Underexposed .....

I am finding life in the South Shore is now providing ample quality time to resurrect some old hobbies. Over too many years and for various reasons many of those interests were consigned off to the side and almost forgotten, one of those pastimes was photography.

Taking photos has always been part of my life, initially with a couple of basic instamatic style camera with easy load 126 or 110 film.

From those raw beginnings I moved onto 35mm film and an Olympus Trip, a nice camera with integral light meter, but limited to four fixed distance settings therefore no auto or manual focusing. It served me well, but by the mid-1980’s I had outgrown the camera and was ready to step up to my “final camera.”

Following many recommendations, I purchased an Olympus OM-20 with a standard fixed 50mm lens and manual focus. The camera offered aperture auto exposure and full manual mode capabilities. Later to broaden the range of the camera, I added a Tamron 35-135mm lens, a very good combination which I really believed would last me forever.

Typically during my OM-20 days I would run three or four 36 exposure films per month. I always used Fuji 200 ASA, my belief was that Fuji provided better colour qualities. At this time, I was extremely fortunate to be under the guidance of a semi-professional photographer, who always took a keen interest in my photographs. It was always a joy to sit down with him and benefit from his many years of photographic experience, to listen, learn and broaden my knowledge.

Fast forward now to the year 2013 and probably a decade or more of OM-20 dormancy ….

I decided to get the camera out and start taking photos again. So off I went to Walmart to buy a 36 exposure Fuji 200 …. This turned out to be not as straightforward as it once was …!!! The selection of camera film was now restricted to a very small area which had no sign of Fuji film. It was an unfortunate coincidence that also on that same Walmart excursion, I was hoping to buy a pack of VHS video tapes ~ it did not turn out to be a good day’s shopping, the dinosaur was a few years too late …!!!!

So, if I was to revive any interest in photography, then my OM-20 “my final camera” would have to be retired in favour of a digital camera.

The chosen replacement was a Nikon 1 V1 with a standard 27-80mm lens and far too many features which all had to be learned. Very quickly I realised that the standard lens was not providing enough range for me, so I added a 27-270mm Nikon NIKKOR and off I went into the new millennium ….!!!!

As mentioned at the outset, the South Shore is providing lots of time for me to develop my photography techniques and style.

Presently I am experimenting with under-exposure. Too often I have found in my preferred aperture priority mode or in fact any mode, the metering can be fooled by conditions. This results in photographs which are often washed out, too bright and lack colour depth. I have found by gradual under exposing (negative compensation) colours begin to be more natural and closer to actual conditions.

The following photographs are all taken in bright light conditions, but are under-exposed within a range of -2.0 to -2.7 compensation. The darkened results I believe provide mood, drama and texture to the photos … It may not be everyone’s style or flavour, but I find it interesting ….

The beach scenes are taken from my rock on Crescent Beach while at low tide, the others in the back yard during late afternoon light conditions.