Adventures with Tamron : Lanterman's Mill

By Jillian Bell

With the coming of fall, I have been inspiring to go on a "fall colors" trip. As life normally goes, work, family and other scheduled events pushes this trip back another year. Last weekend, I was able to cross this trip off my list. Traveling to Youngstown, OH, I worked with YM Camera and fellow blogger John VanSteenberg for a two part adventure.

Friday was an in-house session. John taught a total of 50 participants photography techniques and how to actualize the images you see in your mind. Saturday, we all headed to Lanterman's Mill for a hands on photography day having Tamron lenses available.

My goal was to answer questions, and to show what I think about when setting up an image. Specifically, I was able to show how shutter speed can drastically effect the emotion of a photograph involving moving water. There are two photos below taken with Tamron's SP 17-50mm F2.8 VC lens. The first at F4 1/60 sec 320 ISO, a standard exposure in Program Mode. You can see at a 60th of a second, the water is almost completely stopped giving an aggressive, static feeling. The second was shot in Shutter Speed Priority at F18 1 sec 100 ISO. A longer shutter speed shows a misty softer feel. The longer the time, the softer it seems. Experiment with 5 seconds or even 10 seconds! With a longer time, too much available light can be problematic. For the best results, visit your scene at a time of day with less sunlight.

The other two images were taken while walking around the park with other participants. We had a great time talking composition, shooting situations, and seeing how people can be inspired in the same scene differently. The next photograph below, is an example of my inspirations. I often can struggle with landscape photography because I focus on those smaller unique sections of the whole. True to form, I have a "portrait" found in a rock face along the trail. It was raining that day, and I was inspired by how it looked like this face seemed to be crying. (F5.6 1/100 sec 800 ISO - SP 70-300mm VC)

The last is a successful "fall colors" photograph. The woods were quite thick, and peering through a small opening is this lonely bench. Inviting yet mysteriously hidden within the foliage. I like how the greens pop with the red spattering of leaves. (F10 1/10 sec 200 ISO - SP 17-50mm VC).

Check back in a week to the Tamron Blog to see images from the participants that day. John is compiling a gallery into "my photo exhibits" and will post the link. "My Photo Exhibits" is another great tool from Tamron that allows you to make a virtual gallery of your images to share. It is customizable and a great way to showcase your best work to others.

Thank you for reading - Until my next adventure - Jillian Bell

Comments

[Tom]

F.Y.I. - It's called Lanternman's Mill

[Tom]

Correction - Lanterman's Mill

[Lori Burrows]

I need help. My Tamron 18-270 lens landed on a hardwood floor, lens first. Won't switch from auto to manual then back auto focus reliably. I sent it in. 300.00 to fix.
Would you fix or just buy a new one?