Photography on days out - making the best of it

[jimmy156]

As a new member of the national trust i will be visiting plenty of old house over the next year , i will inevitably take my camera. This does go against my "I'm either "doing photography" or not policy, but i have noticed that this has left me with a distinct lack of photo's of the family etc.

So any tips for getting some nice / interesting photo's at these sorts of places? Lighting is a major issue, as are people getting in the way! The shots below are from a trip to Igtham Mote in Kent, i wanted the 'feel' of the place generally to be conveyed when the images are viewed as a set. I realise none of the images are spectacular individually, but i my thinking is that as a set they work nicely. Not sure whether that was achieved or not to be honest.

Obviously some issue can be fixed with new kit (Wider lens (interior were shot at 17mm on a crop) and a camera more capable of shooting high ISO than my 50d (highest usable is 1600, which the interiors were taken at)

IMG_6105 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

IMG_6112 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

IMG_5988 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

IMG_6036 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

IMG_6040 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

IMG_6055 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

IMG_6058 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

IMG_6062 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

IMG_6065 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

IMG_6083 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

IMG_6090 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

IMG_6102 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

IMG_6114 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

IMG_6109 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

[Simpo Two]

They look fine to me, especially the interiors. With a fast lens you don't need any more than ISO1600, especially at wide angles.

[DibblyDobbler]

Yep - you're doing fine Jimmy, just keep going as you are

[jimmy156]

Thanks guys Its tricky to make the shots "interesting" Don't know whether focusing on the details more would help.

[covmutley]

I agree, they look good, especially 6055. I am no expert but will offer a couple if ideas, even if they are wrong, as not many have replied.

The bike may work well as a b&w. Not many colours and think it may bring out the nice texture of the wall well.

Other thing is to perhaps to capture some details as well as shots of the rooms. In 6062 the light on the shelves of books looks nice- maybe you could have tried a shot just those framed up directly facing them?

In 6065 the objects on desk seem interesting- perhaps a low angle shot with shallow dof?

In 6090 perhaps you could have taken step closer to snooker table gone wide as possible and composed to fill frame with table and the lights above.

The above ideas are probably way off, but I hope they are of some use

Edited by covmutley on Wednesday 19th August 20:17