overlooked. We come across those that even think that digital cameras cannot record the colours correctly, and have read people arguing that certain colours like purple don't exist or that digital cameras can't record them. It's surprising therefore for them to see how we manage with our limited edition photographs to both photograph purple and produce accurate colours, and do this also at least most of the time while taking all the photographs we take.

White balance and colour management is essential if we are to get the highest quality work with accurate colours. While we appreciate that you can leave it on auto, and use your camera as a point and shoot in this respect,  this weeks articles look at white balance in some detail, and while not able in a newsletter and articles to cover what we could on an individual training day with us, we can give enough information so that most can at least make a start towards gaining control over colour.

• So what is white balance and why won’t auto white balance do

   

  In this article we look at what white balance is and why we should use it, introducing the topic and giving the foundations for other articles.

   

• Colour management outlined

We next change the topic a little to explain briefly the larger topic of colour management, although concentrating on the aspects that are connected with white balance.

• Choosing the white balance setting to use

In this article we look at how to use the camera settings in relation to white balance on a Nikon DSLR. If you have some other make of camera you will have similar controls.

• Setting and using PRE

The PRE seeing within white balance allows us to get the most accurate colours and here we look at this in detail and how to use it.

• Other steps we can take on white balance

There are other ways to manage colour and other approaches, and this article covers some of these, of course those who attend a Masterclass on this topic get to see a lot more, however this introduces most of the more common options available.

• The K values of light

This is a table rather than an article and gives the colours of different types of light.

Photographing Plants

Has Spring Spring Early. With the UK weather all over the place it is affecting the plant and wildlife in the UK. Photographers are being advised that they should be aware of what is happening around them and that depending on the climate and weather conditions some of our much loved flora could be arriving earlier and therefore if you wait until when you had seen them in previous years then you may be disappointed. Some examples given by the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew include: Daffodils which opened on the 16th January which was a whole week earlier than in 2007 and 11 days earlier than normal, Snowdrops were weeks ahead of normal times and the Crocus opened on 24th January, also 11 days earlier than normal. If course these times relate to what was happening within Kew and therefore the South East of the UK, other areas may differ depending on what their weather conditions have been and whether the plants are open to direct sunlight on in a wooded enclave.  To help keep a close eye on what is happening at Kew Gardens they have provided a special website  www.kew.org/bulbwatch. Here you have a Bulbmap which tells you where you can find specific bulbs within their gardens, their current displays and therefore what is on show if you visit and another useful feature is their 'Bulb Gallery' which allows you to see pictures of specific areas and what can be currently seen, and this appears to be updated particularly regularly as I have visited the site a number of times over the past few weeks and the photos are changing. The latest pictures are dated 19th March.

Don't forget to visit our Nature and Wildlife Calendar to see what other opportunities you might be able to get this weekend in the UK countryside.

Locations to Visit

With the Easter weekend ahead of us, we thought we would provide a variety of location guides, covering different parts of the country, but its also a good time to look through all the ones we already have available.

Shropshire has many attractions, from castles to stone circles, but we have selected two abbeys that you could visit, and these are both our featured guides this week.

• Buildwas Abbey, Shropshire

• Haughmond Abbey, Shropshire

Pembrokeshire, South Wales, is a long way for most and with a longer weekend may be attractive, again there is much to see and look at, some we have covered in location guides already. Often when looking at major attractions, the smaller bays are overlooked, so perhaps these guides to some of these will entice you to explore some. We have also previously covered the Pembroke Coastal Path and Pembrokeshire Coast National Park of which many of these locations can be accessed from.

• Abercastle, Pembroke

• Abereiddi Bay, Pembrokeshire

• Aberfelin, Pembrokeshire

• Abermawr, Pembrokeshire

• Amroth Bay, Pembrokeshire

Most of these bays are not overly populated with people and as well as having the beach and therefore sea views to photograph, many also have other items worth photographing or of historic interest nearby. For example a short distance inland from Abercastle is Carreg Sampson a Neolithic burial chamber, or Aberfelin with its cove containing a ruined mill and bridge over a stream.

Plus we have added two more places for you to photograph wildlife.

• Arundel WWT, West Sussex

• Allt-Rhyd-y-Groes Nature Reserve, Mid Wales

Other WWT centres previously covered in our location guides and may be worth a visit this Easter Weekend include:

Castle Espie WWT, Northern Ireland and  Martin Mere WWT, Burscough, Lancashire

Also an event taking place this coming Easter Sunday (23rd March) at Caerphilly Castle, near Newport in South Wales. The 14th Century Life and Firing the Siege Engines. A rare chance to see the most complete collection of reconstructed medieval siege machine son public display, performed by the Company of Chivalry. Stand back as the ancient engine or war known as the trebuchet is let loose into the south lake. For more details see this link.

For more details see their website.