Friday, 30 October 2020

The Moat In My Eye

 Mono, nocturnal image of the moat at the Bishop's Palace in Wells, made using a Google Pixel 2.

So, here's the problem: to make this image using my DSLR, I would require the camera itself, a tripod and preferably a remote release, although guess I could make do without the latter and use the self-timer.

Anyway, this image was made during an evening out in Wells. Looking out of the restaurant window, I noticed that the moat was still and reflecting the palace gatehouse. Given that the day had been quite wild weather-wise, this would never have occurred to me as a possibility and even if it had, I wouldn't have considered taking all that gear with me to dinner.

So, given the above, the image should never have been made. As it was, I seized the opportunity and used my Pixel 2 smartphone, post-processed in Snapseed on my Chromebook, and here it is, along with the image below.

The only benefit of using all the kit would be that I would have a high resolution image in a lossless format - I use tiff in my workflow - which would be useful if someone contacted me, wanting to use the image in a print magazine.

But that's never happened. Sometimes, it does make you wonder why you bother with all that expensive, bulky equipment. Sometimes.

Tuesday, 27 October 2020

I Was Banking On It

 

Mono image of a National Provincial Bank moneybox made using a Google Pixel 2 smartphone.

This is one of those images that I sometimes make of objects (please use the French pronunciation, it sounds so much better).

This is an old money box that's been hanging round in my grandparent's, parent's and now my house for many years, and surfaces from time to time. There is some money in it, but the key - the keyhole is in the base - is long since lost.

The bank in question - not to be confused with the National & Provincial Building Society - ceased to exist as a separate entity in 1970, merging with the Nat West (which was not the best choice, with hindsight).

This is also one of those images shot using my Pixel 2 and processed in Snapseed on my Chromebook. I'm quite pleased with the result - some of my favourite images of the recent past have been produced using this workflow.

Maybe its the way of the future...

BTW: if anyone has any suggestions regarding how to open it, I'd be interested to hear them in the comments.