The Blacksmith

[Anthony 1,153]

Portrait of a demonstrator at the Black Country Outdoor Museum.

Despite appearances in this posed shot, he was a friendly and helpful person.

The main activity in this forge was making chains. In the olden days this forge would have been primarily used by a female chain maker, and situated in her back yard. The men did heavier work, but chain making was certainly very hard work.

[Clactonian 215]

Nice environmental portraits. Maybe lift the shadows and increase the contrast a touch?

[Anthony 1,153]

47 minutes ago, Clactonian said:

Nice environmental portraits. Maybe lift the shadows and increase the contrast a touch?

 

Thank you, Mike.

 

The shadows are already boosted quite a lot.  It was very dark in the forge, pretty much as you see in the photo.  I did not have a flash, but perhaps that would have changed the atmosphere.

[Clactonian 215]

20 hours ago, Anthony said:

 

Thank you, Mike.

 

The shadows are already boosted quite a lot.  It was very dark in the forge, pretty much as you see in the photo.  I did not have a flash, but perhaps that would have changed the atmosphere.

Then you have maximised the opportunity. I agree that a flash would have ruined the atmosphere unless you had a complex setup and all the time in the world to get the power levels right.

[Anthony 1,153]

On 08/04/2020 at 09:45, Clactonian said:

Then you have maximised the opportunity. I agree that a flash would have ruined the atmosphere unless you had a complex setup and all the time in the world to get the power levels right.

 

 

Thanks, I was on a family visit, so no chance of any sort of setup!

 

I used the same technique as I use in a church, which is to make use of the (almost) ISO-less nature of the Fuji sensor (made by Sony).  This means I can shoot at a low ISO and then bring up the shadows in pp, and have the same quality of boost to the shadows as if I had shot at a high ISO.  The benefit of this is that it enables the highlights to be preserved.  I did not want to blow out the window, and I definitely wanted to capture the flames and the red hot metal.

 

I believe Nikon sensors are also made by Sony, so the same technique may be useful with Nikons.

 

The main downside is that the image is almost unusable for preview purposes without some initial exposure adjustment.  Here is the embedded jpeg included in the raw file with no adjustment applied.

[Dallas 3,166]

31 minutes ago, Anthony said:

I believe Nikon sensors are also made by Sony, so the same technique may be useful with Nikons.

 

Is this not because Fujifilm is using an X-trans array? Sorry, I don't really keep up with these sorts of things. 

[Clactonian 215]

It is interesting that I have found the same technique works best for me. The more recent crop of sensors seem to give a huge amount of latitude when it comes to post processing.

 

I can also sympathise with your situation with regard to family and friends accompanying you. Most of my travels are in the company of non-photographers, which in itself proves quite a challenge when trying get the right shot. We do suffer for our art!!

[Anthony 1,153]

50 minutes ago, Dallas said:

 

Is this not because Fujifilm is using an X-trans array? Sorry, I don't really keep up with these sorts of things. 

 

 

I don't think that this is exclusive to Fuji.  It is to do with the underlying electronics of the sensor, not whether the array is Bayer or X-Trans.  I am getting to the limits of my technical knowledge!

[mjcmt 2]

Thanks for posting. I love this subject. I'll bet high contrast B&W versions of these would really pop.

[Andrew L (gryphon1911) 1,132]

I always consider it a win when you can get those sparks shooting off the metal! 

Nice documentary series and thanks for sharing.

[Anthony 1,153]

Thanks, Andrew and mjcmt.

 

I entered the first for a competition in my local camera club, and the photo was marked down because the window was too bright (fair enough), the shadows were too dark, and the blacksmith looked too miserable. Oh well...........

[Dallas 3,166]

42 minutes ago, Anthony said:

I entered the first for a competition in my local camera club, and the photo was marked down because the window was too bright (fair enough), the shadows were too dark, and the blacksmith looked too miserable. Oh well...........

 

Pretty much sums up why I have never been a member of any camera club.  

[Anthony 1,153]

17 minutes ago, Dallas said:

 

Pretty much sums up why I have never been a member of any camera club.  

 

It is a new experience for me. I wanted to meet some local photographers in person. Unfortunately, a few weeks after I joined, Covid struck so we hold our meetings on Zoom. But that has had advantages. Instead of looking at a projector screen and the backs of lots of heads, I see a gallery of faces.

 

They are actually a good bunch of people, and we have some interesting discussions. Of course, criticism of judges happens, just as football fans like to criticise referees! Overall I am enjoying it and once we are allowed, I am sure I will meet up with some of them in the real world.

[Dallas 3,166]

I've given talks at a couple of camera clubs when I was an ambassador for Olympus and sat through some of the critique sessions after the talks I gave. I found the adherence to photography "rules" a bit old school (it was almost as if I could hear John Hedgecoe breathing behind me!). But yes, they are fun people and I took some of them on my walk in the iMfolozi Game Reserve a few years back. We still keep in touch. 

[Hugh_3170 501]

Ditto!

 

 

On 26/11/2020 at 01:58, Dallas said:

 

Pretty much sums up why I have never been a member of any camera club.  

 

[GB111 256]

The 2nd is my favorite. It tells a story and the camera doesn't interfere. I think context is good.

gb

[Anthony 1,153]

4 hours ago, GB111 said:

The 2nd is my favorite. It tells a story and the camera doesn't interfere. I think context is good.

gb

 

Thank you!