Friday 9th October

We completed this week's lockdown competition; Fire. 

We are back into the Art of photography.  There is no recipe for success BUT a flash is not needed and a tripod will be useful. Start with a long shutter speed to blur the flames - this will also capture the spark trails. Don’t like the results?  OK, set the camera to A (Aperture priority) start around F8 and hope the speed is 1/125 or faster.  This will freeze the action.  If you can’t get that speed then crank up your ISO setting (1600 or more) and reduce your shutter speed as far as your lens will allow. 

Faster speeds will freeze any smoke trails whilst slower speeds will produce a hazy effect in the smoke. Strangely, you don’t want to try and focus on the flames themselves - use something stationary with good contrast. Prepare to experiment as everything above could produce great images, as you can see here https://www.facebook.com/groups/penryncameraclub. 

This is one of the benefits of digital photography. You can set up in your home, perhaps with a candle in a darkened room. Take pictures through a range of f-stops or shutter speeds learning what you like as you go. Throw all the opportunities to learn (aka failures) into the bin!