Mill restoration open day

[SidW]

It was open day for restored mills about a month ago, when all windmills and watermills that could were working and open to visitors. I visited the restored flour mill in Helsingborg, hoping to find more wheels. The waterwheel was indeed working, but alas it was completely indoors and the darkness was only broken by a small electric light bulb. I held my breath and tried 1/25 and F:2.8. I doubt if a tripod and a few seconds would have helped on account of the rumbling and vibration. I thought at least it would pick up flashes and highlights from the water rushing over the wheel and from the wet surfaces everywhere. and that's just what happened:



It occurred to me that there's little colour interest, just contrast of light and dark, so I tried a b&w conversion, after first doing some heavy red filtering to enhance the red lreflections, and then shortened the greyscale to deepen the shadows:



Exakta Varex (1961), CZJ Flektogon 35mm/2.8, Kodachrome 200.

[PeterW]

I like the black and white version of this, Sid. It's both Abstract and Impressionist at the same time.

BTW, I've found it much better, when you're trying for a slow-speed handheld shot, not to hold your breath. That makes your muscles tense. Try beathing normally, and squeeze the release botton just at the end of exhaling when your muscles are relaxed - just as they relax when you're tired and sit down and let your muscles relax with an exhaled 'ooooof'.

This is a technique taught me by my cousin, who was a rifle marksman in the army, a long time ago when f/4.5 was a 'fast' lens, at least on my old folding cameras - f/6.3 was more usual - and I was fond of trying night-time street scenes with them. Street lamps and lighted shop windows help, and you can sometimes get some nice reflections if it's wet. I haven't tried any for ages, I must try some again.

Also, don't consciously 'press' the release button, take the first pressure and then just tighten your right-hand grip on the camera - sorry, left-hand grip in the case of an Exakta - so that it fires almost by itself.

PeterW

[GeneW]

Sid, like Peter, I like the B&W version of this. This is very well done for hand held in dim light! Lots of drama and mystery in the image.

Gene

[doubs43]

Add my vote for the B&W image. There's something distracting about the red in the color image but the B&W comes together to form a very nice picture that illustrates movement of the wheel. I can "see" the wheel turning because the motion is there, caught by the slow shutter speed. I like your choice of camera and lens too.

Walker

[minoltaman]

I like the B&W shot. Very good for a 1/25 hand held shot.

I take it you didn't have a flash unit with you?

Awhile ago I read an article by a pro-photographer who claimed that lifting weights, in particular, dumb bells, and holding them still for a few seconds as if he were holding a camera helped him exponentially when hand holding low shutter speeds. He claims that he can hand hold 1/8 speed perfectly.

I do lift weights but nowadays instead, I just always take a flash unit with me where ever I go.

[SidW]

Thank you all. I would have thought that dumb bells would have tensed the muscles like Peter said. Above all tremors come from the nerve system so I'm not sure that training muscles will help. On the other hand believing in something is half the battle. My main source of camera movement is my legs which tend to wobble now. I did steady the camera on the protective barrier round the drop to the water, but in this case it was probably vibrating from the rumbling wheel. Againm, a wide angle lens is less sensitive to shake.

No, I didn't have a flash with me, but on this occasion I preferred the ambient light, with a bulb above and to the side, and all the wet surfaces like countless mirrors. Peter's analogy of wet streets at night with street lamps is very relevant. The light is coming at you out of the picture, rather than from you and bouncing back.