An Experiment with White Balance

I probably take more photographs in tungsten light and at high ISO (1600) than in any other conditions.  I assumed that shooting RAWs I didn't need to bother with the white balance because what I got off the sensor was unmediated.  Not true!

Here's a picture of me under tungsten light, ISO 1600, taken with White Balance set to Auto on my Canon 1000D.  No explicit changes were made as the image was tramped through Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop Elements.

And now, with White Balance set to Tungsten (3200K), again with no explicit processing:

Of course, White Balance can be adjusted in ACR, but when doing this the apparent brightness is reduced and exposure has to be increased to compensate.  This results in an increase in noise, already a problem at high ISO.

The lesson learned is to not to trust Auto White Balance on the camera, but be in control of it.
And perhaps to change out of my pyjamas before conducting tests!

Between the Eyes

In JohnBerger's Introduction he says that the eighteen essays, "are about pain, the pain of the world." Strauss 2003, pVII.  This is true.  In these essays there is a great deal about pain some politics and less about the use of photography as propaganda.  An uncomfortable book I didn't enjoy reading and would like to put behind me.

Strauss, DL. (2003) Between the Eyes - Essays on Photography and Politics, New York, Aperture.

People Unaware

I've been taking unaware photos with a long lens for a long time:

This was at Amberley Working Museum, near Arundel.  It's been processed using the Threshold filter in Photoshop.  I think the camera was just resting on the outdoor cafe table, which is a nice firm base.
With a long lens it's absolutely clear what you're shooting, if anyone notices, but folk often don't.  Some kind of hide or shade is handy.  A clean cafe or shop window can be shot through without alerting the target.

It helps if the subject is distracted.  Photographers are so easy!

Last night I tried using wide angle: 18 mm on a 1.6 factor sensor = 29 mm in full frame.
I learned a bit:
Focussing has to be planned: focus on something else about the right distance; set a single extreme right or left focus point (hitherto, my camera was invariably set to a single central point, and I'm used to focussing first, then framing before I shoot); or focus manually, which takes time.
You have to be close, so the subject is usually aware you're taking a photograph.
Even close, you're only using a fraction of the sensor, so unless you have a lot of megapixcels, the definition can be poor.
Lens performance at the edge of a wide angle can be reduced and the image may be distorted.

Here are some initial results:

I'd only f4.5 to play with, so there is too much depth of field.  A faster prime lens would be better.    I had to blur a couple of faces in the centre to reduce their prominence.  The cropped image suffers from poor definition, partly because in these available light indoor shots I was using ISO1600:

This lady is aware and suspects her photograph may be being taken: