Wednesday 10 September 2008

The Bar Fly does "Textures" - # 08/214

We're back in the Bell Inn East Molesey, built around 1460.

The Bar Fly was fascinated by the textures of the ancient wattle and daub walls, the brick and the rough old oak beams. Of course the "traditional Faithful Dog" had to be included.

So: Olympus C7070 mounted on table with trusty bean bag to steady it; lock in a low ISO to eliminate grainy "noise" and give a nice long, slow exposure to bring out all the details and richness. Make sure the aperture is right to ensure that both near and far are pin sharp; use a remote release rather than timer to allow me to control the moment when to fire the shutter. White balance set to "tungsten/incandescent" to eliminate false "orange" cast from the lights, and give a better white colour rendering. And, naturally, remember to switch off the flash.

Result: a nice clear true-to-life memory of a pleasant evening in delightful company. That's what the "Richmond upon Thames Bar Fly Occasional Series" is all about.

(The photo looks good in B & W, but I wanted to bring out the warmth of colour and texture rather than the tonal effect and drama of the B & W version.)

7 comments:

  1. AAAHHH, a beanbag. I am more comfortable with that photographic accessory than the large handheld torch in yesterday's post, and safer too! Lovely scene and I like the low angle you used. Bar Dog is a perfect addition to the photo. Was he a visitor or a resident?

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  2. this place reeks of character

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  3. Oh fabulous, Chuckeroon. Those wonderful warm colours and textures. Couldn't be anywhere but a 'real' old bar in England. You couldn't buy that wall on the left for a million pounds. How beautiful, how welcoming it all is. And thanks for the details explaining it. The dog is so sharp as are the signs in the foreground - everything. How clever you are! And the lighting, so soft.

    There's so much to look at it in this photograph - I'm fascinated. Just wish I was there sipping a glass of something nice and perhaps getting up to pat the labrador.

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  4. In my opinion, you made the right choice to choose the colour (warm) version!

    Incredible the number of old pubs and inns still around in UK!

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  5. The dog moved his head every so little ...

    This is great when I enlarge it and reread your description.

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  6. Great image. Makes me want to catch the next flight 'home' just to have a pint in a proper pub, not a fake American version.

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