March: month in review
Each month I aim to pick an image that, in my mind at least, captures the flavour of that month. It might not be the best image from the month, or the most spectacular of subjects; it just needs to illustrate something about the month.
Charles Bridge, Prague
Fujifilm X-S10 | 41mm f/8.0 30s ISO160
What’s this month’s image? It’s a view of the Charles Bridge in Prague taken from the Manes Bridge around sunset.
Did you do anything to it? The long exposure of 30 seconds does some of the heavy lifting, but as with many long exposures the raw file lacked a little contrast. To counteract this I’ve used some selective curve adjustments to bring out the tones and the colour in the sky.
What’s it doing here? March saw Helen and I get on a plane for the first time in nearly two and a half years for a city break in the magnificent city of Prague. We’d highly recommend the city as a destination - clean, beautiful architecture and very affordable. It was genuinely great to get back out in the world after the last couple of years.
We were really luck with the weather from the perspective of getting to see the sites - cold, but with clear skies and bright sunshine. Photographically, of course, this is an absolute nightmare; loads of contrast, huge dynamic range and plenty of scope for clipping at both ends of the histogram. Which is why this image works… shooting at sunset means that the light is beautifully soft, with a lovely golden tone. There’s not much else to say - the bridge and the light do almost all of the work.
The trip was also a reminder that one of the challenges of travel is keeping the kit light. Apart from the logistics of getting a tripod on a plane, carting one around a crowded city is simply a non-starter. But, to get long exposures some support is needed and I’ve found that a Platypod is a great option, together with a small head. The Fujifilm X-S10 is also very compact, and the Fujifilm 18-135mm, while maybe not the absolute best in terms of quality, covers a really useful range and still produces great results. Together all of these easily fit in a small bag that, in turn, fits in the cabin baggage. It’s a really compact kit that works well for me.
Prague, of course, was the star of the show and a single image can’t do it justice. I’ve include a few more below…
Have you been up to much else? Managed to fit in a couple of other outings in March, including a trip to the Scottish Owl Centre, rugby at Cartha Queens and an evening trip to Irvine.
Coming Up
Not too much planned for April, although there are some more sports events coming up…
